Orenburg city, Russia

The capital city of Orenburg oblast.

Orenburg city overview

Orenburg is a city in Russia, an administrative center of Orenburg oblast (province). The city is located on the river Ural (Yaik), near mouth of the river Sakmara, 1468 km from Moscow.

Orenburg city population - 524,000 (2009); land area - 340 sq. km.

Orenburg city phone code - +7 3532; postal codes - 460000-460056.

Orenburg city flag

Orenburg city coat of arms

Orenburg city map, Russia

Orenburg city history

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 rivers Yaik, Samara and Sakmara which protected the south-eastern border of Russia.

At the same time Orenburg should have 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 of XX century it was transferred to embankment of the river Ural.

Orenburg city facts

Main industries of Orenburg city are gas extracting and oil processing, machine-building and light industries.

Orenburg is a large railway juncture, a crossroad to Samara, Orsk, Uralsk, Aktyubinsk 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.