Nizhegorodsk

Oblast (region) in the western Russian Federation; area 74,800 sq km/28,880 sq mi; population (1996) 3,727,000 (78% urban). The capital is Nizhniy-Novgorod and Dzerzhinsk is another town in the region. The River Volga runs west–east across the province. Half of the province is covered with mixed forests, and there are many bogs and peat deposits. Industries include engineering, metal processing, vehicle production, and hydroelectric power generation; there is also cultivation of grain, flax, and potatoes, and dairy farming.