Irkutsk

Irkutsk is the largest city and administrative center of Irkutsk Oblast in Russia, with a population of 587,891 at the 2010 census, the 25th largest city in Russia and the fifth largest in the Siberian Federal District. The city proper lies on the Angara River, a tributary of the Yenisei, about 850 kilometers southeast of Krasnoyarsk and 520 kilometers north of Ulaanbaatar, and it is connected to other regions of Russia and Mongolia by the Trans-Siberian Highway and Trans-Siberian Railway. Many prominent Russians were exiled to Irkutsk for their part in the Decembrist revolt of 1825, and the city remained a place of exile for the rest of the century; when the railway reached it, Irkutsk earned the nickname the Paris of Siberia, and some historic wooden houses from that era still survive. The city saw bitter fighting during the Russian Civil War of 1918 to 1920 and became a major center of Soviet aircraft manufacturing, and its historic center is included on UNESCO's tentative list of World Heritage Sites.