Magnitogorsk
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_(1993).png/150px-Coat_of_Arms_of_Magnitogorsk_(Chelyabinsk_oblast)_(1993).png)
Magnitogorsk (Russian: Магнитогóрск, roughly translated as magnet city) is a mining and industrial city located by the Ural River in Chelyabinsk Oblast, Russia, with one of the largest iron and steel works in the country. It was named for the Magnitka mountain that was almost pure iron, a geological anomaly. Geographically it lies at , on the eastern (Siberian) side of the southern part of the Ural Mountains. Population: 418,545 (2002 Census); 440,321 (1989 Census). It is the second largest city in Russia which does not serve as an administrative center of either a federal subject or an administrative division.
Magnitogorsk is located in the Yekaterinburg Time Zone (YEKT/YEKST). The city's postal code is 455000, international dialing code: +7 (3519).
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[edit] History
The rapid development of Magnitogorsk stood at the forefront of Joseph Stalin's Five-Year Plans in the 1930s. It was a showpiece of Soviet achievement. Huge reserves of iron ore in the area made it a prime location to build a steel plant capable of challenging its Western rivals. However, a large proportion of the workforce, as ex-peasants, typically had few industrial skills and little industrial experience. To solve these issues, several hundred foreign specialists arrived to direct the work, including a team of architects headed by the German Ernst May.
According to original plans Magnitogorsk was to be inspired by Gary, Indiana and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, at the time the most prominent centers of steel production in the United States. It was to have followed the linear city design, with rows of similar superblock neighborhoods running parallel to the factory, with a strip of greenery - or greenbelt - separating them. Planners would align living and production spheres so as to minimize necessary travel time: workers would generally live in a sector of the residential band closest to the sector of the industrial band in which they worked.
However, by the time that May completed his plans for Magnitogorsk construction of both factory and housing had already started. The sprawling factory and enormous cleansing lakes had left little room available for development, and May, therefore, had to redesign his settlement to fit the modified site. This modification resulted in a city being more "rope-like" than linear. Although the industrial area concentrates on the left bank of the river Ural, and the most residential complexes are separated and located on its right bank, the city inhabitants are still subjected to noxious fumes and factory smoke.
The city played an important role during World War II[how?].
[edit] Later years
Years after perestroika brought a significant change in the life of the city. The Iron and Steel Plant was reorganized as a joint-stock company Magnitogorsk Iron and Steel Works (MISW or MMK), which helped with the reconstruction of the railway and building a new airport.
With the depletion of the substantial local iron-ore reserves, Magnitogorsk has to import raw materials from Sokolvsko-Sarbaisky deposit in northern Kazakhstan.
Located in the vicinity of the city, Abzakovo is a popular mountain skiing base built by the MMK (see the URL below).
There are three establishments of higher education in Magnitogorsk: Magnitogorsk State Technical University (MSTU), Magnitogorsk State University (MaSU), and Magnitogorsk State Conservatory (MSC). There are also three theatres: Pushkin Drama Theatre (the oldest in the city), the Opera and Ballet House, and the Puppet Theatre.
Metallurg Magnitogorsk is an ice hockey team based in Magnitogorsk, playing in the Russian Hockey Super League. Evgeni Malkin, recently signed by the Pittsburgh Penguins, used to play for the club and is a Magnitogorsk native.
Magnitogorsk has recently been included in the top 25 Worst Polluted Cities by a survey carried out by the Blacksmith Institute. Pollutants include lead, sulfur dioxide, heavy metals and other air pollutants. According to the local hospital, only 1% of all children living in the city are in good health. The Blacksmith Institute says that, according to a local newspaper report, "only 28% of infants born in 1992 were healthy, and only 27% had healthy mothers." [1]
[edit] Bibliography
- Scott, John, Behind the Urals: An American Worker in Russia's City of Steel, Indiana University Press, 1989. ISBN 0-253-20536-0
- Degtyarev A. G., Letopis' gory Magnitnoy i goroda Magnitogorska, 1993.
The book is about Magnitogorsk, its history and natural resources
Two excellent sources are books by Princeton University Professor Stephen Kotkin. Steeltown, USSR provides a detailed look into Gorbachev era society through a detailed look at all aspects of everyday life in Magnitogorsk. Magnetic Mountain provides a detailed account of the construction of Magnitogorsk and its development through the reign of Stalin.
[edit] External links
- City Magnitogorsk (Russian)
- Maps (Russian)
- http://magnitka.clink.ru the official website of Magnitogorsk
- http://macalester.edu/courses/geog61/aritz/magnitogorsk.html Macalester College site about Magnitogorsk
- Magnitogorsk and Vicinity (Abzakovo, Bannoe)
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