The Volga Upland, also known as the Volga Uplands, Volga Hills, or Volga Plateau (), is a vast region of the

East European Plain The East European Plain (also called the Russian Plain, "Extending from eastern Poland through the entire European Russia to the Ural Mountains, the ''East European Plain'' encompasses all of the Baltic states and Belarus, nearly all of Ukraine, ...

in the European part of Russia that lies west of the

Volga River The Volga (, ) is the longest river in Europe and the longest endorheic basin river in the world. Situated in Russia, it flows through Central Russia to Southern Russia and into the Caspian Sea. The Volga has a length of , and a catchment ...

and east of the

Central Russian Upland The Central Russian Upland (also: Middle Russian 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 porti ...

. The uplands lie in the cool

continental climate Continental climates often have a significant annual variation in temperature (warm to hot summers and cold winters). They tend to occur in central and eastern parts of the three northern-tier continents (North America, Europe, and Asia), typi ...

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 Volgograd,. formerly Tsaritsyn. (1589–1925) and Stalingrad. (1925–1961), is the largest city and the administrative centre of Volgograd Oblast, Russia. The city lies on the western bank of the Volga, covering an area of , with a population ...

Kazan Kazan; , IPA: Help:IPA/Tatar, ɑzanis the largest city and capital city, capital of Tatarstan, Russia. The city lies at the confluence of the Volga and the Kazanka (river), Kazanka Rivers, covering an area of , with a population of over 1. ...

. The

Tsimlyansk Reservoir Tsimlyansk Reservoir or Tsimlyanskoye Reservoir () is an artificial lake on the Don River in the territories of Rostov and Volgograd Oblasts at . Completed in 1952, the reservoir is one of the largest in Russia, providing power () and irrigation ...

lies at the southwestern end of the Volga Upland, with the

Kuybyshev Reservoir Kuybyshev Reservoir or Kuybyshevskoye Reservoir () is a reservoir of the middle Volga and lower Kama in Chuvashia, Mari El Republic, Republic of Tatarstan, Samara Oblast and Ulyanovsk Oblast, Russia. It is sometimes called as Samara Reservoir an ...

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.� ...

, Medveditsa and the

Sura A ''surah'' (; ; ) is an Arabic word meaning 'chapter' in the Quran. There are 114 ''suwar'' in the Quran, each divided into verses (). The ''suwar'' are of unequal length; the shortest ''surah'' ( al-Kawthar) has only three verses, while the ...

. The

Volga–Don Canal Lenin Volga–Don Shipping Canal (Russian language, Russian: Волго-Донской судоходный канал имени, ''В. И. Ленина, Volga-Donskoy sudokhodniy kanal imeni V. I. Lenina'', abbreviated ВДСК, ''VDSK'') is a ...

cuts through the lowlands between the Volga Uplands to the north and the adjacent

Yergeni Hills Yergeni (; ) is a hilly area in Russia. It is located in the southern corner of the East European Plain, mostly in Kalmykia, with parts in Volgograd Oblast and Rostov Oblast. The highest point of Kalmykia, high Shared, is located in the Yergeni ...

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)

Ulyanovsk Ulyanovsk,, , known as Simbirsk until 1924, is a types of inhabited localities in Russia, city and the administrative center of Ulyanovsk Oblast, Russia, located on the Volga River east of Moscow. Ulyanovsk has been the only Russian UNESCO Ci ...

Saransk Saransk (, ); ; is the capital city of Mordovia, Russia, as well as its financial and economic centre. It is located in the Volga River, Volga drainage basin, basin at the confluence of the Saranka and Insar Rivers, about east of Moscow. Sar ...

Penza Penza (, ) is the largest types of inhabited localities in Russia, city and administrative center of Penza Oblast, Russia. It is located on the Sura (river), Sura River, southeast of Moscow. As of the 2010 Russian census, 2010 Census, Penza had ...

Syzran Syzran ( rus, Сызрань, p=ˈsɨzrənʲ) is the third largest city in Samara Oblast, Russia, located on the right bank of Saratov Reservoir of the Volga River. Population: History Founded in 1683 as a fortress, Syzran grew into an importa ...

Saratov Saratov ( , ; , ) is the largest types of inhabited localities in Russia, city and administrative center of Saratov Oblast, Russia, and a major port on the Volga River. Saratov had a population of 901,361, making it the List of cities and tow ...

and

.DK Publishing (1999). ''Millennium World Atlas''. DK. p. xxix, 229.

Subranges

The hill ranges along the Volga banks are traditionally called ''mountains'' (), despite being of low height. The main ones are: * Uslon Mountains * Yuryevy Mountains * Bogorodskye Mountains *

Syukeyevo Mountains Syukeyevo (; ) is a rural locality (a '' selo'') in Kamsko-Ustyinsky District of the Republic of Tatarstan, Russia, located on the bank of the Mordovskaya River (a right tributary of the Volga), southwest of Kamskoye Ustye, the administrative c ...

* Tetyushi Mountains * Undory Mountains *

Zhiguli Mountains The Zhiguli Mountains () 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 are an important source of limeston ...

Khvalynsk Mountains Khvalynsk Hills () 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 The Khvalynsk Mountains are a group of ...

* Don-Medveditsa Ridge

References

External links

* Plains of Russia East European Plain Volga basin Regions of Russia {{Volga-geo-stub

Geography

Subranges

See also

References

External links