My native town Komsomolsk-on-Amur

Komsomolsk-on-Amur is the second largest city in the Khabarovsk Territory and one of the most important industrial centres in the Russian Far East. Its population is about 300,000 people.

Komsomolsk was founded in 1932, on the left bank of the Amur river, on the site of the old Russian village of Permskoye. It started as an industrial centre. Nowadays its industry is an important regional factor. The city produces 40 per cent of all the industrial output for the Khabarovsk Territory. There are many manufacturing enterprises including a shipbuilding plant, an aircraft-building plant, a machine-building plant, a metallurgical plant, an oil refinery, saw mills, a furnitury factory and a construction materials plant. They initiate programs for new production targeted at both domestic and foreign markets.

Komsomolsk is also a great transport centre in the Russian Far East. There are a lot of bus routes and tram lines, a river port, an airport, a bus station and a railway station.

Being a significant cultural city Komsomolsk attracts people from different parts of the country. It has many educational establishments, such as Komsomolsk-on-Amur State Technical University and Amur State University of Humanities and Pedagogics, some technical schools and colleges, many vocational and secondary schools. Different clubs, cinemas, libraries, palaces of culture are very popular with the citizens. One can enjoy the performances at professionals and amateur theatres, such as the Drama Theatre, the Theatre “KNAM”, the Theatre for Children. The city has 2 museums: the Museum of Local Studies, where you can get acquainted with the history of our region, and the Museum of Arts, which is famous not only for its exhibitions, but also for the School of Arts for children.

Komsomolsk is an order-bearing city. It was awarded with 2 orders: the Order of the Great October Socialist Revolution for heroism and courage of the first-builders and the Order of Lenin for great achievements in industry.

Many places of interest in Komsomolsk symbolize courage of its first-builders: the Monument to the first-builders on the bank of the Amur, the Memorial Stone on the place of their landing, the sculptural group “To the Komsomol members of the 30-s”. One can also see a great war memorial on the river embankment – the Memorial Complex to the heroes of the Great Patriotic War. Some monuments are devoted to the famous people of our country. These are monuments to Lenin, to Kirov, to Gagarin, to Kalinin, to Ostrovsky and a bronze bust of Ryumin.

The picturesque nature of the Far East with the magnifecent view of the Amur river adds beauty to our city.

Comprehension Check

Task 1.