Kemerovo, Siberia

We often get asked about the area in Siberia from where we are adopting Maksim. So, my darling husband put together some facts about the history of the Region of Kemerovo.

Welcome to Kemerovo 101..with professor David

The region of Kemerovo is located in the southeastern part of Western Siberia. It’s 1,859 miles and four time zones from Moscow and another 4,817 miles and eight time zones from Detroit. Kemerovo is on the same latitude as Moscow, Warsaw, Berlin, and Wales in western Europe. In North America its, Edmonton Alberta and Sitka Alaska.

The average temperature in January is –2 degrees Fahrenheit and in July the average is 66. The highest temperature is about 100 in the summer and falls to 65 below zero in the winter. BUURRRRRRRRR!!!

The soil in this region is extremely fertile and black, but the long winters, short dry summers, and early frosts make harvests unpredictable. Even with this sort of growing season most people here still need to have their own vegetable gardens to get by in the winter. It appears that mowing the grass is a western thing! Most yard have grass that is knee deep.


*You can click on the above image to view it larger.

The city of Kemerovo was formed in 1918 from two villages. The city was called Shcheglovsk, (try pronouncing that) until 1932 when it received its name from a nearby railway station. The city’s growth was connected to the coal mining and chemical plants in the late 1930’s. Kemerovo’s industrial development surged during World War II, when large companies and factories were evacuated from the European part of the former USSR to Kemerovo. Some of these factories are still working today.

The Kemerovo region coat of arms

The Kemerovo regional flag

Hey you in the back of the class....wake up we are almost done.

The people here live mostly in Soviet era block apartments. Private houses are very rare, inhabited mostly by the very wealthy. The poor continue to live in their old, run down houses because they can't afford to repair or step up to an apartment. The average worker, for example, a clerk, earns about $180.00 a month, $2,160.00 a year. A manager might earn twice that amount.

The wildlife in this region is as varied as its natural landscape. Bears, Sable, Lynx, Badgers, Wolverines, Hares and Otters can all be found here. Our driver Eugene spends his spare time fishing for Pike in the many rivers and lakes around Kemerovo. In the forests steppes you can find Fox, Moose, and Roe deer. In the highlands of Kuznetsky Alatou to the north lives the Siberian Reindeer. (Jeff S., I think we have found your next hunting safari.)

Well, that’s it for today’s history lesson.
Stay tuned for some little known facts about Moscow, the former CCCP and Red Army Hockey.