Editing Nizhny Novgorod (section)

=== Commercial centre ===
{{See also|Nizhny Novgorod Fair|All-Russia Exhibition 1896}}
[[File:Nizhny Novgorod Fair 1903.jpg|thumb|Main building of the [[All-Russia exhibition 1896|Great Russian Fair]], 19th-century postcard|left]]

In 1817, the [[Nizhny Novgorod Fair|Makaryev Fair]], one of the liveliest in the world, was transferred to Nizhny Novgorod and started to attract millions of visitors annually. By the mid-19th century, the city was firmly established as the [[trade]] capital of the [[Russian Empire]]. The world's first radio receiver by engineer [[Alexander Stepanovich Popov|Alexander Popov]] and the world's first [[hyperboloid structure|hyperboloid tower]] and lattice shell-coverings by engineer [[Vladimir Shukhov]] were demonstrated at the [[All-Russia exhibition 1896|All-Russia industrial and art exhibition in Nizhny Novgorod]] in 1896. According to official Imperial Russian statistics, the population of Nizhny Novgorod as of 14 January 1913 was 97,000.

The largest industrial enterprise was the [[Krasnoye Sormovo Factory No. 112|Sormovo Iron Works]] which was connected by the company's own railway to [[Nizhny Novgorod railway station|Moskovsky railway station]] in the Lower City of Nizhny Novgorod. The Kazansky railway station was in the Upper city. Other industries gradually developed, and by the start of the 20th century, the city was also a first-rank industrial hub. [[Henry Ford]] helped build a large truck and tractor plant ([[GAZ]]) in the late 1920s, sending engineers and mechanics, including future labour leader [[Walter Reuther]].