Kansk (Russian: Канск) is a town in Krasnoyarsk Krai, Russia, located on both banks of the Kan River.

[8]Founded in 1628 as a Russian fort, it was transferred to its current location in 1636 and granted town status in 1782.

[citation needed] The town is a center of the Kansk-Achinsk lignite basin, which in the early 1980s was developed into one of the largest coal areas of the Soviet Union.

It also has cotton, timber, hydrolysis, and food industries.

[3] The town is home to the Kansk air base and it is crossed by the Trans-Siberian Railway.