Severobaikalsk

The history of Severobaykalsk is closely related to the history of the Baikal Amur Mainline. The town was founded as a logistics center and a central starting point for the railway project. To the west the railway line was developed to Bratsk and to the east to Tynda. At this time the only settlement in the area was the village Nizhneangarsk, located at the edge of a swampy plain at the northern tip of the lake. It was decided to develop the new town Severobaykalsk 20kilometres (12mi) southwest of Nizhneangarsk on a plateau above the lake, thus allowing further extensions and development in the future. Originally it was planned to increase the population of the town to 140,000 people.

The first volunteers of the Komsomol and workers arrived in 1974 and founded a work camp that would later become the town of Severobaykalsk. The camp was initially named New Year (Russian: Новогодний, transliteration: Novogodniy) and consisted of tents, wooden shacks and railway cars. The camp grew rapidly with the development of the railway, and Severobaykalsk was eventually granted town status in 1980. During this time until official completion of the railway line in 1984 the town had a partnership with Leningrad. Since completion of the Baikal Amur Mainline the town has been in decline, with many projects cancelled during Perestroika.

The population reached a high with an estimated 35,000 inhabitants in the 1980s and subsequently declined to 28,336 in 1989 and an estimated 25,800 in 2006. As the town was founded mostly by volunteers of the Komsomol the population is relatively young. Ninety percent of the population is Russian Orthodox and ten percent are Buryats.

Like most Soviet-planned cities, the town center is dominated by five to six floor high rise buildings made of prefabricated concrete panels. Because the northern region of Lake Baikal is in an seismically active region the standard design of the high rise buildings has been adapted to ensure greater resistance to earthquakes. The suburbs are dominated by shacks that trace back to the early foundation period when Severobaykalsk was a work camp. Some of these shacks are made of old railway cars.

The main avenue of Severobaykalsk is Leningradskiy Prospect, which starts at the railway station and runs through the central area of the town. The railway station is shaped similar to a sail and was designed by architects from Leningrad. In front of the railway station is a monument to volunteers and workers from Leningrad who built the town. North of the railway station, along Leningradskiy Prospect is the main square, where the town administration and the Palace of Culture of the railway workers are located. Severobaykalsk also has a church and a museum dedicated to the history of the Baikal Amur Mainline.

Port of Severobaikalsk	Local country Severobaikalsk	Lake Baikal