Ukhta

a city under republic jurisdiction in the Komi ASSR. Situated on the hilly banks of the Ukhta River and its tributary the Chib’iu River (Pechora River basin). Railroad station on the Kotlas-Vorkuta line. Population, 78,000 (1976; 3,000 in 1939, 36,000 in 1959,63,000 in 1970).

Founded in 1931 as the settlement Chib’iu, Ukhta became a city in 1943. It is the center of the republic’s oil and natural gas industries, and its leading enterprise is an oil refinery. The city also has a machine shop, a machine repair shop, a furniture factory, a building-materials enterprise, and a food-processing enterprise. Ukhta is the location of the Pechora Petroleum Scientific Research and Planning Institute, an industrial institute, and branches of all-Union scientific research institutes for natural gas and pipeline construction. The city also has a mining and petroleum technicum, a timber technology technicum, and a railroad transport technicum.

a river in the Komi ASSR, a left tributary of the Izhma River of the Pechora River basin. The Ukhta is 199 km long and drains an area of 4,510 sq km. It originates in the Timan Ridge. The river is fed by mixed sources, but primarily by snow. High water occurs from April to June. The average flow rate 13 km from the mouth is 48.9 cu m per sec. The river freezes over in late October or in November; the ice breaks up in late April or in May. The Ukhta is used for timber flotation. The city of Ukhta is located on the river.