port and capital of Dagestan republic, southwestern Russia. The city is situated along the western shore of the Caspian Sea, at the northern end of a narrow coastal plain. Founded as the Petrovskoye fortress in 1844, it became Petrovsk Port in 1857 and was renamed in 1921 after the Dagestani revolutionary Makhach. Present-day Makhachkala is a seaport linking the North Caucasus, Transcaucasus, and southern Ukraine with the western regions of Kazakhstan. It also serves as the terminal of an oil pipeline from Grozny. Its industries include machine building and chemical and textile manufacturing. Makhachkala has a branch of the Academy of Sciences, a university, and medical, agricultural, and teacher-training institutes. Pop. (2006 est.) 466,331.