Middle and lower Volga region. The largest cities of the Volga region: description, history, accommodation features and interesting facts

Middle and lower Volga region is the largest agricultural region in the country, the leading industry of which is grain farming - the most significant for people. After all, bread is the head of everything, as the proverb says. World-recognized wheat varieties are grown on these lands. Depending on the climate, the soil of the land is divided into four zones - forest-steppe, chernozem steppe, steppe and semi-desert steppe.

The Volga region was created over millions of years, and mention of its division into lower and middle began already in the 19th century. To separate the middle and lower Volga regions, you need to know that the middle regions include: Ulyanovsk, Penza, Samara and Kazan regions. The Lower Volga region includes the regions: Saratov, Volgograd, Astrakhan and Kalmykia.

Volga region throughout its territory it has low plains and large hills, valleys and basins of lakes, which have undergone changes only in the last thousand years of their history.

The edge of the Volga region in the western part represents the Volga Upland, in the southern part it is Ergeni, and in the north and east the edges are represented by the spurs of General Syrt. In the middle of the Volga region there is the Volga lowland, and lower to the south is the Caspian depression.

The Volga Upland has an elevated plateau - the highest place is about 400 meters. Almost the entire surface is cut up by ravines and a network of wide and very deep river valleys. The Samara Luka is the largest slope that is washed by the Volga on three sides. The Zhiguli Mountains are located in the north of the peninsula. They are formed due to the subsidence of earth layers. Deep gullies with valleys and cliffs are covered with wild vegetation and dense forests, which looks very picturesque from the outside.

The sedimentary rocks exposed at the surface are sandstone, limestone and chalk. Amazing fact: During the development of the Samara lands, mollusk shells were found that are found in the Caspian Sea! And this confirms that a decent part of the land was nothing more than the seabed!

Long before our time, the Caspian Sea reached the city of Saratov. The bottom of the sea was made of clay and sand; during the drying period, the bottom became the Caspian lowland, so its territory now contains salt lakes and sands. The mighty Volga River carries its huge waters into the Caspian Sea - from this sea ​​water lightly salted.

The climate in the region is sharply continental. Average Volga region the predominance of winds is from the north and west, and in the lower part - from the south and east. Summer temperatures are high, and in winter there are storms and blizzards.

In the lower reaches of the Volga River in the desert delta there are oasis islands overgrown with tall reeds, and among the remote backwaters, like a miracle, you can see Indian lotus flowers.

Middle and lower Volga region- This is a water area and around there are flat fields with growing crops. This invaluable wealth depends only on us, on people, because we need to ring the bells and save the great Russian river Volga from pollution! After all, we have to live in this region and raise our children!

This term has other meanings, see Volga region (meanings).

Volga region- in a broad sense - the entire territory adjacent to the Volga, although it is more correct to define this territory as Volga region(cm.

Privolzhsky federal district). The Volga region is often understood as a more or less definite strip along the Volga’s own course, without large tributaries (for example, the residents of the Kama region never considered themselves Volga residents). More often, the term is used in a narrow sense - the territory adjacent to the middle and lower reaches of the Volga and economically gravitating towards it, which corresponds to the view outlined above. Within the Volga region (Volga region) there are a relatively elevated right bank with the Volga Upland and a left bank - Trans-Volga region. In natural terms, the Volga region (Volga region) is sometimes also referred to as the areas located in the upper reaches of the Volga.

The Volga region was once part of the Volga Bulgaria, the Polovtsian Steppe, the Golden Horde and Rus'.

Regions

In the TSB, when economically zoning the European part of the USSR, the Volga economic region is distinguished, including the Ulyanovsk, Penza, Kuibyshev, Saratov, Volgograd and Astrakhan regions, the Tatar, Bashkir and Kalmyk Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republics; at the same time, the first 3 named regions and the Tatar Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic are usually referred to as the Middle Volga region, the remaining regions and the Kalmyk Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic - to the Lower Volga region. Taking into account the modern administrative-territorial division:

Volga ethno-burying name: Volzhans.

There is also a division of the Volga River basin into three parts (not equivalent to the division of the Volga region into parts): Upper Volga, Middle Volga, Lower Volga.

