Kursk

Kursk (Russian: Курск, .mw-parser-output .IPA-label-small{font-size:85%}.mw-parser-output .references .IPA-label-small,.mw-parser-output .infobox .IPA-label-small,.mw-parser-output .navbox .IPA-label-small{font-size:100%}IPA: [ˈkursk]) is a city and the administrative center of Kursk Oblast, Russia, located at the confluence of the Kur, Tuskar, and Seym rivers. It has a population of 440,052 (2021 Census).[12] The area around Kursk was the site of a turning point in the Soviet–German struggle during World War II and the site of the single largest battle in history. Kursk was originally built as a fortress city on a hill dominating the plain. The settlement was surrounded on three sides by the Kur river to the west and the Tuskar river to the south and east. Forest thickets approached it from the north. By 1603, Kursk had become the military, administrative, and economic centre of a vast territory in the south of the country. The new fortress was built under the leadership of governors Ivan Polev and Nelyub Ogaryov. The Kursk fortress was given a particularly important role, since in these places the Crimean Tatars, who made regular raids on Russia, traditionally crossed the Seym river, and their main road, the Muravsky Trail, passed east of the city. In this regard, Kursk, despite not being part of the Belgorod Protection Line,[13] became one of the most important fortresses in the southern region. In 1616, there were 1600 people in the Kursk garrison.[14]