NAKHODKA

also spelled Nachodka, town, Primorsky kray (region), extreme eastern Russia. It lies at the head of Nakhodka Bay on the Sea of Japan. Nakhodka (its name means find, or godsend) is an important centre for exports. It is also the terminus of a passenger ferry to Yokohama, Japan, and the base of a fishing fleet. In the early 1980s a huge new port, under Nakhodka town jurisdiction, was built nearby; it established Nakhodka's prominence over Vladivostok as the largest and most highly mechanized port in eastern Russia, with major facilities for handling timber, coal, and especially containers, and with many new pier terminals for deepwater ships. Pop. (1994 est.) 163,800.