ZLATOUST, in the Russian government of Ufa, is one of the chief towns and iron-works of the Urals. It is situated on the Ai, a tributary of the Ufa, in a picturesque valley of the middle Urals, at a height of 1200 feet above sea-level. The 270 miles which stretch between Zlatoust and Ufa in the west will soon be covered by rail, while a branch line is projected to connect it with Ekaterinburg in the north. The town is well built, mostly of wood, has a first-class meteorological and magnetic observatory, and is the seat of the mining administration for the Zlatoust district, which includes, besides several iron-works, the rich gold-washings of the basin of the Mias. Its merchants carry on a brisk trade in agricultural produce and cattle, as well as in manufactured wares, imported for the use of the mining villages of the neighbourhood. The Ai and several ponds supply the crown iron-works with motive power, and in 1884 the iron furnaces of Zlatoust yielded 90,800 cwts. of pig-iron, which were used almost entirely for the manufacture of swords, bayonets, and artillery munition. The population of Zlatoust in 1884 was 19,000.