Gagarin, Russia
Gagarin (Russian: Гага́рин), known until 1968 as Gzhatsk (Russian: Гжатск), is a town and the administrative center of Gagarinsky District of Smolensk Oblast, Russia, situated on the Gzhat River, 240 kilometers (150 mi) northeast of Smolensk. Population: 31,721 (2010 Census preliminary results);[3] 28,789 (2002 Census);[4] 28,867 (1989 Census).[7]
The town's former name is from that of the river Gzhat (Russian: Гжать), which is of Baltic origin (cf. Old Prussian gudde 'forest').[8]
History
On November 11, 1719 the settlement was transformed by a decree of Peter the Great to a transshipment landing stage (called Gzhatsky landing stage).[9] From the middle of the 18th century Gzhatsk was a sloboda, and in 1776 under a decree by Catherine the Great it was granted status of an uyezd town and received a coat of arms showing "a barge loaded with bread ready for departure, on a field argent", meaning that the town was a good landing stage for grain.
The town was built at the crossing of the Moscow road (east-west) and the Smolensk road (north-south, paralleling the river). By the plan of 1773, it was laid out in triangular form. One part paralleled the Gzhat river, another the road to Moscow, and the base of the triangle connected them.
Near Gzhatsk, in the village of Tsaryovo-Zaimishche on August 29, 1812, Kutuzov accepted command of the Russian army. On the day of Napoleon's invasion, the town was set on fire, and it burned for some days. Near Gzhatsk, Denis Davydov's guerrilla group started to operate. Russian troops entered the town again on November 2, 1812. When the town was rebuilt in 1817, the former regular layout was basically kept.
On November 13 [O.S. October 31], 1917, Soviet power was proclaimed in Gzhatsk and its district. A year later, there was a counterrevolutionary insurrection.
During World War II, the town housed a flax factory, a sawmill, a brickyard, a roller-mill, a bakehouse complex, a weaving factory, a power station, and artels.
In 1968, the town was renamed Gagarin in honor of the first cosmonaut, Yuri Gagarin, who was born in 1934 in the nearby village of Klushino.
References
- ^ a b Администрация Смоленской области. Постановление №261 от 30 апреля 2008 г. «Об утверждении реестра административно-территориальных единиц и территориальных единиц Смоленской области», в ред. Постановления №887 от 31 декабря 2010 г «О внесении изменения в реестр административно-территориальных единиц и территориальных единиц Смоленской области». Опубликован: База данных "Консультант-плюс". (Administration of Smolensk Oblast. Resolution #261 of April 30, 2008 On the Adoption of the Registry of the Administrative-Territorial Units and Territorial Units of Smolensk Oblast, as amended by the Resolution #887 of December 31, 2010 On Amending the Registry of the Administrative-Territorial Units and Territorial Units of Smolensk Oblast. ).
- ^ a b http://www.gagarinadmin.ru
- ^ a b Федеральная служба государственной статистики (Federal State Statistics Service) (2011). "Предварительные итоги Всероссийской переписи населения 2010 года (Preliminary results of the 2010 All-Russian Population Census)" (in Russian). Всероссийская перепись населения 2010 года (2010 All-Russia Population Census). Federal State Statistics Service. http://www.perepis-2010.ru/results_of_the_census/results-inform.php. Retrieved 2011-04-25.
- ^ a b Федеральная служба государственной статистики (Federal State Statistics Service) (2004-05-21). "Численность населения России, субъектов Российской Федерации в составе федеральных округов, районов, городских поселений, сельских населённых пунктов – районных центров и сельских населённых пунктов с населением 3 тысячи и более человек (Population of Russia, its federal districts, federal subjects, districts, urban localities, rural localities—administrative centers, and rural localities with population of over 3,000)" (in Russian). Всероссийская перепись населения 2002 года (All-Russia Population Census of 2002). Federal State Statistics Service. http://www.perepis2002.ru/ct/doc/1_TOM_01_04.xls. Retrieved 2010-03-23.
- ^ The value of density was calculated automatically by dividing the 2010 Census population by the area specified in the infobox. Please note that this value may not be accurate as the area specified in the infobox does not necessarily correspond to the area of the entity proper or is reported for the same year as the population.
- ^ Правительство Российской Федерации. Постановление №725 от 31 августа 2011 г. «О составе территорий, образующих каждую часовую зону, и порядке исчисления времени в часовых зонах, а также о признании утратившими силу отдельных Постановлений Правительства Российской Федерации». Вступил в силу по истечении 7 дней после дня официального опубликования. Опубликован: "Российская Газета", №197, 6 сентября 2011 г. (Government of the Russian Federation. Resolution #725 of August 31, 2011 On the Composition of the Territories Included into Each Time Zone and on the Procedures of Timekeeping in the Time Zones, as Well as on Abrogation of Several Resolutions of the Government of the Russian Federation. Effective as of after 7 days following the day of the official publication).
- ^ "Всесоюзная перепись населения 1989 г. Численность наличного населения союзных и автономных республик, автономных областей и округов, краёв, областей, районов, городских поселений и сёл-райцентров. (All Union Population Census of 1989. Present population of union and autonomous republics, autonomous oblasts and okrugs, krais, oblasts, districts, urban settlements, and villages serving as district administrative centers.)" (in Russian). Всесоюзная перепись населения 1989 года (All-Union Population Census of 1989). Demoscope Weekly (website of the Institute of Demographics of the State University—Higher School of Economics. 1989. http://demoscope.ru/weekly/ssp/rus89_reg.php. Retrieved 2010-03-23.
- ^ Е. М. Поспелов. Географические названия мира (Москва, 1998), стр. 110.
- ^ Энциклопедия Города России. Moscow: Большая Российская Энциклопедия. 2003. pp. 102. ISBN 5-7107-7399-9.