- published: 22 May 2014
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Kursk (Russian: Курск; IPA: [ˈkursk]) is a city and the administrative center of Kursk Oblast, Russia, located at the confluence of the Kur, Tuskar, and Seym Rivers. The area around Kursk was site of a turning point in the Russian-German struggle during World War II and the site of the largest tank battle in history. Population: 414,595 (2010 Census preliminary results); 412,442 (2002 Census); 424,239 (1989 Census).
Archaeology indicates that the site of Kursk was settled in the 5th or 4th century BCE.[citation needed] The settlement was fortified and included Slavs at least as early as the 8th century CE.[citation needed]
The first written record of Kursk is dated 1032.[citation needed] It was mentioned as one of Severian towns by Prince Igor in The Tale of Igor's Campaign: "As to my Kurskers, they are famous knights—swaddled under war-horns, nursed under helmets, fed from the point of the lance; to them the trails are familiar, to them the ravines are known, the bows they have are strung tight, the quivers, unclosed, the sabers, sharpened; themselves, like gray wolves, they lope in the field, seeking for themselves honor, and for their prince, glory."