Nature

The relief is flat, dominated by lowlands and hilly plains. The climate is temperate continental. Summer is warm, with an average monthly air temperature in July of +22° - +25°C; winter is quite cold, the average monthly air temperature in January and February is −10° - −15°С. The average annual precipitation in the north is 500-600 mm, in the south 200-300 mm. Natural zones: mixed forest (Tatarstan), forest-steppe (Tatarstan (partially), Samara, Penza, Ulyanovsk, Saratov regions), steppe (Saratov (partially)

Volga Federal District

Includes regions of the Middle Volga region, a number of regions Central Russia(Mordovia, Penza region), Urals (Perm region, Bashkortostan), Southern Urals (Orenburg region). Center- Nizhny Novgorod. The territory of the district is 6.08% of the territory of the Russian Federation. Population as of January 1, 2008 - 30,241,583 (21.4% of the Russian Federation); The core is the townspeople. For example, in the Samara region >80%, in the Russian Federation (about 73%).

Volgo-Vyatka economic region

Located on the middle Volga. The territory of the region stretches from southwest to northeast for 1000 km and is located in various natural areas: the northern part is in the forest taiga and the southern part is in the forest-steppe. The region is located in Central Russia, in the basins of the navigable rivers Volga, Oka, Vyatka, borders and is in close economic connection with the Central, Volga, Ural and Northern regions. Population - 7.5 million people. (2010).

Povolzhsky economic region

Located on the lower Volga. The area of ​​the Volga region is 537.4 thousand km², the population is 17 million people, the population density is 25 people/km². The share of the population living in cities is 74%. Included in the Volga region economic region includes 94 cities, 3 million-plus cities (Samara, Kazan, Volgograd), 12 federal subjects. It borders in the north with the Volga-Vyatka region, in the south with the Caspian Sea, in the east with the Ural region and Kazakhstan, in the west with the Central Chernozem region and the North Caucasus. The economic axis is the Volga River. The center of the Volga economic region is located in Samara.

Association of Volga Region Cities

On October 27, 1998, the first General meeting leaders of the seven largest cities of the Volga region - Kazan, Nizhny Novgorod, Penza, Samara, Saratov, Ulyanovsk, Cheboksary, at which an agreement was signed on the establishment of the Association of Volga Region Cities. This event gave a start to life for a qualitatively new structure of interaction between municipalities - the Association of Volga Region Cities (AGP). In February 2000, Yoshkar-Ola joined the Association, on November 1, 2002, Astrakhan and Saransk joined its ranks, in 2005 - the hero city of Volgograd, in 2009 - Kirov. Currently, the AGP includes 25 cities, the largest of them:

In 2015, the Association included: Izhevsk, Perm, Ufa, Orenburg, Togliatti, Arzamas, Balakovo, Dimitrovgrad, Novokuibyshevsk, Novocheboksarsk, Sarapul, Sterlitamak and Syzran. More than thirteen million people live in the cities of the Association.

Notes

Lower Volga region

The Lower Volga region is the northern part of the Southern federal district, covering the territory of the Republic of Kalmykia, Astrakhan and Volgograd regions.

The region has access to the Caspian Sea. The main industries of specialization are the oil production and oil refining industries, and the gas industry. In addition, the Volga region is the main region for catching valuable sturgeon fish, one of the most important regions for growing grain crops, sunflowers, mustard, melons and vegetables, and a major supplier of wool, meat, and fish.

Natural resource potential

Natural resource potential is diverse. A significant area is occupied by the Volga Valley, which passes into the Caspian Lowland in the south. A special place is occupied by the Volga-Akhtuba floodplain, composed of river sediments, favorable for agriculture.

The creation in the Volga basin of large industry that pollutes its waters, the intensive development of river transport, agriculture that uses large quantities of mineral fertilizers, a significant part of which is washed into the Volga, the construction of hydroelectric power stations has negative impact on the river and creates an environmental disaster zone in this area. The region's water resources are significant, but unevenly distributed. In this regard, there is a shortage of water resources in the interior regions, especially in Kalmykia.

The region has oil and gas resources in the Volgograd region - Zhirnovskoye, Korobkovskoye, the largest gas condensate field is located in the Astrakhan region, on the basis of which a gas industrial complex is being formed.

