Nizhnii Tagil, Russia
Nizhnii Tagil joined us as a sister city in June 1996. It is an industrial city of 438,000 located on the eastern slopes of the Ural Mountains in the Sverdlovsk Oblast (western Asia). Founded in 1722, it has been a major center for mining, metallurgy, and manufacturing. The city produced the first bicycle and the first steam locomotive in Russia.
Nizhnii Tagil had air pollution worse than Chattanooga’s old problem and has been declared an “environmental emergency zone.” Nizhnii Tagil looks at Chattanooga as an example of how to modify industrial practices to clean up the environment without losing its industrial base. Even though exchanges of information on environmental issues take center stage, art and cultural exchanges as well as teacher and student visits are given high priority.
More information on Nizhnii Tagil is available here.
Population: 390,498
Area: 4,601 km2 (1,776.5 sq mi)
Climate: January average: -16 °C /6 °F
July average: 17 °C /63 °F
Did you know? The city is situated some 25 kilometers (16 mi) east of the virtual border between Europe and Asia. The geological structure of the city is very complex. Its altitude varies from 170 to 380 meters (558 to 1247 feet). This makes Nizhnii Tagil one of the rare natural store-rooms on the Earth. There are many mineral deposits containing 63 elements of the periodic table.