Ekaterinburg is one of the largest cities of the Russian Federation. It is an administrative capital of the Sverdlovsk Region and the Ural Federal District. Nowadays the city is an important centre of industry, transport, finance, science and culture. General information. The city was founded in 1723 and is situated in the heart of the Eurasian continent, on the border of Europe and Asia and in the middle of the Ural Mountain Range. Geographical coordinates of the city are 56º 51' North latitude and 60º 36' East longitude. It is located on the eastern slope of the Ural Mountains along the Iset River (the tributary of the Tobol River). Total area of Ekaterinburg is 491 square kilometers. The city is at 1667 kilometers' distance away from Moscow and at 7635 kilometers' distance away from Vladivostok. The time zone of Ekaterinburg is UTC+6 (two hours ahead of Moscow and six hours ahead of Greenwich). A flight from Moscow to Ekaterinburg takes two hours, while a train trip takes 25 hours. Population. For January 1st, 2013, the population of the Ural capital is 1 424 702 people. Climate. The city features a temperate continental climate with characteristic weather instability with brightly expressed seasons. Average temperature in January is -16ºC, in July - +18ºC. The Ural Mountains could not be called very high, nevertheless they block the way to air masses coming from the West (from the European part of the country). Due to its location the city is not protected from the arctic air and considerably cool air from the West Siberian Plain. However, warm air masses come here unhindered from the South. That is why both sharp temperature changes and weather anomalies are typical in Ekaterinburg. Weather can change from severe frosts to thaws in winter and from extreme heat to cold weather and rains in summer. Author photo: Vladimir Zadumin (ekamag).jpg)