The Volga Region (russian: Поволжье, ''Povolzhye'', literally: "along the Volga") is a historical region in Russia that encompasses the drainage basin of the Volga River, the longest river in Europe, in central and southern

European Russia European Russia (russian: Европейская Россия, russian: европейская часть России, label=none) is the western and most populated part of Russia. It is geographically situated in Europe, as opposed to the cou ...

. The Volga Region is culturally separated into three sections: * Upper Volga Region - from the Volga River's source in Tver Oblast to the

mouth In animal anatomy, the mouth, also known as the oral cavity, or in Latin cavum oris, is the opening through which many animals take in food and issue vocal sounds. It is also the cavity lying at the upper end of the alimentary canal, bounded on ...

of the

Oka River The Oka (russian: Ока́, ) is a river in central Russia, the largest right tributary of the Volga. It flows through the regions of Oryol, Tula, Kaluga, Moscow, Ryazan, Vladimir and Nizhny Novgorod and is navigable over a large part of its ...

in Nizhny Novgorod * Middle Volga Region - from the mouth of the Oka River to the mouth of the Kama River south of Kazan * Lower Volga Region - from the mouth of the Kama River to the Volga Delta in the Caspian Sea, in

Astrakhan Oblast Astrakhan Oblast (russian: Астраха́нская о́бласть, ''Astrakhanskaya oblast'', , ''Astrakhan oblysy'') is a federal subjects of Russia, federal subject of Russia (an oblast) located in southern Russia. Its administrative center ...

The geographic boundaries of the region are vague, and the term "Volga Region" is used to refer primarily to the Middle and Lower sections, which are included in the Volga Federal District and Volga economic region.

Geography

The Volga Region is almost entirely within the East European Plain, with a notable distinction contrasting the elevated western side featuring the Volga Upland, and the eastern side known as Transvolga (russian: Заволжье, Zavolzhye). The latter consists of the elevated High Transvolga and the lowland Low Transvolga. The Idel-Ural region, a collection of six federal subjects between the Volga River and the Ural Mountains, is generally considered as a part of the Volga Region, although the river does not run through each of them. Idel-Ural is within an extensive north-western protrusion of the Volga River's drainage basin, including numerous tributaries such as the

Malaya Kokshaga River The Malaya Kokshaga ( chm, Изи Какшан, ''Izi Kakšan''; russian: Малая Кокша́га, literally Little Kokshaga) is a river in Mari El, a left tributary of the Volga. It is long, and has a drainage basin of .Belaya River which joins the Kama River, a tributary of the Volga.

History

According to different sources, the region was mainly inhabited by Slavic, Turkic and Viking people. Povolzhye played an important part of the emergence of the Rus' Khaganate. The Volga River was used mainly by traders from the Oriental and Viking world.

Population

The region is home to a large portion of Russia's population, with the major cities of Yaroslavl, Kostroma, Nizhny Novgorod, Cheboksary, Kazan, Ulyanovsk, Tolyatti,

Samara Samara ( rus, Сама́ра, p=sɐˈmarə), known from 1935 to 1991 as Kuybyshev (; ), is the largest city and administrative centre of Samara Oblast. The city is located at the confluence of the Volga and the Samara (Volga), Samara rivers, with ...

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 901,36 ...

, Volgograd and Astrakhan all located directly on the Volga River. Other major cities on tributaries of the Volga include Ryazan, Dzerzhinsk,

Kaluga Kaluga ( rus, Калу́га, p=kɐˈɫuɡə), a city and the administrative center of Kaluga Oblast in Russia, stands on the Oka River southwest of Moscow. Population: Kaluga's most famous resident, the space travel pioneer Konstantin Tsiol ...

and

Oryol Oryol ( rus, Орёл, p=ɐˈrʲɵl, lit. ''eagle''), also transliterated as Orel or Oriol, is a city and the administrative center of Oryol Oblast situated on the Oka River, approximately south-southwest of Moscow. It is part of the Central Fed ...

on the Oka River, Penza on the

Sura River The Sura (russian: Сура́, cv, Сăр, ''Săr'') is a river in Russia, a north-flowing right tributary of the Volga. Its mouth on the Volga is about half way between Nizhny Novgorod and Kazan. It flows through Penza Oblast, Mordovia, Ulyano ...

, Perm and Naberezhnye Chelny on the Kama River, Yoshkar-Ola on the Malaya Kokshaga River, and Dimitrovgrad on the Bolshoy Cheremshan River. Major cities located on tributaries of the Volga's tributaries include Moscow, the largest city and

capital Capital may refer to: Common uses * Capital city, a municipality of primary status ** List of national capital cities * Capital letter, an upper-case letter Economics and social sciences * Capital (economics), the durable produced goods used f ...

of Russia, on the

Moskva River The Moskva (russian: река Москва, Москва-река, ''Moskva-reka'') is a river running through western Russia. It rises about west of Moscow and flows roughly east through the Smolensk and Moscow Oblasts, passing through centra ...

, a tributary of the Oka River. Kirov is located on the Vyatka River, and Ufa,

Sterlitamak Sterlitamak ( rus, Стерлитама́к, p=stʲɪrlʲɪtɐˈmak; ba, Стәрлетамаҡ, translit=Stärletamaq; ) is the second largest city in the Republic of Bashkortostan, Russia, located on the left bank of the Belaya River (Kama's ...

and Salavat are located on the Belaya River, both tributaries of the Kama River.

References

Regions of Russia * Historical regions {{volga-geo-stub

Geography

History

Population

See also

References