The demonym for a Nizhny Novgorod resident is “нижегородец” (nizhegorodets) for male or “нижегородка” (nizhegorodka) for female, rendered in English as Nizhegorodian.

It marked the eastern extreme of East Slavic settlement until the end of the medieval period, with Russian expansion eastward delayed until the capture of Kazan in 1552.

[citation needed] The independent existence of the medieval fort was threatened by the continuous Mordvin attacks against it; the major attempt made by forces under Purgaz in April 1229 was repulsed.

[citation needed] Along with Moscow and Tver, Nizhny Novgorod was among several newly founded towns that escaped devastation during the Mongol invasion of Kievan Rus' on account of their insignificance, but grew into great centres in Russian political life during the hegemony of the Golden Horde.

Grand Duke Dmitry Konstantinovich (1323–1383) sought to make his capital a rival worthy of Moscow; he built a stone citadel and several churches and was a patron of historians.

[citation needed] In 1612, the so-called "national militia", gathered by a local merchant, Kuzma Minin, and commanded by Knyaz Dmitry Pozharsky expelled the Polish troops from Moscow, thus putting an end to the “Time of Troubles” and establishing the rule of the Romanov dynasty.

[citation needed] In the course of the following century, the city prospered commercially and was chosen by the Stroganovs, the wealthiest merchant family of Russia, as a base for their operations.

[citation needed] The historical coat of arms of Nizhny Novgorod in 1781 was a red deer with black horns and hooves on a white field.

[citation needed] In 1817, the Makaryev Fair, one of the liveliest in the world, was transferred to Nizhny Novgorod and started to attract millions of visitors annually.

Henry Ford helped build a large truck and tractor plant (GAZ) in the late 1920s, sending engineers and mechanics, including future labour leader Walter Reuther.

[9] In December 2011, Marat Safin was elected to the Russian Parliament as a member of Vladimir Putin's United Russia Party, representing Nizhny Novgorod.

The Upper City (Russian: Нагорная часть, Nagornaya chast, Mountainous part) is located on the hilly eastern (right) bank of the Oka.

Being far enough away from the Baltic Sea for maritime effects to lower, Nizhny Novgorod has similar winters to Bothnian Bay climates near the Arctic Circle, but instead has very warm summers for its latitude.

[31] On 7 March 2019, the Nizhny Novgorod District Court sentenced him to 10 years in a strict regime colony with a fine of 460.8 million rubles.

[42] The coat of arms and flag of the city depicts a red deer, which is a symbol of nobility, purity and greatness, life, wisdom and justice.

[43][44] The coat of arms of the city of Nizhny Novgorod is an image of a deer on a French heraldic shield, framed on the sides and bottom with a ribbon of the Order of Lenin.

The Soviet city of Gorky became one of the largest industrial centres in Russia, the leading role in which belonged to the enterprises of mechanical engineering, metalworking and information technology.

[48] At the stage before 1822, the Cathedral of the Savior was built according to the project of Auguste de Montferrand, 3 administrative, 4 “Chinese” wooden and 56 brick buildings with thousands of shops, hotels, taverns and a summer theatre.

The third stage marked a strict rectangular redevelopment of the fair with the paving of all streets, the creation of a number of new places of worship, including the Alexander Nevsky Cathedral, a three-story commercial building, called the Persian Caravanserai, was erected near the mosque.

[53] In Nizhny Novgorod, there are also a number of offshore outsourcing software developers, including Bell Integrator, Itseez, Tecom, Luximax Systems Ltd, MERA, RealEast Networks, Auriga, SoftDrom and Teleca, as well as many other smaller companies specialising in the delivery of services to telecommunication vendors.

Nizhny Novgorod has also been chosen as one of four sites for building an IT-oriented technology park – a special zone that has an established infrastructure and enjoys a favourable tax and customs policy.

Some of the largest plants include: Public transportation within the city is provided by a trams, marshrutkas (routed taxis), buses, and trolleybuses.

Nizhny Novgorod Metro underground rapid transit system was opened in 1985; it now has two lines with 15 stations, connecting with railway terminal, and carrying 102,000 passengers daily.

Passengers can continue from Nizhny Novgorod eastward along the Trans-Siberian Railway, with direct trains to major cities in the Urals and Siberia, as well as to Beijing, Pyongyang and Ulaanbaatar.

Suburban commuter trains (elektrichka) connect Nizhny Novgorod with Vladimir, Dzerzhinsk, Murom, Kirov, Arzamas, Zavolzhye, Balakhna, and others.

On 31 July 2014, there was an incident when lightning struck a metal support near the booth during a heavy thunderstorm, and the cable car was stopped with people in the cabins.

[60] Nizhny Novgorod is served by Strigino International Airport,[61] which has direct flights to major Russian cities and the Middle East.

Other notable churches include: The centrally located Nizhny Novgorod Synagogue was built in 1881–1883; disused during the Soviet era, it was renovated and reopened circa 1991.

A singular monument of industrial architecture is a 128 m (420 ft) open-work hyperboloid tower built on the bank of the Oka near Dzerzhinsk as part of a powerline river crossing by the eminent engineer and scientist Vladimir Shukhov in 1929.

Several sports clubs are active in the city: Russia hosted the 2018 FIFA World Cup, and six matches were played at the new Nizhny Novgorod Stadium.