Seaport city (pop., 2001 est.: 598,600), southeastern Russia, in Asia.
Founded in 1860 as a Russian military outpost, it became the main Russian naval base on the Pacific Ocean in 1872. It became a free commercial port in 1904 and grew rapidly as a military base after the Russian Revolution of 1917 . During the Soviet era it was the home of the Pacific fleet; its military importance was such that it was closed to foreign shipping from the late 1950s. After the collapse of the U.S.S.R. in 1991, it reemerged as a commercial port, with industries such as ship repair and fish and meat processing. A cultural centre, it is the eastern terminus of the Trans-Siberian Railroad .