Founded in 1586 as a fortress on the Tura River, Tyumen was the first Russian settlement in Siberia. It stood on the "Tyumen Portage", part of the historical trade route between Central Asia and the Volga region. By the beginning of the 18th century Tyumen had developed into an important center of trade between Siberia and China in the east and Central Russia in the west. It had also become an important industrial center and developed continuously in the following centuries. In 2010, it had more then 580,000 inhabitants.
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