Surgut (Russian: ???????) is a city in Russia, the largest in Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug and second largest in Tyumen Oblast. Geographic coordinates: 61°16?N, 73°24?E. Its population according to the 2002 Census was 285,027.
Surgut is one of the oldest Siberian cities. It was founded in 1594 by order of Tsar Feodor I.
The name of the city, according to one tradition, originates from the Khanty words "sur" (fish) and "gut" (hole, pit).
The urbanization of Surgut took place in the 1960s, when it became a center of oil and gas production. On June 25, 1965 the working settlement of Surgut was reorganized into a city. The day of the city is celebrated yearly on June 12.
The current mayor of Surgut is Alexander Leonidovich Sidorov (since 1996). He oversaw the construction of the Surgut Bridge, the longest one-tower cable-stayed bridge in the world.