Until 1972, the city's name was Melekess (Мелекесс), after the local Melekesska River which runs through the town.

[citation needed] On July 15, 1972, Melekess was renamed to Dimitrovgrad, celebrating the posthumous 90th birthday of Georgi Dimitrov, the first leader of the communist People's Republic of Bulgaria.

[3] The city's leading enterprise, located 6 km (4 mi) to the south-west, is the Research Institute of Atomic Reactors.

The city also has the State Scientific Center of Russian Federation, Research Institute of Atomic Reactors.

As of the 2010 Census: Russians - 76.2%, Tatars - 13.2%, Chuvash - 5.3%, Mordovians - 1.7%, Ukrainians - 1.0%, others - 2.5% Dimitrovgrad is twinned with:[18]