Tulun is a Russian town (from 1927), the administrative center of Tulun District in the Irkutsk Region.

It is located on the Irkutsko-Cheremkhovskaya Plain, on River Iya (the basin of Angara), 390 km to the northwest of Irkutsk. It has 2 railway stations: Tulun and Nyura, and a highway junction.

The town takes the area of 134 sq km and has the population of 42 961 people (as of 2013).

The central part of the town is mostly built up with wooden houses.

History of Tulun

It was founded in the second half of the 18th century as a settlement and was named after the Yakut word “toloon” meaning “a valley”. In the late of the 18th century it became the Tulun road station.

It was recorded as Tulun Settlement of the Irkutsk Province in 1897.

In the early 20th century, after the laying of the railroad, Tulun became a considerable trading centre point with over 70 trade points. Lots of goods were transported to Angara and piers on River Lena for sale on the Lensky gold mines. Numerous teams of workers went to the Lensky gold mines on the same route.

In 1922-24 Tulun was a town and then a settlement again. In 1927 it regained its town status.