GORI, STALINGRAD, AND STALINABAD

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP80-00809A000600370275-6
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: C
• Document Page Count: 5
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: September 27, 2011
• Sequence Number: 275
• Publication Date: January 9, 1951
• Content Type: REPORT

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CLASSIFICATION CONFIDENTIAL
CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY
INFORMATION FROM
1UNFIDENT MI.
SUBJECT Economic - Industry, agriculture
Geographic - Cities, weather
HOW
PUBLISHED Bimonthly periodical
WHERE
PUBLISHED Moscow
DATE
PUBLISHED Nov/Dec 1949
LANGUAGE Russian
THIS DOCUMENT CONTAINS INFORMATION AFFECTING THE NATIONAL DEFENSE
OF THE UNITED STATES WITHIN THE MEANING OF ESPIONAGE ACT 90
U. S, C.. SI AND SE. AS AMENDED. ITS TRANSMISSION OR THE REVELATION
OF ITS CONTENTS IN ANY MANNER TO AN UNAUTHORIZED PERSON IS PRO-
,,10ITEO BY LAW. REPRODUCTION OF THIS FORM IS PROHIBITED.
SOURCE Geografiya Shkole, No 6, 1949.
REPORT
CD NO.
DATE OF
DATE DIST. 61 Jan 1951
NO. OF PAGES 5
SUPPLEMENT TO
REPORT NO.
THIS IS UNEVALUATED INFORMATION
After passing through.Suramskiy Pass -- that stone bridge between the
Great and Little Caucasus mountains -- the train descends gradually into Kar-
talinskaya Valley, bears eastward along the right bank of the Kura River (which
begins to flow more slowly after plunging from Borzhomi Gorge) until it reaches
the confluence of two rivers and simultaneously arrives at the city of Gori,
not a large city, but the home city of Stalin.
Under the Soviet regime, Gori has taken on a new look. Resolute recon-
struction measures were begun in 1934 on the initiative of L. P. Beriya, a
companion-in-arms of Stalin. Reconstruction of Gori was undertaken with a
view towards its significance as the birthplace of the Soviet leader. A sgLare
in front of his paternal home, protected from the elements by a marble and'
granite pavilion, from whence all main thoroughfares of the city branch out,
has become the heart of the reconstruction plan. The slopes of the mountain
descending from the ancient fortress have been planted with vegetation. Vast
forests approach the city from east and west. Marble and granite embankments
have been created along the banks of the Kura and Liakhva rivers., New squares
and parks are still being laid out.
As a result of reconstruction of its industry, the population of the
city has almost doubled. In years to come, the city will add new large in-
dustrial enterprises. The canning factory will be rebuilt and expanded. Con-
struction of an automatic telephone exchange has been planned.
The best architects in Georgia are at work on the reconstruction and con-
struction plan of Gori. Much has already been accomplished.
The new look of the city can best be observed from the Gori Fortress.
The Liakhva, a small mountain river, bends around the city on the west. The
Kura runs its turbulent course oh the south; it separates the city from the
Transcaucasian Railroad, which carries a traveler to the Georgian capital of
Tbilisi in 2 hours.
A new rail line from the mouth of the Liakhva River (where it joins the
Kura) links Gori with Stalinir. Construction of this line, a long-time dream
of the Osetian people, was 'begun in 1939 and completed by the end of World War
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I
CONFIDENTIAL
Farther on, the canning factory, the largest in Georgia, the railroad-
tie-impregnating plant, the distillery, and other plants can be seen. From
the fortress wall, als,. Stalin?s home, the new drama theater, the movie thea-
ter, pedagogical institute, and regional museum can be seen. Beyond the Kura,
the stadium stands in a green setting.
Orchards and vineyards in Georgia have expanded from 9,000 hectares,
when the Soviets took over, to 66,000 hectares in 1940.
Stalingrad
Located along the northern edge of the Caspian Lowland where the Yergeni
and Volga uplandi meet, Stalingrad and its suburbs stand on ground which is
hilly and cut by deep ravines. This type of terrain makes city planning dif-
ficult and complicates construction work.
The clix..ute of Stalingrad may be classified as intermediate between
steppe and desert climate. In summer, the heat sometimes reaches 40 degrees
centigrade; in winter, the temperature drops to below 25 degrees below zero.
A January isotherm of 10 degrees below zero and a July isotherm of 25 degrees
pass through Stalingrad. Stalingrad lies in an area of insufficient rainfall,
receiving not mete than 300 millimeters per year, and irrigation is widely
practiced. Strong easterly winds prevail and for protection from these winds
the city has been surrounded. with a wide "green ring" of trees.
