The historic center of Yaroslavl lies to the north of the mouth of the
Kotorosl River on the right bank of the larger Volga River. The city's
entire urban area covers around 205 square kilometers (79 sq mi and
includes a number of territories south of the Kotorosl and on the left
bank of the Volga. With over 600,000 residents, Yaroslavl is, by
population, the largest town on the Volga until it reaches Nizhny
Novgorod. It is a large transport node, and a great number of important
national and regional roads, railways, and waterways pass through the
city. In fact many of the roads that connect Yaroslavl to Moscow and
beyond are two-lane highways.
Yaroslavl and its respective oblast are
located in the central area of the East European Plain, which in areas
to the northeast of Moscow is characterized by rolling hills and a
generally uneven landscape; however, most of these hills are no larger
than 200 meters (660 ft) in height. Typical for this region, the area in
and around Yaroslavl is rich in mixed and coniferous forests. In
addition to these, there are also large areas of swampland.
Yaroslavl
is situated at the crossing point of a number of major automotive, rail
and riverboat routes. The M8 (Moscow � Yaroslavl � Vologda �
Archangelsk) links the city to Moscow and also onwards to the north in
the direction of Archangelsk. The city's two banks are connected by one
major railway bridge and two bridges designed to carry automotive
traffic (The Oktyabrskyj Bridge and Yubilejnyj Bridge). The smaller
Kostrol river, on the other hand, is crossed by as many as four bridges
for automobiles and one for railway traffic (built in 1896).
Automotive transport
In
the last few years the authorities of Yaroslavl have been acting on the
initiative to build a bypass around the city, for this reason the
center of the city is now largely free of freight transporters and other
larger vehicles
