Kemerovo is an industrial city in Russia, situated on the Tom River, east-northeast of Novosibirsk. It is the administrative center of Kemerovo Oblast in the major coal mining region of the Kuznetsk Basin. The population is about 484,754 (2002 Census). It is served by Kemerovo Airport.

The city is located 3,482 kilometers (2,163.7 mi) east of Moscow at the confluence of the Iskitim and Tom Rivers. It is an important industrial city developed during Soviet times with important chemical, fertiliser, and manufacturing industries and is linked to western Russia by a branch of the Trans-Siberian Railway. Since the disintegration of the Soviet Union, the city's industries have experienced a severe decline, creating high levels of unemployment.

Kemerovo's position gives it a continental climate with average temperatures varying between −18 °C (−0.4 °F) in January to +20 °C (68 °F) in July and relatively low precipitation of around 420 mm annually.

History

Kemerovo is an amalgamation of, and successor to, several older Russian settlements. A waypoint named Verkhotomsky ostrog was established nearby in 1657 on a road from Tomsk to Kuznetsk fortress. In 1701, the settlement of Shcheglovo was founded on the left bank of the Tom; soon it became a village. By 1859, seven villages existed on the area of the modern Kemerovo: Shcheglovka (or Ust-Iskitimskoye), Kemerovo (named in 1734), Yevseyevo, Krasny Yar, Kur-Iskitim (Pleshki), Davydovo (Ishanovo), and Borovaya. In 1721, coal was discovered in the area. The first coal mines were established in 1907 and a chemical works was established in 1916. By 1917, the population of Shcheglovo had grown to around 4,000 people.

The area's further development was boosted by building a railway between Yurga and Kolchugino (now Leninsk-Kuznetsky) with a connection between Topki and Shcheglovo. Shcheglovo was granted town status in 1918, which is now considered to be the date of Kemerovo's founding. Kemerovo, at the time still a village, became part of Shcheglovsk municipality. In 1932, Shcheglovsk was renamed Kemerovo and became the center of Kemerovo Oblast in 1943.