Sochi
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Sochi (English) Сочи (Russian) Шəэчa (Adyghe) |
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 View of Sochi from the Black Sea |
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 Sochi on the map of Russia |
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| Coordinates |
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| Coat of Arms | Flag |
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| City Day: May 1 | |
| Federal subject Municipal status In jurisdiction of Administrative center of |
Krasnodar Krai Urban okrug Krasnodar Krai — |
| Head | Viktor Kolodyazhny |
| Legislative body | City Assembly |
| Charter | Charter of Sochi |
| Area | |
| Area - Rank |
3,508 km² n/a |
| Population (as of the 2002 Census) | |
| Population - Rank - Density |
328,809 inhabitants 55th 93.7 inhab. / km² |
| Founded | 1864 |
| Renamed Sochi | 1896 |
| Town status | 1917 |
| Other information | |
| Postal code | 354061 |
| Dialing code | +7 8622 |
| Official website | |
| http://www.sochiadm.ru/ | |
Sochi (Russian: Со́чи; Adyghe: Шəэчa) is a Russian resort city, situated in Krasnodar Krai near the southern Russian border. It is located among the snow-capped peaks of the Caucasus Mountains overlooking the shores of the Black Sea. At 147 km, Greater Sochi is claimed to be the longest city in the world. As of the 2002 Census, it had a population of 328,809; down from 336,514 recorded in the 1989 Census.
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[edit] History
From the 6th to the 15th centuries, the area successively belonged to the Khazars, kingdoms of Abkhazia, and Georgia, who built a dozen churches in modern Sochi. Ruins of an 11th century Byzantine basilica still survive in Loo. From the 15th century, the coast was controlled by the Ottoman Empire and partially by the local mountainous clans. It was ceded to Russia in 1829, as a result of the Russo-Turkish War.
In 1838, a fort of Alexandriya (Александри́я) was founded on the territory of modern Sochi. In 1839, the fort was renamed Navaginsky (Навагинский). In the course of the Crimean War, the fort was abandoned by the Russian troops and was not re-built until 1864, as the outpost of Dakhovsky (Даховский). In 1874, the outpost was renamed Dakhovsky Posad (Даховский Посад). The posad got its present name in 1896. Town status was granted to Sochi in 1917.
From 1918 to 1919, the town and its environs saw sporadic armed clashes involving the Red Army, White movement forces, and the Democratic Republic of Georgia.
Sochi was established as a fashionable resort area in the years of the Soviet Union, when Joseph Stalin had his favourite dacha built in the city.
[edit] Climate
Sochi has a surprisingly warm climate for the latitude; winter temperatures rarely fall much below freezing. The average summer high temperature ranges between +26 °C (78.8 °F) and +32 °C (89.6 °F) with occasional extreme heat in some interior locations exceeding +40 °C (104 °F).
[edit] Resort
The resort has the warmest climate in Russia, averaging +7 °C (44.6 °F) in January and February, and boasts many sanatoria and mineral baths. There are also tea plantations, the most northerly in Europe. The permanent population is about 315,400 (2004) but thousands more arrive each summer, when the city is home to the annual film festival "Kinotavr" and the vacation place of Russian leaders. A UNESCO World Heritage Site, the Caucasian Biosphere Reserve, sprawls just north from the city.
Apart from the majestic Caucasus Mountains, pebbly and sand beaches, Sochi attracts vacation-goers with its subtropical vegetation, numerous parks, monuments, and extravagant Stalinist architecture. The local markets are made primarily of kiosks grouped together in areas with pavilions and more permanent larger structures.
Sochi is also remarkable for its sport facilities: a local tennis school spawned the careers of such notable players as Maria Sharapova and Yevgeny Kafelnikov. Kafelnikov spent much of his childhood here, while Sharapova relocated to Florida at the age of 7. Both are Grand Slam champions. In late 2005, the Russian Football Union announced that it was planning to establish a year-round training center for the country's national teams in Sochi. The city's warm climate was cited as one of the main incentives (the city's temperature averages above 14 degrees Celsius).
[edit] 2014 Winter Olympic Candidate City
In June 2006, IOC president Jacques Rogge announced that Sochi had been selected as a finalist city to host the 2014 Winter Olympics. The other two finalists are Pyeongchang, South Korea, and Salzburg, Austria.[1]
In contrast to what was perceived as a lukewarm bid by Russia for Moscow to host the 2012 Summer Olympics, the Russian government has committed to a $12 billion investment package, shared 60-40 between the government and private sector, should Sochi be successful. The IOC will vote on a final candidate on July 4, 2007 in Guatemala City, Guatemala. If the current bid is unsuccessful Sochi is widely expected to try through at least the 2022 games to attempt to win a bid.
Environmental organisation Greenpeace has objected to Sochi being a candidate, because, according to Greenpeace, several of the planned sport resorts are located in natural reserves.[2]
[edit] Sister cities
Sochi is twinned with the following cities:
Cheltenham, UK (1959)
Menton, France (1966)
Rimini, Italy (1977)
Espoo, Finland (1989)
Long Beach, California, USA (1990)
Trabzon, Turkey (1991)
Pärnu, Estonia (1994)
Weihai, China (1996)
[edit] See also
- Adler-Sochi International Airport
- Gagra and Pitsunda - adjacent resorts in Georgia
[edit] References
- ^ Olympics: Georgia, Kazakhstan, Russia Await Decision On 2014 Bid. Radio Free Europe (21 June 2006). Retrieved on December 3, 2006.
- ^ Olimpic Games at the Cost of World Heritage?. greenpeace.org (13 July 2006). Retrieved on December 3, 2006.
[edit] External links
[edit] Olympic-related
[edit] Other
- Sochi Club - Online guide to Sochi
- Sochi sites directory and search engine
- Sochi OnLine - Information portal
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Cities and towns in Krasnodar Krai |  |
| Administrative center: Krasnodar Abinsk | Anapa | Apsheronsk | Armavir | Belorechensk | Gelendzhik | Goryachy Klyuch | Gulkevichi | Khadyzhensk | Korenovsk | Kropotkin | Krymsk | Kurganinsk | Labinsk | Novokubansk | Novorossiysk | Primorsko-Akhtarsk | Slavyansk-na-Kubani | Sochi | Temryuk | Tikhoretsk | Timashyovsk | Tuapse | Ust-Labinsk | Yeysk |