In the Caspian lowland in lakes Baskunchak and Elton there are resources of table salt; These lakes are also rich in bromine, iodine, and magnesium salts.

Population and labor resources

The population of the Volga region is distinguished by its diverse national composition. Significant specific gravity In the structure of the population in the Republic of Kalmykia, Kalmyks occupy 45.4%. In the Astrakhan and Volgograd regions, with a predominance of the Russian population, Kazakhs, Tatars, and Ukrainians live. The population of the Volga region is characterized by its high concentration in regional centers and the capital of the republic. The population of Volgograd is 987.2 thousand people. The lowest population density is characteristic of Kalmykia, and here the smallest proportion of people living in cities.

Location and development of the main sectors of the economy

Oil and gas production is carried out in the region. The largest is the Astrakhan gas condensate field, where natural gas is produced and processed.

Oil refineries and petrochemical plants are located in the Volgograd and Astrakhan regions. The largest enterprise is the Volgograd Oil Refinery. The Astrakhan region has significant prospects for the development of the petrochemical industry based on the use of hydrocarbon fractions from the Astrakhan field.

The region's electric power industry is represented by the Volgograd hydroelectric power station and thermal power plants.

The region has a developed engineering complex: shipbuilding centers - Astrakhan, Volgograd; agricultural engineering is represented by a large tractor plant in Volgograd; chemical and petroleum engineering developed in the Astrakhan region.

In Volgograd, black and non-ferrous metallurgy, the largest enterprises are OJSC Volzhsky Pipe Plant, OJSC Volgograd Aluminum Plant.

The enormous resources of the salt lakes have led to the development of the salt industry, which supplies 25% of the country's need for food-grade salt and other valuable chemical products.

The fishing industry is developed in the Lower Volga region, the main enterprise of the industry is the fishing concern "Kaspryba", which includes a caviar and balyk association, a number of large fish factories, a naval base, a fishing fleet (Kasprybkholodflot), which conducts expeditionary fishing in the Caspian Sea. The concern also includes a fish hatchery for the production of juvenile sturgeon and a net knitting factory.

In agricultural production, areas of specialization are the cultivation of vegetable and melon crops, sunflowers, and sheep breeding.

Transport and economic relations

The Volga region exports crude oil and oil products, gas, tractors, fish, grain, vegetable and melon crops, etc. Imports timber, mineral fertilizers, machinery and equipment, products light industry. The Volga region has a developed transport network, which provides high-power cargo flows.

The region has developed river, railway and pipeline transport.

Intradistrict differences

Lower Volga region includes Astrakhan, Volgograd, regions and Kalmykia. The Lower Volga region is a subregion of developed industry - mechanical engineering, chemical, food. At the same time, it is an important agricultural region with developed grain farming, beef cattle and sheep farming, as well as the production of rice, vegetable and melon crops and fishing.

The main centers of the Lower Volga region are Volgograd (developed mechanical engineering, chemical industry), Astrakhan (shipbuilding, fishing industry, container production, various food industry), Elista (industry building materials, mechanical engineering and metalworking).

The most industrialized is Volgograd region, where mechanical engineering, ferrous metallurgy, chemical and petrochemical, food and light industries have the largest share in the diversified complex.

Main problems and development prospects

Degradation of natural forage lands, especially in Kalmykia with its system of distant-pasture livestock farming, is one of the main environmental problems region. Environmental damage has been done industrial emissions and transport to the region's water and fisheries resources. The solution to the problem is carried out with the help of the targeted federal program “Caspian”, the main task of which is to clean up the Volga-Caspian water basin and increase the number of valuable fish species.

One of the main tasks is to equalize the levels of social economic development the most backward regions of the Volga region and, first of all, Kalmykia, which was granted a number of benefits in taxation and financing. The prospects for the development of this republic are associated with the expansion of oil and gas production, in particular on the shelf of the Caspian Sea.

On the territory of the Astrakhan region, since 2002, the federal target program “South of Russia” has been implemented, which includes 33 projects in areas covering the most important areas of economic activity of the region: transport, agro-industrial, tourist-recreational and sanatorium-resort complexes; infrastructure, social development.

