Zakamensk


Zakamensk is a town and the administrative center of Zakamensky District of the Republic of Buryatia, Russia, located on the Dzhida River southwest of Ulan-Ude and from the border with Mongolia. Population:

History

It was founded in 1893 as a mining settlement under the name of Gorodok. Mining of the local tungsten and molybdenum reserves began in 1933. Town status was granted to it in 1944. It was renamed Zakamensk in 1959, from the Russian term Zakamen which had been used for the region since the 17th century. The word means beyond the rocks in Russian, referring to its location beyond the Khamar-Daban mountains.

Administrative and municipal status

Within the framework of administrative divisions, Zakamensk serves as the administrative center of Zakamensky District. As an administrative division, it is incorporated within Zakamensky District as the Town of Zakamensk. As a municipal division, the Town of Zakamensk and Kholtosonsky Selsoviet are incorporated within Zakamensky Municipal District as Zakamensk Urban Settlement.

History of the municipal divisions

used to be municipally incorporated as Kholtosonskoye Rural Settlement, but the latter was merged into Zakamensk Urban Settlement on July 18, 2015.

Economy and transportation

The town's economy relies mainly on the mining and processing of metal ores, which are then mainly transported to smelters in the Ural Mountains. There is road from Zakamensk to Dzhida railway station, to the east on the Trans-Mongolian Railway.