Information about the Region
Geographical location
The Nizhny Novgorod Region occupies a favorable geographical position in the central European part of Russia (East European Plain), 400 km east of Moscow, at the confluence of two major rivers - the Volga and the Oka.
In the northwest the region borders with Kostroma Region, in the northeast – with Kirov Region, in the east – with Mari El and Chuvashia, in the south – with Mordovia, in the southwest – with Ryazan Region, in the west – with Vladimir and Ivanovo Regions.
Territory
The area of the territory is 76.6 thousand square kilometers. The region is stretched in the meridional direction, its length from north to south is more than 400 km, and from west to east in the widest southern part - about 300 km.
The northern border of Russian black soil passes through the territory of the Nizhny Novgorod Region. The European dark coniferous taiga, which predominates in the northern areas of the region, is replaced by mixed and broad-leaved forests to the south, and large areas of meadow steppes appear.
The Volga divides the region into two main parts: the left-bank lowland – Zavolzhye – and the right-bank elevated, hilly, cut by gullies and ravines.
Climate
The Nizhny Novgorod Region has a moderate continental climate. Winters are cold, long and snowy with an average January temperature of about -12 degrees, and summers are relatively warm with an average July temperature of +19. The central and southern regions are warmer. Precipitation averages 500-550 mm per year.
Ecology and nature protection
The Nizhny Novgorod Region is one of the largest forest regions in the European part of the Russian Federation; more than 50% of the territory is covered by forests.
Since 1993, the Kerzhensky State Nature Biosphere Reserve (area - 47 thousand hectares) has been operating in the Nizhny Novgorod Region. It was created with the aim of preserving and restoring biological diversity and the integrity of indigenous types of natural communities.
The region's territory includes 15 state reserves of regional significance with an area of over 270 thousand hectares, 1 natural monument of federal significance and
384 natural monuments of regional significance.
Population
The population (as of January 1, 2024) is 3.06 million, population density:
39.94 people per 1 sq. km, the proportion of urban population: 81.21%.
The population (according to the 2010 census) is represented by the following nationalities: Russians (95.1%), Tatars (1.4%), Mordvins (0.6%), Ukrainians (0.5%), other nationalities (2.4%).
The administrative center of the region is Nizhny Novgorod with a population of
1 million 250 thousand 300 people (according to information as of January 1, 2024).
The largest cities in the region: Dzerzhinsk (215.3 thousand people), Arzamas (103.6 thousand people), Sarov (94.1 thousand people), Bor (77.3 thousand people), Kstovo (61.6 thousand people), Pavlovo (55.9 thousand people), Balakhna (47.4 thousand people), Vyksa (44.1 thousand people).
Administrative-territorial structure
The Nizhny Novgorod Region is part of the Volga Federal District and includes
51 municipalities, including 6 urban districts and 45 municipal districts.
Heads of executive and legislative bodies, major political parties
The executive body of the region is the Government, headed by the Governor of the Nizhny Novgorod Region, who is ex officio Chairman of the Regional Government.
Governor of the Nizhny Novgorod Region – Gleb Nikitin.
On September 26, 2017, by decree of the President of Russia Vladimir Putin was appointed acting governor of the Nizhny Novgorod Region.
On September 26, 2018, he took office as Governor of the Nizhny Novgorod Region.
On September 26, 2023, he was re-elected as Governor for a second term.
Citizens' reception phone numbers: +7 (800) 302-07-70 Postal address: Kremlin, building 1, Nizhny Novgorod, 603082. Website of the Government of the Nizhny Novgorod Region: https://nobl.ru/.
Chairman of the Legislative Assembly of the Nizhny Novgorod Region – Evgeny Lyulin.
Evgeny Lyulin was elected Chairman of the Legislative Assembly of the Nizhny Novgorod Region on October 29, 2020.
Reception phone: +7 (831) 439-06-69, 419-20-10, 439-18-84.
Postal address: Kremlin, building 2, Nizhny Novgorod, 603082. Website of the Legislative Assembly of the Nizhny Novgorod Region: www.zsno.ru.
