Perm is located on the banks of the Kama River in the European part of Russia near the Ural MountainsThe city is located on the bank of the Kama River upon hilly terrain.
The Kama is the main tributary of the Volga River and one of the deepest and most picturesque rivers of Russia. This river is the waterway which grants the Ural Mountains access to the White Sea, Baltic Sea, Sea of Azov, Black Sea, and Caspian Sea.
The Kama divides the city into two parts: the central part and the right bank part. The city stretches for 70 kilometers (43 mi) along the Kama and 40 kilometers (25 mi) across it. The city street grid parallels the Kama River, traveling generally east-west, while other main streets run perpendicularly to those following the river. The grid pattern accommodates the hills of the city where it crosses them.
In the 19th century, Perm became a major trade and industrial center with a population of more than 20,000 people in the 1860s, with several metallurgy, paper, and steamboat producing factories, including one owned by a British entrepreneur. In 1870, an opera theater was opened in the city, and in 1871 the first phosphoric factory in Russia was built. In 1916, Perm State University - a major educational institution in modern Russia - was opened.According to the 2010 Census, Perm's population is 991,162, down from 1,001,653 recorded in the 2002 Census and 1,090,944 recorded in 1989 Census. As of the 2010 Census, the city was the thirteenth most populous in Russia.
During World War II, these notable people lived and worked in Perm:
the writer V.A. Kaverin(who was writing his novel The Two Captains at that time), the painter B.V.Ioganson,
the ballerina G.S. Ulanova, the composer A.I. Khachaturyan (who wrote the score of the ballet Gayane while in Perm).The pilot/cosmonaut V. Savinykh graduated from the Perm Railway Transport Technical School. The popular composer Ye Krylatov is a graduate of Perm College of Music.
