Sovetsk (Russian: Сове́тск, Mari: Кукарка, Kukarka) is a town in Kirov Oblast, Russia. Its 2002 Census population was 18,167, down from 19,368 in the 1989 Census.
Kukarka was founded in the ancient centuries by Mari people as a stronghold. In XII century it was a capital of the local principality of Chumbylat, a renowned Mari leader and warrior. The town was occupied in 1594 by Russians during colonization of Mari land. Later it was a sloboda in ...
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Sovetsk (Russian: Сове́тск, Mari: Кукарка, Kukarka) is a town in Kirov Oblast, Russia. Its 2002 Census population was 18,167, down from 19,368 in the 1989 Census.
Kukarka was founded in the ancient centuries by Mari people as a stronghold. In XII century it was a capital of the local principality of Chumbylat, a renowned Mari leader and warrior. The town was occupied in 1594 by Russians during colonization of Mari land. Later it was a sloboda in Vyatka Guberniya of Imperial Russia. It was granted urban-type settlement status and renamed in 1918. Town status was granted to it in 1937.
The origins of the name Kukarka are uncertain. Probably it goes from Mari words "kü" (stone) and "karman" (fortress) or from "kugyrak" (great). Also attempts have been made trace it to either Udmurt (kar = "town") or Turkic (kukar = "burned-away forest"). It is not related to the Russian word кухарка (kukharka, female cook).
Sovetsk (Kukarka) is the birthplace of Vyacheslav Molotov.
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