The location of Stalingrad at the edge of the dry steppe and semidesert
influences the type of agriculture carried on in its area. On the west side
of the Volga, wheat, mustard, and sunflowers are grown; in the vicinity of
the city,, watermelons and vegetables are raised. On the east side, in the
Volga-Akhtuba bottom, truck gardens, orchards, and meadows cover the land.
Dairy cattle and sheep are the main kinds of livestock kept in the area
around Stalingrad.
The industry of Stalingrad developed mostly in the direction of produc-
ing the means of production. The following are 1939 data:
1~ Tb" Tractor Plant built more than half of all tractors produced in
the USSR up ;o World War II.
2. The "Krasnyy Oktyabr" Metallurgical Plant produced 18 percent of
all steel -- one third of all high-quality steel -- output in the USSR.
3. The Krasnoarmeyskiy Shipyard was the best equipped river shipyard
in the USSR. It was outfitted with mechanical launching equipment and was
able to launch ships the year round. Ships built were all-metal, and elec-
tric welding was widely applied in their construction.
4. A nail and wire plant and a metal products plant were smaller metal-
lurgical industries.
5. The overwhelming majority of all metalworking enterprises was con-
centrate4 in the northern part of the city, on the west bank of the Volga,
along the railroad line running through that part of the city.
6. The woodworking industry was concentrated in the southern part of
the city. The Lumber Milling Combine imeni Kuybyshev processed about
1,130,000 cubic meters of logs annually. Its product went to the southern
European USSR, although a portion of it was exported, through Novorossiysk.
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CONFIDENTIAL
7. Agricultural product processing plants included a canning factory
which turned out 30 million one-pound jars of meat, fish, vegetables, toma-
toes, and fruits annually.
8. The Stalingrad Rayon Power Plant had a capacity of 175,000 kilo-
watts.
In 1939, Stalingrad had 125 schools with 70,000 students, three insti-
tutes -- mechanical, medicinal, and pedagogical --, 37 libraries, a drama
theater, musical comedy theater, circus, 6 movie theaters, 33 movie theaters
in clubs, 2 summer theaters, 34 polyclinics, and 17 hospitals.
In 1939, the city covered an area 6 kilometers wide and 60 kilometers
long along the Volga and had a population of 446,000 inhabitants. The people
lived, mainly, in that part of the city where they worked: metal workers
lived in the northern part of the city, wood workers in the southern, dock
workers in the eastern along the river, and railroad workers in the western
along the rail lines.
Now, 7 years after their destruction in World War II, all enterprises
in Stalingrad have been restored. Its largest plants fulfilled the 1949
plan ahead of schedule. The tractor plant is now producing larger and bet-
ter (STZ-NATI) tractors than before the war and has begun production of
diesel tractors. The Stalingrad Rayon Power Plant is producing more power
than before the war. Living and cultural facilities are being restored.
The southern half of the city, from the meat combine to Krasnoarmeysk,
has been almost completely restored. A great part of the Tractor Plant
workers' settlement in the northern part has been rebuilt. Ruins are dis-
appearing in the central part of the city. However, Stalingrad is not b%-
ing merely restored but is being replanned. Construction work will be car-
ried on through two or three Five-Year Plans according to a general plan
worked out by the best architects of the country.
Stalinabad
The capital of the Tadzhik SSR is one of the young cities of the USSR.
Not so long ago there were only three villages -- Sarry-Assiya on the north,
Shakhmensur on the south, and Dyushambe in the middle -- on the site where
the city of Stalinabad now stands. Dyushambe was chosen as the capital of
the Tadzhik SSR in 1929 and renamed Stalinabad in 1930.
Stalinabad lies within the Gissar Valley, which is shut in by mountains
on all sides but is open toward the west. Through this gateway into southern
Tadzhikistan runs a wide-'gauge railroad from Termez, and from this gateway
auto roads fan out into the mountain valleys of Tadzhik SSR.
Thus, Stalinabad is the center toward which the entire area lying south
of the Gissar Mountains gravitates. Three fourths of all cotton fiber prod-
uced in Tadzhik SSR passes through Stalinabad. Approximately 60 percent of
the Tadzhik population reaches other parts of the USSR through the Gissar
Valley.
The Gissar Valley, an intermountain depression, lies 700-900 meters
above sea level. Stretching out along the 38 degrees 30 minutes parallel,
the valley is shaped like a flat-bottomed boat; 70 kilometers long, it is 18
kilometers wide in the middle but narrows to 2.5-3.0 kilometers at the extremi-
ties.
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CONFIDENTIAL
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CONFIDENTIAL.
