Izhevsk

Izhevsk (ēzhĭfsk`), city (1989 pop. 635,000), capital of Udmurt Republic, E European Russia. A major steel-milling, armaments, machinery, motor vehicles, and metallurgical center, Izhevsk has ironworks dating back to 1760. Institutes studying Udmurt literature and history make Izhevsk the cultural center of the Udmurt Republic.

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Izhevsk

an industrial city in central Russia, capital of the Udmurt Republic. Pop.: 632 000 (2005 est.)

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Izhevsk 

a city, the capital of Udmurt ASSR. Located 40 km from the Kama River, on its tributary the Izh. A highway junction and a rail junction for lines to Agryz, Piban’shur, and Votkinsk. Population, 456,000 (1972), up from 176,000 in 1939 and 285,000 in 1959.

In 1760, Count P.I. Shuvalov founded an ironworks on the site, around which arose the settlement of Izhevskii Zavod. In 1807 the plant was turned into an arms factory and placed under the War Ministry. A Social Democratic group led by V. Sukhikh was organized at the factory in 1904. The workers of Izhevsk participated in the Revolution of 1905–07. A strike of 40,000 workers, which was led by the Bolsheviks, took place in Izhevsk in February 1917. Soviet power was established in Izhevsk on Oct. 27 (Nov. 9), 1917. The settlement of Izhevsk was incorporated as a city on Feb. 21, 1918. Izhevsk was captured by the White Guards during the Civil War of 1918–20 and finally liberated by the Red Army on June 8, 1919. In 1921, Izhevsk became the administrative center of the Votiak Autonomous Oblast, which was renamed the Udmurt Autonomous Oblast in 1932. Izhevsk became the capital of the Udmurt ASSR in 1934.

During the years of Soviet power, Izhevsk has been transformed into a major industrial center, providing more than 50 percent of the total industrial output of Udmurtia. The principal branches of industry are remolding metallurgy, metalworking, and machine building (motorcycles, electric saws, screw-cutting lathes, reduction gears, derrick and transport equipment, metallurgical and oil equipment, and hunting and sporting rifles). An automobile plant (which started production in 1970) and a paper-manufacturing plant are under construction (1972). There are numerous enterprises in light industry and the food industry. Izhevsk’s educational institutions include a university; mechanical, medical, and agricultural institutes; an industrial school and an assembly technical school; and medical, musical, and cultural-educational colleges. There are Russian and Udmurt theaters of music and drama, a puppet theater, a circus, and a museum of local lore.

The city is located in a hilly area and is bordered by a forest on the north and west. The Izh River and the man-made Izhevsk Pond divide the city into two parts.

Izhevsk is built according to a regular plan instituted in 1808 (architects S.E. Dudin et al.). Several empire-style buildings have been preserved, including the ironworks complex (1809–44; architect S.E. Dudin), the arsenal (1823–25; architects S.E. Dudin and A.P. Belianinov), and the Alexander Nevsky Cathedral (1820–23; architect L. Ruska). According to the general plan of 1961 (architect G.E. Aleksandrov), a new administrative cultural center is being created in the hilly part of Izhevsk and an intensive program of housing construction is under way.

REFERENCE

Sevriukov, O.V. Izhevsk. Izhevsk, 1969.