Nizhny Novgorod

Nizhny Novgorod is one of the mostly populated (1.7 million inhabitants) and industrially developed cities in Russia. The city spread in Russian way broadly and freely along the banks of two great rivers – 28 km along the Oka and 30 km along the Volga. On its territory of 350 sq.km there could be easily placed such three European states as Liechtenstein, San Marino and Monaco.

The city is incomparable for its geography and scenery. The Oka river divides it into the lowland and highland parts. The Lowland is on the left side of the river. The highland part is situated on seven hills and elevated above the mighty core where the Oka and Volga meet. .

In our days this area is a peculiar museum of life and customs of our predecessors. Nizhny Novgorod Kremlin is to be referred to the number of historical monuments. It is a sort of fantastic structure dominating the ancient hill. It is especially picturesque if seen from the river with its proud silhouette of mighty towers, with its differently angled walls. It is a kind of stone necklace cast up the Dyatlovy Hills. .

The Volga is the natural borderline of the city and the region. The left side of the Volga is the area of water-meadow and further on the horizon one sees the beginning line of the Kerzhenets forests, the area of folk handicraft masters. The triangle washed by the Oka and the Volga is called Strelka (spit). It is the side where the Makaryev fair was replaced to in 1817. It is the date from which the significance of the city as a trade-industrial center started. This greatly influenced the city in all possible aspects, as local industries and transportation routes to Russia"s central areas began developing in earnest. .

Annually the fair gathered not only hundreds of tradesmen but travelers as well. They were attracted by the specificity of multilingual market where as some people of those days said – "Europe met Asia". At the end of the 20th century the fair was more like a city in the city with its trading quarters, banks, an exchange, restaurants, theaters and temples. It occupied 8 sqare kilometers. .

The fair gave a great impulse to the trade-industrial life of the city and the whole region. Thanks to the fair here developed many of the industrial enterprises. Unfortunately, the planned economy of the USSR scrapped free trade. The fair ceased to exist in 1927. .

The Nizhny Novgorod Trade Fair was reanimated in 1991. It is a All-Russian Joint Stock Company now holding exhibitions, shows congresses and conferences. It holds up to 50 specialized exhibitions a year. .

Today Nizhny Novgorod ranks among Russia"s Top-5 in its population and industrial potential. There are 149 large and medium-sized industries in the city, which employ about 210,000 people, or 45 per cent of Nizhny Novgorod total workforce. Most companies are involved in mechanical engineering and metalworking, ferrous and non-ferrous metallurgy, woodworking, consumer goods, food, pharmaceuticals and printing. Manufacturing industries make up between 50 and 60 per cent of the city GDP Nizhny Novgorod is an industrially developed city, especially military industry which was actually the basis of the regional economy in the Soviet period. .

For many years the city was prohibited for foreigners and only in 1991 the tourists and foreign businessmen were allowed to come to the city. The local transportation infrastructure, which includes an international airport, powerful passenger and cargo river ports and multifunctional railroad junction, has made it possible to put into practice the idea of extending a transnational European transportation corridor to Nizhny Novgorod, thus enhancing the city"s investment image. It used to be a city of top-secret factories, design bureaus and research institutes. It was the center of the region that would produce the most advanced weapons and military hardware. The region still possesses this scientific wealth and production expertise.