Ardatovsky District is located in the southwestern part of Nizhny Novgorod Region. It borders Navashinskiy District, Kulebakskiy District, Vyksunsky District, Voznesenskiy District, Diveevskiy District, Arzamassky District, and Sosnovskiy District Districts.
The administrative center of the district is the settlement of Ardatov.
History
Archaeological finds on the territory of the Ardatov region indicate that from the 6th–7th centuries it was inhabited by Mordvinian tribes — primarily Erzya, partly Moksha, and small groups of Volga Bulgars. Their settled communities were located along the floodplains of the rivers Tyosha River, Lemet, and Irzha. From the 10th–12th centuries, Slavic settlers began to appear here. They taught the Mordvinians farming and the craft of making iron tools and weapons. These lands, rich in forest, fish, and game, were contested from the west by Tatar tribes and from the north and east by Russian princes. The Ardatov lands witnessed Svyatoslav's campaign to pacify the Volga Bulgaria, the Tatar hordes that passed through in 1237 on their way to Rus, and Ivan IV the Terrible's campaign against Kazan in 1552. The route known as the "Tsarskaya Sakma" — the state diplomatic road from Moscow to the Golden Horde and the Astrakhan Khanate — passed through this region. The name Ardatov is connected to a legend about a guide for Ivan the Terrible's troops named Ardatka.
After the 1552 campaign, the Mordvinian lands were granted by the tsar as pomestye estates to Russian princes, boyars, Tatar and Mordvinian murzas, and service men — primarily the Sviyazhsk settlers. (Sviyazhsk was a Russian fortress near Kazan.)
In 1779, as part of Catherine II's administrative reform, Ardatovsky Uyezd was established, consisting of 40 volosts. By population it ranked 4th, and by area 3rd in Nizhny Novgorod Governorate.
In 1923 the uyezd was abolished, and in 1929 Ardatovsky District was created. Ardatov lost its status as a town and became a selo — the district center. The first collective farms (kolkhozy) were organized here in 1928. In total, 90 kolkhozy were established between 1928 and 1935.
Industry
The leading sector of the district's industrial complex is light industry (the manufacturing firm "Mukhtolovskaya Spetsodezhda"), which accounts for 75 % of total output and 54 % of the district's industrial workforce. The industrial complex is complemented by sectors working with local raw materials, including OAO "Mukhtolovskiy Lespromkhoz" and the Mukhtolov Chemical Forestry Enterprise, OAO "Molochny Zavod" (Dairy Plant), the former defense-industry enterprise OAO "Sapfir," and a printing house.