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Yekaterinburg (, also Romanized ''Ekaterinburg'' or ''Jekaterinburg'', formerly Sverdlovsk) is a major City in the central part of Russia , the administrative center of Sverdlovsk Oblast . Situated on the eastern side of the Ural Mountain Range , it is the main Industrial and Cultural center of the Urals Federal District . Its population of 1,293,537 ( 2002 Census ), which is down from 1,364,621 recorded in the 1989 Census ), makes it Russia's fifth largest city. Between 1924 and 1991, the city Was Known As Sverdlovsk (), after the Bolshevik leader Yakov Sverdlov . HISTORY The city was founded in 1721 by Vasily Tatischev and named after Saint Catherine , the namesake of Tsar Peter The Great 's wife Empress Catherine I (Yekaterina). The official date of the city foundation, however, is November 18 , 1723 . The city was named Sverdlovsk after the Bolshevik party leader and Soviet official Yakov Sverdlov from 1924 to 1991. Soon after the Russian Revolution , on July 17 , 1918 , Tsar Nicholas II , his wife, Alexandra , and their children Grand Duchesses Olga , Tatiana , Maria , Anastasia , and Tsarevich Alexei were executed by Bolshevik s at the Ipatiev House in this city. In 1977 the Ipatiev House was destroyed by order of Boris Yeltsin who later became the first President Of The Russian Federation . In the 1920s, Yekaterinburg became a large industrial center of Russia. It was the time when the famous Uralmash was built, becoming the biggest heavy machinery factory in Europe . During World War II , many government technical institutions and whole factories were relocated to Yekaterinburg away from the War -affected areas (mostly Moscow), with many of them staying in Ekaterinburg after the victory. In the 1960s, in the days of Khruschev 's government, a number of lookalike five-story Apartment Block s have sprung all over the city. Most of them still remain today in Kirovsky, Chkalovsky, and other Residential Area s of Yekaterinburg. On May 1 , 1960 an American U-2 spy plane, piloted by Francis Gary Powers while under the employ of the CIA , was shot down over Sverdlovsk Oblast. The pilot was captured, put on trial, and found guilty of Espionage . He was sentenced to seven years of Hard Labour , though he served only about a year before being exchanged for Rudolph Abel , a high-ranking KGB spy, who had been apprehended in the United States in 1957. The two spies were exchanged at the Glienicke Bridge in Potsdam , Germany, on February 10 1962 . Since the end of World War II, the Glienicke Bridge was the most popular captive-trading place when The West and The East felt it necessary to negotiate. and Georg Wilhelm De Gennin ]] There was an 1994 ): 1202-1208. GEOGRAPHY AND CLIMATE Yekaterinburg is situated 1,667 km (1,036 miles) east of Moscow , on the eastern side of the Ural Mountains on the Iset river. It is surrounded by forests, mainly Taiga , and small lakes. The winter lasts for about 5 months - from November until the middle of April and the temperature may fall to minus 40 degrees. The summer on the Urals is short and lasts an average of 65-70 days with an average temperature of 20 degrees Celsius (70 degrees Fahrenheit). Summer snow is not an unusual occurrence, giving birth to the local saying "short, mildly snowy summer in the Urals" (Russian: недолгое малоснежное Уральское лето) Due to the city's location and different winds the weather is very unstable from day to day and from year to year. ECONOMY AND EDUCATION The main branches of the regional industry are: Machinery , Metal Processing , Ferrous and Non-ferrous Metallurgy Urals Branch of , Ural State Technical University , Urals State Pedagogical University , Urals State University Of Forestry , Urals State University Of Mines , Urals State University Of The Railways , Russian State Vocational Pedagogics University , Urals State University Of Economics , Military Institute Of Artillery , Urals State Conservatory , Urals State Agricultural Academy , Urals State Academy Of Law , Urals State Academy Of Medicine , Urals State Academy Of Performing Arts , Urals Academy Of Public Service , and Urals Academy Of Architecture are among them. TRANSPORT AND ACCOMMODATION Yekaterinburg, still called by its Soviet name Sverdlovsk in rail timetables, is an important railway junction on Trans-Siberian Railway , with lines radiating to all parts of the Urals and the rest of Russia. As the economy grew stronger after the slump of the 1990s, several Europe an airlines started or resumed flying to the city's Koltsovo International Airport (SVX). These include Lufthansa , British Midland , Malév , Austrian Airlines and Czech Airlines . Yekaterinburg is also served by the smaller Yekaterinburg Aramil Airport . Yekaterinburg's public transit network includes the Yekaterinburg Metro which was opened in 1991, and many Streetcar ( Tram ), Bus , and Trolleybus routes. CULTURE The city has several dozens of libraries including the V. G. Belinsky Scientific Library, the largest public library in the Urals. palace (built 1794-1820).]] Yekaterinburg is famous for its theaters among which there are some very popular theater companies: , Vasily Sigarev , Konstantin Kostenko , Presnyakov brothers, Oleg Bogayev . Yekaterinburg is also often called ''capital of contemporary dance'' for a number of famous contemporary dance companies residing in the city: ''Kipling'', ''Provincial Dances'', ''Tantstrest'' with a special department of contemporary dance at the Yekaterinburg University of Humanities. A number of popular Russian rock bands, such as , Chicherina , Nautilus Pompilius , Nastya , Trek , Agata Kristi and Smyslovye Gallyutsinatsii , were originally formed in Yekaterinburg (''Ural Rock'' is often considered as a particular variety of the rock music, Yekaterinburg and St. Petersburg are considered to be the main centers of rock music in Russia). Besides some famous opera singers - Boris Shtokolov , Yury Gulyayev , Vera Bayeva - graduated from the Urals State Conservatory . The Ural Philharmonic Orchestra (current conductor - Dmitry Liss ) founded by Mark Paverman and located in Yekaterinburg is also very popular in Russia and in Europe as well as the Ural Academic Popular Chorus - famous folklor singigng and dance ensemble. In Yekaterinburg there are more than 30 museums, among which: several museums of ural minerals and jewellery, some art galleries, one of the largest collections of Kasli Mouldings (traditional kind of cast-iron sculpture in the Urals), the famous ''Shigirskaya Kladovaya'' (''Шигирская кладовая'') - Shigir Collection including the oldest wood sculpture in the world - the Shigir Idol found near Nevyansk and estimated to be made about 9,000 years ago). In Yekaterinburg, there is one of the tallest incomplete architectural structures in the world, the Yekaterinburg TV Tower . INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS The largest city in the Urals and one of the top five in Russia, Yekaterinburg has a number of consulates of major countries. For people wishing to make a Visa application and needing to attend interview, this can easily take a half-week off the travelling time to get to the interview (in the event that there are internal flights to Yekaterinburg, they may only be once per week). Consulates
Twin cities building with the Lenin statue.]] Yekaterinburg is a Sister City of
NOTABLE CITIZENS The following people were either born in Yekaterinburg or made names for themselves while residing there. Note that many of the ice hockey players listed play in North America's National Hockey League .
HONORARY CITIZENS This is a short list of the most notable honorary citizens of Yekaterinburg (title conferred every year on the Day of the City):
OTHER A ballistic missile submarine of the Project 667BDRM 'Delfin' class (NATO reporting name: Delta IV) has been named "Ekaterinburg" (K-84/'807') in honor of the city. The Asteroid 27736 Ekaterinburg was named in the city's honour on 1 June 2007 . SEE ALSO NOTES EXTERNAL LINKS AND SOURCES
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