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The capital city of Volgograd oblast: Volgograd.
Volgograd Oblast is a federal subject of Russia, the main gate to the south of the country, part of the Southern Federal District. Volgograd is the capital city of the region.
The population of Volgograd Oblast is about 2,450,000 (2022), the area - 112,877 sq. km.
Since the early 1240s, the Lower Volga region became part of the Golden Horde state founded by the Mongolian khan Batu. In the 13th-14th centuries, along the Volga and Akhtuba, there were numerous settlements and major urban centers, the population grew significantly, the local merchants established trade links with Russian principalities, the Italian republics, Egypt, Iran, Central Asia, India, and China.
In the first half of the 15th century, the Golden Horde broke up into a number of independent states including the Kazan and Astrakhan khanates. In the middle of the 16th century, they were conquered by the troops of the Russian Tsar Ivan the Terrible. From this time, colonization and economic development of this region by Russian settlers began.
From the second half of the 16th century, a system of fortress towns was created in the Volga region, built to protect the southeastern borders of the Russian state. The fortress of Tsaritsyn (Volgograd), founded in 1589, was one of these outposts.
Peter the Great visited Tsaritsyn three times. According to his plan, in the 1730s, there was a reconstruction of the Tsaritsyn fortress and the construction of the Tsaritsyn sentry line, which contributed to the settlement of the lands along the rivers of Medveditsa, Ilovl, Volga, and Akhtuba.
In 1765, as a result of two manifestoes of Catherine the Great, who invited people from abroad to settle in Russia, the first foreigners appeared in the region. They were granted a number of benefits, including exemption from recruitment and taxes for 30 years. After it, more than 100 German colonies appeared along the banks of the Volga River.
In the late 18th century, when the Crimea and the Kuban became parts of the Russian Empire, the borders of the state moved far to the south. The Tsaritsyn sentry line was abolished, the Volga Cossack army was liquidated, and the town lost its military-strategic importance. In 1798, Tsaritsyn became a district town of the Saratov province.
Until the second half of the 19th century, the economy of the region was represented exclusively by the agrarian sector (growing grain crops, melon growing), cattle breeding as well as fishing and hunting. In the 1860s-1870s, with the construction of railways, Tsaritsyn turned into the largest transit center of the southeast of the Russian Empire.
In the last quarter of the 19th - early 20th centuries, Tsaritsyn became one of the largest industrial centers of the Volga region. In 1880, the oil industrial town of Nobel was built, which later grew into the largest for the time oil industry complex. The merchants of Tsaritsyn called their town Russian Chicago.
In the late 1920s and throughout the 1930s, industry was the leading branch of the local economy. Old factories were modernized and new enterprises were opened. In April 1925, the city was renamed Stalingrad. Stalingrad oblast, formed in 1936, occupied one of the leading places in the economy of the USSR, and Stalingrad became a major industrial, scientific and cultural center, the southern capital of the country.
During the Second World War, the Stalingrad battle took place on the territory of the region, which played an important role in the defeat of Nazi Germany. As a result of fierce fighting, the city was turned into ruins.
Among the largest economic projects implemented on the territory of the region in the post-war period: the Volga-Don Shipping Canal, the Volzhskaya HPP, aluminum, metalworking and chemical plants, light and food industry enterprises.
In 1961, after the condemnation of Stalin’s cult of personality, Stalingrad was renamed to Volgograd, and the region, respectively, became Volgograd oblast.
Cretaceous mountain in Volgograd Oblast
Nature of the Volgograd region
Volgograd Oblast scenery
From north to south and from west to east, Volgograd Oblast stretches for more than 400 km. This region has an advantageous geographical position, being the main gateway to the south of Russia with access to Iran, the Caucasus, Ukraine, and Kazakhstan.
Also two main rivers of the European part of Russia, the Volga and the Don, are connected through the Volga-Don Canal here. With its help it is possible to reach the following seas: the Caspian Sea, the White Sea, the Baltic Sea, the Black Sea, and the Sea of Azov.
The climate of the Volgograd region is arid, with a pronounced continentality. The average temperature in January is about minus 8-12 degrees Celsius, in July - plus 22-25 degrees Celsius.
Volgograd Oblast has a high potential of natural resources: hydrocarbon raw materials (oil, condensate, natural gas), chemical (potash, magnesium, sodium salts, phosphorites), cement raw materials for the metallurgical industry, building materials, iron ores, non-ferrous, and rare metals.
The largest cities and towns of Volgograd Oblast are Volgograd (1,001,200), Volzhsky (321,400), Kamyshin (107,000), Mikhailovka (56,300), Uryupinsk (35,500), Frolovo (35,200).
The Volgograd region is one of the most economically developed regions of Russia with a balanced economic structure. Diversified agriculture is combined with a diverse industry, oil and natural gas reserves. Two largest navigable rivers flow along the territory of the region, connected by the Volga-Don Canal. Volzhskaya hydroelectric power station is located on the territory of the region.
The main industries are machine building and metalworking (tractors, ships, tower cranes, bearings, equipment for the oil industry, electrical and food industries, drilling, transport and storage, medical and commercial equipment), fuel (oil and gas production), oil refining, chemical industry, ferrous, and non-ferrous metallurgy.
The production of building materials is well developed, as well as textile, woodworking and food industries. Local agriculture is focused on the production of grain, corn, cereals, oilseeds, and vegetable oil, vegetables, fruits, melons.
Important railways, highways, water- and airways cross the territory of the region. The lower Volga and Don connected by the Volga-Don Canal favor freight carrying from the ports of European countries to Africa and the Middle East. The territory of the region is crossed by the federal highway M6 “Moscow - Astrakhan”.
Volgograd Oblast is a relatively popular tourist destination in Russia, especially during a long and warm summer. Such small rivers of the region as the Khoper, Medveditsa, Ilovlya, Akhtuba are famous for their picturesque valleys.
There are seven natural parks in the region: the Volga-Akhtuba floodplain, the Donskoy, the Nizhnehopersky, the Ust-Medveditsky, the Tsimlyansk sands, the Shcherbakovsky, the Eltonsky.
The main places of interest located outside Volgograd:
Monument of the Soviet past in Volgograd Oblast
Field road in the Volgograd region
Monument to Peter the Great in the Volgograd region
Restoration of the church in Volgograd Oblast
Church in the Volgograd region
Orthodox church in Volgograd Oblast
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