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Kaluga
City in Kaluga Oblast, Russia

Kaluga is a city and the administrative center of Kaluga Oblast, Russia. It stands on the Oka River 150 kilometers (93 mi) southwest of Moscow. Its population was 337,058 at the 2021 census.

Kaluga's most famous resident, the space travel pioneer Konstantin Tsiolkovsky, worked there as a school teacher from 1892 to 1935. The Tsiolkovsky State Museum of the History of Cosmonautics in Kaluga is dedicated to his theoretical achievements and to their practical implementations for modern space research, hence the motto on the city's coat of arms: Колыбель Космонавтики, Kolybélʹ kosmonávtiki ("The Cradle of Space-Exploration").

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History

Kaluga, founded in the mid-14th century as a border fortress on the southwestern borders of the Grand Duchy of Moscow, first appears in the historical record in chronicles in the 14th century as Koluga; the name comes from Old Russian kaluga is "bog, quagmire".2 During the period of Tartar raids it was the western end of the Oka bank defense line. The Great stand on the Ugra River was fought just to the west. In the Middle Ages Kaluga was a minor settlement owned by the Princes Vorotynsky. The ancestral home of these princes lies southwest of the modern city.

On 19 January 1777, the Kaluga drama theatre opened its first theatrical season, established with the direct participation of the Governor-General Mikhail Krechetnikov.3

Kaluga is connected to Moscow by a railway line and by the ancient roadway, the Kaluga Road (now partly within Moscow (as the Old Kaluga Highway), partly the A101 road).4 This road offered Napoleon his favored escape route from the Moscow trap in the fall of 1812. But General Kutuzov repelled Napoleon's advances in this direction and forced the retreating French army onto the old Smolensk road, previously devastated by the French during their invasion of Russia.

On several occasions during the Russian Empire Kaluga was the residence of political exiles and prisoners such as the last Crimean khan Şahin Giray (1786), the Kyrgyz sultan Arigazi-Abdul-Aziz (1828), the Georgian princess Thecla (1834–1835), and the Avar leader Imam Shamil (1859–1868).5

The German army briefly occupied Kaluga during the climactic Battle of Moscow, as part of Operation Barbarossa. The city was under full or partial German occupation from October 12 to December 30, 1941. In 1944, the Soviet Government used its local military buildings to intern hundreds of Polish prisoners of war — soldiers of the Polish underground Home Army — whom the advancing Soviet front had arrested in the area around Vilnius.

Demographics

Historical population
YearPop.±%
189749,513—    
192649,425−0.2%
193989,396+80.9%
1959134,235+50.2%
1970210,906+57.1%
1979265,013+25.7%
1989311,399+17.5%
2002334,751+7.5%
2010324,698−3.0%
2021337,058+3.8%
Source: Census data

As of the 2021 Census, the ethnic composition of Kaluga was:6

Ethnic groupPopulationPercentage
Russians310,62291.9%
Armenians4,5271.3%
Tajiks3,2601.0%
Uzbeks3,1000.9%
Ukrainians2,8760.9%
Other13,6914.0%

Administrative and municipal status

Kaluga is the administrative center of the oblast.7 Within the framework of administrative divisions, it is, together with seventy-two rural localities, incorporated as the City of Kaluga—an administrative unit with the status equal to that of the districts.8 As a municipal division, the City of Kaluga, together with one rural locality in Ferzikovsky District (the selo of Novozhdamirovo), is incorporated as Kaluga Urban Okrug.9

Economy

The Kaluga Turbine Plant is located here as is Kaluga Machine Works, which manufactures track machines for railways. In recent years, Kaluga has become one center of the Russian automotive industry, with a number of foreign companies opening assembly plants in the area:10

On 28 November 2007, Volkswagen Group opened a new assembly plant in Kaluga, which further expanded by 2009. The investment has reached more than 500 million Euro. As of 2014[update] the plant assembled the Volkswagen Passat, Škoda Fabia and Škoda Rapid.11

On 15 October 2007, the Volvo Group broke ground on a new truck assembly plant, that was inaugurated on 19 January 2009,12 with a yearly capacity of 10,000 Volvo and 5,000 Renault trucks.13

On 12 December 2007, PSA Peugeot Citroën announced its decision to build a new assembly plant in Kaluga.14

Transportation

The city is served by the Grabtsevo Airport. Since 1899, there has been a railway connection between Kaluga and Moscow.15

Public transportation is represented by the trolleybuses, buses, and marshrutkas (routed taxis).

Climate

Kaluga has a humid temperate continental (Köppen climate classification: Dfb), with warm and humid summers; and long, cold and snowy winters. Winter extreme records can be as low as −45 °C (−49 °F), while summer heat may reach up +40 °C (104 °F), but normal variation is between −5 °C (23 °F) and −20 °C (−4 °F) during winter and between 15 °C (59 °F) and 30 °C (86 °F) during summer in Kaluga.

