2GIS in Nizhny Novgorod is the Nizhny Novgorod section of the website 2gis.ru (address: 2gis.ru/n_novgorod): a map of Nizhny Novgorod detailed down to individual buildings, with address search, information about organizations, their business hours, reviews, photos, and route planning for driving and public transit [9]. Work on a Nizhny Novgorod directory with a city map began in August 2008, when a branch of the company, then called "DoubleGIS," opened in Nizhny Novgorod [4][5].

History

The domain 2gis.ru was registered in February 2001 [1]. The earliest surviving copy of the site in the web archive dates from July 2001: at that time it was a page for the "DoubleGIS" reference and information system, a home-computer program that combined an electronic map of Novosibirsk with a directory of the city's firms and institutions; the project gave May 21, 2001 as the birthday of its page [2]. By early 2007, DoubleGIS described itself as a directory of organizations combined with a city map, published monthly, distributed free of charge, and covering 13 cities of Russia; Nizhny Novgorod was not yet on that list [3].

On August 12, 2008, the company announced that the directory would be published in Nizhny Novgorod: its reference information department began collecting data on the city's firms and enterprises, and its own cartography department began digitizing the map; the first issue was planned for October 2008. Until then, DoubleGIS branches had operated in Krasnoyarsk, Omsk, Yekaterinburg, Novosibirsk, Chelyabinsk, Perm, Samara, and Ufa, while in other cities the project ran under a franchise arrangement [4]. At the same time, a separate Nizhny Novgorod site, nnovgorod.2gis.ru, appeared, titled "DoubleGIS Nizhny Novgorod — directory of organizations with a city map": on it, the city's organizations were invited to add information about themselves free of charge, and the first issue was expected on October 1 [5].

In January 2009, the January issue of the directory was posted on the Nizhny Novgorod site; its telephone section contained 28,027 numbers, and DoubleGIS itself reported 4,700,000 users in 21 cities of Russia and Ukraine. The program could be downloaded, or a disc could be ordered for delivery [6]. By the summer of 2011, the project was already called "2GIS," and the Nizhny Novgorod site was titled "Map of Nizhny Novgorod with building numbers and phone numbers." By then the map covered, besides the city itself, Bogorodsk, Bor, Dzerzhinsk, and Kstovo; the directory was published in versions for computers, for mobile phones running Windows Mobile, Android, and Symbian, and as an online version, and it included public transit routes, intercity transport schedules, and a city events listing [7].

Later, the Nizhny Novgorod section moved from a separate subdomain to the main site: the earliest surviving copy of the page 2gis.ru/n_novgorod, titled "Map of Nizhny Novgorod online: streets, buildings, and organizations of the city," dates to April 2014 [8]. As of 2026, in addition to the map and directory, the section offers routes, the "Guide" travel guide, job search, and listings for home sales and rentals on the map [9].

The service in city life

Nizhny Novgorod publications regularly write about the city based on 2GIS data. In August 2026, NIA Nizhny Novgorod, citing the geoservice's analysts, reported that Nizhny Novgorod had 2,939 food service outlets — 2.62% fewer than a year earlier [10]. In September of the same year, Newsroom24, citing 2GIS data, wrote that the number of burger joints in the city had fallen by 13.3% over the year, to 72 establishments [11], and according to a study by 2GIS and the booking service Otello, Nizhny Novgorod in summer 2026 turned out to be the most expensive of the popular new Golden Ring destinations — the top five also included Tver, Murom, Diveevo, and Arzamas [12].

In September 2026, Nizhny Novgorod became the fourth Russian city with a population of over a million where the "Green Wave" feature went live in the 2GIS navigator: it tells the driver the speed at which they can pass several traffic lights in a row without stopping. The data from "smart" traffic lights is transmitted to the service by the Transport Systems Development Center of Nizhny Novgorod Region; the feature supports 102 traffic light installations, including those on Gagarin Avenue, Lenin Avenue, and Rodionov Street [14].

Place in the city's internet

In the NN Top100 ranking of Nizhny Novgorod websites' traffic, the Nizhny Novgorod section of 2GIS, as measured on October 6, 2026, stands in 2nd place: 279,000 visitors from the region over 31 days according to the LiveInternet counter [13].

Sources

  1. nic.ru — whois
  2. web.archive.org — Web Archive: 2gis.ru, snapshot of July 23, 2001 (archive)
  3. web.archive.org — Web Archive: 2gis.ru, snapshot of January 1, 2007 (archive)
  4. web.archive.org — Web Archive: 2gis.ru, "The DoubleGIS directory will be published in Nizhny Novgorod," snapshot of August 18, 2008 (archive)
  5. web.archive.org — Web Archive: nnovgorod.2gis.ru, snapshot of August 14, 2008 (archive)
  6. web.archive.org — Web Archive: nnovgorod.2gis.ru, snapshot of January 19, 2009 (archive)
  7. web.archive.org — Web Archive: nnovgorod.2gis.ru, snapshot of June 13, 2011 (archive)
  8. web.archive.org — Web Archive: 2gis.ru/n_novgorod, snapshot of April 7, 2014 (archive)
  9. web.archive.org — Web Archive: 2gis.ru/n_novgorod, snapshot of February 10, 2026 (archive)
  10. NIA "Nizhny Novgorod" — The number of food service establishments in Nizhny Novgorod fell by 2.6% over the year (archive)
  11. Newsroom24 — The number of burger joints in Nizhny Novgorod has dropped by 13% over the year
  12. Newsroom24 — Nizhny Novgorod has become the most expensive among the new destinations of the Golden Ring
  13. Historical Encyclopedia of Nizhny Novgorod — NN Top100 traffic ranking (archive)
  14. NIA "Nizhny Novgorod" — Drivers will be able to catch a "green wave" at Nizhny Novgorod's traffic lights (archive)