Elista

Capital of Kalmykia, 1,836 km south-east of Moscow. Located in the south-east part of the Yergeni Upland. Sharply continental climate. The temperature in January ranges from -5 tо -8?С, in July from 23 to 26?С. Precipitation of 170-400 mm a year.

Terminal of the Svetlograd - Elista railway line. Motor road junction, including the roads of Stavropol - Astrakhan and Elista - Volgograd. Airport. Population (1992 est.) 93 thousand, (1939 est.) 17 thousand, (1959 est.) 23 thousand, (1970 est.) 50 thousand, (1979 est.) 70.3 thousand.

Elista (the Kalmyk elstya for 'sandy') appeared at the site of a gully, where the Elista wood plantation was founded in 1853. Since 1865, Elista was a village of the Astrakhan government (province) and the ulus headquarters of the southern part of the Maly Derbent ulus. At the beginning of the XX century, it was the centre of the Manych ulus, Cherny Yar uyezd (canton), Astrakhan government; famous for its cattle fairs. Since 1918, it was the centre of the Elista uyezd. In 1927, the city was begun to be built and in 1928, it became the centre of Kalmyk oblast (province). City since 1930;, capital of Kalmykia since 1935. During the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945, Elista was occupied by Nazi troops (since August 12, 1942) and heavily destroyed; it was liberated at the night of January 1, 1943. In 1944-1957, it was referred to as the town of Stepnoy within Stavropol kray of Russia.

Elista is the industrial and cultural centre of Kalmykia. At the beginning of the 1990s, the city had the Kholodilnik works, construction material industry (a ceramsite factory, a concrete product plant, an integrated house-building factory), food industry (a meat-processing plant, a creamery), light industry (a clothes factory, a furniture factory, a knitting mill).

In 1970, Kalmyk State University was opened in Elista. Theatres: B. Basangov Drama Theatre, puppet show. Philharmonic Society. Museum of local lore (founded in 1930, re-opened in 1959) presents products of vernacular crafts and works of art by Kalmyk artists. Picture gallery.

In the 1930s, the house of the Ministerial Council and the former Oblast CPSU Committee (in the spirit of constructivism, architect I.А.Gоlоsоv), a polyclinic and the Elista Hotel (architect S.A.Khazykov) were built. In 1963, the general city-planning scheme of Elista, providing zonation of the city, was approved. It distinguished the central administrative area, the area of industrial construction (in the east) and the area of residential housing (in the west). In the city centre, there is a square with a puppet show and the Rodina Park. A memorial complex in honour of Comsomol heroes and partisans perished during the Civil and the Great Patriotic Wars. A monument to A.S.Pushkin (1983, sculptor N.A.Sandzhiyev).