City (pop., 2001 est.: 1,081,800), western Russia.
Located 125 mi (200 km) south of Yekaterinburg on the Trans-Siberian Railroad , it is the capital of Chelyabinsk oblast . Founded as a frontier outpost on the site of a Bashkir village in 1736, its growth was greatly stimulated by the eastward evacuation of Russian industry in World War II.