View source for Balakovo

{{Short description|Town in Saratov Oblast, Russia}}
{{Lead too short|date=November 2022}}
<!--{{For|the village in Kalininsky District of Tver Oblast|Balakovo, Tver Oblast}}-->
{{Infobox Russian inhabited locality
|en_name=Balakovo
|ru_name=Балаково
|image_skyline=Усадьба_Мальцева.jpg
|image_caption=Maltsev Manor in the historical part of the city
|coordinates={{coord|52|02|N|47|47|E|display=inline,title}}
|map_label_position=bottom
|image_coa=Coat of Arms of Balakovo (Saratov oblast).png
|coa_caption=
|image_flag=
|flag_caption=
|anthem=
|anthem_ref=
|holiday=
|holiday_ref=
|federal_subject=[[Saratov Oblast]]
|federal_subject_ref=<ref name="SaratovO_charter">Charter of Saratov Oblast, Article&nbsp;10</ref>
|adm_city_jur=[[city of federal subject significance|city of oblast significance]] of Balakovo
|adm_city_jur_ref=<ref name="SaratovO_admlaw" /><ref name="OKATO" />
|adm_ctr_of1=[[Balakovsky District]]
|adm_ctr_of1_ref=<ref name="OKATO" />
|adm_ctr_of2=city of oblast significance of Balakovo
|adm_ctr_of2_ref=<ref name="OKATO2" />
|inhabloc_cat=City
|inhabloc_cat_ref=<ref name="SaratovO_charter" />
|inhabloc_type=
|inhabloc_type_ref=
|mun_district_jur=Balakovsky Municipal District
|mun_district_jur_ref=<ref name="SaratovOBalakovskyD_mun" />
|urban_settlement_jur=Balakovo Urban Settlement
|urban_settlement_jur_ref=<ref name="SaratovOBalakovskyD_mun" />
|mun_admctr_of1=Balakovsky Municipal District
|mun_admctr_of1_ref=<ref name="SaratovO_mun1">Law #78-ZSO</ref>
|mun_admctr_of2=Balakovo Urban Settlement
|mun_admctr_of2_ref=<ref name="SaratovOBalakovskyD_mun" />
|leader_title=Head
|leader_title_ref=<ref name="HeadLegis">Charter of Balakovo, Article&nbsp;15</ref>
|leader_name=Barulin Sergey Vladimirovich
|leader_name_ref=<ref name="HeadNm">Official website of Balakovo. [http://www.mo-balakovo.ru/city/head/bio.php City Head. Biography.] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304102203/http://www.mo-balakovo.ru/city/head/bio.php |date=March 4, 2016 }} {{in lang|ru}}</ref>
|representative_body=[[Council of Balakovo|Council]]
|representative_body_ref=<ref name="HeadLegis" />
|area_of_what=
|area_as_of=
|area_km2=
|area_km2_ref=
|pop_2010census=199690
|pop_2010census_rank=94th
|pop_2010census_ref=<ref name="2010Census">{{ru-pop-ref|2010Census}}</ref>
|pop_density=
|pop_density_as_of=
|pop_density_ref=
|pop_latest=
|pop_latest_date=
|pop_latest_ref=
|established_date=1762
|established_title=
|established_date_ref=<ref name="gr" />
|current_cat_date=1911
|current_cat_date_ref=<ref name="gr" />
|prev_name1=
|prev_name1_date=
|prev_name1_ref=
|postal_codes=413840, 413841, 413843, 413849–413851, 413853, 413855–413861, 413863–413866
|dialing_codes=8453
|dialing_codes_ref=
|website=http://mo-balakovo.ru
}}
'''Balakovo''' ({{lang-rus|Балако́во|p=bəlɐˈkovə}}) is a [[types of inhabited localities in Russia|city]] in [[Saratov Oblast]], [[Russia]], located on the East bank of the [[Volga River]] about {{convert|131|km|sp=us}} northeast of [[Saratov]], the [[administrative center]] of the [[oblast]]. Population: {{ru-census|p2010=199,690|p2002=200,470|p1989=197,391}}{{Historical populations|1897|16000|1926|19000|1939|23179|1959|36428|1970|103495|1979|151560|1989|197391|2002|200470|2010|199690|2021|184466|type=|footnote=Source: Census data}}

==History==
It was founded in 1762 by the [[Old Believers]] who returned from [[Poland]] and was granted town status in 1911.<ref name="gr">{{cite book|title=Энциклопедия Города России|year=2003|publisher=Большая Российская Энциклопедия|location=Moscow|isbn=5-7107-7399-9|page=33}}</ref>

