Kirov

Kirov, Киров, formerly Vyatka, is a city in eastern European Russia, on the Vyatka River, capital of Kirovskaya oblast'. Kirov is a station on the Trans-Siberian Railway west of the Ural Mountains and suffered heavy destruction during the Russian civil war 1917-1922. A major transportation hub ( rail and highways; Trans-Siberian main) and river port; airport. Large center of machine building; metallurgy, light, printing trade. Kirov has several museums, a university and theaters, as well as an opera and a ballet stage.

Population (1999): 465,000.