Samara

 Samara was officially founded in 1586 when on the bank of the Volga River the construction of the fortress to protect the Russian State from the incursion of martial nomadic tribes was started. But in fact, the settlement on the bend of the Volga River had been mentioned in the ancient chronicles since 14th century. During World War II Samara (the city is situated not far from Moscow), then named Kuibyshev, was considered to be the second capital of USSR. Many famous people worked and lived in Samara including outstanding Russian writers Lev Tolstoy and Maxim Gorky, painters Ilya Repin, Vasily Surikov and Ivan Aivazovsky, revolutionists Michael Frunze and Vladimir Lenin. Even French writer Alexander Duma had paid a visit to Samara in 1858. Impressed by the travel he wrote the book "From Paris to Astrakhan" and gave his description of Samara in it. 

	Area:		260 sq km
	Location:		Samara is situated in the southeastern European part of Russia in the Midstream of the largest river in Europe - the Volga.
	Geographic coordinates:		53 10 N, 50 15 E
	Population:		approx 1,133,000 (2005 est.)
	Foundation:		1586
	Climate:		Samara has a distinct continental climate. The annual air temperature is + 3,8 C. The average temperature in January is -13,9 C, in July +20,1 C.
	UTC/GMT Offset:		UTC/GMT + 4 hours
	Area code:		8462
	Major attractions:		Art museum, Museum of Aleksey Tolstoy, Drama Theater, Opera and Ballet house.