The Nizhny Novgorod region spans for more than 250 miles from the north to the south, and for 190 miles from the west to the east. The region has 3.6 million inhabitants with a workforce of 1.1 million. The economy of the region produces approximately 2% of the Russian GDP in key industries such as machine-building, engineering, petrochemical and chemical, ferrous metallurgy, paper, food production, agriculture, transport and communications. In November 2002, Moody's upgraded the region's rating from Caa3 to Caa1 (positive outlook). The metropolitan area is home to 2 million people, and it includes Nizhny Novgorod with satellite cities and towns: Dzerzhinsk, Kstovo, Bor, Gorodets, Zavolzhye, Balakhna and Pavlovo. Other cities: Vyksa, Arzamas, and Sarov are located in the south of the region, and they are known, respectively, for metal production, machine-building, agriculture, and nuclear research. The city of Semyonov, to the north of Nizhny Novgorod, is known as a craft center for Khokhloma wood painting.

Nizhny Novgorod, which is 250 miles to the east of Moscow, can be easily reached from the Russian capital by an overnight train, by car or by air. Since December 2002, a fast train has connected Nizhny Novgorod and Moscow in less than 5 hours. The expansion of highways in the region is 8,100 miles, of railroads - 750 miles, and of waterways - 500 miles. Nizhny Novgorod has regular air connection with a dozen of Russian cities, and Lufthansa flies to the city three times a week. In summer, tourists may travel to Nizhny Novgorod from Moscow and St-Petersburg by passenger boats. The climate in the region is continental, and its is similar to the one in Moscow, although colder in winter, which lasts from late November till late March with a permanent snow cover.

The Nizhny Novgorod city is the most economically progressive and reformist in Russia. History decreed that the Nizhny Novgorod city should be the "heart of Mother Russia", situated as it is in the very center of the European part of the Russian Federation, on the banks of the River Volga.

Nizhny Novgorod recently regained its original name, having been renamed as Gorky in 1932 in honor of the celebrated author Maxim Gorky, who was born in Nizhny Novgorod. Nizhny Novgorod is situated in the latitude of 560N. and in the longitude of 440E. in the central - European part of Russia at the confluence of the Volga and the Oka rivers. The City has advantageous geographical location for economic and social development. The City covers an area of 41,1 thousands ha., population - 1370,2 thousands pers., average age of inhabitants - 36 years, Russian population - 95%. The City has 8 administrative districts.

It was founded in 1221 by Grand Prince Yuri Vsevolodovich. The magnificent geographical situation of the town was instrumental in making Nizhny Novgorod a major commercial center in Russia in the 19th century. The widely-renowned Nizhny Novgorod trade fair, which first took place in the 16th century near the monastery at Makarev, moved to the city in 1817, and became the largest trade fair in Russia and one of the most important centers for wholesale and retail trading.

Historically Nizhny Novgorod has always been a leader in Russia, from the tire the city was founded in 1221 as a defense post at its strategic location at the confluence of the Volga and Oka rivers, to its days as Russia's leading center of commerce before the Bolshevik Revolution, and even as it was as a major industrial center under Soviet rule.

You need only to walk down the streets to sense the renaissance in NizhnyNovgorod, where the visible changes, construction, renovation and restoration continue unabated, a place in a rush to catch up with the rest of the world. It's not only cosmetic. Foreign investment was growing and Industrial output was revers-ing the long decline that had marked Russia's transition to a market economy The future of Russia is being written in Nizhny Novgorod.

Despite its rich historical heritage, Nizhny Novgorod tends to be better known in the West as the city to which Andrei Sakharov, "father of the H-bomb", then later awarded the Nobel prize for his work defending human rights, was exiled.

A great number of historical, architectural and cultural monuments has remained in the City, what gave premises to UNESCO for inclusion of Nizhny Novgorod in the list of 100 cities constituting world historical and cultural value. In the course of centuries of its history Nizhny Novgorod has been playing a noticeable role in the country's life.