Magnitogorsk

Magnitogorsk (English) Магнитогорск (Russian)
-  City  -
Magnitogorsk State Technical University
Magnitogorsk Location of Magnitogorsk in Chelyabinsk Oblast
Coordinates:
Coat of arms	Flag
Administrative status (as of September 2011)
Country	Russia
Federal subject	Chelyabinsk Oblast
Administratively subordinated to	City of Magnitogorsk
Administrative center of	City of Magnitogorsk
Municipal status (as of September 2011)
Urban okrug	Magnitogorsky Urban Okrug
Administrative center of	Magnitogorsky Urban Okrug
Mayor	Vitaly Bakhmetyev
Statistics
Population (2010 Census)	407,775 inhabitants
- Rank in 2010	44th
Population (2015 est.)	417,039 inhabitants
Time zone	YEKT (UTC+05:00)
Founded	1743
City status since	1931
Postal code(s)	455000
Dialing code(s)	+7 3519
Official website
Magnitogorsk on Wikimedia Commons

Magnitogorsk (Russian: Магнитогорск; IPA: [məgnʲɪtɐˈgorsk]) is an industrial city in Chelyabinsk Oblast, Russia, located on the eastern side of the extreme southern extent of the Ural Mountains by the Ural River. Population: 407,775 (2010 Census); 418,545 (2002 Census); 440,321 (1989 Census).

It was named for the Magnitnaya Mountain that was almost pure iron, a geological anomaly. It is the second largest city in Russia that does not serve as an administrative center of either a federal subject or an administrative division. The largest iron and steel works in the country, Magnitogorsk Iron and Steel Works, is located here.

History

A steel production facility in Magnitogorsk in the 1930s

A bridge in Magnitogorsk

Magnitnaya was founded in 1743 as part of the Orenburg Line of forts established under the Empress Elizabeth. By 1747 the Russian settlement was large enough to justify the building of the small wooden "Church of the Holy Trinity".

In 1752 two entrepreneurs called Tverdysh and Myasnikov started investigating the possibility of mining the ore for which the area would later become famous, and having established that there were no pre-existing rights to the Magnitnaya Mountain ore, the two petitioned for the right to extract it themselves. Their petition was granted and iron ore extraction began in 1759.

As a part of preparation for the Soviet Five-Year Plans in 1928 a Soviet delegation arrived in Cleveland, Ohio to discuss with American consulting company Arthur G. McKee a plan to set up in Magnitogorsk a copy of the US Steel steel mill in Gary, Indiana. The contract was four times increased and eventually the new plant had a capacity of over four million tons annually.

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.

File:Свято-Никольский храм Магнитогорск.jpg

St. Nicholas Church

Great Mosque of Magnitogorsk

According to original plans Magnitogorsk was to be inspired by Gary and Pittsburgh, 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 is concentrated 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 book Behind the Urals, by John Scott, documents the industrial development of Magnitogorsk during the 1930s. Scott discusses the fast-paced industrial and social developments during Stalin's first five-year plan and the rising paranoia of the Soviet regime preceding the Great Purge of the late 1930s.

In 1937 foreigners were told to exit and Magnitogorsk was declared a closed city. There is not much reliable information about events and development of the city during the closed period.

The city played an important role during World War II because it supplied much of the steel for the Soviet war machine and its strategic location near the Ural Mountains meant Magnitogorsk was safe from seizure by the German Army.

Later years

During perestroika the closed city status was removed and foreigners were allowed to visit the city again. 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.

Administrative and municipal status

Within the framework of administrative divisions, it is incorporated as the City of Magnitogorsk—an administrative unit with the status equal to that of the districts. As a municipal division, the City of Magnitogorsk is incorporated as Magnitogorsky Urban Okrug.

Transportation

The city is connected by the Magnitogorsk International Airport and by a railway. Public transportation includes trams, buses, and taxis.

Education and culture

Magnitogorsk Church of the Ascension of the Lord

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. The Church of the Ascension of the Lord opened in 2004.

Sports

Metallurg Magnitogorsk is an ice hockey team based in Magnitogorsk, playing in the Kontinental Hockey League. Evgeni Malkin of the Pittsburgh Penguins and Nikolai Kulemin of the New York Islanders both used to play for the club and both are Magnitogorsk natives. Metallurg Magnitogorsk won Gagarin Cup in 2013–14 KHL season.

The town's football team is FC Magnitogorsk playing in the Amateur Football League. Located in the vicinity of the city, Abzakovo is a popular mountain skiing base built by the MMK (see the URL below).

