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.

Volga Federal District). The Volga region is more often understood as a more or less definite strip along the own course of the Volga, without large tributaries (for example, the inhabitants of the Kama region never considered themselves Volzhans). 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 above view. Within the Volga region (Volga region), a relatively elevated right bank with the Volga Upland and a left bank - Zavolzhye stand out. In natural terms, the regions located in the upper reaches of the Volga are sometimes also referred to the Volga region (Volga region).

Once the Volga region was part of the Volga Bulgaria, the Polovtsian Steppe, the Golden Horde and Russia.

Regions

In the TSB, during the economic zoning of 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 ASSR are usually attributed to the Middle Volga region, the remaining regions and the Kalmyk ASSR - to the Lower Volga region. Taking into account the modern administrative-territorial division:

Volga ethnonym: 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 average monthly air temperature in July +22° - +25°С; winter is quite cold, the average monthly air temperature in January and February is −10° - −15°С. The average annual rainfall 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 (Saratovskaya (partially.)

Volga Federal District

It includes the regions of the Middle Volga region, a number of regions of Central Russia (Mordovia, Penza region), the Urals (Perm Territory, Bashkortostan), the 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); citizens are the core. For example, in the Samara region> 80%, the Russian Federation (about 73%).

Volga-Vyatka economic region

Located on the middle Volga. The territory of the district is stretched from the southwest to the 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 area 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).

Volga Economic Region

Located on the lower Volga. The territory 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%. The Volga economic region includes 94 cities, 3 million-plus cities (Samara, Kazan, Volgograd), 12 subjects of the federation. 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 Black Earth 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 cities of the Volga region

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, took place 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 the life of a qualitatively new structure of interaction between municipalities - the Association of the cities of the Volga region (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, Tolyatti, Arzamas, Balakovo, Dimitrovgrad, Novokuibyshevsk, Novocheboksarsk, Sarapul, Sterlitamak and Syzran. More than thirteen million people live in the cities of the Association.

Notes

Lower Volga

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 branches of specialization are the oil and gas industry, and the oil and 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, sunflower, mustard, vegetable and melon crops, and a major supplier of wool, meat, and fish.

Natural resource potential

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

The creation of a large-scale industry in the Volga basin that pollutes its waters, the intensive development of river transport, agriculture, which uses large amounts of mineral fertilizers, a significant part of which is washed into the Volga, the construction of hydroelectric power plants has a negative impact on the river and creates an ecological 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 inland areas, especially in Kalmykia.

On the territory of the region there are 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 the lakes Baskunchak and Elton, there are resources of table salt; these lakes are also rich in bromine, iodine, and magnesium salts.

Population and workforce

The population of the Volga region is distinguished by the diversity of the national composition. A significant share in the structure of the population in the Republic of Kalmykia is occupied by Kalmyks - 45.4%. In the Astrakhan and Volgograd regions, with the predominance of the Russian population, Kazakhs, Tatars, and Ukrainians live. The population of the Volga region is characterized by its high concentration in the regional centers and the capital of the republic. The population of Volgograd is 987.2 thousand people. The lowest population density is typical for Kalmykia, here the smallest proportion of people living in cities.

Placement 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 extracted and processed.

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

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

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

Ferrous and non-ferrous metallurgy is developed in Volgograd, the largest enterprises are OJSC Volzhsky Pipe Plant, OJSC Volgograd Aluminum Plant.

The vast resources of the salt lakes have led to the development of the salt industry, which provides 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 Kaspryba fishery concern, which includes a caviar and balyk association, a number of large fish processing plants, a marine fleet base, a fishing fleet (Kasprybkholodflot), leading expeditionary fishing in the Caspian Sea. The concern also includes a fish breeding plant for the production of sturgeon fry and a net knitting factory.

In agricultural production, the branches of specialization are the cultivation of vegetable and gourd crops, sunflower, sheep breeding.

Transport and economic relations

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

River, railway and pipeline transport is developed in the region.

