Dzerzhinsk

City in Nizhegorodsk oblast (region) of the western Russian Federation, on the River Oka 32 km/20 mi west of Nizhniy Novgorod; population (1996 est) 284,000. It is one of the main centres of the chemical industry in the Russian Federation, producing synthetic ammoniac, fertilizers, and herbicides.

Dzerzhinsk was founded in 1930 from the settlements of Chernorechye and Rastyapino. It was named after Felix Dzerzhinsky, head of the Cheka secret police 1917–26, a precursor of the KGB; surprisingly, its name did not change following the collapse of communism in 1991.