RUSSIA NIZHNY NOVGOROD Oblast

Nizhny Novgorod (Russian: Ни́жний Но́вгород), colloquially shortened to Nizhny, is a city in the administrative center of Nizhny Novgorod Oblast and Volga Federal District. From 1932 to 1990, it was known as Gorky (Горький ),after the writer Maxim Gorky, who was born there. The city is an important economic, transportation and cultural center in Russia and the vast Volga-Vyatka economic region, and is the main center of river tourism in Russia. In the historical part of the city there are a large number of universities, theaters, museums and churches. Nizhny Novgorod is located about 400 km east of Moscow, where the Oka empties into the Volga