Slyudyanka

Slyudyanka (), is a town in Irkutsk Oblast, Russia. The town is located on the southern coast of Lake Baikal. It sits at the foot of the Khamar-Daban mountain range. It is next to the confluence of the Slyudyanka River and Baikal. The town is divided into two parts by the Transsiberian Railway. Slyudyanka had a population of 19,242 in the 2002 census. In 2010. 18,542 people lived there. It is served by Slyudyanka-I and Slyudyanka-II railway stations. The Circum-Baikal Railway starts from the Slyudyanka-II station.
Slyudyanka was founded in 1647 by the Russian Cossacks. Because of its geographical position, the city grew quickly and became a large transit centre which connected Irkutsk with China and Mongolia. The town became a railway hub in 1905, when constructing of Transsiberian Railway had been finished. Also there is a marble deposit in the town.