The phenomenon of the mining settlement (on materials of the Petrovsky Factories)

The article considers the main regularities of the existence of mining settlements as a special kind of settlements. The author revealed that the general characteristic feature of the mining plants was the orientation toward ensuring the state's defence needs. The emergence and peculiarities of the functioning of mining settlements are directly connected with rational decisions of local and central authorities. Priority in the activities of mining plants remained the industrial production, often at the expense of the domestic needs of their inhabitants.