===Russian Empire===

For a long time it was believed that the city of Balakovo was founded in 1762, but later a document dated 1738 was found in the archives of St. Petersburg, which mentions the Cossack meadow possession of Balakov Yurt, located two [[verst]]s from the Volga. December 14, 1762 Empress of Russia [[Catherine the Great|Catherine II]] issued a manifesto calling on the Old Believers, who had fled to Poland, to return from abroad to Russia and settle on the lands between the [[Bolshoy Irgiz River|Bolshoy]] and [[Maly Irgiz River|Maly Irgiz]] rivers. To the zealots of the old faith, 70,000 [[dessiatin]]s (76,300 hectares) of the best land on the left bank of the Volga were allocated for use. Returned Old Believers founded several new settlements, including the village of Balakovo. In 1861 there were 2,700 people living in the village of Balakovo. The convenient location on the shipping routes helped the village to grow rapidly due to wheat trade. In one season, up to 10 million poods of grain were sent from Balakovo. More than 300 spacious barns that stood on the shore of Balakovo, allowed to store grain from harvest to harvest. In the 1860s for one navigation, from Balakovo could go up to 180 barges with cargo. Another commodity, to which the Balakovo merchants traded in huge quantities, was the forest. Balakovo was an intermediary between the forest provinces of the Upper Volga region and the forestless left bank of the Volga. Here, from such rivers as [[Kama river|Kama]], [[Belaya River (Kama)|Belaya]], [[Vyatka River|Vyatka]], it was brought annually up to 500 thousand poods of firewood and up to three million poods of forest building materials. Part of this forest was processed in two sawmills.

With the development of trade, the pier freight turnover grew, the fleet of freight and passenger ships increased. To repair them, the ship-repair industry was created. In 1897 the population of the village reached 18388 people.

The beginning of the 20th century was marked by a significant expansion of the borders of the village, as well as an increase in the number of industrial enterprises. In May 1911, the Highest Ordinance was signed to confer on Balakovo the status of a city with the rights of self-government. Ivan Mamin, the industrialist, became the first city head. On the eve of the 1917 revolution, there were 6 churches, 7 schools, the [[grain trade|grain market]], the ironworks of [[Fyodor Blinov]] and the mechanical plant of oil engines of the Mamin brothers, ship repair and furniture workshops, sawmills, mills, a commercial college opened in 1910, with considerable financial assistance of the merchant - a patron of Ivan Kobzar, the Zemsky hospital and the city factory ambulance (polyclinic), a library, and a power plant, which was organized by the "Light" partnership.

Inventors-self-taught Fyodor Abramovich Blinov and Yakov Mamin glorified Balakovo as the birthplace of the world's first caterpillar tractor, wheel self-propelled gun and Russian diesel engine. The plant of oil engines and tractors Yakov Mamin in 1915 produced 325 diesel engines, with a total capacity of 5100 horsepower. The image of the old Balakovo was created by such architects as H. F. Meyer and academician [[Fyodor Schechtel]]. Carefully preserving and restoring the historical landscape of the central part, the people of Balakovo constantly improve the appearance of a new, young city with spacious avenues, straight as arrows, avenues, slender buildings with elegant facades.

===Soviet Union===

Until 1928, Balakovo was part of the [[Samara Governorate]] (Balakovo county existed in 1919–1924), after the Lower Volga region, from December 5, 1936, to the Saratov Oblast.

In the period from 1956 to 1971, the [[Saratov Hydroelectric Station]] was built in Balakovo, which led to the flooding of the Volga and the flooding of part of the coastal territory and the changing appearance of the modern city, as well as its sharp growth associated with obtaining the necessary electricity. In a short time the Balakovo industrial complex was created, numbering more than two dozen enterprises of chemistry, engineering, energy, construction industry, food industry. In 1985, the first power unit of the [[Balakovo Nuclear Power Plant]] was put into operation, which currently has 4 operating power units.

As a result of the referendum on December 22, 1996, the Balakovo municipal formation was created, which included the city of the regional subordination of Balakovo and the rural Balakovo district. In 2004 the Balakovo municipal formation was renamed [[Balakovsky District|Balakovo municipal district]].

