Tobolsk

City in Tyumen oblast (region), west-central Russian Federation, sited at the junction of the rivers Irtysh and Tobol; population (1990) 94,500. Tobolsk lies 240 km/149 mi north of Tyumen at the centre of a lumbering and dairy-farming area. A petrochemical plant is located near the city. Tobolsk is an important local cultural centre; a theatre was founded here as early as 1705.

Tobolsk was founded by Cossacks in 1587 near Kashlyk, the former capital of the west Siberian Khanate. It was the seat of the governor-generalship of Siberia from 1596–1824, and was the provincial capital until 1923. Until the second half of the 18th century, the Moscow–Siberia highway passed through here, making it a major trading centre. The city was a place of banishment in both Tsarist and Soviet times; Tsar Nicholas II was briefly imprisoned here after his deposition (1917–18).