Intra-district differences

Lower Volga includes Astrakhan, Volgograd, regions and Kalmykia. The Lower Volga region is a sub-region of developed industry - mechanical engineering, chemical, food. At the same time, this is the most important agricultural region with a developed grain economy, beef cattle breeding and sheep breeding, as well as the production of rice, vegetable and melon crops and fisheries.

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

The most industrially developed is the Volgograd region, where machine building, 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 transhumant pasture system, is one of the main environmental problems in the region. Environmental damage is caused by industrial emissions and transport to the water and fish resources of the region. The solution of 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 socio-economic development of the most backward regions of the Volga region and, first of all, Kalmykia, which has been granted a number of benefits in taxation and financing. The prospects for the development of this republic are connected 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 in the region: transport, agro-industrial, tourist-recreational and sanatorium-resort complexes; infrastructure, development of the social sphere.

Geological exploration and production of hydrocarbons in the Astrakhan and Volgograd regions, as well as the Republic of Kalmykia, is carried out by OOO LUKOIL-Volgogradneftegaz. The prospects for economic development include 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, Chuvash.

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 the 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 structure

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

The Volga Federal District is distinguished in the country by the production of products of the chemical and petrochemical industries, mechanical engineering (including the 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 1).

Table 5.7

Share of economic indicators

of the Volga Federal District in the all-Russian

Economic indicators	Specific weight, %
Gross regional product	15,8
Fixed assets in the economy	17,1
Mining	16,6
Manufacturing industries	22,8
Production and distribution of electricity, gas and water	19,7
Agricultural products	25,5
Construction	15,8
Commissioning of the total area of ​​residential buildings	20,2
Retail turnover	17,9
Receipt of tax payments and fees to the budget system of Russia	14,7
Investments in fixed assets	16,2
Export	11.9
Import	5,5

The specialization of industrial production is determined on the basis of 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 of vehicles and equipment.

Table 5.8

Specialization of industrial production

Volga Federal District

Types of economic activity	Share of economic activity in industrial production, %	Localization coefficient
countries	districts
Section C Mining	21,8	17,1	0,784
Subsection CA Extraction of fuel and energy minerals	19,3	16,2	0,839
Subsection NE Extraction of minerals, except for fuel and energy	2,5	0,9	0,360
Section D Manufacturing	67,8	73,2	1,080
Subsection DA Manufacture of food products, including beverages, and tobacco	10,4	7,6	0,731
Subsection DB Textile and clothing production	0,7	0,6	0,857
Subdivision DC Manufacture of leather, leather goods and footwear	0,1	0,1	1,000
Subsection DD Woodworking and manufacture of wood products	1,1	0,7	0,636
Subsection DE Pulp and Paper; publishing and printing activities	2,4	1,5	0,625
Subsection DG Chemical production	4,6	8,9	1,935
Subsection DH Manufacture of rubber and plastic products	1,7	2,7	1,588
Subsection DI Manufacture of other non-metallic mineral products	4,1	3,3	0,805
Subsection DJ Metallurgical production and production of finished metal products	14,3	8,2	0,573
Subsection DL Manufacture of electrical, electronic and optical equipment	4,0	4,1	1,025
Subsection DM Manufacture of vehicles and equipment	6,2	14,3	2,306
Subsection DN Other industries	1,8	1,8	1,000
Section E Production and distribution of electricity, gas and water	10,4	9,7	0,933
Total	—

According to the peculiarities of the distribution of 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-Perm Autonomous Okrug and the Perm Region into a new federal subject, the Perm Territory, began.

The Perm Territory received its official status in 2005 after the election of legislative and executive authorities and the unification of budgets. In the periodical press, this process was repeatedly called the beginning of the all-Russian process of unification and enlargement of the subjects of the federation.

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Introduction 1

Composition of the Volga region 2

EGP district 2

Natural conditions 3

Population 3

Household 5

Environmental problems of the region and ways to solve them 16

Big Volga problem 17

Prospects for the development of the district 19

Annex 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 regions is of particular importance. Moreover, Russia differs in a number of features even in comparison with the republics of the near abroad.

The country has huge resources and a capacious domestic market. The development of the territory was asymmetrical, 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, there are great contrasts between the center and the periphery at all levels.