On the north, the Gissar Valley is bordered by the lofty Gissar Range
which protects it from cold northeasterly winds; on the south, the valley is
somewhat shielded from dry southerly winds by lower mountain ridges. Only
on the west, in the valley of the Surkhan-Dar?ya River, is the valley open;
through this opening, warm and comparatively moist winds gain entrance to
the valley.
The climate of the Gissar Valley is dry steppe -limate with a 'org hot
summer and dry air. Summer air temperature at times exceeds 40 degre. ; in
the shade. Average annual precipitation amounts to 600 millimeters; u'.nost
all of it falls during the winter and spring. In summer and fall, the sky
is cloudless and not a drop of rein falls for months at a time; relative
humidity drops to 25 percent during the day. Where irrigation is not prac-
ticed, vegetation dries, up and the earth resembles the desert. Where irri-
gation-:is carried on, such crops as long..fibered cotton, rice, tobacco, ge-
raniums, grapes, figs, pomegranates, peaches, and apricots are grown suc-
cessfully.
The Gissar Valley is irrigated from the waters of the upper Kafirnigan
River, and the upper part of the Surkhan Valley by the Karatag River. These
rivers rise in the Gissar Range, flow south, and leave the valley between
low mountain ranges. Tributaries flowing into the Kafirnigan from the west
are the Sarday-Miona, Varzob, and Khanaka rivers. The largest populated
places are located along these rivers.
The Varzob is the largest of these tributaries of the Kafirnigan. Stalin-
abed is located along the lower course of the Varzob, on the wide terraces of
the Dyushambinka, as the lower course of the Varzob is called. The river sup-
plies adequate water for the city the year round. The hydroelectric power
potential of the Varzob-Dyushambinka is not less that 80,000 kilowatts. A
bridge already spans the river.
The population of the city increased from 5,600 in 1926 to 16,000 in
1928, 19,000 in 1929, 24,000 in 1930, 42,000 in 1933, and 82,500 in 1939.
Because of the predominance f agricultural activity (cotton and grain
growing, livestock raising, and sericulture) around Stalinabad, the first
industries to be established between 1930 and 1940 were a cotton gin, a
rolling mill, a meat combine, a silk factory, and a tannery. For city con-
struction work, a brickyard, an alabaster plant, an asphalt-concrete plant,
and other plants were established.
Supplying Stalinabad with local fuel is difficult. On the north side
of Anzobskiy Pass, high in the mountains and 135 kilometers from the city,
the Ravatskoye Coal Deposit was discovered; however, the deposit is not as
yet being exploited because the coal cannot be gotten out.. Nearer the city
there are two deposits, Tashkutanskoye and Ziddinskoye, but their resources
are small, their quality is poor, au besides they lie high in the mountains.
There is no oil nearby.
Small power plants operating on shipped-in fuel were unable to supply the
growing power requirements of the city.- A large hydro-electric plant Varzob-
GES built in 1937 in the Varzob River gorge, solved the power problem.
Stalinabad is 10 kilometers long from north to south and about 6.5 kilo-
meters wide. It is a city of one-story buildings; two- and three-story homes
are still fey in number. The predominan?..e of one-story construction is due
to seismic c.:-.diti.ons in the Stalinabad area. Average population density was
less than 30 persons per hectare in 1939, although in the heart of the city
it was 140 per hectare.
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OONFIDENTIAI.
Stal.inabad is one of the greenest cities in the Soviet South. Vegeta-
tion grows quickly. Maple (Acer), poplar (Populus), catalpa (Catalpa),
black locust (Robinia pseudoacacia), plane tree (Platanus), and willow
(Salix) are the main types of trees seen along the streets and in the parks.
Elm (Ulmus densa) and chestnut (Castanea sativa) are comparatively rare.
The botanical garden, north of the city, contains more than 400 types of
trees and bushes and about 300 types of grass collected from all parts of
the world.
Stalinabad is no longer an end-of-the-line railroad station. The
railroad continues 22 kilometers eastward of the city, serving a stone
quarry on the Dyushambinska and a limekiln located in an area of extensive
building material deposits.
Because they mature at varying times in the valleys and mountains, the
Stalinabad market offers fresh fruits and vegetables almost 9 months of the
year. Products which reach the market between April and December are onions,
radishes, lettuce, cucumbers, potatoes, 'tomatoes,. muskmelons, watermelons,
apricots, peaches, apples, grapes, and walnuts. Food products are brought
into Stalinabad from points as far as 300 kilometers away by donkey, horse,
truck, and plane.
Cultural institutions in Stalinabad are the Tadzhik Opera and Ballet
Theater, Republic Public Library imeni Firdousi containing many millions of
volumes, and the Tadzhik State University, which has physics-mathematics,
soil-geology-geography, biology, an. history-philoIogyr faculties.
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