Naukograd , meaning "science city", is a formal term for towns with high concentrations of research and development facilities in
Russia and the
Soviet Union, some specifically built by the Soviet Union for these purposes. Some of the towns were secret, and were part of a larger system of
closed cities in the USSR, many built by
forced labor from the Soviet
Gulag. In the Russian Federation in
post Soviet times, the term is used generally for about seventy towns that have concentrations of scientific research and production, and specifically, refers to a small number of towns that have been recognised for their scientific capabilities and hence get special privileges.