Khabarovsk, the industrial, transport, administrative and cultural centre of Khabarovsk Territory, was founded in the spring of 1858 on a spot where the mighty waters of the Amur River break against a high cliff. The city's foundation was laid by workers of Nerchinsk and Cassacks from the Upper Amur and Trans-Baikal regions, all of them descendants of the pioneers who explored and settled Siberia.
The city is named not without reason in honour of a Vologda peasant and later a Siberian dealer Jerofei Khabarov - one of the first in the exploration and settlement of Siberia of the 17th century. Khabarovsk has developed into a well-built modern city with a population of nearly 700,000. The city's 5 large districts stretching for 45 km along the bank of the Amur River are linked by bus, tram and passenger motor vessel routes.
