Irkutsk

City

Irkutsk is a historic city located at the crossroads of age-old trade routes, the capital of Eastern Siberia. It is equidistant from the Arctic, Pacific, and Indian oceans, which has earned Irkutsk the distinction of being "the center of the earth". The city is situated 63 kilometers from Lake Baikal and has a population of over 623,000 people (as of 2023), making it the fifth largest city in Siberia with over 120 ethnic groups represented. The city is an important economic center and transportation hub in Eastern Siberia. It is the major junction of the Trans-Siberian Railway and the Baikal Federal Highway, as well as a river port. The international airport is an important stopover point for airlines connecting Southeast Asia and the Russian Far East with the European part of Russia and the CIS countries. Irkutsk serves as the administrative center of the Irkutsk Oblast and is a trade, cultural, historic, scientific, and educational heartland of Eastern Siberia with modern industrial potential and developed infrastructure. There are General Consulates of China, Mongolia, and South Korea in the city.

History

Irkutsk was established in 1661 as a small wooden fortress on the right bank of the Angara River, opposite the confluence of the Irkut River, which is the origin of the city name. It was granted town status in 1686 and served as an eastern outpost of Russia, and a hub for trade routes to China and Mongolia. Irkutsk was a key point on the Great Tea Road, along which caravans traveled to the west of Russia and on to Europe. During the late 17th and early 18th centuries, Irkutsk played a central role in diplomatic relations between the Russian Empire, Mongolia, and China. From 1680s, Irkutsk received visits of ambassadors of Mongolian khans, and in 1714 ambassadors of the Chinese Emperor arrived in the town. Irkutsk was the starting point for research and exploration expeditions to the Lena River, the Arctic and Pacific Oceans.

Since 1764, Irkutsk has been the center of the Irkutsk province, which covered vast territories up to Kamchatka at different times. It served as the primary base for developing the Russian Far East and Russian America. Until 1800, Irkutsk was home to the headquarters of the Russian-American Company, which was established by Imperial Decree and administered the Russian possessions in America, including the Aleutian Islands, Alaska, California, and even three forts in Hawaii. Before the discovery of gold deposits in California in 1849, Irkutsk was the global center of gold mining control. From 1768, the city hosted the largest annual trade fair in the region, which traded in furs, grain, lumber, wood, tea, and handicrafts. Industry was also developing: cottage industry eventually developed into crafts, leather and soap making workshops, candle factories, brick factories, glass, cloth, linen and hat making.

In 1725, Peter the Great decreed the establishment of the first educational institution in Eastern Siberia, it was the Mungal School at the Ascension Monastery. The school taught reading and writing, the Mongolian and Chinese languages. By the end of the 18th century, Irkutsk had opened a public school, a theological seminary, a navigation school, several secondary educational institutions, a museum, and a public library. No other Siberian town could boast such a number of schools at that time. During the 19th century, several new facilities were built, including a men's gymnasium, an institute for noble maidens, a teacher's seminary, several orphanages, a women's theological school, two schools where they taught handicrafts and professions, a military school, a military medical school, and others.

The East Siberian Branch of the Russian Geographical Society was established in Irkutsk in 1851. This event laid the foundation for development of the traditions of the Russian scientific school in Siberia. For a long time, it was one of the most powerful centers of research in the field of geography, ethnography, hydrology, archeology, vegetation, soils, and climate in the Far East and Siberia. This resulted in not only scientific, but also public contributions: museums, scientific libraries, astronomical observatories and meteorological stations were established in the region. Since the beginning of the 20th century, higher educational institutions have appeared in the city.

Irkutsk State University, the oldest higher educational institution in Eastern Siberia, was founded in 1918. Later on, it served the basis for many higher educational institutions of Irkutsk.

Science and education

Traditionally, Irkutsk is one of the largest scientific and educational centers of Siberia. The city has 17 higher educational institutions with over one hundred thousand students, 25 organizations of secondary vocational education, 78 secondary schools, and 16 municipal institutions of additional education.

In 1949, the Irkutsk Scientific Center was established. As of 2024, the city is home to 16 academic institutions, including ISTP SB RAS (http://en.iszf.irk.ru/Main_Page ). The Institute's history dates back to 1886, when Siberia's oldest magnetic and meteorological observatory was opened in Irkutsk. Hourly measurements of the Earth's magnetic field began in 1887 and haven't stopped for almost 140 years.

