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Solvychegodsk (Russian: Сольвычего́дск, lit. "salt on the Vychegda River") is a town in Kotlassky District of Arkhangelsk Oblast, Russia, located on the right-hand bank of the Vychegda River 25 kilometers (16 mi) northeast of Kotlas, the administrative center of the district. Population: 2,460 (2010 Census);[3] 2,843 (2002 Census);[6] 4,004 (1989 Census).[7]
Solvychegodsk was founded in the 14th century on the shores of Lake Solyonoye.[5] The town was known as Usolsk in the 15th century.[5] Anikey Stroganov (1488–1570) opened salterns in 1515, which later become a huge industry, and started the Stroganov family fortune. In the 16th–17th centuries, Solvychegodsk was a big commercial, handicraft, and cultural hub of Northern Russia. It was especially famous for its enamel industry. Solvychegodsk was captured and looted by Polish-Lithuanian vagabonds, the Lisowczycy, on January 22, 1613. In 1796, the town became a part of Vologda Governorate. It was also known as a place of political exile. In 1937, Solvychegodsk was transferred to the jurisdiction of Arkhangelsk Oblast.
Joseph Stalin was exiled here for seven months after being arrested by the Okhrana in April 1909 and for another seventeen months in 1911.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solvychegodsk
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Just in case you mistakenly heard that it was all ice and snow in Russia, take a peek at the Big Bikini Exposition. This is right on the river Moskva in Moscow!Moscow has been the capital of Russia for almost its entire history. The exception is during the period of the Russian Empire, which lasted from 1721 until the Russian Revolution 1917. For these two centuries the capital was St. Petersburg. The Russian Empire was the second largest contiguous Empire in world memory; only the Mongol Empire had been greater.Check out what's happening north of Mongolia these days, in ChitaAlthough you may not have heard of Sochi, on the Black Sea, they're building up quickly and hope to host the 2014 Olympics.Other periods of Russian history include the Tsardom of Russia, from Ivan IV to Peter the Great, and the Grand Duchy (14th-16th centuries).The earliest period of Russian history was ruled by the Novgorod Republic and Kievan Rus, which was the first Russian state dating back to 800AD in Kiev.Modern Russia remains one of the world's superpowers. They launched the earth's second satellite, called Sputnik 1, and were the first country to put a human being into orbit around earth. (The first one is called the Moon.)After the breakup of the Soviet Union in 1991, Russia became a federal republic of 83 states.Text by Steve Smith.
