Tomsk

Tomsk, a town of western Siberia, on the Tom, a tributary of the Obi, 2809 miles E. of St Petersburg. Situated on the great trade-route from Timmen to Irkutsk, and near the main line of the Siberian railway, it has long been the seat of an important transit trade. Leather and carriages are manufactured; and a university was established in 1888 (see SIBERIA, p. 429). Great part of the town was burned in 1890. Pop. 45,000.—The government of Tomsk, extending to the Chinese frontier, has an area of 331,159 sq. m.—more than 2½ times the size of Great Britain and Ireland. Pop. (1895) 1,432,000.