According to the elections of deputies to the Legislative Assembly of the Nizhny Novgorod Region in 2021, the main political parties in the region (seats received): United Russia - 48.9%, CPRF - 19.3%, A Just Russia - for Truth - 9.6%, LDPR - 7%, New People - 5.5%.
Brief historical background
In 1221, Grand Duke Yuri Vsevolodovich «decided to strengthen an important place for Russia» and founded a city «at the mouth of the Oka» (Nizhny Novgorod).
After the Nizhny Novgorod-Suzdal Grand Duchy finally became part of the Grand Duchy of Moscow in 1425, the territories were governed on the basis of local government. The territories of the former principality adjacent to Nizhny Novgorod formed the Nizhny Novgorod district.
During the regional reform of Peter I in 1708, Nizhny Novgorod and the surrounding lands were added to the Kazan Governorate. In 1714, by decree of Peter I, the Nizhny Novgorod Governorate was created. Peter I wrote: «The Nizhny Novgorod Governorate shall be separate».
The Nizhny Novgorod Region was formed as part of the RSFSR on January 14, 1929. On June 15, 1929, the Nizhny Novgorod Region of the RSFSR was transformed into the Nizhny Novgorod Territory. In 1932, the Nizhny Novgorod Territory was renamed the Gorky Territory. In 1936, the Gorky Territory was transformed into the Gorky Region (the Mari and Chuvash ASSRs left it). On October 22, 1990, the Gorky Region was renamed into the Nizhny Novgorod Region.
Socio-economic situation, nature and potential of the economy, the place of the region in the economic life of Russia
The subsistence minimum per capita at the end of 2024 was 14.3 thousand rubles. The registered unemployment rate at the end of 2024 was 0.04%.
The Nizhny Novgorod Region is a powerful industrial center, the dynamic development of which is due, first of all, to the presence of science-intensive high-tech industries.
Industry is the basis of the economy of the Nizhny Novgorod Region: it accounts for more than a third of the gross regional product of the region.
There are approximately 600 large and medium-sized industrial enterprises operating in the region’s industry, as well as about 50 industry research institutes and design bureaus.
The production index for the full range of enterprises for 2024 amounted to 103.9%, while in manufacturing industries it was 103.8%.
The main priority areas for the development of the region's exports in the commodity structure are: mechanical engineering, petroleum products and chemical products, products made of ferrous metals, plastics, ground transport vehicles, wood and pulp and paper products, fats and oils of animal and vegetable origin.
The main promising export destinations are the CIS, SCO and BRICS countries, as well as individual countries in Asia, Africa, Latin America and Europe.
The specialized organization for supporting export and import activities in the Nizhny Novgorod Region is the autonomous non-profit organization «Corporation for the Development of Industry and Entrepreneurship of the Nizhny Novgorod Region» (https://krpp-no.ru/), headed by Ivan Razuvaev.
Address: 603144, Nizhny Novgorod, Academician Sakharov St., 4, office 516, Ankudinovka Technopark building, tel.: +7 (831) 435-17-00.
International relations, existence of agreements with foreign partners
In 2024, 218 foreign delegations from 90 countries visited the Nizhny Novgorod Region through executive authorities and local governments. Including visits by 42 heads of government bodies, 21 heads of diplomatic missions of foreign states in the Russian Federation.
Representatives of near and far abroad countries such as Abkhazia, Australia, Azerbaijan, Argentina, Armenia, Bangladesh, Bahrain, Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Brazil, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Venezuela, Hungary, Vietnam, Haiti, Gambia, Guatemala, Guinea, Germany, Honduras, Greece, Georgia, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Egypt, Zimbabwe, Israel, India, Indonesia, Jordan, Iran, Spain, Italy, Yemen, Kazakhstan, Cambodia, Canada, Cameroon, Kyrgyzstan, China, Costa Rica, Cuba, Laos, Liberia, Mauritania, Madagascar, Malawi, Malaysia, Morocco, Mexico, Mozambique, Moldova, Mongolia, Myanmar, Namibia, Niger, Nicaragua, UAE, Oman, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, Peru, Poland, Portugal, Republic of the Congo, Republic of Korea, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Saint Lucia, Serbia, USA, Thailand, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Turkey, Uganda, Uzbekistan, Philippines, France, Montenegro, Czech Republic, Switzerland, Sri Lanka, Ecuador, Ethiopia, South Africa, South Ossetia.
