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Russia Regions: The Urals (Ural Mountains)

 

Russia: Ural Mountains, Scenic river Curve

 

Russia - Ural (The Ural Mountains)

 

The Ural region stretches from the edge of the Arctic Ocean to the north, to the very borders of Kazakhstan to the south.

When discussing routes through the Urals, it is worth distinguishing between the Southern Urals and the Northern Urals - the Sub-Polar region.

The southern part sees tours on foot, on horseback and by bicycle. As a result of the harsher climatic conditions in the northern Urals tours become more extreme and require excellent physical fitness.

Tourism along the Ural Mountains range is considered to be the most popular and developed.

It covers an enormous territory incorporating ten Russian regions that are adjacent to the mountain range of the same name

 

 

 

Ural Mountains

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The City of Yekaterinburg: 

 

 

Yekaterinburg is a major gateway to the Ural Mountains and Siberia.

It is the center of the Ural Mountains and the natural divide between Europe and Asia.

 

The city is a flourishing hub, rich in natural resources and precious stones.

Yekaterinburg was founded in 1723, and named in honor of Catherine I (not Catherine the Great as is sometimes thought - she took the throne some forty years after the city was founded).

The city first showed its national importance as a major producer of Imperial Russia's currency, minting up to 80% of the country's bronze coinage in the 19th century.

 

Parallel with this, the city became a centre of gold-smelting, using material mined in western Siberia.

 

In the 1920s, the heavy machinery plant UralMash was built in the city, at the time the largest factory of its kind in Europe.
Sverdlovsk (in 1924 the city was renamed Sverdlovsk in honour of the leading Bolshevik, Yakov Sverdlov) was also a major industrial centre during the war years, and many of the factories relocated there from Moscow remained after the end of hostilities, contributing to its economic recovery in the '50s and '60s.

 

Ekateringburg regained its original name in December 1991, a few months after the former regional governor, Boris Yeltsin, became president of the newly created Russian Federation.

It remains the main industrial, administrative and cultural center in the Southern Urals, as well as the largest population center, with just over 1.3 m people.

 

The principal economic sectors are heavy engineering and metallurgy, but the city's industrial foundation is broad-based, including everything from aero-engine production to railway locomotive repair.

 

The city boasts over 600 historical and cultural monuments, along with the consulates of the US, the UK, Germany, France, Italy and Spain among others.

 

Yekaterinburg is also known as a scene of world's first Gold Rush.