| Major city in the central part of Russia, capital of the Ural. Between 1924 and 1991, the city was known as Sverdlovsk. The city was founded in 1721 by Vasily Tatischev and named after Saint Catherine, the namesake of Tsar Peter the Great's wife Empress Catherine I (Yekaterina). Soon after the Russian Revolution, on July 17, 1918, Tsar Nicholas II and his family were executed by Bolsheviks at the Ipatiev House in this city. During World War II, many government technical institutions and whole factories were relocated to Yekaterinburg away from the war-affected areas (mostly Moscow), with many of them staying in Ekaterinburg after the victory. City is located on the eastern side of the Ural mountains on the Iset river. |
