Omsk (Омск), Russia

Church of the Dormition of the Theotokos, Omsk, Russia
Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Dormition_of_the_Theotokos_Church_-_Omsk.jpg
Author: XioNoX


Omsk (Russian: Омск) is a city in southwestern Siberia, Russia. Located 1,389 km (863 mi) from Moscow, Omsk spans over 573 sq km (221 sq mi) and has a population of 1.15 million people. It is the second largest city east of the Ural Mountains after Novosibirsk, and the 7th largest in the country.

Omsk sprawls along the banks of the Irtysh River, at the confluence with the Om River. It began as one of the military outpost established in 1716 to protect Russia's expanding frontier. The initial fortification was made of wood. This was rebuilt in bricks in the late 18th century.

In the 19th century, Omsk had developed into a major city in Siberia. It was made the administrative center of Western Siberia and the Steppes, which is present-day Kazakhstan. For a while, the city went into decline until the construction of the Trans-Siberian Railway gave its economy a much-needed boost. It brought merchants and trading companies to the city, and enabled it to built its now picturesque old district.

Under the Soviet Union, Omsk fell out of favor. During this period, Novosibirsk was chosen to be the administrative center of Western Siberia. This caused an exodus of important institutions from Omsk to Novosibirsk. It negatively impacted Omsk's economy, and sparked a rivalry between the two cities that continues to this day.

Omsk City Center
Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:RUS_Omsk,_city_center.jpg
Author: WarXboT


Omsk received another boost when the Second World War prompted the transfer of the Soviet provisional capital there. Along with that came military production. The presence of military enterprises turned Omsk into a city closed to foreigners until after the Soviet Union was dissolved, after which the collapse in demand for Soviet miliary hardware led to high unemployment.

The dissolution of the Soviet Union brought a period of stagnation and economic instability. Attempting to fill the vacuum left by the state, various members of the former party elite as well as the nouveau riche and criminal syndicates all fought over control of the city's businesses. Eventually, the oblast government took charge of the city. Nonetheless Omsk is still regarded as lagging behind other Russian cities in terms of economic development and quality of life.

Omsk City Council
Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Omsk_City_Council.jpg
Author: G0rn

Visiting Omsk

Flights from Moscow to Omsk take three hours while trains on the Trans-Siberian Railway takes 40 hours.

Places of Interest in Omsk

 Latest updates on Penang Travel Tips

About this website

Dear visitor, thank you so much for reading this page. My name is Timothy Tye and my hobby is to find out about places, write about them and share the information with you on this website. I have been writing this site since 5 January 2003. Originally (from 2003 until 2009, the site was called AsiaExplorers. I changed the name to Penang Travel Tips in 2009, even though I describe more than just Penang but everywhere I go (I often need to tell people that "Penang Travel Tips" is not just information about Penang, but information written in Penang), especially places in Malaysia and Singapore, and in all the years since 2003, I have described over 20,000 places.

While I try my best to provide you information as accurate as I can get it to be, I do apologize for any errors and for outdated information which I am unaware. Nevertheless, I hope that what I have described here will be useful to you.