What is Kaluga?
{{Infobox settlement |name = Kaluga |native_name = Калуга |image_skyline = Kaluga city, nowadays (collage).jpg |imagesize = 200px |image_flag = Flag of Kaluga.svg |image_shield = Coat of Arms of Kaluga.svg |subdivision_type = Country |subdivision_name = {{flag|Russia}} }} '''Kaluga''' ({{lang-ru|Калуга}}) is a city in [[Kaluga Oblast]], [[Russia]]. It is the [[Capital city|capital]] of Kaluga Oblast. As of 2024, the city has 329,673 people.<ref>https://rosstat.gov.ru/storage/mediabank/Сhisl_MO_01-01-2024.xlsx</ref> == History == Kaluga was used in the [[14th century]] as a stronghold against the [[Tatar people]] on the southern borders of [[Muscovy]]. It later became a seat of provincial administration. In the early [[17th century]] it was devastated by [[Cossacks]], plague, and fire, and in the winter of 1941 it was held by the [[Nazi Germany|Germans]]. It has a wide range of industries, producing turbines, railway equipment, and [[consumer goods]]. The city is on the [[Vyazma–Tula railway]] near its junction with the [[Moscow–Kyiv railway|Moscow–Kyiv]] line. == Geography == Kaluga is located within [[European Russia|western Russia]]. It occupies an area in the upper [[Oka River]] basin southwest of Moscow oblast. Broad, often swampy valleys alternate with rolling hills of the [[Central Russian Uplands]]. It is 189 kilometers southwest of [[Moscow]], 880 kilometers southeast of [[Saint Petersburg]] and 623 kilometers southwest of [[Nizhny Novgorod]]. == Economy == Kaluga Region is one of the most promising regions of Russia to make investments in. The region holds the fifth place in the national rating of investment attractiveness. For a number of years Kaluga Region has been holding the leading positions in terms of industrial output growth rates. Kaluga Region Government has created all conditions for successful development of both large-scale production facilities and industrial SMEs. Investors, operating in the region, admit that Kaluga Region investment policy meets the highest global standards. The r