Vladivostok

City on the western shore of the Sea of Japan, on a peninsula extending into Peter the Great Bay; population (1996 est) 627,000. It is the capital of the Primorski (Maritime) Krai of the Russian Federation, and one of the most important economic and cultural centres of the Russian Far East, where it is the largest city. Vladivostok is a terminus of the Trans-Siberian Railway (9,224 km/mi from Moscow) and the Northern Sea Route, centre of communications for the Pacific territories, the largest Russian port on the Pacific, and the chief base of the Pacific Fleet. The port is kept open by icebreakers during winter.

There are engineering works, shipyards, and factories manufacturing mining equipment in the city, along with major fishing and whaling industries. Since the collapse of communism in 1991, there has also been considerable development of financial, business, and other services. Vladivostok is a cultural and educational centre, containing a branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences and the Far Eastern University (founded in 1899 as Oriental Institute, university from 1920). The city was founded as a Russian port in 1860, has been a town since 1880, and became regional capital in 1888; it rapidly developed as a free port (handling supplies for the Russian Far East and in transit from Manchuria), naval base and fortress, and had a pronounced international character until the 1930s. In both world wars it was used for Allied supplies. During 1918–22 it saw Allied occupation under Japanese leadership, and various pro- and anti-Bolshevik governments. The city is home to a large Chinese population.