Ukhta

Ukhta (Russian: ????) (also spelled Uchta) is an important industrial town in the Komi Republic of northwestern Russia.

Related Topics:
Russian - Komi Republic - Russia

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Lying on the Ukhta River, the settlement was founded as the village of Chibyu in 1929. In 1939 it was renamed Ukhta. It received the town status in 1943 when it was linked to the Pechora Railway.

Related Topics:
Ukhta River - 1929 - 1939 - 1943 - Pechora Railway

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Ukhta lies within the Pechora River basin, an important oil and gas-producing region. Some of the Ukhta's oil is refined locally; most, however, is piped to oil refineries between St. Petersburg and Moscow. The city expanded in 40's and 50's by use of forced labour made of Stalinist regime political prisoners.

Related Topics:
Pechora River - Oil - Gas - Oil refineries - St. Petersburg - Moscow

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As of 2001, the population of the town was 96,000.

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On 11 July, 2005 a gas explosion killed 16 people in a shop. According to a police source the explosion was caused by a gas canister.

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