Ufa, city in southeastern European Russia, administrative center of the republic of Bashkortostan, situated at the confluence of the Ufa and Belaya rivers. Located on the western slopes of the Ural Mountains, Ufa is an industrial city in which mining and electrical equipment, refined petroleum, forest products, chemicals, synthetic rubber, and processed foods are manufactured. Founded in 1574 as a fortress, it became the first Russian town in the area called Bashkiria in 1586. From 1922 to 1991, Ufa was the capital of the Bashkir Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic (ASSR) of Soviet Russia. In 1991 the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) broke apart, and Bashkortostan became a constituent republic of Russia. .