Elista

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Elista (Russian: Элиста́; Kalmyk: Элст, Elst) is the capital of the Republic of Kalmykia, an autonomous republic of Russia. It is located at 46°22′N 44°15′E. Population: 104,254 (2002 Census).

1 History
2 Features
3 Transportation
4 External links

[edit] History

Founded in 1865, Elista has had town status since 1930. In 1944, the entire population of the republic was deported to Siberia. Russian people were brought in to repopulate the town and the name was changed to Stepnoy (Степно́й) until 1957, when survivors of the deportations were allowed to return.

A public chess set near the town center

[edit] Features

Since 1991, the town has been characterized by the slow decay of Soviet-built institutions, and the large construction projects instigated by the republic's millionaire president Kirsan Ilyumzhinov.

The town center has a number of renovated public parks focused on the main square, boasting statues to both Lenin and the Buddha. To the east of the town lies the Olympic village of the 1998 XXXIII Chess Olympiad, known locally as "City-Chess". The site has a public swimming pool and an excellent museum of Kalmyk Buddhist art, and is also infrequently used as a conference center. A large new Buddhist temple, of which location was chosen by the Dalai Lhama during a visit in 1998, stands to the west. Following the requests of town citizens a new Buddhist temple (The biggest in Europe) was opened in December 2005 in the town centre.

[edit] Transportation

A representation of the Buddha

The city has a small airport, flights daily from Elista to Moscow (2-3 hours), a rail link to Stavropol and Rostov-na-Donu, and daily bus routes to Volgograd (6 hours) and Moscow (18 hours).

Within the city a network of about a dozen marshrutka routes is run by private companies.