Perm, Volga Federal district, Russia

🇷🇺 Perm, previously known as Yagoshikha, and Molotov, is the largest city and the administrative centre of Perm Krai, Russia. The city is located on the banks of the Kama River, near the Ural Mountains. Perm is the fifteenth-largest city in Russia, and the fifth-largest city in the Volga Federal District.

In 1723, a copper-smelting works was founded at the village of Yagoshikha. In 1781 the settlement of Yagoshikha became the town of Perm. Perm's position on the navigable Kama River, leading to the Volga, and on the Siberian Route across the Ural Mountains, helped it become an important trade and manufacturing centre. It also lay along the Trans-Siberian Railway. Perm grew considerably as industrialization proceeded in the Urals during the Soviet period, and in 1940 was named Molotov in honour of Vyacheslav Molotov. In 1957 the city returned to its historical name.

Modern Perm is still a major railway hub and one of the chief industrial centres of the Urals region. The city's diversified metallurgical and engineering industries produce equipment and machine tools for the petroleum and coal industries, as well as agricultural machinery. A major petroleum refinery uses oil transported by pipeline from the West Siberian oilfields, and the city's large chemical industry makes fertilizers and dyes. The city's institutions of higher education include the Perm A.M. Gorky State University, founded in 1916.

Economy Perm has the largest industrial output among cities in the Urals, ahead of Yekaterinburg, Chelyabinsk and Ufa, although Perm has a smaller population than these. Thirty-five per cent of Perm Oblast's industry is located in Perm. The largest industries in the city are electric power engineering, oil and gas refining, machine building, chemicals and petrochemicals, forestry processing, printing and food industry.

Several major industrial companies are located in Perm: Perm Motors and Aviadvigatel, major suppliers of engines to the Russian aircraft industry; rocket engine company Proton-PM, which will mass-produce the RD-191 engine for the upcoming Angara rocket family; electric engineering firms Morion JSC, Perm Scientific and Industrial Group, and Perm Electrical Engineering Plant; Russia's largest exporter of cables and wires, JSC KAMKABEL; and oil and natural gas companies such as LUKoil-Perm Ltd. and LUKoilPernefteprodukt Ltd.

Transportation Perm is an important railway junction on the Trans-Siberian Railway with lines radiating to Central Russia, the north part of the Urals, and the far east of Russia. Perm has two major railway stations, the historical Perm I and the modern Perm II. The Kama River is an important direct link between the European part of Russia to the sea ports on the White, Baltic, Azov, Black, and Caspian seas.

Perm is served by the international airport Bolshoye Savino, which is located 16 km (9.9 mi) south-west of the city.

Perm's public transit network includes tram, bus, and city-railway routes.

Culture The Perm Opera and Ballet House is one of the best in Russia. There are many other theatres in Perm, including the Drama Theater, the Puppet Theatre, the Theatre for Young Spectators, the Theatre "Stage Molot", and the mystical At the Bridge Theatre.

Among the cities museums and galleries, the Perm State Art Gallery is recognised for its outstanding collections of art, including paintings from 15th- to 18th century art movements, and wooden sculptures from the region. It is housed in a notable early 19th century structure, once an orthodox cathedral. The spire of the museum towers over the rest of Perm, as it is situated on the Komsomolsky Prospect. Perm is receiving attention from the development of the new Museum of Contemporary Art, Perm Museum of Contemporary Art (PERMM) which officially opened in March 2009.

The RAV Vast steel tongue drum was invented in Perm by Andrey Remyannikov. This instrument is unique in the tongue drum and handpan world because each note has multiple harmonic overtones that resonate with other notes in the drum. The sound consequently has long sustain and reverberation.

The Legend of Perm Bear or The Walking Bear is a sculpture depicting a walking bear, which is also shown on the city's coat of arms. It is situated in the central part of the city on Lenin Street, in front of the Organ Concert Hall and close to the building of Legislative Assembly of Perm Krai. The author of the sculpture is Vladimir Pavlenko, a monumentalist sculptor from Nizhny Tagil, member of the Artists' Union of Russia and UNESCO International Association of Arts.

Education Perm is a scientific centre; some of the scientific institutes are combined in the Perm Scientific Center of the Ural Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences.

Perm is a home to several major universities including Perm State University, Perm State Technical University, Perm branch of state university Higher school of economics, Perm State Teachers' Training University, Perm State Medical Academy, Perm State Pharmaceutical Academy, Perm State Agricultural Academy, The Institute of Art and Culture, Perm State Choreographic School, and others. There are also three military schools in Perm.

• Perm State University • Perm State Technical University • Perm State Pharmaceutical Academy • Perm State Agricultural Academy • Perm State Choreographic School