Tolyatti
 |
 |
The city is best known as the home of Russia's largest car manufacturer AvtoVAZ (Lada), where it was renamed after Italian communist politician Palmiro Togliatti in 1964. . For this reason, Tolyatti is often dubbed "Russia's motor city" or "Russia's Motown" (in reference to Detroit in the United States - the spiritual home of that country's automotive in industry)
Tolyatti was founded in 1737 as a fortress called Stavropol (Ста́врополь) by the Russian statesman Vasily Tatishchev. Informally it was often referred as Stavropol-on-Volga (Ста́врополь-на-Во́лге, Stavropol-na-Volge) to distinguish from Stavropol, a larger city in southwest Russia, although Stavropol-on-Volga was never its official name.
The construction of the Kuybyshev Dam and Hydroelectric Station on the Volga River in the 1950s created the Kuybyshev Reservoir, which covered the existing location of the city, and it was completely rebuilt on a new site.
In 1964, the city was chosen as the location of the new VAZ automobile plant: a joint venture between Fiat and the Soviet government. It was then renamed Tolyatti (after Palmiro Togliatti, the longest-serving secretary of the Italian Communist Party, who had been instrumental in setting up the venture with Fiat). Much of the modern city was constructed in the 1960s to house the workers of the factory, and today, AvtoVAZ dominates the economy of the city.
Map - Tolyatti
Map
Country - Russia
 |
 |
| Flag of Russia | |
The East Slavs emerged as a recognisable group in Europe between the 3rd and 8th centuries CE. The first East Slavic state, Kievan Rus', arose in the 9th century, and in 988, it adopted Orthodox Christianity from the Byzantine Empire. Rus' ultimately disintegrated, with the Grand Duchy of Moscow growing to become the Tsardom of Russia. By the early 18th century, Russia had vastly expanded through conquest, annexation, and the efforts of Russian explorers, developing into the Russian Empire, which remains the third-largest empire in history. However, with the Russian Revolution in 1917, Russia's monarchic rule was abolished and replaced by the Russian SFSR—the world's first constitutionally socialist state. Following the Russian Civil War, the Russian SFSR established the Soviet Union (with three other Soviet republics), within which it was the largest and principal constituent. At the expense of millions of lives, the Soviet Union underwent rapid industrialization in the 1930s, and later played a decisive role for the Allies of World War II by leading large-scale efforts on the Eastern Front. With the onset of the Cold War, it competed with the United States for global ideological influence; the Soviet era of the 20th century saw some of the most significant Russian technological achievements, including the first human-made satellite and the first human expedition into outer space.
Currency / Language
| ISO | Currency | Symbol | Significant figures |
|---|---|---|---|
| RUB | Russian ruble | ₽ | 2 |
| ISO | Language |
|---|---|
| CE | Chechen language |
| CV | Chuvash language |
| KV | Komi language |
| RU | Russian language |
| TT | Tatar language |