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The capital city of Orenburg oblast.
Orenburg is a city in Russia, an administrative center of Orenburg oblast. The city is standing on the river Ural (Yaik), near mouth of the river Sakmara, 1468 km from Moscow.
Orenburg population is about 579,000 (2012); land area - 259 sq. km.
The phone code is +7 3532; postal codes - 460000-460056.
Orenburg was founded in 1743. The first fortress was founded in 1735 on the place where current Orsk town stands. The name “Orenburg” is a derivation of the German “Ohren” - “ears” and “Burg” - “fortress”. The name implied that the fortress should have “listened” to everything happening in Asia.
In 1744, Orenburg became a center of Orenburgskaya gubernia (province) with the governor and other institutions. It was built as a fortress, a base for other fortresses on the rivers Yaik, Samara and Sakmara which protected the south-eastern border of Russia.
At the same time Orenburg served as an economic center of trading with the nations of East. That’s why the town was both military and trade one: there were barracks, artillery depots, powder-magazines, military institutions, hotels, exchange and customs.
Orenburg was a large center of trade with Kazakhstan and Middle Asia. The industries (mainly flour-grinding, leather and butter-making) started developing with the constructing of railway Samara-Orenburg in 1877.
Since 1880, the city began delivering fresh and frozen meat, melted butter, lard, wool, goat down to Moscow and Saint-Petersburg. Orenburg became a large trade and distributing center of cattle and meat brought from Kazakh steppes.
In 1905, the construction of Orenburg-Tashkent Railway was completed. The railway opened the way to Middle Asia, due to main railway workshops built in Orenburg, the city became an important transportation juncture.
Orenburg is famous for its down shawls. The city has been a prison, a place where political prisoners were exiled.
From 1938 till 1957, the city was called Chkalov, after a famous Soviet pilot Valery Chkalov, though he was not born here or never lived in the city, moreover, he had never been to Orenburg. A bronze statue of V.P.Chkalov, 6 m high, on a 7 m base was originally erected on train station square, but, in early 1960s, it was transferred to embankment of the river Ural.
Orenburg general view
Orenburg street view
Orenburg city view
Main industries of Orenburg are gas extracting and oil processing, machine-building and light industries.
Orenburg is a large railway juncture, a crossroad to Samara, Orsk, Uralsk, Aktobe cities.
On a pedestrian bridge across the river Ural there is a symbolic sign - a border between Europe and Asia. But this border is defined different ways in various sources.
Orenburg street
Orenburg scenery
Orenburg winter
Europe and Asia border sign
Orenburg Cossacks monument
Orenburg Pushkin monument
Orenburg bank
Orenburg architecture
Orenburg entrance sign
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