ULYANOVSK

oblast (province), western Russia. The oblast lies athwart the middle Volga River, which is there transformed into a broad lake by the downstream Samara dam. The larger western part lies on the Volga Upland, which is dissected by river valleys and erosion gullies; the smaller Trans-Volga is a low plain. In the west are extensive oak woods, but elsewhere the forest-steppe vegetation on fertile soils has been largely cleared for intensive agriculture. Grains, especially wheat, together with sunflowers and sugar beets, are the main crops. The communities, apart from Ulyanovsk, the oblast headquarters, are small and engaged chiefly in processing farm produce. Area 14,400 square miles (37,300 square km). Pop. (1993 est.) 1,462,200. formerly (until 1780) Sinbirsk, or (17801924) Simbirsk city and administrative centre of Ulyanovsk oblast (province), western Russia. It lies along the Volga River at its confluence with the Sviyaga. Founded in 1648, it was a key fortress on the Sinbirsk defensive line; in 1924 it was renamed after V.I. Ulyanov (Lenin), who was born there and whose home is preserved as a museum. Ulyanovsk has engineering industries that produce buses and light trucks, machine tools, and motors; there are also food-processing and consumer-goods industries. The city has polytechnic, agricultural, and teacher-training institutes. Pop. (1993 est.) 681,400.