Tolyatti [key], city (1989 pop. 631,000), W European Russia, on the Volga River, near Samara. It is the site of Russia's largest automobile factory, which receives its power from the hydroelectric dam near Zhigulyovsk. Other manufactures include heavy machinery, artificial fibers, and synthetic rubber. Founded at the riverside community of Stavropol, it was moved to higher ground following the 1957 completion of the dam. Renamed Novy [new] Stavropol, it grew rapidly in population. In 1964 it was renamed Tolyatti, after the Italian Communist party leader Palmiro Togliatti, and the city's name sometimes appears as Togliatti.
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