Kyzyl

Kyzyl (/kɪˈzɪl/; Russian: Кызыл, Russian pronunciation: [kɨˈzɨɫ]; Tuvan: Кызыл, Kızıl, Tuvan pronunciation: [qɤˈzɤɫ], ) is the capital city of the republic of Tuva, Russia. The name of the city means "red" or "crimson" in Tuvan (and in many other Turkic languages). Its population was 120,067 (2021 Census). Kyzyl stands at the point where the Great Yenisey (Bii-Xem) meets the Little Yenisey (Kaa-Xem) river to form the Yenisey proper (Ulug-Xem). Most development takes place south of the Yenisey and Little Yenisey and follows the curves of the river, with the highest development centered just below the confluence of the Great Yenisey with the Little Yenisey. A monument was built in 1964 on the river bank to mark this.
The city was founded in 1914 as Belotsarsk (Russian: Белоцарск, pronounced [bʲɪɫɐˈt͡sarsk]; "White Tsar's town"). In 1918, it was renamed Hem-Beldir (Tuvan: Хем-Белдир, [xem belˈdɪɾ]). In 1926 it was given its present name. When the city was the capital of Tannu Tuva, it was named Kizil Khoto. In September 2014, Kyzyl celebrated its 100th anniversary as a city. The settlement was founded in 1914 by Russian settlers immediately after the entry of the then Uryankhay Krai under the protectorate of the Russian Empire called Belotsarsk .

In the center of the Uryankhay region, at the confluence of the two Yenisei, the Big and Small, on a large elevated plain, I have designed the administrative center of the region, the future city of Belottsarsk. This name was given in honor of the Sovereign Leader of the Russian people, known to the Uryankhs under the name "Tsagan-Khan", which means White Tsar ...

— Vladimir Gabaev, head of the Russian population in Tuva

In 1918, in connection with the revolution and the antimonarchist movement, it was renamed to Khem-Beldyr, and in 1926 to Kyzyl (Tuv .: red). In 1921–1944, the city was the capital of Tuvan People's Republic, from 1944 to 1961 the capital of the RSFSR's Tuvan Autonomous Oblast, from 1961 to 1991 of the Tuvan ASSR and since 1991 of the Republic of Tyva. They began to lay a new city in the village of Vilany, in Tuvan – Khem-Beldyr, which means "confluence of rivers". Technological engineer K.V. Goguntsov and topographer M. Ya. Kryuchkov arrived here in February 1914. Kryuchkov drew a general plan of the city of Belotsarsk (fund 123, opis, 2, delo 21), which basically coincides with the plan of the central part of the city of Kyzyl. The city plan shows the numbers of the land plots and gives an explanation of who owns these plots. In May 1914, the head of the Russian population in Uryankhai approved the draft rules on the allotment of land plots and the organization of a committee for the improvement of the future city. The very first plots were allocated for houses of officials, administration, for honorary Uryankhs, treasury, post and telegraph office, state fire shed. The city was built by recruited workers from Krasnoyarsk, Minusinsk, Tomsk and other cities of Siberia, Tuvan farm laborers, Russian workers who fled from gold mines because of difficult working and living conditions. On July 4, 1915, the Commissioner for the Uryankhay Krai V. Yu. Grigoriev wrote a letter to the Head of the Russian population in the Uryankhay Krai, where the very important issue of creating a museum in the city of Belotsarsk was raised (fund 123, inventory 2, file 53, sheets 25–26). At the IV Uryankhay regional congress on March 11, 1918, a decree was issued to rename Belottsarsk to Uryankhaysk. However, this name did not stick to the city, it was still called White Tsarsky. The revolutionary events of 1917 in Russia did not pass by the new capital of Tuva. During a major battle (the White Tsarsky battle) between the red partisans of the detachment of P.E. Schetinkin and A.D. Kravchenko and the Kolchak men under the command of the captain G.K. Bologov at the end of August 1919, the city was almost completely burned down. The 10th congress of representatives of the Russian population of Tuva (September 16–20, 1920) gathered in the village of Turan, Uryankhai region. At this congress it was decided to restore the city and rename it the Red City. On August 13, 1921, in the town of Sug-Bazhy (the village of Kochetovo), the Vsetuvinsky Constituent Khural of representatives of all khoshuns (khoshun was an administrative-territorial unit of that time) of Tuva gathered. Khural proclaimed the creation of an independent state – the Tuvan People's Republic. In March 1922, the Tuvan government, the Central Committee of the Tuvan People's Revolutionary Party (Central Committee of the TPRP), and the executive committee of the Russian Self-Governing Labor Colony (RSTK) were transferred to the restored Kyzyl. In the spring of 1922, the city of Kyzyl became the capital of the Tuva People's Republic (TPR). In 1924, the Tuvan Central Cooperative (Tuvintsenkoop, TCC) was formed, which played a significant role in the development of industrial production, domestic and foreign trade. In 1925, the Tuvan National Bank (Tuvinbank) began its activity, which contributed to the development of all sectors of the national economy. In Kyzyl, enterprises for the processing of agricultural raw materials were organized, in 1928 a shoemaker's workshop was opened, in 1930-1931 – a sausage workshop, a pimokatny and tailoring workshop. In the early 1940s, a mill, a sawmill, a power station and a brick factory operated in Kyzyl, and sheepskin and fur production was organized. In 1929 the Kyzyl printing house was opened, the transport organization "Soyuztrans" was created. From that moment, the beginning of the development of the transport of the Tuvan People's Republic was laid. Two years later, the truck fleet consisted of 31 vehicles. In 1931, a telephone exchange for 30 subscribers was opened in the city of Kyzyl.