Chita, Zabaykalsky Krai

Chita
Чита
City
Shumovs Merchants' House, Museum "Church of the Decembrists", Pedagogical Institute Chita, Airport, Cathedral of the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God
Shumovs Merchants' House, Museum "Church of the Decembrists", Pedagogical Institute Chita, Airport, Cathedral of the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God
Flag of Chita
Flag
Coat of arms of Chita
Coat of arms
Location of Chita
Chita is located in Russia
Chita
Chita
Location of Chita
Chita is located in Zabaykalsky Krai
Chita
Chita
Chita (Zabaykalsky Krai)
Coordinates: 52°03′N 113°28′E
Country Russia
Federal subject Zabaykalsky Krai
Administrative district Chitinsky District
Founded 1653
City status since July 11, 1851
Government
 • Mayor Evgeniy Yarilov
Elevation
 650 m (2,130 ft)
Population
 (2010 Census)
 • Total 324,444
 • Estimate 
(2018)
349,005 (+7.6%)
 • Rank 56th in 2010
 • Capital of Zabaykalsky Krai, Chitinsky District
 • Urban okrug Chita Urban Okrug
 • Capital of Chita Urban Okrug
Time zone UTC+9 (MSK+6 Edit this on Wikidata)
Postal code(s)
672000–672051
Dialing code(s) +7 3022
OKTMO ID 76701000001
Website www.admin.chita.ru

Chita (Russian: Чита, IPA: [tɕɪˈta]) is a city and the administrative center of Zabaykalsky Krai, Russia, located on the Trans-Siberian Railway route, roughly 900 kilometers (560 mi) east of Irkutsk. Population: 334,427 (2021 Census); .

History

Chita 1885

Pyotr Beketov's Cossacks founded Chita in 1653. The name of the settlement apparently came from the local River Chita.

Following the Decembrist revolt of 1825, from 1827 several of the Decembrists suffered exile to Chita. According to George Kennan, who visited the area in the 1880s, "Among the exiles in Chita were some of the brightest, most cultivated, most sympathetic men and women that we had met in Eastern Siberia."

When Richard Maack visited the city in 1855, he saw a wooden town, with one church, also wooden. He estimated Chita's population at under 1,000, but predicted that the city would soon experience fast growth, due to the upcoming annexation of the Amur valley by Russia.

By 1885, Chita's population had reached 5,728, and by 1897 it increased to 11,500. In 1897 the Trans-Siberian Railway reached Chita; rail traffic from 1899 rapidly made Chita the transport hub and industrial centre of the Transbaikal.

During the Russian Revolution of 1905, revolutionary socialists declared the Chita Republic. Tsarist government forces took control again in January 1906.

The Bolsheviks took power in Chita in February 1918. The Imperial Japanese Army occupied Chita from September 1918 to 1920 in the course of the Siberian intervention. On behalf of the White movement, Ataman Grigory Semyonov's Eastern Okraina ruled from Chita for some few months in early 1920 with Japanese support. From October 1920 to November 1922 the city served as the capital of the Far Eastern Republic, which became part of the RSFSR in November 1922.

In 1945, the Soviet authorities held Puyi, who had reigned (1908–1912, 1917) as the last Emperor of China, and some of his associates as prisoners in the city, in a former sanatorium for officers.

Geography

Chita lies at the confluence of the Chita and Ingoda Rivers, between the Yablonoi Mountains to the west and the Chersky Range to the east. Lake Kenon is located to the west, within the city limits, and the Ivan-Arakhley Lake System is a group of lakes lying about 50 km (31 mi) west of Chita.

Climate

Chita experiences a dry-winter borderline humid continental climate/subarctic climate (Köppen climate classification: Dwb/Dwc) with very cold, very dry winters and warm, relatively wet summers. The coldest temperature to have ever been recorded in Chita was −49.6 °C (−57.3 °F).

