Tambov

52°44N 41°28E, pop (2000e) 333 000. Capital city of Tambovskaya oblast, SC European Russia, on a tributary of the R Oka; founded as a fortress, 1636; airfield; railway; synthetic resins and plastics, clothing, engineering.

Tambov (Russian: Тамбо́в) is a city in Russia, the administrative center of Tambov Oblast.

The name "Tambov" originates from a Moksha language word meaning wetland. Originally built as a border fortress against Crimean Tatars Tambov soon declined in importance as military outpost of Muscovy and became an administrative and trade center of largely rural Russian Empire region.

In 1779, Tambov viceroyalty was formed and on August 16, 1781, Catherine the Great approved the town's coat of arms depicting a beehive symbolizing the town's hardworking residents.

In November of 1830 during the Cholera Riots in Russia the citizens of Tambov attacked their governor, but they were soon suppressed by the regular army.

In the 19th century Tambov grew into a significant cultural center with a number of schools, libraries and institutions established there and by 1897 more than 50,000 people lived in Tambov.

Between 1920 and 1921, the region around Tambov was the place of the Tambov rebellion—a bitter struggle between local residents and Bolshevik Red Army.

During and after World War II most of the Malgré-nous from Alsace-Moselle where jailed in the "camp n° 188" at Tambov.

Today Tambov is a large industrial and cultural center of Russia. The Tambov Art Gallery numbers a vast collection of canvases by Russian and West-European artists. Russia's oldest drama theater is located in Tambov, as well as two universities, two military colleges, a musical school, a museum of local lore, and other cultural institutions.