Magnitogorsk was founded in 1743 as part of theOrenburg Line of forts built during the reign of theEmpress Elizabeth. By 1747, the settlement had grown large enough to justify the building of a small wooden chapel, later named "the Church of the Holy Trinity".
Russian iron-ore mining in this region dates back to 1752, when two entrepreneurs named Tverdysh and Myasnikov decided to explore the feasibility of mining in the area. They took advantage of the fact that Mount Magnitnaya did not belong to anyone at that time; they secured it for themselves by way of petition to Empress Elizabeth. In 1759, the petition was accepted, and they launched iron-ore production.
In 1928, a Soviet delegation arrived inCleveland, Ohio, to discuss with American consulting company Arthur G. McKee a plan to set up in Magnitogorsk a copy of theU.S. Steel steel-mill inGary, Indiana. The contract was increased four times, and eventually the new plant had a capacity of over four million tons annually.[6]
It was a showpiece of Soviet achievement. Huge reserves ofiron ore in the area made it a prime location to build a steel plant capable of challenging its Western rivals. However, a large proportion of the workforce, as ex-peasants, typically had few industrial skills and little industrial experience. To solve these issues, several hundred foreign specialists arrived to direct the work, including a team of architects headed by the GermanErnst May.
According to the original plans, the city was to have followed thelinear city design, with rows of similarsuperblock neighborhoods running parallel to the factory, with a strip of greenery, or greenbelt, separating them. Planners would align living and production spheres so as to minimize necessary travel time: workers would generally live in a sector of the residential band closest to the sector of the industrial band in which they worked.
However, by the time that May completed his plans for Magnitogorsk, construction of both factory and housing had already started. The sprawling factory and enormous cleansing lakes had left little room available for development, and May therefore had to redesign his settlement to fit the modified site. This modification resulted in a city being more "rope-like" than linear. Although the industrial area is concentrated on the left bank of the river Ural, and most residential complexes are on its right bank, the city inhabitants are still subjected to noxious fumes and factory smoke.[citation needed]
The city underwent rapid change in the 1930s when, according toStalin's Five-Year-Plans, Magnitogorsk was to become a one-industry town modeled after two of the most advanced steel-producing cities in the United States at that time:Gary, Indiana, andPittsburgh, Pennsylvania. At this time, hundreds of foreign experts streamed in to implement and direct the work.[7]
The bookBehind the Urals, byJohn Scott, documents the industrial development of Magnitogorsk during the 1930s. Scott discusses the fast-paced industrial and social developments during Stalin'sfirst five-year plan and the rising paranoia of the Soviet regime preceding theGreat Purge of the late 1930s.
In 1937, foreigners were told to leave, and Magnitogorsk was declared aclosed city. There is little reliable information about events and development of the city during the closed period.
The city played an important role duringWorld War II because it supplied much of the steel for the Soviet war effort. Furthermore, its strategic location east of theUral Mountains made Magnitogorsk safe from seizure by theGerman Army.[8]
During theperestroika movement of theGorbachev administration, the closed-city status was removed, and foreigners were allowed to visit the city again. The years after perestroika brought a significant change in the life of the city; the Iron and Steel Plant was reorganized as a joint-stock companyMagnitogorsk Iron and Steel Works (MISW or MMK), which helped with the reconstruction of the railway and the building of a new airport.
With the depletion of the substantial local iron-ore reserves, Magnitogorsk has to import raw materials from northernKazakhstan.[9]
On December 31, 2018, anapartment block in the city of Magnitogorsk suffered agas explosion andcollapse which killed 39 of its residents, and injured 17 more.[10]
The city is connected by theMagnitogorsk International Airport and by a railway. Public transport includes trams, buses, and taxis. The city is ranked 8th in the world and 2nd in Russia for automobile congestion.[11]
There are also three theatres: Pushkin Drama Theatre (the oldest in the city), the Opera and Ballet House, and the Puppet Theatre. The Church of the Ascension of the Lord opened in 2004.
The city is located on the eastern side of the extreme southern extent of the Ural Mountains by the Ural River.
Magnitogorsk was mentioned in theBlacksmith Institute's 2007 survey of the world's worst polluted cities, placed in the report's unranked list of the 25 most-polluted places outside the top ten. Pollutants includelead,sulfur dioxide, heavy metals and other air pollutants. According to the local hospital, only 1% of all children living in the city are in good health. The Blacksmith Institute says that, according to a local newspaper report, "only 28% of infants born in 1992 were healthy, and only 27% had healthy mothers". However, according to Blacksmith Institute, plant managers have upgraded much of their equipment in recent years and emissions have been reduced by about 60%.[12]
Magnitogorsk has a distinct four-seasonhumid continental climate[13] (Dfb) with relatively severe winters for the latitude. This climate type is typical for southerly Russian areas far from large bodies of water. The average July high is around 25 °C (77 °F) with lows of 13 °C (55 °F) with January averages ranging from −10 °C (14 °F) in daytime high to −18 °C (0 °F) in average low.[14] Temperatures approaching 34 °C (93 °F) or above have been measured from May to September with real severe frosts below −36 °C (−33 °F) have been measured in all other months than that except transitional months April and October.[14]
Climate data for Magnitogorsk (1991–2020, extremes 1948–present)
Законодательное Собрание Челябинской области. Постановление №161 от 25 мая 2006 г. «Об утверждении перечня муниципальных образований (административно-территориальных единиц) Челябинской области и населённых пунктов, входящих в их состав», в ред. Постановления №2255 от 23 октября 2014 г. «О внесении изменений в перечень муниципальных образований (административно-территориальных единиц) Челябинской области и населённых пунктов, входящих в их состав». Вступил в силу со дня официального опубликования. Опубликован: "Южноуральская панорама", №111–112, 14 июня 2006 г. (Legislative Assembly of Chelyabinsk Oblast. Resolution #161 of November 25, 2006On Adoption of the Registry of the Municipal Formations (Administrative-Territorial Units) of Chelyabinsk Oblast and of the Inhabited Localities They Comprise, as amended by the Resolution #2255 of October 23, 2014On Amending the Registry of the Municipal Formations (Administrative-Territorial Units) of Chelyabinsk Oblast and of the Inhabited Localities They Comprise. Effective as of the official publication date.).
Scott, John,Behind the Urals: An American Worker in Russia's City of Steel, Indiana University Press, 1989.ISBN0-253-20536-0
Degtyarev A. G.,Letopis' gory Magnitnoy i goroda Magnitogorska, 1993.
Kotkin, Stephen.Steeltown, USSR:Soviet Society in the Gorbachev Era
Kotkin, Stephen,Magnetic Mountain: Stalinism as a Civilization.
Scott, John (1989).Behind the Urals: An American Worker in Russia's City of Steel (Enlarged ed.). Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press. p. 306.ISBN0-253-35125-1.
Kotkin, Stephen (1995).Magnetic Mountain: Stalinism as a Civilization. Berkeley and Los Angeles, California: University of California Press. p. 639.ISBN0520069080.
Kotkin, Stephen Steeltown, USSR date 1991. Publisher U. of California Press.
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