Perm (city)

Capital city, economic and cultural centre of Perm oblast (region), in the west-central Russian Federation, in the southern foothills of the Urals; population (2002) 1,001,700. Perm, which lies on the River Kama 475 km/295 mi northeast of Kazan, is a major centre of commerce and transportation. It is also an important industrial centre, producing machinery, chemicals, oil by-products, and timber.

Perm was founded in 1723 as a workers' settlement for a copper-smelting works on the Kama River. It was made a provincial capital in 1780. The town developed rapidly after the first Trans-Ural railway was built from Perm to Yekaterinburg in 1874. Perm is a centre of Urals culture, and has a theatre where ballet and opera are produced.