Tayga () or Taiga, is a town in Kemerovo Oblast, Russia, located north-west from Kemerovo. Population: 24,700 (2005 est.); 24,726 (2002 Census); 26,233 (1989 Census).The town is a railroad junction on Trans-Siberian railroad, and also the starting point of the Tayga–Bely Yar branch of the Western Siberian railway, which provides access to Tomsk.HistoryIt was founded in the end of the 19th century due to the construction of the Trans-Siberian railroad, and originally was called T