Geological exploration and production of hydrocarbons in the Astrakhan and Volgograd regions, as well as the Republic of Kalmykia, is carried out by LUKOIL-Volgogradneftegaz LLC. Prospects for economic development include prospecting and exploration and development of oil fields in a number of promising areas of the sea shelf.

5.4. Volga Federal District

Administrative-territorial composition:

Republics - Bashkortostan, Mari El, Mordovia, Tatarstan, Udmurtia, Chuvashia.

Perm region. Kirov, Nizhny Novgorod, Orenburg, Penza, Samara, Saratov, Ulyanovsk regions.

Territory - 1037.0 thousand km 2. Population - 30.2 million people.

Administrative center - Nizhny Novgorod

The Volga Federal District is located on territory belonging to three economic regions. The district unites the Volga-Vyatka economic region, the Middle Volga region and part of the Ural economic region (Fig.

What cities are included in the Volga region?

Rice. 5.5. Administrative-territorial composition

The main integration factor that unites all regions of the Volga region is the Volga River, the largest in Europe. The settlement of the area, its development, and economic development were directly related to the use of this waterway (which was already Soviet time, along with the previous access to the Caspian Sea, received access to the Azov, Black, Baltic and White Seas).

The Volga Federal District stands out in the country for the production of products from the chemical and petrochemical industries, mechanical engineering (including automotive industry), electric power and other industries.

About 23% of the manufacturing industries of the Russian economy are concentrated in the Volga Federal District (Table.

Table 5.7

Share of economic indicators

Volga Federal District in all-Russian

Specialization industrial production determined based on the localization coefficient in Table 5.8.

The Volga Federal District specializes in manufacturing industries, including chemical production; production of rubber and plastic products; production of electrical equipment, electronic and optical equipment; production Vehicle and equipment.

Table 5.8

Industrial production specialization

Volga Federal District

By accommodation features productive forces The district is divided into three components: the Volga-Vyatka economic region, the Middle Volga region, and the regions of the Urals.

In 2003, the process of unification of the Komi-Permyak region began Autonomous Okrug and the Perm region into a new federal subject, the Perm Territory.

The Perm region received official status in 2005 after the election of legislative and executive bodies power and consolidation of budgets. In periodicals, this process was repeatedly called the beginning of the all-Russian process of unification and consolidation of the subjects of the federation.

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SEE MORE:

Introduction 1

Composition of the Volga region 2

EGP district 2

Natural conditions 3

Population 3

Farm 5

Environmental problems of the area and ways to solve them 16

The problem of the big Volga 17

Prospects for the development of district 19

Appendix 21

Literature 22

INTRODUCTION

Russia is the largest region in all of Eurasia and the only federation within the CIS, so a regional analysis of its economic areas makes special sense. Moreover, Russia differs in a number of features even in comparison with neighboring republics.

The country has enormous resources and a capacious domestic market. The development of the territory took place asymmetrically, there is a significant gap between the resource base in the east and the main production base in the European part, a variety of natural and cultural landscapes are presented, and there are great contrasts between the center and the periphery at all levels.

Economic zoning is the allocation of territories that differ in their economic specialization in the territorial division of labor. Economic regions of the Russian Federation were formed under the influence of various combinations of natural, economic and social conditions.

All economic regions have their own characteristics and their place in the interregional division of labor. However, it is important that these features are closely linked with the tasks of economically justified placement of industrial and agricultural production sectors throughout the country.

COMPOSITION OF THE VOLGA DISTRICT

It is very difficult to accurately delineate the territories belonging to the Volga region. Only territories adjacent directly to the Volga can be called the Volga region. But most often, the Volga region refers to the regions and republics of Russia located in the middle and lower reaches: Astrakhan, Volgograd, Penza, Samara, Saratov Ulyanovsk regions, the republics of Tatarstan and Kalmykia.

ECONOMIC AND GEOGRAPHICAL POSITION

The Volga region stretches for almost 1.5 thousand km along the Volga from the confluence of the left tributary of the Kama to the Caspian Sea. General area is about 536 thousand km².

The EGP of this area is extremely profitable. In the west, the Volga region borders on the highly developed Volga-Vyatka, Central Black Earth and North Caucasus economic regions, in the east - on the Urals and Kazakhstan. A dense network of transport routes (railway and road) contributes to the establishment of broad inter-district production connections in the Volga region. The Volga region is more open to the west and east, i.e. towards the main direction of the country’s economic relations, therefore the overwhelming majority of cargo transportation goes through this territory.

