About Vladivostok
Vladivostok (vladi-va-STOK) was established on the Pacific Rim as a Russian military post in 1860. Currently, while the Russian navy maintains a Vladivostok presence, the city is less a Russian military strong point and more, the city from which Russia can project its commercial, technological, scientific importance to Pacific Rim partners. Vladivostok continues to be a leading administrative center in the Russian Far East PIC
During the last century, much of Russia’s Pacific Rim commerce was conducted through Vladivostok. The city was, and remains the eastern terminus of the Trans-Siberian Railway. Today, Vladivostok’s well developed business infrastructure---banks, exchanges, investment companies, logistics companies and robust commercial culture---combined with Vladivostok’s geographic and geopolitical position, make Vladivostok an international commercial center.
While Vladivostok was once Russia’s largest Pacific port, technically, since the turn of the century, fuel, coal, timber and container terminals located in the nearby Nakhodka-Vostochy port complex enable the residents of Nakhodka, Oakland’s sister city, to claim that distinction. On the other hand, because Vladivostok is a significant commercial broker for its Chinese, Japanese, and Korean trade partners, the Commercial Port of Vladivostok holds a significant global, commercial position.
Vladivostok also engages with multiple, American West Coast ports; and, in terms of sister city relationships, aside from San Diego, Vladivostok “twins” with Tacoma and Juneau.
Vladivostok is located on a peninsula that descends in shelves to where the flanking Amursky Zaliv (bay) and Ussuriisky Zaliv meet Peter the Great Bay - an extension of the Sea of Japan. Steep hills and extended ridges force narrow, curving street patterns that tend to follow the peninsula coastline, while gradually dropping to the Golden Horn Bay (Zolotoi Rog). Most of the city’s some 850,000 residents occupy high-rise, apartments located on these ridges.
Most of Vladivostok’s industrial, scientific, and educational institutions tend to be located near the bay, as in San Diego. Even the names of these institutions reflect the bay’s immediate, cultural influence and, these names imply the larger influence of the Pacific Ocean. For example: Far Eastern Shipping Company (FESCO); the names of the fifteen Far Eastern Branch of Russian Academy of Science (FEBRAS) institutes: Marine Biology, Oceanographic Institute, etc.; or, the names of other ten, higher education institutions, such as the Far Eastern State University (elevated to national status in the Russian system; now: Far Eastern National University/FENU) suggest how Vladivostok has become the major scientific center of the Russian Far East. San Diego has similarly developed like-type partnerships.
Parallels between our two cities are striking. Both are cosmopolitan, urban places. However, the two sister cities are dissimilar in some regards. Vladivostok’s population, recently emplaced within a relatively tight, peninsular space, is more densely populated (1183 per square kilometer). Large numbers of people have recently migrated to San Diego. However, San Diego is less densely populated. Both cities cope with infrastructure development (highways, water, and other utilities), land use, and pollution issues. While San Diego currently stands slightly ahead of her sister in terms of revenues and remedies, San Diego’s revenue stream has recently frozen. On the other hand, Vladivostok’s access to revenue for infrastructure development has been slightly improved as Vladivostok will, on behalf of the Russian Federation, host the 2012 Asian-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) conference.
Vladivostok is the capital of Primorsky Krai. (primorsky translates “maritime” and krai, a federal division of the Russian Federation, is often translated “province”). Primorsky Krai is located in the extreme South-Eastern region of Russia and it is bordered by North Korea, China, and the waters of the Sea of Japan. Vladivostok, the krai’s administrative center, is located just hours from Korea and China, in the krai’s South-Western corner.
The krai is mostly highlands, consisting of mountain ranges and plateaus, cut by narrow river valleys. The lowlands, associated with the Ussuri River, extending some 600 miles along the krai’s Chinese (western) border, contains the Trans-Siberian, rail bed and much of the krai’s some 2 million population (roughly one third of which live in Vladivostok). Eastward, a mountainous formation known as Sikhote-Alin, consisting of multiple, parallel ranges and compartments is home to the exotic vegetation and rare fauna, such as the Siberian Tiger, which define the region.
The krai’s humid, continental climate is monsoon-influenced, with warm summers and relatively dry, cold winters. January temperatures average at, or below zero. Krai locals identify August and September as the region’s most attractive months. Tourists are encouraged to visit Vladivostok between July and October. It is common to encounter rain during the summer, and in July it is common to experience temperatures in the mid-60’s and high humidity.
Civic virtue thrives in Vladivostok and citizens enthusiastically engage in various civic events: Great Victory Day (May 9), City Day (July 3), Biennial of Visual Arts (July), Fisherman’s Day (second Sunday in July), Navy Day (last Sunday in July), and Tiger Day (fourth Sunday in September).
http://wsm.wsu.edu/coordinates/2009Apr_Frontier_town_article.pdf http://www.worldmapfinder.com/En/Europe/Russia/Vladivostok/ (embeddable) www.worldmapfinder.com/Map_OpenStreetMap.php?ID=/En/Europe/Russia/Vladivostok http://www.google.com/intl/en_us/help/terms_maps.html http://code.google.com/apis/maps/terms.html http://code.google.com/apis/maps/signup.html http://www.satellite-sightseer.com/id/4366 google map Vladivostok http://www.pbase.com/ryoung88/russia12 (photos) www.panoramio.com www.flickr.com http://photovladivostok.ru/english/ www.YouTube.com (search Vladivostok)