In the north of the Russian Federation, west of the Ural Mountains, the Republic of Komi is located. About a thousand kilometers from west to east or from south to north will have to overcome those who want to get acquainted with this interesting region. The capital of Komi on the banks of Sysola (river) has settled and is proud of its ancient history.
By decree of Catherine II
The relatively harsh climate led to uneven settlement of the region. Most of the population is located in its southern part. At the place where the Sysola River flows into the Vychegda River, the Ust-Sysola graveyard appeared in the 16th century, from which the capital of Komi, Syktyvkar, originates.
In 1780, Tsarina Catherine the Second formed the Vologda governorship, which included nineteen counties, including Ust-Sysolsky. Accordingly, the village of Ust-Sysola was transformed into a county town with the name Ust-Sysolsk, which immediately received its own coat of arms and a master plan, suggesting the expansion of the city at the expense of surrounding settlements.
City on the Sysol River
That is how the word Syktyvkar (“kar” is a city) is translated from the Komi language. The first half of the name is associated with the Sysola River ("Syktyv").
Ust-Sysolsk replaced the new name after many years, in 1930, when the 150th anniversary of the assignment of city status to it was celebrated. In 1930, Syktyvkar was already the administrative center of the Komi Autonomous Region (Zyryan).
The city is located very conveniently - next to the Sysola and Vychegda rivers. On all sides it is surrounded by forest, which occupies more than 70 percent of the city square. It is 152 square kilometers. About 1400 kilometers separate Syktyvkar from Moscow.
The city is developing
Another six years passed, and in December 1936 Syktyvkar received a new status - the capital of the Komi Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic.
The city began to actively develop industry and education, which contributed to population growth. By 1989, more than 240 thousand people lived in the capital of Komi.
At that time in Syktyvkar there were about 40 large industrial enterprises, about a third of which were of all-Union significance. The forestry, pulp and paper and woodworking industries accounted for more than 60 percent of all marketable products manufactured by the city. Commercial wood, lumber, plywood, chipboards, paper, non-woven materials - all this was supplied to the capital of Komi by many republics of the Soviet Union.
In 1932, the State Pedagogical Institute was opened in Syktyvkar, then the Base of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR, whose specialists studied the North, and which in 1949 was already called the Komi Branch of the Academy of Sciences. Syktyvkar State University opened in 1972.
Climate of Syktyvkar
Old-timers recall months-long harsh winters and very short summers. However, global warming has affected the climate of the capital of the Komi Republic. It has become softer.
Of course, severe frosts are still not uncommon in the northeast of the European part of the Russian Federation. However, they did not become so long; on average, three severe frosts accumulate over the winter week. The rest of the winter is relatively mild, although long, lasts up to 6 months a year.
Spring is also long, besides cold, uneven, snow may fall in May, and frosts will not particularly surprise residents even in July. If we take into account the autumn months, then there is very little time left for the summer, from the strength of 2 months. The capital of Komi cannot boast even short-term heat. The average summer temperature is 17 degrees Celsius.
Syktyvkar population
Today, among the population of the city with a total of 240 thousand people, Russians predominate - more than 60 percent, while the indigenous population of Komi or Komi-Zyryan is only about 30 percent.
However, this was not always the case. At the end of the 19th century, the majority of the population was Komi. Changes came in the 20th century, when political exiles, mostly Russians, were sent to this region.
Komi-Zyryans are the Finno-Ugric people. It is he who is the indigenous population of the Komi Republic. As of 2010, a little more than 202 thousand Komi-Zyryans lived in it (23.7% of the total population). There are representatives of this nationality in other regions of Russia, for example, the Murmansk and Sverdlovsk regions, the Nenets Autonomous Okrug. However, there are few of them. The total number of Komi-Zyryans throughout the Russian Federation totals 228 thousand people.
Komi-Zyryan should not be confused with Komi-Permyaks, although both belong to the Finno-Ugric people.
Komi in the Perm region
In the upper basin of the river. Kama, in the Urals, the Komi-Permyatsky district is located - until 2005, an independent subject of the Russian Federation. Then it was merged with the Perm region, as a result of which the Perm Territory arose .