The Volga-Kama river route gives access to the Caspian, Azov, Black, Baltic, and White seas. The presence of rich oil and gas fields, the use of pipelines passing through this area (and starting in it, for example, the Druzhba oil pipeline) also confirms the profitability of the area's EGP.

NATURAL CONDITIONS AND RESOURCES

The Volga region has favorable natural conditions for residential purposes and farming. The region is rich in land (arable land accounts for approximately 1/5 of Russian land) and water resources. However, in the lower Volga region there are droughts, accompanied by dry winds that are destructive to crops.

The area is rich in mineral resources. Oil, gas, sulfur, table salt, and raw materials for the production of building materials are extracted here. Until the discovery of oil fields in Siberia, the Volga region held first place in terms of oil reserves and production in the country. Although the region currently ranks second in the production of this type of raw material after West Siberia, oil reserves in the Volga region are severely depleted. Therefore, its share in Russian oil production is only 11% and is constantly declining. The main oil resources are located in Tatarstan and the Samara region, and gas resources in the Saratov and Volgograd regions. Development prospects gas industry associated with the large Astrakhan gas condensate field (6% of world reserves).

POPULATION

Now the Volga region is one of the most populated and developed regions of Russia. Population – 16.9 million people, i.e. the area has significant labor resources. The Volga region population is growing quite quickly, but mainly not due to high natural growth (1.2 people), but due to significant population migration. The average population density is 30 people per 1 km², but it is unevenly distributed. More than half of the population is in the Samara, Saratov regions and Tatarstan. In the Samara region, the population density is the highest - 61 people per 1 km², and in Kalmykia - the minimum (4 people per 1 km²).

Although the Volga region is a multinational region, Russians predominate in the population structure (70%).

The share of Tatars (16%), Chuvash and Mari is also significant.

Middle Volga region

The population of the Republic of Tatarstan is 3.7 million people (about 40% of them are Russian); about 320 thousand people live in Kalmykia (the share of Russians is more than 30%).

Before the revolution, the Volga region was a purely agricultural region. Only 14% of the population lived in cities. Now it is one of the most urbanized regions of Russia. 73% of all residents live in cities and towns. The overwhelming majority of the urban population is concentrated in regional centers, capitals of national republics and large industrial cities. There are 90 cities in the Volga region, among them three millionaire cities - Samara, Kazan, Volgograd. At the same time, almost everything big cities(with the exception of Penza) were located on the banks of the Volga. The largest city in the Volga region, Samara, is located in Samarskaya Luka. Together with nearby cities and towns, it forms a large industrial hub.

FARMING

The most important condition for the sustainable and integrated development of the Volga region is the Lately significant economic, scientific and technical potential.

In terms of total gross industrial and agricultural output in 1995, the region ranked fourth in Russia (after Central, Ural and West Siberian). It accounted for 13.1% of the total gross output of industry and agriculture in Russia. In the future, the Volga region will retain a leading role in the national economic complex of the Russian Federation and will restore lost positions, taking its former stable position after the Central and Ural regions.

On modern stage economic development, the national economic complex of the Volga region has a complex structure. Although it is dominated by industry, agriculture is also one of the main sectors National economy district. In the total gross output, industry accounts for 70-73%, agriculture - 20-22% and other sectors of the national economy - 5-10%.

The material basis for their development is primarily mineral and fuel and energy resources, agricultural raw materials, and fish resources of the Caspian and Volga. At the same time, the raw materials balance of the region includes imported metals and materials from the forestry and woodworking industries.

A characteristic feature of the industrial production of the region is the close connection, cooperation and combination of its individual links, especially in the automotive industry and petrochemicals.

The basis of the territorial organization of the Volga region is a number of inter-industry complexes - fuel and energy, mechanical engineering, chemical and petrochemical, agro-industrial, transport, construction, etc.

The main branches of specialization of the region's industry are mechanical engineering, chemical and petrochemical, fuel industry, electric power, food industry, as well as the building materials industry (glass, cement, etc.). However, the sectoral structure of industry in the republics and regions of the Volga region has significant differences from the average Russian and average regional ones.

