Orenburg

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Orenburg (Russian: Оренбург) is a city in Russia. It is the capital of Orenburg Oblast. As of 2024, the city has 536,862 people.

History

Orenburg is known formerly Chkalov, a city and administrative centre of Orenburg Oblast, an oblast in Russia, on the Ural River at the Sakmara confluence. Orenburg is founded as a fortress in 1735 at the Ural-Or confluence, where Orsk now stands, Orsk it was moved to its present site in 1743.

Orenburg was originally the military centre of the Ural Cossacks, and its commercial importance grew with trade to Central Asia, especially after the railway from Kuybyshev (now Samara) was built in 1871 to 1873.

Geography

Orenburg is in Europe. It is 1,458 kilometers southeast of Moscow, 2,170 kilometers southeast of Saint Petersburg and 1,073 kilometers southeast of Nizhny Novgorod.

Economy and agriculture

Orenburg has major engineering industries, producing heavy-industrial and agricultural machinery; it manufactures a range of consumer goods and foodstuffs. It also has gas-processing facilities. Orenburg has teacher-training, medical, and agricultural institutes.