The Volga Upland, also known as the Volga Uplands, Volga Hills, or Volga Plateau, (Russian: Приволжская возвышенность - Privolzhskaya vozvyshennost) is a vast region of the
East European Plain in the
European part of
Russia
Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-ei ...
that lies west of the
Volga River
The Volga (; russian: Во́лга, a=Ru-Волга.ogg, p=ˈvoɫɡə) is the longest river in Europe. Situated in Russia, it flows through Central Russia to Southern Russia and into the Caspian Sea. The Volga has a length of , and a catch ...
and east of the
Central Russian Upland
The Central Russian Upland (also Central Upland and East European Upland) is an upland area of the East European Plain and is an undulating plateau with an average elevation of . Its highest peak is measured at . The southeastern portion of the ...
.
The uplands lie in the cool
continental climate
Continental climates often have a significant annual variation in temperature (warm summers and cold winters). They tend to occur in the middle latitudes (40 to 55 north), within large landmasses where prevailing winds blow overland bringing so ...
zone, characterised by large fluctuations in seasonal temperatures and generally little rainfall. Outside of the cities in the region, population density is generally between 28 and 129 inhabitants per square mile.
Geography
The uplands run for approximately in a southwest-northeasterly direction from
Volgograd to
Kazan
Kazan ( ; rus, Казань, p=kɐˈzanʲ; tt-Cyrl, Казан, ''Qazan'', IPA: Help:IPA/Tatar, ɑzan is the capital city, capital and largest city of the Republic of Tatarstan in Russia. The city lies at the confluence of the Volga and t ...
. The
Tsimlyansk Reservoir lies at the southwestern end of the Volga Upland, with the
Kuybyshev Reservoir at the northeastern end.
The landscape on the Volga Uplands is hilly, and several rivers have cut into it, such as the
Khopyor
The Khopyor (, also transliterated as Khoper) is a river in European Russia, the biggest left tributary of the river Don.[Х ...]
,
Medveditsa and the
Sura
A ''surah'' (; ar, سورة, sūrah, , ), is the equivalent of "chapter" in the Qur'an. There are 114 ''surahs'' in the Quran, each divided into '' ayats'' (verses). The chapters or ''surahs'' are of unequal length; the shortest surah ('' Al-K ...
. The
Volga-Don Canal cuts through the lowlands between the Volga Uplands to the north and the adjacent
Yergeni Hills to the south.
The Volga Uplands themselves are rather sparsely populated, but along their edges and in particular along the banks of the Volga there are several large cities, such as (from north to south)
Kazan
Kazan ( ; rus, Казань, p=kɐˈzanʲ; tt-Cyrl, Казан, ''Qazan'', IPA: Help:IPA/Tatar, ɑzan is the capital city, capital and largest city of the Republic of Tatarstan in Russia. The city lies at the confluence of the Volga and t ...
,
Ulyanovsk
Ulyanovsk, known until 1924 as Simbirsk, is a city and the administrative center of Ulyanovsk Oblast, Russia, located on the Volga River east of Moscow. Population:
The city, founded as Simbirsk (), was the birthplace of Vladimir Lenin (born ...
,
Saransk,
Penza,
Syzran,
Saratov
Saratov (, ; rus, Сара́тов, a=Ru-Saratov.ogg, p=sɐˈratəf) is the largest city and administrative center of Saratov Oblast, Russia, and a major port on the Volga River upstream (north) of Volgograd. Saratov had a population of 901, ...
and
Volgograd.
[ DK Publishing (1999). ''Millennium World Atlas''. DK. p. xxix, 229. ]
Subranges
The hill ranges along the Volga banks are traditionally called ''mountains'' (russian: горы), despite being of low height. The main ones are:
*
Uslon Mountains
*
Yuryevy Mountains
*
Bogorodskye Mountains
*
Syukeyevo Mountains
*
Tetyushi Mountains
*
Undory Mountains
*
Zhiguli Mountains
The Zhiguli Mountains ( rus, Жигулëвские горы) or simply Zhiguli ( rus, Жигули́, p=ʐɨɡʊˈlʲi), are a range of wooded mountains located in Russia on the right bank of the Volga River, inside the Samara bend. The mountains ...
*
Khvalynsk Mountains
Khvalynsk Hills (russian: Хвалынские горы) is a hilly region in Saratov Oblast and Penza Oblast, Russia.
A sector of the hills is a protected area under the name Khvalynsky National Park, which was established in 1994.
Geography
T ...
*
Don-Medveditsa Ridge
See also
*
Highest points of Russian Federal subjects
*
List of mountains and hills of Russia
*
Taw yağı
References
External links
*
Plains of Russia
East European Plain
Volga basin
{{Volga-geo-stub