Nizhny Novgorod area

Geographical location
Nizhegorodskaya area is situated in the Central-European part of Russia. Area of the region - 80.5 thousand sq. km. Population - 3.72 million people. In the region there are 48 districts, 25 towns, 70 town settlements, 4630 villages. Centre of the region is Nizhny Novgorod, located in the merging of the rivers the Volga and the Oka, in 400 to the east from Moscow. By quantity of population Nizhny Novgorod (1.5 million) is the third after Moscow and St.Petersburg.

Natural resources
In the region there are reserves of building sands. There are 2 small fields of glass sands. Gypsum has been found in 4 fields in the southern and central parts of the region. The central and northern parts are rich in peat. There are more than 2.5 billion tons of salt in the region. In the southern parts there are little supplies of ferrous (copper, zinc, lead), rare metals.
There are reserves of subterranean fresh waters in the southern, south-western and central parts of the region. Some reserves of cure-mud have been found.
46% of the region is covered by forests. Supply of timber is 352.16 million cubic metres.

Administrative division
The region is divided into 47 districts, 11 towns of regional submission, 14 towns of district submission, 69 town settlements, 511 villages.
Centre of the region is the town Nizhny Novgorod, founded in 1221.
Distance to Moscow is 439 km.

Science and education
Nizhegorodskaya area possesses a considerable scientific potential. In the region there are higher educational establishments, 3 higher military colleges, high school of militia.
A lot of scientific inventions were made in Nizhegorodskaya area. Scientists N. I. Lobachevsky, I. M. Sechenov, A. A. Andronov, R. E. Alekseev, G. G. Devyatykh, G. A. Razuvaev, A. V. Gaponov-Grekhov and many others are famous all over the world. Physicist A. D. Sakharov worked in the Federal Centre of Nuclear Researches.
In the region there are about 104 research and construction organizations.