Sterlitamak, city in western Russia, in the republic of Bashkortostan, about 130 km (about 80 mi) south of the republic capital, Ufa. Sterlitamak is located along the Belaya River in the western foothills of the southern Ural Mountains. Industries in the city produce chemicals, machines, shoes, leather, and textiles. The city is a river port that historically served as an important transport center for the southern Urals region, with connections to Europe's longest river, the Volga, via the Belaya and Kama rivers. The city has a pedagogical institute and a technical department of a petrochemistry institute in Ufa. The city also has a drama theater and a museum of regional history. Sterlitamak was founded in 1766 as a storage and river-transit point for salt mined about 280 km (about 175 mi) to the southwest. It was the capital of the Bashkir Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic, or Bashkiria, (present-day Bashkortostan) from 1919 until 1922. Population (1995) 290,769.Microsoft® Encarta® Online Encyclopedia 2001
http://encarta.msn.com © 1997-2001 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved. Sterlitamak Information info
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