SARATOV

oblast (province), western Russia. With an area of 38,700 square miles (100,200 square km), the oblast lies in the basin of the middle Volga River, which bisects it northsouth. Saratov city is the administrative centre. Most of the right(west)-bank area is occupied by the Volga Upland, which is greatly dissected by river valleys and erosion gullies; the left (east) bank is a low, rolling plain that formed the Volga German Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic until 1941, when that administrative unit was abolished for security reasons. The oblast has a dry, continental climate, with frequent droughts. Rainfall amounts to only about 15 inches (380 mm) annually. Nevertheless, the presence of fertile chernozem soils has brought about the plowing up of almost all the grass-steppe vegetation on the west-bank area, thereby accelerating soil erosion. The east-bank area is dry steppe, with conditions increasingly resembling semidesert to the southeast, where sagebrush partly replaces the grass. Agriculture, concentrating heavily on grains, cattle, and sheep, is well developed in the oblast despite recurrent droughts, and industry has greatly expanded since 1940, especially along the Volga. Wheat, corn (maize), and rye are the chief crops, and millet, sunflowers, mustard, melons, potatoes, and other vegetables are also grown. Livestock raising is important in the eastern part of the oblast. Natural gas and some petroleum are obtained near Yelshanka and Stepnoye and have stimulated the growth of oil-refining, chemical, and engineering industries in the cities of Saratov, Engels, Balakovo, and Balashov. Other, smaller cities are chiefly concerned with processing agricultural products (flour milling, distilling, and the extraction of vegetable oil). Pop. (1991 est.) 2,707,700. city and administrative centre of Saratov oblast (province), western Russia. The city lies along the middle course of the Volga River and was founded in 1590 as a fortress to protect the trade route along the Volga River from nomadic raiders. Its site was twice moved: in 1616 and again to the present location in 1674 after the fortress had been destroyed in a revolt. In the 19th century Saratov became a major commercial centre, especially after the railway to Moscow was built in the 1870s. The modern city has become a large industrial complex that sprawls for many miles along the river. The road bridge across the Volga, opened in 1965, is claimed to be the largest in Europe. Saratov's varied and large-scale industries are headed by engineering, electric and petrochemical equipment, machine tools, diesel motors, mobile generators, ball bearings, and refrigerators. The city's largest pre-Revolutionary industry, flour milling, is still important, and glass, brick and other building materials, footwear, clothing, and foodstuffs are also produced. Timber rafted down the Volga River is processed at Saratov's sawmills and made into furniture. Petroleum and natural gas occur in the locality and help contribute to Saratov's important chemical industries, which produce synthetic alcohol, synthetic fibres, acetone, and ammonium sulfate. In the 1960s a large dam and hydroelectric station were completed at Volsk on the Volga immediately above Saratov. Saratov has a university founded in 1909, a music conservatory, and other institutions of higher education. It is also a major rail junction, with lines leading to Moscow, Volgograd, Kazan, and other cities. Pop. (1995 est.) 895,000.