Vladivostok is a naval port city on the Pacific Ocean. It has a similar likeness to a neglected part of San Francisco. It is home to the Pacific Fleet of the Russian Navy, the city has lost a little of its gleam as payments on the military has slightly slowed down. Little like San Francisco, the city itself was built on the hills adjacent to the harbor with the center of the city with a great compilation of architecture from the old precommunist time. The city is spotted with parks and scenic areas over looking not only the harbor but also the "Sea of Japan". Even though the center of the city is very spotless the nearby fringes have industrial pollution troubles.

The name Vladivostok located in the southern tip of the Muravyov-Amursky Peninsula denotes "rule the East" in Russian. A term used to denote that of Vladikavkaz during the Russian fortress in the Caucasus. This navel stronghold 9,302 km from Moscow was founded in 1859 by Nikolay Muravyov-Amursky, a farsighted diplomat and statesman responsible for the expansion of the Russian Empire to the Pacific.

Demographically, the people of Vladivostok consists of mainly of Russians and Ukrainians with a population of only 600, 000. Many illegal Chinese and Koreans immigrants' occupants of the city were deported during Stalin's rule. Today, Vladivostok has one of the biggest Armenian populations in eastern Russia. Other considerably large communities of Chechens, Azeris and Tajiks are also to be found in the city of Vladivostok.

Commercially the main economics concentrates on shipping, fishing, and the naval base. Fishing is thought to make for nearly four-fifths of Vladivostok's financial assembly. The principal export of the city includes fish, wood products, iron and shipping. Ever since the break down of the Soviet Union, several businesses have opened offices in Vladivostok, taking advantage of its commercial location.

Russians speak of the same way for Vladivostok as the British speak for Cardiff and the Indians speak of Calcutta. Vladivostok is in fact an exceptional Russian city. Positioned in the country's extreme fareast, it is one of the final destinations on the illustrious Trans-Siberian Railway. It's a place where one must go.