Syktyvkar is the capital city of the Komi Republic in Russia, as well as its largest city. It is also the administrative center of the Syktyvkar Urban Okrug. Until 1930, it was known as Ust-Sysolsk, after the Sysola River.

Etymology

The city's name comes from Syktyv, the Komi name for the Sysola River, and kar, meaning "city" in the Komi Language.

Geography

Syktyvkar is located on the Sysola River, which is the origin of its former name Ust-Sysolsk. The city is located close to where the Sysola joins the larger Vychegda River, which is itself a branch of the Northern Dvina.

History

It is believed that the city was founded in 1586 as a settlement Ust-Sysola. It was granted city status by Catherine the Great in 1780, and in 1992, it became the capital of the Komi Republic. It has remained the capital since then, although a large influx of ethnic Russians in the 20th century has actually left the Komi a minority there. When Kandinsky stayed there in 1889 to record the culture and beliefs of the locals, the town had a group of administrative buildings along with more numerous log-built peasant huts. The majority of the population were merchants and peasants. The main occupations of the inhabitants were agriculture, cattle-breeding, hunting, fishing, and trade. By the beginning of the 20th century, the population had grown to 6,000 people. The Tsarist government made the Komi region a place of political exile. In 1921, Ust-Sysolsk was given the status of administrative center of the newly formed Komi-Zyryan Autonomous Oblast. It was renamed as Syktyvkar, which is Komi for "a town on the Sysola" in 1930, to mark the 150th anniversary of its receipt of city privileges. In 1936, Syktyvkar became the capital of the Komi ASSR.

Administrative and municipal status

Syktyvkar is the capital of the republic. Within the framework of administrative divisions, it is, together with three urban-type settlements (Krasnozatonsky, Sedkyrkeshch, and Verkhnyaya Maksakovka) and three rural localities, incorporated as the city of republic significance of Syktyvkar—an administrative unit with the status equal to that of the districts. As a municipal division, the city of republic significance of Syktyvkar is incorporated as Syktyvkar Urban Okrug.

Economy

The Sysola, the Vychegda, and the Northern Dvina are navigable and are a major transport route of forestry products from Syktyvkar. Lumber and woodcrafts are the city's largest industries. Previously Komiinteravia had its head office in Syktyvkar.

Transportation

The city is served by Syktyvkar Airport and Syktyvkar Southwest airfield. The city has a railway station as well. Syktyvkar is the end point of route R176 (Vyatka Highway).

Culture and education

Syktyvkar is the center of the cultural life in the republic. The oldest museum of the Republic of Komi, the National Museum, was founded in 1911. Nowadays, the National Museum is the Literature Memorial Museum of Ivan Kuratov and the museum of Viktor Savin. The National Gallery was founded in Syktyvkar in 1943. It welcomes exhibitions from different museums of the country. The Theater of Opera and Ballet began its history in 1958. The National Library numbers 2.5 million volumes, including books in the Russian language, foreign languages and in the Komi language. Syktyvkar State University was founded in 1972 and has over 3,500 full-time students and 250 faculty members. The city's folk ensemble "Asya Kya" has been representing Komi Republic on national and international festivals. One of the oldest Russian progressive rock bands The Gourishankar was founded in Syktyvkar in 2001.

Sports

Stroitel which has played many seasons in the highest division of Russian bandy, nowadays called the Russian Bandy Super League, has then played several seasons in the second division, called Russian Bandy Supreme League. At the final tournament of the 2016–17 season, with two Super League tickets held in Syktyvkar, Stroitel won and was thus eligible for promotion. After discussions whether or not to accept, the answer was a yes and the team will play Super League bandy again in the season of 2017–18. Its home venue is Respublikanskiy Stadion. In the 2016/17 season, the club adopted a new logotype instead of an old one which had a white bear playing bandy. There is also a youth team called KDYuSSh-1.

Events

Climate

Syktyvkar experiences a subarctic climate (Köppen climate classification Dfc) with long, cold winters and short, warm summers. Compared with areas at a similar latitude in Siberia, winters are less extreme, but still much longer than summer and bitterly cold by European standards.

Twin towns – sister cities

Syktyvkar is twinned with:

Sources