Voronezh
Voronezh (Воро́неж) is a large city in the south of Central Russia, not far from the Ukraine. It is located on the river Voronezh and is the administrative center of Voronezh Oblast. Population (census 2002): 848,700.It is the economical, industrial, cultural and scientific center of so called Black Earth Region. In the city there are 7 theaters, 12 cinemas, 19 high schools; it is also home to Voronezh State University. The city's large student population includes many foreigners as foreign students in Russia usually take one year of Russian in Voronezh before moving on to universities elsewhere. In 1991-2000, the city high in unemployment, became a part of the Communist-voting region known as Russia's Red Belt. Recently several racist attacks on students from African and Latin American countries have occurred. One medical student from Guinea-Bissau was stabbed to death in February, 2004.
Many famous people were born in Voronezh and not far from it. Among them poets and writers Platonov, Bunin, Koltsov, Nikitin, Marshak, Troepolskii; painters Kramskoi, Gay, Kuprin, physicist Cherenkov etc. Tsar Peter the Great built his fleet here.
Around Voronezh there are a lot of kurgans and other interesting archaeological objects.