The capital of the Komi-Permyatsky okrug - the city of Kudymkar - after the merger became the administrative center of the Kudymkar district. It is located on the Kama tributaries - the Yinve and Kuva rivers. It is separated from Perm by 200 kilometers.
More than half of the population of the city are Komi-Permyaks. In total, about 125 thousand people of this nationality live in the Russian Federation.
Historical Monuments of Syktyvkar
The capital of Komi cannot complain about the lack of places of interest to tourists.
The Church of the Ascension belongs to the oldest historical object of the city. It is also called the Ascension Cemetery Church. It was built at the expense of the richest merchant of Ust-Sysolsk Alexei Sukhanov from 1811 to 1820. It was built in the cemetery for the funeral of the dead. Now a memorial complex has been erected on the site of the cemetery.
Sukhanov’s house is over 200 years old. This is not only one of the oldest historical monuments, but also the first stone residential building. Later it housed various institutions: schools, and a school school. In 2009, after reconstruction, the I. Kuratov Museum was opened in this building.
The National Gallery is located in another historical building, which was built over 120 years ago for the Ust-Sysolsky Theological College.
The courtyard of the Trinity Stefano-Ulyanovsk monastery, the house of the Suvorovs, Fire tower, the trading house of the merchants Kuzbozhevs, the Cathedral of Stephen Perm - all these are historical and architectural monuments of the city.
Unique Place - Weathering Pillars
It may not be located in Syktyvkar itself, but the capital of Komi is related to it. At least because it is from there that it is most convenient to get to the seventh miracle of Russia, which is called the Pillars of Weathering, by helicopter .
They are located in the Troitsko-Pechersky district of the Komi Republic, where the Pechora-Ilychsky reserve is located. Two hundred million years ago there were high mountains, which, under the influence of wind, rain, sun and snow, gradually collapsed. There were 7 pillars of solid sericite-quartzite slate on the low Mount Man-Pupu-Ner. All of them have a bizarre shape and height from 30 to 42 meters.
The remnants are also called Mansi blockheads, because they were objects of worship for the Mansi people. Many legends are associated with their occurrence. According to one of them, six giants pursued people from the Mansi tribe, who sought to leave the Ural Mountains. At the pass in the headwaters of the Pechora River, when the giants had already overtaken the tribe, the shaman blocked their way and turned them into stone pillars. Since then, all shamans of the Mansi tribe drew their magical power in this sacred tract.
True or not. But many travelers who have visited Mount Man-Pupu-Ner speak of the extraordinary energy of this place. However, getting there is not so easy. The choice is small: on foot or by helicopter. But the fabulousness of the place is worth the effort.
The oil capital of Komi
In addition to the administrative center, Syktyvkar, there is in Komi its so-called oil capital. This is the young city of Usinsk, which is only 30 years old since it was founded in 1984.
In 1960, the first well was drilled on Usa, in which oil was found. And just four years later, the construction of the village for the oil exploration expedition of deep drilling began there. A few years later, the Komsomol construction of an already-equipped village was announced there, which, in turn, soon became a city. The total volume of oil produced in the fields of the Usinsky district in 1999 exceeded 200 million tons.
Today, Usinsk can rightfully be called the center of the largest oil producing region in Komi. The main oil producing enterprises are located here: RN-Severnaya Neft, Lukoil-KOMI, Usinsk Industrial Company Nedra and others.
The 2010 census showed that 47,000 people live in Usinsk.
Opponents of Syktyvkar
If you get acquainted with the news of the Komi Republic over the past ten years, you can see that sometimes passions flare up around the capital of Komi. For example, the city of Ukhta once claimed this honorable "position".
Why? There were even a few arguments in his favor. Ukhta is considered the educational center of the region, because the USTU is located there - one of the rare universities in Russia that graduates from oil and gas specialists. Convenience of transport links also speaks in favor of Ukhta: not a single settlement of Komi can compete with it.
However, no matter how events develop, so far to the question: “What is the capital of the Komi Republic?” - we all answer: "Syktyvkar."