No. 1, 2006
Alexander Makarov ,
Alexander Polyakov
THE CAPITAL OF THE VOLGA REGION
In the very heart of Russia, 500 kilometers farther east than Moscow, at the confluence of the two great Russian rivers Oka and Volga, stands the ancient Russian city of Nizhny Novgorod – the third largest in the Russian Federation. The city was founded in 1221 by Yury Vsevolodovich, Grand Prince of Vladimir and Suzdal. It was named Nizhny (Lower) Novgorod possibly because it was situated in the lower lands with respect to Veliky (Great) Novgorod; or, possibly because it was one hundred kilometers downstream of an “old town” (Gorodets nowadays) on the banks of the Oka that would be mentioned in the chronicles right until the beginning of the 17th century.
Nizhny Novgorod, the “city of magnificent setting” on the Dyatlov (Woodpecker) Hills, held a commanding position at the junction of several major arteries of overland and water transport, and became a strategically important defensive outpost and center of trade.
The city's location determined its eventual fate. Once the Mongol–Tatar yoke had been thrown off, Nizhny Novgorod was continually mentioned in the Russian chronicles, and grew strong as one of northeastern Rus' major military and economic centers. It remained the spiritual stronghold of Orthodoxy in the Volga Region. The contribution made to Russia's history by the Nizhny Novgorod lands was extraordinarily significant. It was there that the home-guard troops of elder Kuzma Minin and Prince Dmitry Pozharsky assembled at the beginning of the 17th century to save Moscow from foreign invaders.
Today, Nizhny Novgorod is the city of centuries-old traditions, the large industrial and cultural center. Well-known are high scientific and cultural potential of the city and its contribution to the development of Russia.
It is famous for the major industrial enterprises of the GAZ automobile works, the Krasnoye Sormovo plant, the Sokol aircraft works, and the LUKOIL-Nizhegorodnefteorgsintez refinery. Highly developed in the Nizhny Novgorod Region are metallurgical, glass-work, machine-tool construction, wood and atomic energy industries.
Nizhny Novgorod is one of Russia's major transportation hubs. The city boasts an international airport, a river port, and a railway station, and the Moscow–Kazan' Federal motorway runs through the Nizhny Novgorod Region.
This places the city of Nizhny Novgorod and the Nizhny Novgorod Region among Russia's most economically developed, making them attractive to both domestic and foreign investors.