==Administrative and municipal status==
Within the [[subdivisions of Russia#Administrative divisions|framework of administrative divisions]], Balakovo serves as the [[administrative center]] of [[Balakovsky District]],<ref name="OKATO">{{OKATO reference|63 207}}</ref> even though it is not a part of it.<ref name="OKATO2">{{OKATO reference|63 407}}</ref> As an administrative division, it is incorporated separately<ref name="OKATO2" /> as the '''[[city of federal subject significance|city of oblast significance]] of Balakovo'''—an administrative unit with the status equal to that of the [[administrative divisions of Samara Oblast|districts]].<ref name="SaratovO_admlaw">Law #21-ZSO</ref> As a [[subdivisions of Russia#Municipal divisions|municipal division]], the city of oblast significance of Balakovo is incorporated within Balakovsky Municipal District as '''Balakovo Urban Settlement'''.<ref name="SaratovOBalakovskyD_mun">Law #103-ZSO</ref>

==Economy==
[[File:BalakovoNPP3.jpg|thumb|[[Balakovo Nuclear Power Plant]]]]
Balakovo is the location of the [[Saratov Hydroelectric Station]] on the [[Volga River]] and the [[Balakovo Nuclear Power Plant]]. It is served by the [[Balakovo Airport]] which currently does not work. Balakovo has a rail connection to [[Moscow]], and is an end destination for some train routes.

==Geography==
===Climate===
Balakovo has a [[humid continental climate]] ([[Köppen climate classification|Köppen]]: ''Dfa'') with long cold winters and warm, often hot summers. The warmest month is July with daily mean temperature near {{convert|+22|C}}; the coldest month is February with {{convert|-8|C}}. Balakovo has distinct cold and warm seasons, like cold winters and warm summers. The temperatures at night are cooler than during daytime.

Winter has prolonged freezing periods, with the coldest month most often being December. August is on average the month with most sunshine. Rainfall and other [[precipitation]] has no distinct peak month, but June is slightly the wettest.{{citation needed|date=November 2018}}
{{Weather box
|location=Balakovo
|metric first=yes
|single line=yes
|Jan record high C=8
|Feb record high C=8
|Mar record high C=17
|Apr record high C=31
|May record high C=34
|Jun record high C=40
|Jul record high C=41
|Aug record high C=41
|Sep record high C=38
|Oct record high C=25
|Nov record high C=16
|Dec record high C=11
|year record high C=41
|Jan high C=-5
|Feb high C=-4
|Mar high C = 1
|Apr high C = 13
|May high C = 21
|Jun high C = 26
|Jul high C = 28
|Aug high C = 27
|Sep high C = 20
|Oct high C = 12
|Nov high C = 3
|Dec high C = -3
|year high C = 
|Jan mean C = −8
|Feb mean C = −8
|Mar mean C = −3.5
|Apr mean C = 8
|May mean C = 15
|Jun mean C = 20
|Jul mean C = 21.5
|Aug mean C = 20.5
|Sep mean C = 14.5
|Oct mean C = 7.5
|Nov mean C = 0
|Dec mean C = −6
|year mean C = 
|Jan low C = -11
|Feb low C = -12
|Mar low C = -6
|Apr low C = 3
|May low C = 9
|Jun low C = 14
|Jul low C = 15
|Aug low C = 14
|Sep low C = 9
|Oct low C = 3
|Nov low C = -3
|Dec low C = -9
|year low C = 
|Jan record low C = -37
|Feb record low C = -35
|Mar record low C = -27
|Apr record low C = -17
|May record low C = -3
|Jun record low C = 2
|Jul record low C = 6
|Aug record low C = 4
|Sep record low C = -2
|Oct record low C = -12
|Nov record low C = -23
|Dec record low C = -33
|year record low C = -37
|Jan precipitation mm = 39
|Feb precipitation mm = 31
|Mar precipitation mm = 31
|Apr precipitation mm = 30
|May precipitation mm = 38
|Jun precipitation mm = 42
|Jul precipitation mm = 35
|Aug precipitation mm = 27
|Sep precipitation mm = 41
|Oct precipitation mm = 34
|Nov precipitation mm = 35
|Dec precipitation mm = 35
|year precipitation mm = 
| Jan rain days = 3
| Feb rain days = 2
| Mar rain days = 4
| Apr rain days = 6
| May rain days = 7
| Jun rain days = 6
| Jul rain days = 6
| Aug rain days = 5
| Sep rain days = 6
| Oct rain days = 9
| Nov rain days = 7
| Dec rain days = 4
| Jan snow days = 16
| Feb snow days = 12
| Mar snow days = 7
| Apr snow days = 1
| May snow days = 0
| Jun snow days = 0
| Jul snow days = 0
| Aug snow days = 0
| Sep snow days = 0
| Oct snow days = 2
| Nov snow days = 8
| Dec snow days = 14
|Jan humidity= 85
|Feb humidity= 84
|Mar humidity= 81
|Apr humidity= 65
|May humidity= 54
|Jun humidity= 58
|Jul humidity= 56
|Aug humidity= 55
|Sep humidity= 59
|Oct humidity= 72
|Nov humidity= 84
|Dec humidity= 86
|year humidity= 
|source 1 = Myweather.com<ref name="myweather">{{cite web
| url = http://www.myweather2.com/City-Town/Russia/Balakovo/climate-profile.aspx | title = Myweather.com| access-date = May 13, 2012
}}</ref>
|source 2 = Meteoblue.com<ref name="meteoblue">{{cite web
| url = https://www.meteoblue.com/ru/%D0%BF%D0%BE%D0%B3%D0%BE%D0%B4%D0%B0/%D0%BF%D1%80%D0%BE%D0%B3%D0%BD%D0%BE%D0%B7/modelclimate/%D0%91%D0%B0%D0%BB%D0%B0%D0%BA%D0%BE%D0%B2%D0%BE_%D0%A0%D0%BE%D1%81%D1%81%D0%B8%D1%8F_579492 | title = Meteoblue.com| access-date = April 27, 2017
}}</ref>