Several sports clubs are active in the city:

Club	Sport	Founded	Current League	League Rank	Stadium
Metallurg Magnitogorsk	Ice Hockey	1955	Kontinental Hockey League	1st	Arena Metallurg
Stalnye Lisy	Ice Hockey	2009	Junior Hockey League	Jr. 1st	Arena Metallurg
Magnitka-Universitet	Basketball	?	Men's Basketball Supreme League	3rd	MGTU Sports Hall

Ecology

Magnitogorsk was mentioned in the Blacksmith Institute's 2007 survey of the world's worst polluted cities, placed in the report's unranked list of the 25 most polluted places outside the top ten. 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". However, according to Blacksmith Institute, plant managers have upgraded much of their equipment in recent years and emissions have been reduced by about 60%.

Climate

Magnitogorsk has a distinct four-season humid continental climate similar to those found in the North American Plains with warmer summers than subarctic climates, but with relatively severe winters for the latitude. This climate type is typical for southerly Russian areas far from large bodies of water. The average July high is around 25 °C (77 °F) with lows of 13 °C (55 °F) with January averages ranging from −10 °C (14 °F) in daytime high to −18 °C (0 °F) in average low. Temperatures approaching 34 °C (93 °F) or above have been measured from May to September with real severe frosts below −36 °C (−33 °F) have been measured in all other months than that except transitional months April and October.

Climate data for Magnitogorsk
Month	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec	Year
Record high °C (°F)	3.0 (37.4)	5.6 (42.1)	16.5 (61.7)	30.1 (86.2)	33.9 (93)	38.5 (101.3)	38.9 (102)	37.2 (99)	35.1 (95.2)	24.3 (75.7)	15.8 (60.4)	8.2 (46.8)	38.9 (102)
Average high °C (°F)	−10.0 (14)	−8.8 (16.2)	−2.1 (28.2)	10.6 (51.1)	19.4 (66.9)	24.9 (76.8)	25.2 (77.4)	23.4 (74.1)	17.4 (63.3)	9.1 (48.4)	−1.9 (28.6)	−7.9 (17.8)	8.27 (46.9)
Daily mean °C (°F)	−14.1 (6.6)	−13.5 (7.7)	−7.1 (19.2)	4.5 (40.1)	12.6 (54.7)	18.2 (64.8)	19.2 (66.6)	17.0 (62.6)	11.1 (52)	3.8 (38.8)	−5.9 (21.4)	−11.9 (10.6)	2.83 (37.09)
Average low °C (°F)	−18.3 (−0.9)	−18.1 (−0.6)	−12.0 (10.4)	−1.0 (30.2)	5.9 (42.6)	11.4 (52.5)	13.4 (56.1)	11.1 (52)	5.3 (41.5)	−0.8 (30.6)	−9.6 (14.7)	−15.9 (3.4)	−2.38 (27.71)
Record low °C (°F)	−42.6 (−44.7)	−46.1 (−51)	−36.1 (−33)	−23.9 (−11)	−8.9 (16)	−2.8 (27)	3.9 (39)	0.0 (32)	−11.1 (12)	−21.0 (−5.8)	−36.1 (−33)	−38.9 (−38)	−46.1 (−51)
Average precipitation mm (inches)	19 (0.75)	14 (0.55)	18 (0.71)	27 (1.06)	33 (1.3)	39 (1.54)	60 (2.36)	48 (1.89)	27 (1.06)	24 (0.94)	23 (0.91)	21 (0.83)	353 (13.9)
Average precipitation days	13	10	10	9	10	12	12	11	10	14	13	14	138
Source:

International Relations

The city is twinned with:

• Concepción de La Vega

References

Sources

• Законодательное Собрание Челябинской области. Постановление №161 от 25 мая 2006 г. «Об утверждении перечня муниципальных образований (административно-территориальных единиц) Челябинской области и населённых пунктов, входящих в их состав», в ред. Постановления №2255 от 23 октября 2014 г. «О внесении изменений в перечень муниципальных образований (административно-территориальных единиц) Челябинской области и населённых пунктов, входящих в их состав». Вступил в силу со дня официального опубликования. Опубликован: "Южноуральская панорама", №111–112, 14 июня 2006 г. (Legislative Assembly of Chelyabinsk Oblast. Resolution #161 of November 25, 2006 On Adoption of the Registry of the Municipal Formations (Administrative-Territorial Units) of Chelyabinsk Oblast and of the Inhabited Localities They Comprise, as amended by the Resolution #2255 of October 23, 2014 On Amending the Registry of the Municipal Formations (Administrative-Territorial Units) of Chelyabinsk Oblast and of the Inhabited Localities They Comprise. Effective as of the official publication date.).
• 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

• Stephen Kotkin. Steeltown, USSR

External links

• Official Magnitogorsk Administration Site (English)
• http://www.dialogpress.ru/ Magnitogorsk Main News
• http://macalester.edu/courses/geog61/aritz/magnitogorsk.html Macalester College site about Magnitogorsk
• Magnitogorsk and Vicinity (Abzakovo, Bannoye)
• The Soviet Steel City at Magnitogorsk
• Magnitogorsk Photos (Russian)