Ekaterinodar

EKATERINODAR. a town of South Russia, chief town of the province of Kuban, on the right bank of the river Kuban, 85 m. E.N.E. of Novo-rossiysk on the railway to Rostov-on-Don, and in 45° 3' N. and 38° 50' E.' It is badly built, on a swampy site exposed to the inundations of the river; and its houses, with few exceptions, are slight structures of wood and plaster. Founded by Catherine II. in 1704 on the site of an old town called Tmutarakan, as a small fort and Cossack settlement, its population grew from 9620 in 1860 to 65,697 in 1897. It has various technical schools, an experimental fruit-farm, a military hospital, and a natural history museum. A considerable trade is carried on, especially in cereals.