Coat of arms

Barnaul

Barnaul

Barnaul was founded by the industrialist Akinfy Demidov in the first half of the 18th century on the River Ob to serve as a base for extracting mineral deposits from the nearby Altai Mountains. The project was successful and for the rest of the century Barnaul became a centre for copper and silver production. Today the city remains an industrial hub for Siberia. Most tourists who visit Barnaul come en route to the Altai Mountains, but Barnaul in itself is a pretty Siberian city with many traditional wooden houses, complete with a Hollywood-type sign overlooking the city.


Basic facts
Name in Russian
Барнаул
Status
City-municipality and administrative centre of the Altai Territory
Location
On the River Ob
Distance
230km south of Novosibirsk; 3,565km east of Moscow
Time Zone
Omsk Time
Population
632,848 people (2014)
Founded
1730
Official Website
http://barnaul.org/