Belgorod
Russia · Europe
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About Belgorod
Belgorod is a city that serves as the administrative center of Belgorod Oblast, Russia, located on the Seversky Donets River, approximately 40 kilometers (25 mi) north of the border with Ukraine. It has a population of 339,978 (2021 census).
It was founded in 1596 as a defensive fort on the southern border of Russia. Contested by various factions during World War I and the Russian Civil War, the city served as the temporary Soviet Ukrainian capital at the turn of 1918 and 1919.
The name Belgorod (Белгород) in Russian literally means "white city", a compound of "белый" (bely, "white, light") and "город" (gorod, "town, city"). The name is a reference to the region's historical abundance of limestone.
The population of Belgorod is 339,978 as of the most recent censuses:
339,978 (2021 census); 356,402 (2010 census); 337,030 (2002 census); 300,408 (1989 Soviet census).
As of the 2021 Census, the ethnic composition of Belgorod was:
1149,931 people (or 44.1% of the population) residing in Belgorod did not state their ethnicity in the 2021 census.
Belgorod travel guide
Understand
Belgorod Oblast is a relatively unpopulated provincial area of the Russian-Ukrainian borderlands. The city of Belgorod is by no means a major tourist destination, but that in itself might make it more attractive to travelers favoring the less beaten path, and it has a good deal to offer a tourist interested in a more slowly paced, small, provincial capital. The region's biggest attraction, however, is its battlefield legacy as one of the principal stages of the Battle of Kursk, a World War II battle of an extraordinary scale and importance that is one of the principal turning points of the war. Military buffs, relatives of the deceased, and curious travelers will find that, although there is a museum dedicated to the battle in Belgorod, the majority of interesting sites are in and around the northern town of Prokhorovka.
Getting there
Flights arrive to Belgorod from Moscow. Trains arrive from Moscow through Kursk and Voronezh.
Getting around
Travelers can easily reach Prokhorovka via the rail line running between Kursk and Belgorod.
Overview adapted from Wikipedia, travel guide fromWikivoyage (CC BY-SA)。Photography via Wikimedia Commons.