Krasnodar [key], city (1989 pop. 621,000), capital of Krasnodar Territory, SE European Russia, on the Kuban River. A river port and railroad junction, it has petroleum refineries and machinery, metalworking, textile, chemical, and food-processing plants. Founded in 1794 by Zaporozhe (Black Sea) Cossacks upon orders from Catherine II, it was organized as their administrative center and called Ekaterinodar (Yekaterinodar). It served as a military center protecting Russia's Caucasian frontier. After 1918 it was the capital of the Kuban-Black Sea Soviet Republic and was renamed in 1920.
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