General Information
Location: the eastern part of the Vologda Oblast
Foundation: 1539 first mentioned
Total area: 8,200 sq km
Area - comparative: the oblast's third biggest district in terms of total area
Border regions: the Kostroma Oblast in the south, the districts of Mezhdurech'ye, Sokol, Syamzha, Verkhovazh'ye, Tarnoga, Nyuksenitsa, Gryazovets, Babushkino within the Vologda Oblast
Administrative divisions: 16 administrative areas
Distance from Vologda: 215 km by highway, 247 km by water transport, 195 km by air
Total population: 27,400 people
Population of Tot'ma: 10,500 people. The majority of the district's population lives in the neighbouring settlements.
Density of population: 3,34 inhabitants per square kilometre
Total area of housing: 665,000 sq m
The most common building style: timbering owing to the abundant nearby forests
Oil and gas delivery: four gas pipe lines and an oil pipe line pass through the territory of the district of Tot'ma
Inland waters: numerous rivers (all in all 120) and 6 lakes that are used for water supply, transport communication, fishing and tourism. The Sukhona is the longest water course known on the territory of the district of Tot'ma. It flows some 126 km (within the boundaries of the district).
Terrain: mostly wavy moraine plains pertaining to the north-western part of the Permian plateau.
Plant life: The district of Tot'ma is a vast wooded area with some 50-60 percent of its total land area covered by coniferous and deciduous forests. The plant life map looks quite mixed.
Fauna: mammals typical of the woodlands of the European part of Russia - bears, wolves, foxes, elks, wild boars, martens, lynxes and others; many species of fish - salmon, white-fish, bream, pike perch, perch, pike and others; species of birds - wood grouse, hazel grouse, loom, golden eagle, black grouse.
Climate: temperate continental with long winters (average temperature in January is -13.7°C), short warm summers (average temperature in July is +19.0°C). The winter days are short, lasting only six hours or so. Summer days last about 19 hours. The summer, although short, is one of the most prized assets. On the whole the weather is rather changeable due to frequent cyclones and various air masses that permeate into the district.
News
The conference “Russia’s North” will be held on March 11-15 in Tot’ma, Vologda Region. The event will touch upon issues of study and preservation of historical and cultural heritage.
More than 100 scientists will participate in the international conference in Totma.
The year 1990 saw the opening of the Kuskov Memorial Flat in Tot’ma, a small town even by the Vologda Region’s standards. The town once prided itself on its salt making and the seafaring merchants who traded in Siberia and America. It was a native of Totma, Ivan Kuskov, who founded Fort Ross in California.
The conference “Russian North” held on April 22-26 in Vologda and Tot’ma will gather over 70 students and postgraduates, university professors and school teachers, scientists, archivists and museum employees from Russia. The event will touch upon problems of study and preservation of historical and cultural heritage.
The All-Russian Tourist Cities Award is awarded to municipalities or individual settlements of Russia based on the results of an open competition.
This summer, Russians and fellow citizens celebrate a triple date in the history of the development of Russian America with the bell ringing in Orthodox churches from France to Moscow and from Totma to Alaska.
Last year Ust-Tsilma was the capital of the tourist project "Silver Necklace of Russia”, an interregional tourism project, which involves 11 regions of the North-Western Federal District. The main goal of the project is to combine efforts to increase the tourist flow to the regions.
On August 12 Totma, one of the oldest cities of the Vologda Region will celebrate its 886th birthday. The city is often called a museum in the open air.
The conference “Russia’s North” held on March 2-5 in Tot’ma will gather over 70 experts from Russia. The event will touch upon problems of study and preservation of historical and cultural heritage.
The histoty of the city begins with the salt deposits which the locals found in the 13th century on the bank of the Kovda river (it is 2 km off today's city location). As history annals say, the underground salt waters were extracted for the first time in the country's history. A new economic and administrative centre of the volost (small rural district) - the surburb of Usoliye - sprouted up near the salt mines. Later, outside its walls the new surburb of Tot'ma appeared. It was known as a major centre for salt production. Being situated on the major trading route from the Moscow State to Western Europe via the White Sea, the city grew and thrived.