Climate data for Kaluga, Russia (period 1961–1990)
MonthJanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecYear
Mean daily maximum °C (°F)−6.6(20.1)−5.0(23.0)0.4(32.7)10.3(50.5)18.7(65.7)21.5(70.7)23.0(73.4)21.9(71.4)15.7(60.3)9.0(48.2)0.7(33.3)−3.7(25.3)7.2(45.0)
Daily mean °C (°F)−10.1(13.8)−9.0(15.8)−3.5(25.7)5.7(42.3)12.7(54.9)15.8(60.4)17.5(63.5)16.3(61.3)10.9(51.6)5.4(41.7)−1.9(28.6)−6.6(20.1)4.4(39.9)
Mean daily minimum °C (°F)−13.5(7.7)−12.9(8.8)−7.4(18.7)1.0(33.8)6.7(44.1)10.1(50.2)12.0(53.6)10.7(51.3)6.1(43.0)1.8(35.2)−4.5(23.9)−9.5(14.9)0.1(32.2)
Average precipitation mm (inches)39(1.5)33(1.3)35(1.4)39(1.5)43(1.7)77(3.0)80(3.1)71(2.8)55(2.2)50(2.0)53(2.1)55(2.2)630(24.8)
Source: www.meteoinfo.ru

"www.meteoinfo.ru". Retrieved 3 September 2012.

Notable people

Kaluga's most famous resident was rocket science pioneer Konstantin Tsiolkovsky.

Other notable people include:

Twin towns – sister cities

See also: List of twin towns and sister cities in Russia

Kaluga is twinned with:17

Partner cities

In addition to twin towns, Kaluga cooperates with:18

Notes

Sources

  • Законодательное Собрание Калужской области. №473 27 марта 1996 г. «Устав Калужской области», в ред. Закона №681-ОЗ от 27 февраля 2015 г. «О внесении изменений в Устав Калужской области». Опубликован: "Весть", №79, 9 апреля 1996 г. (Legislative Assembly of Kaluga Oblast. #473 March 27, 1996 Charter of Kaluga Oblast, as amended by the Law #681-OZ of February 27, 2015 On Amending the Charter of Kaluga Oblast. ).
  • Законодательное Собрание Калужской области. Закон №7-ОЗ от 28 декабря 2004 г. «Об установлении границ муниципальных образований, расположенных на территории административно-территориальных единиц "Бабынинский район", "Боровский район", "Дзержинский район", "Жиздринский район", "Жуковский район", "Износковский район", "Козельский район", "Малоярославецкий район", "Мосальский район", "Ферзиковский район", "Хвастовичский район", "город Калуга", "город Обнинск", и наделении их статусом городского поселения, сельского поселения, городского округа, муниципального района», в ред. Закона №620-ОЗ от 29 сентября 2014 г. «О внесении изменений в Закон Калужской области "Об установлении границ муниципальных образований, расположенных на территории административно-территориальных единиц "Бабынинский район", "Боровский район", "Дзержинский район", "Жиздринский район", "Жуковский район", "Износковский район", "Козельский район", "Малоярославецкий район", "Мосальский район", "Ферзиковский район", "Хвастовичский район", "город Калуга", "город Обнинск", и наделении их статусом городского поселения, сельского поселения, городского округа, муниципального района"». Вступил в силу после официального опубликования, за исключением положений о муниципальном образовании "Город Калуга", для которых установлены иные сроки вступления в силу. Опубликован: "Весть", №402–404, 29 декабря 2004 г. (Legislative Assembly of Kaluga Oblast. Law #7-OZ of December 28, 2004 On Establishing the Borders of the Municipal Formations Located on the Territory of the Administrative-Territorial Units of "Babyninsky District", "Borovsky District", "Dzerzhinsky District", "Zhizdrinsky District", "Zhukovsky District", "Iznoskovsky District", "Kozelsky District", "Maloyaroslavetsky District", "Mosalsky District", "Ferzikovsky District", "Khvastovichsky District", "City of Kaluga", "City of Obninsk", and on Granting Them the Status of an Urban Settlement, Rural Settlement, Urban Okrug, Municipal District, as amended by the Law #620-OZ of September 29, 2014 On Amending the Law of Kaluga Oblast "On Establishing the Borders of the Municipal Formations Located on the Territory of the Administrative-Territorial Units of "Babyninsky District", "Borovsky District", "Dzerzhinsky District", "Zhizdrinsky District", "Zhukovsky District", "Iznoskovsky District", "Kozelsky District", "Maloyaroslavetsky District", "Mosalsky District", "Ferzikovsky District", "Khvastovichsky District", "City of Kaluga", "City of Obninsk", and on Granting Them the Status of an Urban Settlement, Rural Settlement, Urban Okrug, Municipal District". Effective as of after the official publication, with the exception of the clauses regarding the municipal formation of the "City of Kaluga", for which different dates of taking effect are specified.).

