PENZA

oblast (province), western Russia, occupying an area of 16,680 square miles (43,200 square km) across the western flank of the Volga Upland, which falls gently to the Oka-Don Plain in the extreme west. The oblast lies in the zone of forest-steppe. About one-fifth of its surface is in pine or oak forest, mostly in the Sura Basin, but natural vegetation has been widely plowed up, resulting in severe soil erosion. Agriculture, the major economic activity, is dominated by grain, especially winter rye and spring wheat. Hemp, sugar beets, and sunflowers are also grown. Engineering, the main industry, is concentrated in Penza city, the oblast headquarters, and Kuznetsk; the other cities are small and are mainly concerned with processing food and agricultural products. Timber working is important in the surviving forest areas, and paper is made. Pop. (1991 est.) 1,512,000. city and administrative centre of Penza oblast (province), western Russia, at the confluence of the Penza and Sura rivers. The city was founded in 1666 as a major fortress; after 1684 it formed the western end of the Syzran defensive line. It was frequently attacked by the Crimean Tatars, suffering especially in their last assault of 1717. With the settlement of the surrounding lands, Penza became an important agricultural centre. Grain was sent to Moscow, first by the Sura River and, after the 1870s, by rail. The processing of farm products is still a significant economic factor, but it has been surpassed in importance by industries producing machinery, diesel engines, compressors, calculating machines, and bicycles; there are also watchmaking, papermaking, and timber-working industries. The city's tree-lined streets have spread from the hill, on which the fortress originally stood, onto the level Sura floodplain. Penza has teacher-training, polytechnic, engineering, and agricultural institutes, an observatory, and several industrial-research institutions. Pop. (1991 est.) 551,500.