KUZNETSK, a district town of Russia, in the government of Samara, situated on the railway between Samara and Penza, 158 miles west of the former. In the 18th century it was but a village peopled by smiths (whence its name), and it is through this trade that it has acquired its importance. The majority of its 15,000 inhabitants are engaged in the manufacture of agricultural implements, exported to a large amount, whilst others are employed in tanneries, - the black sheep skins of Kuznetsk being widely renowned in Russia, - and in the manufacture of leather and wooden wares, which last are largely exported to the southern steppe provinces and to the Caucasus.