In 2024, the Nizhny Novgorod Region became one of the centers for holding events under the Russian BRICS Presidency Plan.
The following events took place in the Nizhny Novgorod Region:
- International scientific and practical forum on the topic: «Current issues of combating money laundering and terrorist financing» (April 24-26);
- BRICS Sherpa/Sous-Sherpa meeting and BRICS Foreign Ministers meeting, as well as an extended session with the participation of Foreign Ministers of the Global South and East (June 7-11);
- 10th BRICS Environment Ministers Meeting (June 26-28);
- BRICS Sister Cities and Local Governments Forum (July 9-10);
- 8th BRICS Industry Ministers Meeting (August 15-17);
- 8th meeting of the BRICS Working Group on Information and Communication Technologies and High Performance Computing Systems (September 20).
In 2024, the signing of 10 contractual documents with foreign partners was also organized through the Government and local governments of the Nizhny Novgorod Region (with regions and municipalities of such countries as Belarus, Abkhazia, Republika Srpska, China and Uzbekistan).
In the region there is a branch of the Embassy of the Republic of Belarus in the Russian Federation in Nizhny Novgorod, 6 offices of honorary consuls: Abkhazia, Austria, Armenia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Malta, Kyrgyzstan; 7 foreign centers: Hungary, China, Serbia, Thailand, France, Czech Republic, Japan.
Science and Education
As of 2024, 11 universities, more than 100 research organizations and 3 institutes of the Russian Academy of Sciences have a valid license in the Nizhny Novgorod Region.
In total, about 100 thousand students are studying in higher educational institutions of the Nizhny Novgorod Region in the 2024-2025 academic year, of which more than
7 thousand are foreign students (an increase of 20% compared to the 2023-2024 academic year) from 105 countries of the near and far abroad. The largest number of students came from Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Egypt, China, India, Iraq, Algeria, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Syria.
Culture, local traditions
The Nizhny Novgorod Region has always been famous for its crafts (more than 60% of crafts are concentrated in the region), ranking first in Russia in the number of preserved folk art crafts.
This is a unique experience on a national scale.
The Nizhny Novgorod Region is the birthplace of the famous Gorodets wood painting. Among the most common subjects of the painting are festivities, tea parties, a Gorodets horse with a rider, and folk festivals. The painting is saturated with the rich colors of the Russian summer with its meadow grasses, decorated with garlands of flowers and birds.
Gorodets gingerbreads are widely known. Fantastic birds, fairy-tale palaces, horsemen with sabers, horses, geese, roosters, fish, and later steamboats and locomotives were carved on gingerbread boards.
In Russia, one of the largest centers of filigree/filigree production is the village of Kazakovo in the Nizhny Novgorod Region. The first Kazakovo artel for the production of products was formed in 1939. The successor to the traditions and skills of the artel was the Kazakovskoye Enterprise of Artistic Products CJSC.
Semenov painting is a style traditional for matryoshka dolls from the city of Semenov in the Nizhny Novgorod Region. The matryoshka is characterized by a fairly large area of unpainted wood, the use of aniline dyes, and large-flowered painting of the apron. The painting of the Semenov matryoshka differs from the usual Khokhloma matryoshka in both the combination of colors and the painting techniques.
Non-governmental organizations
According to the Main Directorate of the Ministry of Justice for the Nizhny Novgorod Region, 1,043 non-profit organizations (NPOs) are registered in the region.
