Ulyanovsk Oblast, Russia

The capital city of Ulyanovsk oblast: Ulyanovsk.

Ulyanovsk Oblast - Overview

Ulyanovsk Oblast is a federal subject of Russia, part of the Volga Federal District. Ulyanovsk is the capital city of the region.

The population of Ulyanovsk Oblast is about 1,204,000 (2022), the area - 37,181 sq. km.

Ulyanovsk oblast flag

Ulyanovsk oblast flag

Ulyanovsk oblast coat of arms

Ulyanovsk oblast coat of arms

Ulyanovsk oblast map, Russia

Ulyanovsk oblast map of Russia

History of Ulyanovsk Oblast

According to archaeological research, the first people began to settle in the Middle Volga region, the territory of the present Ulyanovsk region, about 100 thousand years ago. In the second half of the 7th century, the Bulgars began to move to this territory.

In the 8th-9th centuries, this region became part of the state of Volga Bulgaria - an alliance of nomadic Turkic-speaking and sedentary Finno-Ugric tribes. At the end of the 14th - the beginning of the 15th centuries, after the devastating raid of the Central Asian ruler of Tamerlane, the desolation of this territory began. Since the late 1430s, the region became part of the Kazan Khanate.

After the destruction of the Kazan Khanate by the troops of Ivan IV (Grozny), the territory of the future Simbirsk governorship was gradually populated by Russians, some of whom mingled with local Tatars.

In the late 1640s, under the overall guidance of the voivode Bogdan Khitrovo, the construction of the Karsun-Simbirsk fortified line began (1647-1654). In 1648, the fortress of Sinbirsk (later - Simbirsk) was founded. The fortresses were built in order to protect the eastern borders of the Russian state from the raids of nomadic tribes.

More Historical Facts…

In the 18th century, in connection with the expansion of the territory of the Russian state, in particular, in the eastern direction, the southern areas of the present territory of the Ulyanovsk region began to be intensively developed and populated, and Simbirsk itself began to lose its military-strategic importance.

In 1774, Emelian Pugachev, the leader of the Peasants’ War of 1773-1775, was brought to Simbirsk. In 1763, Empress Catherine II visited Simbirsk. April 22, 1870, Vladimir Ulyanov (Lenin), the future leader of the Bolsheviks, was born in Simbirsk.

In 1924, Simbirsk, in memory of Vladimir Ulyanov (Lenin), was renamed to Ulyanovsk. In 1941, the population of Ulyanovsk was 110,000 people. During the Second World War, several enterprises and institutions, population from the western regions of the country, from Moscow and Leningrad, were evacuated to Ulyanovsk. Ulyanovsk Automobile Plant (UAZ) arose on the basis of the evacuated Moscow ZIL in 1941.

On January 19, 1943, a separate Ulyanovsk Oblast (region) was formed from districts of the Kuibyshev and Penza regions. During the war, about 226,000 residents of the Ulyanovsk region were drafted into the Soviet army, about 120,000 of them were killed in action.

In the 1950s-1960s, new industrial enterprises (a plant of heavy and unique machine tools, a mechanical plant, the Dimitrovgrad Scientific Research Institute of Nuclear Reactors, etc.) were established in the Ulyanovsk region. In 1970, in honor of the centenary of Lenin’s birth, Leonid Brezhnev opened the Lenin Memorial Museum in Ulyanovsk.

In the 1970s and 1980s, new industrial enterprises were opened in the region: the Dimitrovgrad Automobile Units Plant, the Aviation Industrial Complex (Avistar) and the Vostochny Airport, the Ulyanovsk Microelectronics Center, the Volzhanka Confectionery Factory.

Beautiful nature of Ulyanovsk Oblast

Field of dandelions in the Ulyanovsk region

Field of dandelions in the Ulyanovsk region

Author: Vladimir Baboshin

Nature of Ulyanovsk Oblast

Nature of Ulyanovsk Oblast

Author: Pavel Naumkin

Ulyanovsk Oblast landscape

Ulyanovsk Oblast landscape

Author: Alexander Urgalkin


Ulyanovsk Oblast - Features

Ulyanovsk Oblast is located in the southeast of the European part of Russia, in the Middle Volga region. From north to south, this region stretches for 250 km, from west to east - for 290 km. The Volga River divides the territory of the region into the elevated right bank and the low-lying left bank (Zavolzhye).

The climate is moderately continental, with cold snowy winters and hot summers. The average temperature in January is minus 12 degrees Celsius, in July - plus 20 degrees Celsius. In summer, precipitation falls unevenly and droughts are not uncommon.

Within the region there is the Kuibyshev reservoir with an area of 1,878 sq. km. The largest lakes are Belolebyazhye (217 hectares), Beloye (96 hectares), Kryazh (56 hectares). Forests occupy about 25% of the territory.