Media related to Kaluga at Wikimedia Commons

References

  1. Russian Federal State Statistics Service. Всероссийская перепись населения 2020 года. Том 1 [2020 All-Russian Population Census, vol. 1] (XLS) (in Russian). Federal State Statistics Service. Всероссийская перепись населения 2020 года. Том 1 ↩

  2. E.M. Pospelov, Geograficheskie nazvaniya mira (Moscow: Russkie slovari, 1998), p. 181. ↩

  3. Ассонов В. И. (1911) [Извѣстія Калужской Ученой Архивной Комиссіи. Выпускъ XXI]. "К истории театра в Калуге". Известия Калужской Ученой Архивной Комиссии. Выпуск XXI. Калуга: Типография Е. Г. Архангельской. pp. 56–69. http://elib.shpl.ru/ru/nodes/13501-vyp-xxi-1911#page/64/mode/inspect/zoom/6 ↩

  4. Сергей Алтухов (13 September 2011). "Товарные знаки — тоже искусство". Retrieved 6 December 2018. http://kbanda.ru/index.php/vystavki-festivali/19-vystavki-news/108-tovarnye-znaki-tozhe-iskusstvo ↩

  5. "Историки указали на стереотипность мнений про пленение Шамиля". Кавказский узел. 8 September 2018. Archived from the original on 13 February 2023. Retrieved 13 February 2023. https://www.kavkaz-uzel.eu/articles/325137/ ↩

  6. "Территориальный орган Федеральной службы государственной статистики по Калужской области" (PDF). Retrieved 24 May 2023. https://40.rosstat.gov.ru/storage/mediabank/+%201%20%D1%82%D0%B0%D0%B1%D0%BB.pdf ↩

  7. Charter of Kaluga Oblast ↩

  8. Charter of Kaluga Oblast ↩

  9. Law #7-OZ ↩

  10. "О Стратегии социально-экономического развития Калужской области до 2030 года (с изменениями на 12 февраля 2016 года)". Archived from the original on 27 July 2017. Retrieved 22 July 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20170727205935/http://docs.cntd.ru/document/972215857 ↩

  11. "Škoda Annual Report 2014" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 3 January 2016. https://web.archive.org/web/20150924102422/http://www.skoda-auto.com/SiteCollectionDocuments/company/investors/annual-reports/en/skoda-annual-report-2014.pdf ↩

  12. Volvo Truck starts production at Kaluga plant, Just-auto.com, 19 January 2009. https://www.just-auto.com/news/volvo-truck-starts-production-at-kaluga-plant_id97595.aspx ↩

  13. New Volvo Group assembly plant in Kaluga, Volvo Group corporate news, 15 October 2007. https://web.archive.org/web/20071101161608/http://www.volvo.com/group/global/en-gb/newsmedia/corpnews/NewsItemPage.htm?channelId=1389&ItemID=30465&sl=en-gb ↩

  14. PSA Peugeot Citroën to Build Plant in Kaluga, Russia Archived December 30, 2007, at the Wayback Machine, PSA Peugeot Citroën press release, 12 December 2007 http://www.psa-peugeot-citroen.com/en/psa_espace/press_releases_details_d1.php?id=751 ↩

  15. "Train Station in Kaluga" (in Russian). Nnov-airport.ru. Archived from the original on 29 September 2013. Retrieved 24 February 2014. https://web.archive.org/web/20130929093540/http://www.nnov-airport.ru/rus/wokzal_kaluga.html ↩

  16. "Ими гордится Калуга ("They Bring Pride to Kaluga")" (in Russian). Kaluga: Office of the Affairs of the Mayor of Kaluga. Archived from the original on 24 July 2011. Retrieved 1 October 2009. https://web.archive.org/web/20110724022931/http://www.kaluga-gov.ru/index.php?do=cat&category=imi_gorditsja_kaluga ↩

  17. "Города-побратимы". kaluga-gov.ru (in Russian). Kaluga. Retrieved 5 February 2020. https://www.kaluga-gov.ru/?q=%D0%B3%D0%BE%D1%80%D0%BE%D0%B4%D0%B0-%D0%BF%D0%BE%D0%B1%D1%80%D0%B0%D1%82%D0%B8%D0%BC%D1%8B_1159173114 ↩

  18. "Города-побратимы". kaluga-gov.ru (in Russian). Kaluga. Retrieved 5 February 2020. https://www.kaluga-gov.ru/?q=%D0%B3%D0%BE%D1%80%D0%BE%D0%B4%D0%B0-%D0%BF%D0%BE%D0%B1%D1%80%D0%B0%D1%82%D0%B8%D0%BC%D1%8B_1159173114 ↩