Mechanical engineering complex - one of the largest and most complex industries in the Volga region. It accounts for at least 1/3 of the total industrial products district. The industry as a whole is characterized by low metal consumption. The mechanical engineering industry operates primarily on rolled metal from the neighboring Urals; a very small part of the demand is covered by our own metallurgy. The machine-building complex unites a variety of machine-building productions. Volga region mechanical engineering produces a wide range of machinery and equipment: cars, machine tools, tractors, equipment for various industries and agricultural enterprises.

A special place in the complex is occupied by transport engineering, represented by the production of airplanes and helicopters, trucks and cars, trolleybuses, etc. The aircraft industry is represented in Samara (production of turbojet aircraft) and Saratov (YAK-40 aircraft).

But the automotive industry especially stands out in the Volga region. The Volga region has long been rightfully called the “automotive workshop” of the country. There are all the necessary prerequisites for the development of this industry: the region is located in a zone of concentration of the main consumers of products, is well provided with a transport network, the level of development of the industrial complex allows for the organization of broad cooperation ties.

71% of passenger cars and 17% trucks Russia. Among the mechanical engineering centers the largest are:

Samara (machine tool building, production of bearings, aircraft manufacturing, production of automotive and tractor equipment, mill-elevator equipment, etc.);

Saratov (machine tool building, production of oil and gas chemical equipment, diesel engines, bearings, etc.);

Volgograd (tractor building, shipbuilding, production of equipment for the petrochemical industry, etc.);

Togliatti (VAZ complex of enterprises - leading in the country's automotive industry).

Important centers of mechanical engineering are Kazan and Penza (precision engineering), Syzran (equipment for the energy and petrochemical industries), Engels (90% of trolleybus production in the Russian Federation).

The Volga region is one of the main regions of Russia for the production of aerospace equipment.

LITERATURE

"Geography. Population and economy of Russia,” V.Ya. Rom, V.P. Dronov. Bustard, 1998

“Preparing for the exam in geography”, I.I. Barinova, V.Ya. Rom, V.P. Dronov. Iris, 1998

“Economic geography of Russia”, I.A.

Rodionova. "Moscow Lyceum", 1998

“Economic geography of Russia”, uch. edited by IN AND. Vidyapina. Infra-M, 1999

Area - 536 thousand km2.
Composition: 6 regions - Astrakhan, Volgograd, Penza, Samara, Saratov, Ulyanovsk and 2 republics - Tataria and Kalmykia.

Natural conditions are favorable: (right bank, more elevated), soft, large massif. But an uneven supply of moisture is characteristic - there are droughts and hot winds along the lower Volga.

The Volga region ranks second after oil and gas production; large oil refineries and a large number of industrial complexes are concentrated in the region. Powerful petrochemical hubs in Samara, Kazan, Saratov, Syzran produce a variety of chemical products (plastics, polyethylene, fibers, rubber, tires, etc.). The Volga region also specializes in diversified industries, primarily transport. The region is called the automobile “shop” of the country: Togliatti produces Zhiguli cars, Ulyanovsk produces UAZ all-terrain vehicles, Naberezhnye Chelny produces heavy-duty KAMAZ vehicles. The Volga region produces ships, airplanes, tractors, trolleybuses, and machine tool and instrument making is also developed. Large centers are Samara, Saratov, Volgograd. The energy complex, including cascades of hydroelectric power stations on the Volga and Kama, is important; Thermal power plants using their own and imported fuel and nuclear power plants (Balakovskaya and Dmitrovradskaya).

The Volga region is the most important region in Russia. The northern part of the region is a supplier of durum wheat, sunflower, corn, beets, and meat. In the south, rice, vegetables, and melons are grown. The Volga River is the most important fishing area.

Excessive concentration of petrochemical production and other industrial enterprises, the regulation of the Volga created an extremely difficult environmental situation in the Volga region.

