Samara: Difference between revisions

This article is about the city in Russia. For the city in Iraq, see Samarra.

Samara (Russian: Сама́ра) (from 1935 to 1991—Kuybyshev (Ку́йбышев)) is a city situated on the Volga River in the southeastern part of European Russia, Volga Federal District, the administrative center of Samara Oblast. Its geographical location is 53°14′N 50°10′E / 53.233°N 50.167°E / 53.233; 50.167. Population: 1,157,880 (2002 Census); 1,254,460 (1989 Census).

It was founded in 1586 as a defense outpost, and later grew into a major grain-trading center for the Volga region. It was renamed after the Soviet politician Valerian Kuybyshev.

Now it is a large industrial and transport center of European Russia. Important manufacturing in the metropolitan area of Samara-Togliatti-Syzran with a population of more than 3.0 million people is concentrated in motor vehicle (VAZ-GM and SOK Group), railroad equipment, chemicals, oil and gas (Yukos), machinery, metal (Alcoa), and confectionery (Nestlé) industries. The city also has an aerospace industry, namely TsSKB-Progress, producing the Soyuz and Molniya launch vehicles. Due to this industry the city was a closed city during the Cold War.

The city was the secondary capital of the Soviet Union from 1941 to 1943 when German troops threatened Moscow.

During this period the city was nicknamed The Second Baku because of the crisis, in which the Soviet State Defense Committee decided to transfer the main forces of oil-workers and oil enterprises of Baku to the regions of Volga, Ural Mountains, Kazakhstan and Central Asia for the enforcement of the oil extraction there. Meanwhile all the nine drilling offices, oil-expedition and oil-construction trusts and various other enterprises with their staffs were transferred to the Samara area. Highly qualified specialists and masters in oil industry were sent there along with more than 5,000 workers with half of their equipment. The Kuybyshev Place with the enormous Opera theater ist the largest city Place in Europe and the third largest in the world.

Along with its many universities (including Samara State University and Samara State Aerospace University), theaters and museums, the city is also a major intellectual and academic center in Russia. The city is served by highways and railways. Its airport is Samara Kurumoch Airport, with a number of international airlines, among them Lufthansa flying to and from Frankfurt, or Czech Airlines flying to and from Prague with convenient connections worldwide, which makes it an attractive tourist destination. Kurumoch airport code is KUF. It also has a rapid transit system, the Samara Metro, though with only 8 stations at present.

One popular tourist location in Samara is Stalin's bunker, a World War II bunker built to house military operation in the event that Moscow were taken. This monument is located south west of Kuybyshev Square, behind a series of apartment complexes. The body of Vladimir Lenin was also evacuated to Samara when the Soviet Union was invaded by Germany and Moscow seemed on the verge of falling.

Samara is also a model name of a Lada car made by the VAZ auto company in Togliatti, in Samara Oblast.

Samara is home of the FC Krylya Sovetov Samara, a football club in the Russian Premier League.

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