Mass media
There are 231 mass media registered in the Nizhny Novgorod Region: 162 printed publications, 64 electronic media (24 TV channels; 4 TV programs; 32 radio channels; 4 radio programs), 5 news agencies. There are also 172 mass media represented in the Nizhny Novgorod Region, the territory of distribution of which is several subjects of the Volga Federal District or the entire Russian Federation, neighboring countries.
Transport
Federal and regional highways pass through the territory of the Nizhny Novgorod Region; the region occupies a favorable geographical position at the intersection of two international transport corridors, «West-East» and «North-South».
All railway lines in the region are part of the Gorky Railway, the administration of which is located in Nizhny Novgorod. The main railway junctions are located in Nizhny Novgorod and Arzamas. The Moscow-Nizhny Novgorod branch has a high-speed Lastochka train service.
The M-12 «East» high-speed highway is part of the international transport route Europe - Western China. The M-12 Moscow - Kazan - Yekaterinburg - Tyumen highway passes through the Moscow, Vladimir, Nizhny Novgorod Regions, the Chuvash Republic and the Republic of Tatarstan.
In the Nizhny Novgorod Region, an infrastructure project has been successfully implemented and the construction of a section of the M-12 Moscow-Nizhny Novgorod-Kazan expressway, which is a section of the Europe-Western China international transport highway, has been completed. On December 21, 2023,
the M-12 «East» expressway was fully launched. On December 22, 2024, Russian President Vladimir Putin opened traffic on new sections of the M-12 «East» highway in Tatarstan and Bashkiria. In particular, he launched a bypass of Nizhnekamsk and Naberezhnye Chelny in Tatarstan, as well as a bypass of five settlements in Bashkiria. In 2025, it is planned to build a section of the highway from Kazan to Yekaterinburg, and in 2026, it will be possible to drive along the M-12 to Tyumen.
In addition to a developed road network, the region has two potentially powerful transport hubs: the Chkalov International Airport (regular international and regional flights are carried out) and a large river port, which has access via inland waterways to the seas washing the European part of Russia, with further access to the ports of the Baltic countries, Western Europe, Africa and Asia.
Regular shipping is carried out on the Volga, Oka, Vetluga and Sura. The largest ports are: Nizhegorodsky, Gorodetsky, Borsky and Kstovsky.
The city of Nizhny Novgorod is a major transport hub of the region; its extensive highways provide a stable flow of goods in any direction, both within Russia and abroad.
Tourism
The Nizhny Novgorod Region offers a wide range of tourism opportunities (cultural and educational, cruise, medical and recreational, business and event, ecological and adventure, rural, hunting and fishing).
The historical and cultural heritage of the Nizhny Novgorod Region is represented by 3,539 historical, cultural and architectural monuments, 1,257 of which are monuments of federal significance. Among them are unique objects of historical, cultural and spiritual heritage: the Nizhny Novgorod Kremlin (16th century), the Holy Trinity Makaryevsky Zheltovodsky Monastery (17th century), the Holy Trinity Seraphim-Diveyevo Monastery (19th century) and others.
The Nizhny Novgorod Region occupies a leading role in the number of preserved folk art crafts in Russia. The region is unique in that almost all existing types of production of folk art crafts are collected on its territory. Today, there are 28 places of traditional existence of folk art crafts in the Nizhny Novgorod Region and each of them is unique.
For example, the Semenovsky Municipal District is known for its Khokhloma and Semenovskaya painting, as well as amazingly painted matryoshka dolls, which are among the main souvenirs for guests of the region and Russia as a whole. The Gorodetsky Municipal District is famous for its Gorodetsky painting, «gold embroidery» and hand weaving. In Chkalovsk, they continue to develop the traditions of Nizhny Novgorod («Chkalovsky») guipure. The Pavlovsky Municipal District amazes with the art of metalworking, including the use of precious metals.
The Vachsky municipal district is famous for the production of Kazakovskaya filigree, which is distinguished by the purity of its lines and the elegance of its finishing. The Kazakovskaya filigree technique involves soldering patterns from thin wires, sometimes in combination with enamels, in which relief metal ornaments are enlivened by splashes of bright colors. Each product is made by hand.