Upper Volga landscape

Volga region- in a broad sense - the entire territory adjacent to the Volga, although it is more correct to define this territory as Volga region(see Volga Federal District). The Volga region is often understood as a more or less definite strip along the Volga's own course, without large tributaries (for example, residents of the Upper and Middle Kama region never considered themselves Volga residents). More often, the term is used in a narrow sense - the territory adjacent to the middle and lower reaches of the Volga (from the confluence of the Oka to the mouth) and economically gravitating towards it, which corresponds to the view outlined above. The territories located along the Volga above the confluence of the Oka (in particular, the cities of Tver, Yaroslavl, Rybinsk, Kostroma) are not usually classified as the Volga region; for them there is a more specific term Upper Volga. Within the Volga region (Privolzhye) there are a relatively elevated right bank with the Volga Upland and a left bank - Zavolzhye. In natural terms, the Volga region (Volga region) is sometimes also referred to as the areas located in the upper reaches of the Volga.

The Volga region was once part of the Volga Bulgaria, the Polovtsian Steppe, the Golden Horde, the Kazan and Astrakhan Khanates, as well as Rus'. Then (after the conquests of Ivan IV) it was successively entirely part of the Russian Kingdom, the Russian Empire and the USSR (RSFSR). Currently, it is completely part of the territory of the Russian Federation.

Regions

In the TSB, when economically zoning the European part of the USSR, the Volga economic region was distinguished, including the Ulyanovsk, Penza, Kuibyshev, Saratov, Volgograd and Astrakhan regions, the Tatar, Bashkir and Kalmyk Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republics; at the same time, the first 3 named regions and the Tatar Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic are classified as the Middle Volga region, the remaining regions and the Kalmyk Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic are classified as the Lower Volga region. Taking into account the modern administrative-territorial division:

• Middle Volga region- Tatarstan, Chuvashia, Penza, Ulyanovsk and Samara regions;
• Lower Volga region- Saratov, Volgograd regions, Republic of Kalmykia and Astrakhan region.

There is also a division of the Volga River basin into three parts (not equivalent to the division of the Volga region into parts): Upper Volga, Middle Volga, Lower Volga.

Nature

The relief is flat, dominated by lowlands and hilly plains. The climate is temperate continental. Summer is warm, with an average monthly air temperature in July of +22° - +25°C; winter is quite cold, the average monthly air temperature in January and February is −10° - −15°С. The average annual precipitation in the north is 500-600 mm, in the south 200-300 mm. Natural zones: mixed forest (Tatarstan), forest-steppe (Tatarstan (partially)), Samara, Penza, Ulyanovsk, Saratov regions), steppe (Saratov (partial)).

Volga Federal District

Includes regions of the Middle Volga region, a number of regions of Central Russia (Mordovia, Penza region), Cis-Urals (Kirov region, Perm region, Bashkortostan, Udmurtia), Southern Urals (Orenburg region). Center-Nizhny Novgorod. The territory of the district is 6.08% of the territory of the Russian Federation. Population as of January 1, 2008 - 30,241,583 (21.4% of the Russian Federation); The core is the townspeople. For example, in the Samara region >80%, in the Russian Federation (about 73%).

Volgo-Vyatka economic region

Association of Volga Region Cities

On October 27, 1998, the first General Meeting of the leaders of the seven largest cities of the Volga region - Kazan, Nizhny Novgorod, Penza, Samara, Saratov, Ulyanovsk, Cheboksary was held in the city of Samara, at which an agreement was signed on the establishment of the Association of Cities of the Volga Region. This event gave a start to life for a qualitatively new structure of interaction between municipalities - the Association of Volga Region Cities (AGP). In February 2000, Yoshkar-Ola joined the Association, on November 1, 2002, Astrakhan and Saransk joined its ranks, in 2005 - the hero city of Volgograd, in 2009 - Kirov. In 2015, the Association included: Izhevsk, Perm, Ufa, Orenburg, Togliatti, Arzamas, Balakovo, Dimitrovgrad, Novokuibyshevsk, Novocheboksarsk, Sarapul, Sterlitamak and Syzran.

Volga region- the territory adjacent to the middle and lower reaches of the Volga and economically gravitating towards it. Within the Volga region there are a relatively elevated right bank with the Volga Upland and a left bank - the so-called. Trans-Volga region. In natural terms, the Volga region also sometimes includes areas located in the upper reaches of the Volga.

The Volga region was once part of the Volga Bulgaria, the Polovtsian Steppe, the Golden Horde and Rus'.

