Yekaterinburg

Yekaterinburg (Екатеринбург, pop. 1,400,000) is a city in Russia, formerly known as Sverdlovsk (Свердловск), which lies on the Asian side of the Ural mountain range. The city was founded in 1723 and named after tsar Peter the Great's wife Yekaterina. Today the city is a major manufacturing site.

The city produces much heavy machinery, steel, chemicals, tires, and petroleum. Gem cutting is a well-developed light industry.

Yekaterinburg is an important railway junction, with lines radiating to all parts of the Urals and the rest of Russia. The city is the leading cultural center of the Urals and has numerous institutions of higher education, including the Urals A.M. Gorky State University (founded 1920), a conservatory, and polytechnic, mining, forestry, agricultural, law, medical, and teacher-training institutes. The Urals branch of the Academy of Sciences and many scientific-research establishments are also located there. Yekaterinburg is situated 1,667 km (1,036 mi.) east of Moscow.