The city of Nizhny Novgorod is located in western Russia where the Volga and Oka rivers meet, 260 miles (420 kilometers) east of Moscow, Russia. Nizhny Novgorod is one of the country’s largest cities and is also the center of a vast metropolitan area strung out along the two rivers.
The historical center of Nizhny Novgorod is the kremlin, a fortress built in the 16th century. The 17th-century Archangel Cathedral stands within the kremlin walls. The city has an art museum and several theaters, the oldest of which is a drama theater established in 1798. The largest of the city’s numerous institutions of higher learning is the N.I. Lobachevsky State University, which was founded in 1918.
Nizhny Novgorod is a heavily industrial city. Among its products are automobiles, ships, diesel engines, machinery and machine tools, electronics, and chemicals. Smaller industries include food processing, textiles, and wood products. The city’s long-standing role as a trade center led to the development of a strong transportation network, with excellent air, rail, river, and highway connections to the rest of Russia.
Although some authorities give an earlier date, the city was founded—according to a major chronicle—by a Russian prince in 1221. Its strategic position on the Volga route from the Baltic area to Central Asia ensured its importance. Nizhny Novgorod was incorporated into the principality of Moscow in 1392 and soon became a stronghold against the Volga Tatars (Mongols). The Russian conquest of the Volga region in the mid-16th century led to a vast expansion of trade to Nizhny Novgorod. This in turn led to an earlier onset of industrialization than in many other parts of Russia. In 1932, while Russia was part of the Soviet Union, the city was renamed Gorky after the leading Soviet writer Maksim Gorky, who was born there. The city’s old name was restored in 1990. In the post-Soviet period, as industry generally declined throughout Russia, Nizhny Novgorod remained an industrial center. Population (2012), 1,254,592.