The leading place in the structure of mineral resources of the region is occupied by oil (explored reserves amount to 42 million tons). Also there are rich deposits of glass, cement, siliceous, and carbonate raw materials, peat.

The national composition of the Ulyanovsk region according to the All-Russian Population Census 2010: Russians (73.6%), Tatars (12.2%), Chuvash (7.7%), Mordva (3.2%). The largest cities of Ulyanovsk Oblast are Ulyanovsk (622,900) and Dimitrovgrad (111,100).

There are several specially protected natural territories on the territory of the Ulyanovsk region:

  • National Park “Sengileevskie Gory”,
  • State Reserve “Privolzhskaya forest-steppe”,
  • Nature monuments “Undorovsky mineral spring”, “Relict forests”, “Borok” island, Genko forest belt and others.

Ulyanovsk Oblast - Economy

The main branch of specialization of the local economy is engineering (aircraft building, instrument making, machine-tool building, automotive industry). An important place is occupied by a group of factories of the automobile industry producing about more than 90% of Russian buses and 10% of trucks.

Aviastar-SP, one of the largest aviation plants in Europe, is located in Ulyanovsk. The plant specializes in the production of IL-76MD-90A transport aircraft, passenger and cargo planes of the Tu-204 family, service and in-depth modernization of the unique heavy An-124 Ruslan transport aircraft. The region ranks first in Russia in the production of civil aircraft and the fifth - in the production of cars.

Ulyanovsk Oblast is an important agrarian regions of Russia (poultry farming, cattle, pig, sheep, and rabbit breeding, fish farming). The leading place in crop production belongs to the production of industrial crops (sugar beets) and potatoes, cereals (wheat, barley, rye, oats) and fodder (corn, alfalfa, sunflower) crops.

This region is a major transport hub. Important aviation, railway and automobile routes pass through its territory. Ulyanovsk is the only city in the Volga Federal District, on the territory of which there are two airports of class “A”: “Ulyanovsk-Tsentralny” and the international airport “Ulyanovsk-Vostochny”, equipped with modern radio-electronic navigation equipment, allowing to receive aircraft of all types including An-124 Ruslan and Boeing 747.

In addition, the international airport “Ulyanovsk-Vostochny” has a unique runway 5,100 m long and 105 m wide, capable of receiving space shuttles. In 2014, the Karamzin airport (formerly Ulyanovsk-Tsentralny) was given the status of an international airport, thus Ulyanovsk became the second city after Moscow with more than one international airport.

Ulyanovsk Oblast scenery

Country life in Ulyanovsk Oblast

Country life in Ulyanovsk Oblast

Author: V.Kildushov

Abandoned church in Ulyanovsk Oblast

Abandoned church in Ulyanovsk Oblast

Author: Solovjov Anton

Ulyanovsk Oblast scenery

Ulyanovsk Oblast scenery

Author: Sergei Shylov


Tourism in Ulyanovsk Oblast

Ulyanovsk is primarily known as the birthplace of V.I. Lenin, the Lenin Memorial is the largest museum dedicated to his life. The historical center of the city unites 15 museums that are part of the State Historical and Memorial Museum-Reserve “The Birthplace of V.I. Lenin.”

Another famous person born in this city standing on the Volga River is I.A. Goncharov. A lot of memorable places are connected with his name in Ulyanovsk and the Ulyanovsk region.

The nature of the region, located on the banks of the Volga, is quite diverse, which is why many of the sights of the Ulyanovsk region are included in the list of specially protected natural areas. For example, created in 1988, the reserve “The Beach of the Eagles”. There are sources of Undorovskaya medicinal mineral water (the sanatoriums of “Dubki”, “V.I. Lenin”, “Pribrezhny”, “Bely Yar”).

Ulyanovsk Oblast is also famous for the Museum of Civil Aviation, “Kolobok Manor”, “Center of Crafts”, the Paleontological Museum. A large number of interregional tourist festivals take place on the territory of the Ulyanovsk region: “Volga Way”, “Volga Quest” and others. Among the main tourist projects are the “Red Route” and the “Museum of the USSR”.

Ulyanovsk oblast of Russia photos

Pictures of Ulyanovsk Oblast

Village in Ulyanovsk Oblast

Village in Ulyanovsk Oblast

Author: Sergei Shylov

Winter in the Ulyanovsk region

Winter in the Ulyanovsk region

Author: Yuri Roshchevsky

Bridge in Ulyanovsk Oblast

Bridge in Ulyanovsk Oblast

Author: Franz Schiffers


Churches in the Ulyanovsk region

Orthodox church in Ulyanovsk Oblast

Orthodox church in Ulyanovsk Oblast

Author: Oleg Dolgov

Cathedral in the Ulyanovsk region

Cathedral in the Ulyanovsk region

Author: Vladimir Kropotin

Church in Ulyanovsk Oblast

Church in Ulyanovsk Oblast

Author: Boyko Alexander


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