Climate data for Chita (1991–2020, extremes 1890–present)
Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year
Record high °C (°F) 0.4
(32.7) 		7.4
(45.3) 		21.1
(70.0) 		29.3
(84.7) 		34.6
(94.3) 		38.8
(101.8) 		38.0
(100.4) 		40.6
(105.1) 		30.9
(87.6) 		22.7
(72.9) 		12.7
(54.9) 		5.0
(41.0) 		40.6
(105.1)
Mean daily maximum °C (°F) −17.2
(1.0) 		−9.5
(14.9) 		0.0
(32.0) 		9.7
(49.5) 		18.2
(64.8) 		24.9
(76.8) 		26.7
(80.1) 		23.7
(74.7) 		16.8
(62.2) 		7.0
(44.6) 		−6.0
(21.2) 		−15.7
(3.7) 		6.6
(43.9)
Daily mean °C (°F) −24.6
(−12.3) 		−18.3
(−0.9) 		−8.1
(17.4) 		2.2
(36.0) 		10.2
(50.4) 		17.1
(62.8) 		19.5
(67.1) 		16.6
(61.9) 		9.2
(48.6) 		−0.1
(31.8) 		−12.5
(9.5) 		−22.1
(−7.8) 		−0.9
(30.4)
Mean daily minimum °C (°F) −30.4
(−22.7) 		−25.9
(−14.6) 		−16.0
(3.2) 		−5.0
(23.0) 		2.2
(36.0) 		9.2
(48.6) 		12.7
(54.9) 		10.4
(50.7) 		2.7
(36.9) 		−6.0
(21.2) 		−18.0
(−0.4) 		−27.4
(−17.3) 		−7.6
(18.3)
Record low °C (°F) −49.6
(−57.3) 		−48.0
(−54.4) 		−45.3
(−49.5) 		−29.6
(−21.3) 		−13.3
(8.1) 		−5.4
(22.3) 		0.1
(32.2) 		−3.0
(26.6) 		−10.8
(12.6) 		−33.1
(−27.6) 		−41.1
(−42.0) 		−47.8
(−54.0) 		−49.6
(−57.3)
Average precipitation mm (inches) 3
(0.1) 		2
(0.1) 		4
(0.2) 		12
(0.5) 		27
(1.1) 		59
(2.3) 		88
(3.5) 		85
(3.3) 		41
(1.6) 		10
(0.4) 		5
(0.2) 		5
(0.2) 		341
(13.4)
Average extreme snow depth cm (inches) 7
(2.8) 		7
(2.8) 		2
(0.8) 		1
(0.4) 		0
(0) 		0
(0) 		0
(0) 		0
(0) 		0
(0) 		0
(0) 		3
(1.2) 		6
(2.4) 		7
(2.8)
Average rainy days 0 0 1 5 11 16 18 17 13 5 0.2 0 86
Average snowy days 15 9 8 7 3 0.03 0 0 1 7 11 15 76
Average relative humidity (%) 76 72 59 47 46 58 68 73 66 61 70 77 64
Mean monthly sunshine hours 139 179 239 242 277 279 247 226 212 190 134 108 2,472
Source 1: Pogoda.ru.net
Source 2: NOAA (sun, 1961–1990)
Historical population
Year Pop. ±%
1897 12,000 —    
1926 57,982 +383.2%
1939 102,620 +77.0%
1959 171,816 +67.4%
1970 241,364 +40.5%
1979 302,577 +25.4%
1989 365,754 +20.9%
2002 316,643 −13.4%
2010 324,444 +2.5%
2021 334,427 +3.1%
Source: Census data

Administrative and municipal status

Chita is the administrative center of Zabaykalsky Krai, and, within the framework of administrative divisions, it also serves as the administrative center of Chitinsky District, to which it is also subordinated. As a municipal division, the city of Chita together with one rural locality in Chitinsky District is incorporated as Chita Urban Okrug.

City districts

The city is subdivided into four administrative districts: Chernovsky (named after the Chernovskiye coal mines and colloquially known as "Chernovskiye"), Ingodinsky (named after the Ingoda River), Tsentralny, and Zheleznodorozhny.

Chernovsky Administrative District used to be a mining settlement, which was incorporated into Chita in 1941. Chernovskiye mines themselves are a geological nature monument of international status.

Transportation

Chita is served by Kadala Airport, situated 15 km to the west.

Education

Main article: Education in Siberia

Chita is home to several facilities of higher education:

Military

Chita Northwest air base is located nearby, as well as the 101st (Hub) Communications Brigade and the 53rd Material Support Regiment.

Sports

FC Chita is Chita's association football club.

An indoor arena for speed skating is planned.

Twin towns – sister cities

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

Chita is twinned with:

Notable people