Siberia's oldest city, founded in 1586 on the site of the Tatar town of Chimgi-Tura by Feodor I of Russia. Chimgi Tura was a Tatar city composed mainly of Cossacks from which many joined Genghis Khan and his hordes.
It is also at this place where exiles and convicts were brought before being deported to Siberia, across the line a few kilometres down the road.
At Km 2102 there used to be a sign indicating the place where the exiles would bid farewell to their friends and relatives amidst much weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth.
Today Tyumen is an important center for the gas and oil industries in Russia.