The following regions of the Volga region are distinguished:

Upper Volga (from the source to the mouth of the Oka) - Tver, Moscow, Yaroslavl, Kostroma, Ivanovo and Nizhny Novgorod regions;

Middle Volga (from the right tributary of the Sura to the southern edge of the Samara Luka) - Chuvashia, Mari-El, Tatarstan, Ulyanovsk and Samara regions;

Lower Volga (from the confluence of the Kama [officially, but not hydrologically] to the Caspian Sea) - the Republic of Tatarstan, Ulyanovsk, Samara, Saratov, Volgograd regions, the Republic of Kalmykia and the Astrakhan region.

After the construction of the Kuibyshev reservoir, the border between the middle and lower Volga is usually considered to be the Zhigulevskaya hydroelectric station above Samara.

Volga ethno-burying name: Volzhans.

The relief is flat, dominated by lowlands and hilly plains. The climate is temperate continental and continental. Summer is warm, with an average monthly air temperature in July of +22° - +25°C; winter is quite cold, the average monthly air temperature in January and February is? 10° -? 15°C. The average annual precipitation in the north is 500-600 mm, in the south 200-300 mm. Natural zones: mixed forest (Tatarstan), forest-steppe (Tatarstan (partially), Samara, Penza, Ulyanovsk, Saratov regions), steppe (Saratov (partial) and Volgograd regions), semi-deserts (Kalmykia, Astrakhan region). The southern part of the territory is characterized by dust storms and hot winds during the warm half of the year (from April to October).

Volga Federal District

Center - Nizhny Novgorod. The territory of the district is 6.08% of the territory Russian Federation. The population of the Volga Federal District as of January 1, 2008 is 30 million 241 thousand 583 people. (21.4% of the Russian population). The majority of the population consists of city dwellers. For example, in the Samara region this figure is more than 80%, which is generally slightly higher than the all-Russian figure (approximately 73%).

Volgo-Vyatka economic region

Located on the middle Volga. The territory of the region extends from southwest to northeast for 1000 km and is located in various natural zones: the northern part is in the forest taiga and the southern part is in the forest-steppe. The region is located in Central Russia, in the basins of the navigable rivers Volga, Oka, Vyatka, borders and is in close economic connection with the Central, Volga, Ural and Northern regions. Population - 7.5 million people. (2010). The average population density is 32 people/km², and is very unevenly populated. The majority of the population is Russian; in addition, Mari, Erzyans, Chuvash, Tatars, and Udmurts live here. The level of urbanization is quite high - 70%, and out of 7.5 million, 2 million live in the Nizhny Novgorod agglomeration.

Povolzhsky economic region is one of 11 economic regions of the Russian Federation, consists of 8 federal entities:

Republic Tatarstan
Astrakhan region
Volgograd region
Penza region
Samara Region
Saratov region
Ulyanovsk region
Republic of Kalmykia

Located on the lower Volga. Territory area 537.4 thousand km², population 17 million people, population density 25 people/km². The share of the population living in cities is 74%. The Volga economic region includes 94 cities, 3 million-plus cities (Samara, Kazan, Volgograd), 12 federal subjects. It borders in the north with the Volga-Vyatka region, in the south with the Caspian Sea, in the east with the Ural region and Kazakhstan, in the west with the Central Chernozem region and the North Caucasus. The economic axis is the Volga River.

Main branches of specialization: oil and gas production, oil and petrochemical industries, mechanical engineering (especially automotive industry).

IN agriculture: oilseeds, grains and vegetable and melon crops. Animal husbandry (meat and dairy cattle breeding, sheep breeding, pig breeding).

Feature geographical location area is its length along the Volga for almost 1500 km, which affects economic activity, placement and functions settlements at all stages of development. The center of the economic region is located in the city of Samara. Also, the Volga economic region is divided into two main industrial zones:

Volga-Kama
Nizhnevolzhskaya

The Volga-Kama zone includes: Samara, Penza, Ulyanovsk regions and the Republic of Tatarstan. The center of the Volga-Kama industrial zone of the Volga economic region is located in the city of Kazan.
The Lower Volga industrial zone includes: Astrakhan, Volgograd, Saratov regions, as well as the Republic of Kalmykia. The center of the Lower Volga industrial zone of the Volga economic region is located in the city of Volgograd.