Stavropol

Stavropol (СтаÌ?врополь) is a city located in south-western Russia. Geographical location at 45°03′N 41°58′E, administrative center of Stavropol Krai (region). Its population in 1999 was 343,500.

Stavropol was founded in 1777 following the Russo-Turkish War of 1768-1774 as a military encampment and designated as a city in 1785. Leading role in the creation of the city played Prince Grigori Potemkin who founded Stavropol as one of ten fortresses built between Azov and Mozdok at the request of Catherine II of Russia. Terek Cossacks settled the area in and around the city of Stavropol with a mission to defend borders of the Empire. The name Stavropol is a Russian rendition of an invented Greek word, Stauropolis, meaning "The city of the Cross". According to a legend soldiers found a huge cross made out of stone when they were building the fortress in the future city location. Stavropol's strategic location aided in the Russian Empire's conquest of the Caucasus. By the early 19th century the city grew into a busy trade center of the Northern Caucasus. In 1843 Episcopal see of the Russian Orthodox Church was established in Stavropol and in 1847 the city became the administrative center of the gubernia with the same name. During the Russian Civil War the city changed hands several times and finally was captured by the Red Army from the Volunteer Army of general Anton Denikin on January 29, 1920. The city was renamed Voroshilovsk in 1935 after Kliment Voroshilov, but returned to its original name in 1943. The Great Patriotic War took a heavy toll on the city and between August 3, 1942 and January 21, 1943 Stavropol was occupied by the Germans. Since 1946 natural gas is extracted near the city and later a pipeline to Moscow was built to supply it. The first and only executive president of the Soviet Union, Mikhail Gorbachev, was born in Stavropol Krai (region) and spent several years working in the city of Stavropol as the head of the Krai's administration.

Stavropol has a theatre and a football team called Dynamo Stavropol. The main educational institutions of the town are: Stavropol State University, Northern Caucasus State Polytechnic University, Agrarian University and Stavropol State Medical Academy. The area of Russia in which Stavropol resides is very mountainous, placing the city in the midst of the Caucasus mountain range. The city has one the biggest and best city parks in Russia. Stavropol's economy focuses on production of automobiles, furniture, and construction equipment and materials. The city relies on air, rail, and highway connections to other Russian cities. Stavropol population includes a significant number of recent arrivals escaping instability of the Russian border regions and neighbouring Caucasus nations.