SIBAY

SIBAY, a town and railway station in the RB. Located in the S of Bashkir Trans-Urals, on the Karagayly River (tributary of the Khudolaz River), 464 km SE of Ufa and 95 km SW from the Magnitogorsk Railway Station (Chelyabinsk Obl.). Territory – 154 km2. Population – 63.8 thous. people (2010); 62.3 thous. people (2018).

The economy is comprised of mining industry. In S., there are: a branch of OAO Uchalinsky Mining and Concentration Complex, NAO Bashkir Mining Administration, Sibay Elevator, branches of OAO Bashkirgeologiya and GUP Bashavtotrans, GUP Sibay Printing House, etc. South‑Ural Railway (Magnitogorsk–Sibay section) and sections of the following highways: Magnitogorsk–Ira, Magnitogorsk–Zilair– Ufa, Akyar–Sibay–Askarovo–Sermenevo cross the territory.

In S., there are: Sibay Institute of BSU; med., ped., arts, construction and services, and multidisciplinary colleges; 14 general education schools; 16 pre‑school educational institutions, 2 music and painting schools, school of arts, children’s ecological and biological centre, young technicians’ centre, children’s arts centre, 7 teenage clubs, a youth’ sports school, a sports and health centre, Ice Palace, a swimming pool; central and children’ hospitals, Drug, Psycho‑Neurological and Tuberculosis Health Centers, AIDS Centre; philharmonic, drama theatre, Sulpan Children’s Theatre, 9 libraries, a museum, House of Folk Creativity, a cinema; 6 mosques, and a church. In the town, there are 15 folk and 12 exemplary amateur art groups. The Sibaysky Rabochy and The Ataysal newspapers are published. Founded in 1938 as a Rabochy Posyolok due to the exploration and development of the Sibay Copper Pyrite Deposit, since 1955 has its current status. In S., there are 2 objects of cultural heritage: the buildings of the Philharmonic Society (1957) and the Mir Cinema (1960).