Ufa

Capital of Bashkortostan, central Russian Federation, located on the River Belaya, in the western Urals; population (2002) 1,042,400. Ufa is situated near the Tuymazy and Ishimbay fields in the Volga–Ural oil region, and is a centre for oil refining and the production of petrochemicals. One of the main manufacturing cities of the Urals, its industries include aerospace technology, electronic engineering, distilling, and lumbering.

Ufa was founded in 1574 as a fortress and became a town in 1586. Since 1788, it has been the residence of the religious head of all the Muslims of European Russia and Siberia. It became a provincial capital in 1862, and during the 19th century was the centre of a growing trade in agricultural products. The Bolsheviks were overthrown in Ufa by the White Guards and the Socialist Revolutionaries in 1918; however, the town was taken by the Red Army in the following year, and in 1922 was made the capital of the Bashkir ASSR despite the opposition of the Bashkir people.