Tobolsk [key], city (1989 pop. 94,000), W Siberian Russia, a port on the Irtysh River near its confluence with the Tobol. Industries revolve around oil and gas from the W Siberian oil field. Founded in 1587 by Cossacks on the site of a Tatar village, Tobolsk was one of Russian Siberia's first towns. It was moved to its present site in 1610. The city was the administrative seat of W Siberia from 1708 until 1824, when Omsk replaced it. The main Siberian highway went through Tobolsk in the 18th cent., but the city declined when the Trans-Siberian RR was built (1890s) far to the south. Emperor Nicholas II and his family were exiled there (1917–18) before being taken to Yekaterinburg and executed.
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