Culture and sports

Irkutsk has an active cultural life: 107 cultural and art institutions including theaters, orchestras, concert halls, art galleries, planetariums, art schools, etc. It hosts annual music festivals "Stars on Baikal", "Jazz on Baikal", regional literary and music festivals "Decembrist Evenings", Days of Russian Spirituality and Culture "The Shining of Russia". There are many folklore festivals representing the culture of the peoples living in the region. Every two years, Irkutsk hosts the International Alexander Vampilov Modern Drama Festival. Irkutsk is the birthplace of world-famous writers Valentin Rasputin and Alexander Vampilov, film director Leonid Gaidai, actor Nikolai Okhlopkov, pianist Denis Matsuev.

Irkutsk has 7 stadiums, 2 athletic arenas, 3 indoor ice rinks, 32 swimming pools, 3 climbing and 10 shooting sports centers, numerous sports grounds and gyms, as well as infrastructure facilities for sports activities, ski centers. Competitions in a variety of sports are held regularly, one of the brightest sporting events is the International Baikal Festival of Winter Games Zimniada.

Industry and transportation

Industries in Irkutsk include aircraft and machine building, production of vehicles, switchgear and its electronic components, non-metallic mineral products, food products, chemicals, textile and clothing production. Irkutsk is one of the largest energy production centers in Russia.

Irkutsk is a major transportation hub of Eastern Siberia. It houses East-Siberian Railway Department, international airport, East-Siberian River Shipping Company, river port, bus station. There is an extensive public transport network: buses, trolleybuses, trams, trams, and minibuses, and minibuses.

Climate

The city elevation is 440 m above sea level. Time zone is UTC+8.

The climate is sharply continental, with significant temperature variations between seasons, and between night and day.

Long-term annual averages are as follows:

air temperature +7.7°C (abs. min –49.7, abs. max +37.2);

total precipitation 477 mm (max of 107 mm in July, min of 9 mm in February);

air humidity 72%;

wind velocity 2 m/s;

195 clear days, 154 cloudy days, and 16 days with dismal weather.

Interesting facts about Irkutsk

Irkutsk is 42 years older than St. Petersburg (1661 vs 1703).

The Church of the Exaltation of the Cross (1758) is the only church in Siberia where the interior of the XVIII century has been completely preserved.

The Irkutsk Drama Theater is the fifth oldest in Russia (1850) and the first stone theater in Siberia (1897).

The main action of the novel by Jules Verne "Michel Strogoff" takes place in Irkutsk (1875).

In 1886, Irkutsk surpassed many Russian cities in the number of primary school learners per resident. It had 1 student per 24 citizens, while in St. Petersburg it was 1/80, in Moscow 1/75, and in Kazan - 1/38!

The icebreaker Angara is one of the oldest preserved icebreakers in the world (built in 1889).

On June 24, 1925, 6 airplanes landed in Irkutsk during a magnificent and historical flight Moscow - Irkutsk - Ulan Bator - Peking. The flight lasted 33 days.

The architect of the Glazkovsky Bridge (1936) over the Angara River was one of the authors of Lenin's Mausoleum in Moscow (I.A. Frantsuz)

The first regular passenger flights in the USSR on the world's only operating jet airliner Tu-104 began in 1956 on the Moscow — Irkutsk route.

Irkutsk is the leader in Russia in the number of wooden architecture monuments; there are more than 900 of them in the city.

Sightseeing

You can get acquainted with Irkutsk through a free audio guide (https://izi.travel/en/russia/city-guides-in-irkutsk/all/en). Once the application is installed on your mobile phone, registration does not take much time. Some of their tours can be found in Chinese, too.

Practicables

• The Workshop venue is located in the city center within walking distance to major attractions.
• Wi-Fi is available in the conference hall (Irkutsk city center hotel)
• In Russia, it is mandatory to pay in rubles
• A variety of cuisines are served in many cafes and restaurants. Find details at https://restaurantguru.com/Irkutsk#restaurant-list or https://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurants-g298527-Irkutsk_Irkutsk_Oblast_Siberian_District.html.
• All supermarkets, markets, pharmacies, most shops and souvenir shops are open all day, every day.
• Local public transport is only for cash.
• Public transport stops in the city center have maps showing your location.
• Standard weather in September: average air temperature is +9.5° C; total rainfall is 53 mm, air humidity 76%; wind velocity 2 m/s. For the period 5–15 September 2023, air temperature averaged +7.6°C in the night and +17.9° C in the daytime (abs. min of +0.4° С, abs. max of +24.2° С), there were 5 days with rain, 1 day with snow and 2 days with fog, total rainfall for the period was 64 mm.
• The standard voltage in Russia is 220 V (50 Hz). Power plugs and sockets / outlets of type C and type F are used.