KURSK

city and administrative centre of Kursk oblast (province), western Russia. It lies along the upper Seym River, about 280 miles (450 km) south of Moscow. Kursk is one of the oldest cities in Russia. It was first mentioned in documents from 1032. Completely destroyed by the Tatars in 1240, it was not rebuilt until 1586, when it became a military outpost to protect the advancing Russian colonization from Tatar attack. The town, however, lost much of its importance at the beginning of the 18th century when the Russian border was moved farther south. In World War II fierce fighting took place around Kursk and the city was severely damaged; the Battle of Kursk in JulyAugust 1943, the largest tank battle in World War II, ended in the defeat of the Germans. Kursk's industries include machine building, food processing, and the manufacture of electronic equipment and synthetic fibres. A large nuclear power station was completed in 1979. The city has medical, agricultural, and teacher-training institutes. Pop. (1994 est.) 438,900. oblast (province), western Russia. The oblast is centred on Kursk city. It extends across the southern end of the Central Russian Upland. The surface is a rolling plateau, broken by broad, shallow valleys. Almost everywhere the natural forest-steppe vegetation has been replaced by farming, which in some parts has caused severe gully erosion. About three-fourths of the oblast's land is arable, and grains, sugar beets, hemp, potatoes, and other vegetables are grown; pig keeping also is important. Most local industry is concerned with processing farm produce, but there are also large machine-building and chemical industries in Kursk city. In the 1950s exploitation of the extensive iron-ore deposits, known as the Kursk Magnetic Anomaly, was begun near Zhelezogorsk and developed very rapidly; much is mined by open-pit methods. Area 11,500 square miles (29,800 square km). Pop. (1995 est.) 1,349,000.