Photos by Optimist (Russia, Tyumen region. Surgut) Tyumen is the largest city and the administrative center of Tyumen Oblast, Russia. The city is located on the Tura River 2,144 kilometers east of Moscow. As of 2010 the population of Tyumen is 581,800 Tyumen is the oldest Russian settlement in Siberia. Founded in 16th century to support Russia’s eastward expansion, the city has remained one of the most important industrial and economic centers east of the Ural Mountains. Located at the junction of several important trade routes and with easy access to navigable waterways, Tyumen rapidly developed from a small military settlement to a large commercial and industrial city. The central district of Old Tyumen retains many historic buildings from throughout the city’s history.Today Tyumen is one of Russia’s most important business centers, it is also prominent in the political and culture life of the country.The administrative center of Tyumen Oblast—a vast oil-rich region stretching from the Kazakh border to the Arctic Ocean—Tyumen is the transportation hub and industrial center of this region as well as the home of many companies active in Russia’s oil and gas industry
