Birobidzhan

Birobidzhan: see Jewish Autonomous Region, Russia.

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Birobidzhan, Birobijan

1. a city in SE Russia: capital of the Jewish Autonomous Region. Pop.: 82 000 (1994)

2. another name for the Jewish Autonomous Region

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Birobidzhan 

(named for the Bira and Bidzhan rivers), a city, center of the Jewish Autonomous Oblast, Khabarovsk Krai, RSFSR. Located on the Bira River (tributary of the Amur). Railroad station on the Trans-Siberian Railway, 175 km west of Khabarovsk. Population, 56,000 (1970; in 1939, 30,000). There is light industry (production of knit and sewn articles, footwear, and others). The Dal’sel’mash Agricultural Machinery Plant and a power transformer plant are located in Birobidzhan, as are enterprises of the woodworking and food industries. There are evening mechanical and mechanical engineering technicums and medical, pedagogical, and cultural enlightenment colleges. There is a museum of regional studies and two national theaters (Jewish and Russian). Birobidzhan arose in 1928 on the location of the small Tikhon’kaia station. It has been a city since 1937.