General Information

Ulyanovsk is the administrative center of Ulyanovsk region of the Russian Federation. The region is located in the central part of European Russia in the heart of the Middle Volga on both sides of the Volga River. It borders the Republic of Mordovia, the Chuvash Republic, the Republic of Tatarstan, and Penza, Saratov, and Samara regions of Russian Federation. The area of the region is 37,300 sq. km and population is 1,315,000 people. There are 32 towns in the region.

Ulyanovsk is Russia's seventeenth largest city. It has an area of 263.8 sq. km. and is made up of 4 urban administrative districts, 7 rural councils and 22 communities.

History

The town of Simbirsk was founded at the territory of Ulyanovsk in 1648. The city was first called "Sinbirsk" first, but later it changed to "Simbirsk." There is debate as to the origin and meaning of the name, but the greatest consensus is that it signifies "Seven Winds".

It was founded as a base station on the Simbirsk-Karsun frontier defense line by the command of Tzar Alexey Mikhailovich and under the leadership of Commander Khitrovo. He chose an excellent location - the high right bank of the Volga River.

The period of Simbirsk settlement was a time of growth and expansion of the Russian feudal state and of active development of the Volga River region.

Thanks to its strategic position on a busy waterway, the city grew rapidly and quickly became the center of industry and commerce for Middle Volga region.

It became a district center of Kazan Province in 1708, then the capital of the Simbirsk region on August 15, 1780, and finally, the capital of Simbirsk Province on December 12, 1796.

Its history is closely connected with the history of Russia – the Mongol and Tatar Yoke, numerous peasant wars, the War of 1812, the Decembrist Revolt, revolutions and world wars influenced the town.

It is also the birthplace of many famous writers, poets and statesmen. In 1870 Vladimir Ulyanov (Lenin) was born in Simbirsk and in 1924 Simbirsk was renamed to Ulyanovsk in his honor.

The city became the capital of Ulyanovsk Region on January 19, 1943. Its original name was restored after the fall of the Soviet Union.

Climate and Nature

The climat in the region is temperate continental. The average temperature in January is -6,8C, the average temperature in July is +21,4C.

There is the abundance of water resouces in Ulyanovsk Region. The region extends on the both sides of the Volga River. There is also the Kuybyshev reservoir, the largest man-made lake in the world built in the 1950's. The reservoir is 650 kilomters long and 35 to 41 kilomters wide.

Forests cover 28% (946 200 hectares) of Ulyanovsk Region. Deciduous forests, both hardwood and softwood, predominate. The main deciduous species is oak, which grows on 16% of the forested area.

Economy

Ulyanovsk is the region's major industrial center where large engineering plants and light industries producing fabrics, knitted goods, and shoes are located. The region is noted for production of cars, machine tools, automatic circuit reclosers, press-forging machines, electric crane motors, water sprinklers, and other machines. Other sectors include flour-milling, meat, butter-making, starch and molasses, distilling, building material, and woodworking industries.

Ulyanovsk Region also has substantial reserves of other raw materials used in industry, such as various kinds of sand, cement materials, clays, and peat.

Eighty-two oil fields have been discovered in Ulyanovsk Region, 24 of which are in operation. Specialists have evaluated total oil reserves at more than 35 million tons. Oil production is increasing year by year.

The predominant soils are black earths (chernozems), which are very well suited to growing grain, feed, and industrial crops. Therefore, both crop cultivation and livestock farming (mostly meat and milk production) are well developed.

The region has a developed financial system consisting of banks and other financial institutions. Leading rating agencies rank Ulyanovsk Region among the 20 Russian regions with the most favorable investment climate.

Transportation

Ulyanovsk Region is connected with all parts of Russia by air, rail, water, and road transport.

There are 729 km of railway lines and 7840 km of roads, but water transport predominates. The Volga flows for 200 km through the region, giving access to five seas. Ulyanovsk and Sengilei are the region's largest river ports.

International air routes connecting the Volga area with Europe, Central Asia, the Middle East, and China also pass through the region. There are two large modern airports handling all types of aircrafts.

Culture

Ulyanovsk Region is a multinational territory with more than 80 nationalities. Russians, Tatars, Chuvashes and Mordvins are the predominant nationalities.

Ulyanovsk has many cultural esteblishments. There is an Art Museum, the famous Simbirsk High School restored to just how it was in Kerensky and Lenin's days, the house of Ulyanov family.

There is the Lutheran Church, built in 1913 for some of the many Germans that once lived along the Middle Volga and re-opened for religious services ten years ago.

Visitors to Ulyanovsk today can see the homes where the Ulyanovs lived. Lenin Memorial Centre houses an impressive exhibition on the communist leader's life.

Hotels

Airport Hotel. Address: Moskovskoe Shosse, 1. Phone: +7 8422 369536.

Aviastar Hotel**. Address: Prospekt Sozidateley, 94. Phone: +7 8422 207704, 201396.

Avtovaz Hotel. Address: Avtozavodskaya Str., 5. Phone: +7 8422 362432, 368919, 360758, 363893, 368214.

Druzhba Hotel. Address: Ostrovsky Str., 5. Phone: +7 8422 343554, 399472; +7 8422 349754.

Garnizonny Hotel. Address: Tsyolkovsky Str., 1. Phone: +7 8422 347116, 348391.

Kometa Hotel. Address: Solnechnaya Str., 12.

Mars Hotel. Address: Telman Str., 44.

Oktyabrskaya Hotel****. Address: Plekhanov Str., 1. Phone: +7 8422 314282; +7 8422 314719.

Rassvet Hotel. Address: Prospekt Sozidateley, 96. Phone: +7 8422 207704.

Sovetskaya Hotel. Address: Sovetskaya Str., 8. Phone: +7 8422 413202, 413212, 413724.

Ulyanovsk-Tsentralny Hotel. Address: Lokomotivnaya Str., 96. Phone: +7 8422 371518, 389415.

Venets Hotel. Address: Sovetskaya Str., 19. Phone: +7 8422 441880, 441870, 441567/

Volga Hotel. Address: Goncharov Str., 3. Phone: +7 8422 318321, 314577, 413532.

Evgeniya Stroganova