The history of the city is quite usual for Belarus, this territory has repeatedly passed from one large state to another, leaving fragments of its peoples. In the century before last, it was a Jewish town, currently the dominant nation is Belarusians. In recent decades, the population of Slutsk has been growing noticeably.
General information
The city is located in the central part of the country, on the banks of the Sluch River, on the Central Berezinsky plain. At a distance of 105 km in the north is the capital of Belarus, Minsk.
It is the administrative center of the eponymous district. Slutsk is the country's most important transport hub; there is a railway line in the directions of Baranovichi, Salihorsk, Osipovichi and a highway to Minsk, Brest and Bobruisk.
23 industrial enterprises operate in Slutsk, the key ones are food and processing companies, which account for more than 91% of production. City-forming enterprises are: sugar refinery, cheese-making, bakery and meat plants. Since Soviet times, factories of hoisting-and-transport equipment and the production of enameled dishes have continued to operate.
Population density
In 2018, 61, 818 people lived in the city, most of which are Orthodox, Catholics, and Protestants. The area of the city is 30.5 square meters. km The official name of the inhabitants: urban dwellers - stochans, men - stochany, women - stochanka.
The population density of Slutsk is 2026 people / sq. km The city is the second most populated area in the south of the Minsk region. The indicator remains virtually unchanged in recent decades, due to a slight fluctuation in the number of Slutsk population. The most densely populated is Salihorsk, where per 1 sq. Km. km live 7108 people. In other cities of the region: Old Roads - 1838 people / sq. km, Lyuban - 1569 people / sq. km For comparison, in Smolensk, the density is 1984 people / sq. km
Base
The traces of the first settlements on the Slutsk land date back to about the middle of the 1st millennium BC. The first documented written mention of the city dates back to the year 1116 in The Tale of Bygone Years, when Prince Gleb invaded the possession of Vladimir Monomakh and burned Dregovichi and Slutsk. This date is now considered the year of foundation of Slutsk. Some researchers believe that the city appeared much earlier, referring to later references to the transfer of territory into the possession of the Turov diocese in 1005. How many people lived in Slutsk at that time is not known.
In the following centuries, the city was part of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, the Commonwealth, until in 1793 it became part of the Russian Empire. In 1897, 14, 349 people lived here, of which more than 71% were Jewish. In 1915, a railway was built to the city, which gave an incentive to the development of industry. In 1916, according to the testimony of French professor Jules Legra, Slutsk was a small ancient town, amazingly dirty, with 15 thousand inhabitants, mostly Jews.
Between wars
During the Civil War, the city was more than once captured by various warring parties: white, red, Germans, Poles. The flight of the latter was accompanied by mass robberies, violence, and cattle theft. The Polish military purposefully destroyed everything that they could not take out. As a result of arson, the buildings of the station, gymnasium, synagogue, church and two bridges over the Sluch River were destroyed.
Between wars, the city was slowly recovering, schools and enterprises opened. According to the latest pre-war data of 1939, the population of Slutsk was 22, 000 people. During the Great Patriotic War, for three years of occupation by German troops, the city was almost completely destroyed, almost all the townspeople were destroyed. In total, about 30, 000 people were killed in the city and the district.
Modern period
After the war, the city was slowly rebuilding, and residential and administrative buildings were re-built. Earned a sawmill, foundry, repair, butter-cheese factories. The population in Slutsk reached the pre-war level only by the end of the 50s. In 1959, 22, 740 people lived here. The increase was mainly due to the influx of surrounding rural residents.
In the following years, industry began to develop, new enterprises were built, including sugar and canneries, "Enamelware". The number of city dwellers during this period (1959-1970) grew rapidly - by 4.16% / year. Labor resources for construction and work in factories came from various regions of the RSFSR. In the last decades of Soviet power, the city developed dynamically, industrial production expanded. The growth slowed down a little, amounting to 2.45% per year. In 1989, there were 57, 560 wreckers. In recent years, the population of Slutsk has been growing slowly, mainly due to natural growth. In 2018, there were 61, 818 city residents.
Ethnic composition in the early period
When the city entered the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and the Commonwealth, the city was inhabited mainly by Poles and Belarusians, Catholics or Uniates. According to the first Russian census of 1897, the population of Slutsk was 14 349 people. Of these, 10, 238 people belonged to Jews, 2, 417 people were Belarusians, 1, 104 people were Russians, 31 were Germans, 12 were Russians (Ukrainians), 5 were Lithuanians, 4 people were Latvians. The city was part of the constant Jewish settlement, regions where Jews were allowed to live during the time of the Russian Empire.
The first resettlement of Jews from the Middle East to the territory of Belarus dates back to the 8th century. Later, in the 11th century, they began to migrate from Western Europe, due to religious persecution. The phenomenon became widespread in the 16th century, when not only the rich, but also the poor began to move. Before the Great Patriotic War, Jews made up the bulk of the population of Slutsk, they were completely destroyed in the Slutsk ghetto.