}}

==Infrastructure==

Passenger transportations are carried out by buses, route taxis, taxis and trolleybuses. In 2002 a new section of the contact network was put into operation, which allowed increasing the number of trolleybus routes.

The connection between the two parts of the city is carried out by the lock bridge. In 2003, it was decided to build a second bridge across the Navigable Canal. Since December 9, 2015 the Bridge "Victory Bridge" has been put into operation.

There is a bus station "Balakovo", railway station Balakovo, railway station "Linyovo" (for freight trains, electric trains), river station, river port, ship repair port.

Earlier in Balakovo, there was a similar airport (located near the village of Malaya Bykovka), which until the late 1990s received regular flights.<ref>[http://www.balakovo.ru/news.view.php?num_news=7641 Балаковская энциклопедия: Аэрофлот]</ref> In 2003 the airport was closed.

==Sports==
There is a [[motorcycle speedway|speedway]] team called Speedway Klub Turbina,<ref>{{cite web |url=https://turbinabalakovo.ru/ |title=Home Page |website=Speedway Club Turbina Balakovo |access-date=28 January 2024}}</ref> that is six-time Soviet Union champion and three-time Russian champion. The [[Trud Stadium (Balakovo)|Trud Stadium]] is located south west of the centre of the city, on the south side of the [[Volga]] and has hosted various international competitions.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.speedwayplus.com/Balakovo.shtml |title=Balakovo - Russia |website=Speedway Plus |access-date=28 January 2024}}</ref>

==Cityscape==
{{Panorama
 |image=
 |caption={{center|Panorama of Balakovo}}
 |height=150
}}

==Notable people==
* [[Anastasia Karpova]] (born 1984), pop singer
* [[Yevgeni Khlebodarov]] (born 1980), former footballer
* [[Andrei Kovalenko]] (born 1970), professional ice hockey forward
* [[Andrey Kudriashov]] (born 1991), speedway rider
* [[Dmitri Kugryshev]] (born 1990), professional ice hockey forward
* [[Ivan Maximkin]] (born 1988), professional ice hockey defenceman
* [[Artem Vodyakov]] (born 1991), speedway rider

==Twin towns – sister cities==
{{See also|List of twin towns and sister cities in Russia}}
Balakovo is [[Sister city|twinned]] with:<ref>{{cite web |title=Города-побратимы|url=https://www.mo-balakovo.ru/city/twinning/|website=mo-balakovo.ru|publisher=Balakovo|language=ru|access-date=2020-02-04}}</ref>
*{{flagicon|SVK}} [[Trnava]], Slovakia
*{{flagicon|RUS}} [[Cherepovets]], Russia
*{{flagicon|USA}} [[Scranton, Pennsylvania]], United States
<!--Pabianice, Baku - not twinning-->

==References==
===Notes===
{{Reflist}}

===Sources===
*{{RussiaBasicLawRef|sar}}
*{{RussiaBasicLawRef|sar|balakovsky|balakovo}}
*{{RussiaAdmMunRef|sar|adm|law}}
*{{RussiaAdmMunRef|sar|mun|list0}}
*{{RussiaAdmMunRef|sar|mun|list|balakovsky}}

==External links==
*[http://www.admbal.ru/ Official website of Balakovo] {{in lang|ru}}
*[https://balakovo.jsprav.ru/ Directory of organizations in Balakovo] {{in lang|ru}}

{{Saratov Oblast}}
{{Authority control}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=May 2011}}

[[Category:Cities and towns in Saratov Oblast]]
[[Category:Nikolayevsky Uyezd (Samara Governorate)]]
[[Category:Populated places on the Volga]]