Economic zoning is the allocation of territories that differ in their specialization of the economy in the territorial division of labor. The 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 inter-regional division of labor. However, it is important that these features are closely linked with the tasks of economically justified location of industrial and agricultural sectors throughout the country.

COMPOSITION OF THE POVOLZHSK DISTRICT

It is very difficult to precisely outline the territories belonging to the Volga region. The Volga region can be called only the territories adjacent directly to the Volga. But most often, the Volga region is understood as 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. The total territory is about 536 thousand km².

The EGP of this area is exceptionally profitable. In the west, the Volga region borders on the highly developed Volga-Vyatka, Central Black Earth and North Caucasian 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 links in the Volga region. The Volga region is more open to the west and east; towards the main direction of economic relations of the country, so the vast majority of cargo transportation goes through this territory.

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

NATURAL CONDITIONS AND RESOURCES

The Volga region has favorable natural conditions for living and farming. The region is rich in land (arable land makes up about 1/5 of Russia) and water resources. However, in the lower Volga region there are droughts, accompanied by dry winds that are detrimental to crops.

The area is rich in minerals. Oil, gas, sulfur, table salt, raw materials for the production of building materials are extracted here. Until the discovery of oil fields in Siberia, the Volga region occupied the first place in terms of oil reserves and production in the country. Although at present the region ranks second in the extraction of this type of raw material after the West Siberian, oil reserves in the Volga region are severely depleted. Therefore, its share in Russia's oil production is only 11% and is constantly decreasing. The main oil resources are located in Tatarstan and the Samara region, and gas - in the Saratov and Volgograd regions. Prospects for the development of the gas industry are 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. The population is 16.9 million people, i.e. The district has significant labor resources. The population of the Volga region is growing quite rapidly, but mainly not due to a high natural increase (1.2 people), but due to significant migration of the population. 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 dominate sharply in the structure of the population (70%).

The share of Tatars (16%), Chuvashs and Maris is also significant.

Middle Volga

The population of the Republic of Tatarstan is 3.7 million people (among them Russians about 40%), 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 urban-type settlements. The vast 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 all major cities (with the exception of Penza) are located on the banks of the Volga. The largest city of the Volga region - Samara - is located in Samarskaya Luka. Together with nearby cities and towns, it forms a large industrial hub.

ECONOMY

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

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

At the present stage of economic development, the economic complex of the Volga region has a complex structure. Despite the fact that industry prevails in it, agriculture is also one of the main branches of the national economy of the region. 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 raw material and fuel and energy resources, agricultural raw materials, fish resources of the Caspian and Volga. At the same time, in the raw material balance of the region belongs to imported metals and materials of 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 petrochemistry.

The basis of the territorial organization of the Volga region is a number of intersectoral complexes - fuel and energy, machine-building, chemical and petrochemical, agro-industrial, transport, construction, etc.

The main industries of the district are machine building, chemical and petrochemical, fuel industry, electric power industry, food industry, as well as building materials industries (glass, cement, etc.). However, the sectoral structure of the industry of the republics and regions of the Volga region has significant differences from the average Russian and average district.

Machine building complex- one of the largest and most complex industries in the structure of the Volga region. It accounts for at least 1/3 of the entire industrial output of the region. The industry as a whole is characterized by low metal consumption. Mechanical engineering works mainly on the rolled metal products of the neighboring Urals; a very small part of the demand is covered by our own metallurgy. The machine-building complex unites various machine-building productions. The Volga 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 aircraft and helicopters, trucks and cars, trolleybuses, etc. Aviation industry is represented in Samara (production of turbojet aircraft) and Saratov (YAK-40 aircraft).

But the automotive industry stands out especially 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 the zone of concentration of the main consumers of products, it is well provided with a transport network, the level of development of the industrial complex allows organizing broad cooperation ties.

In the Volga region, 71% of passenger cars and 17% of trucks in Russia are manufactured. Among the machine-building centers, the largest are:

Samara (machine tool building, production of bearings, aircraft building, production of autotractor equipment, mill and 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 (a complex of VAZ enterprises is the leader 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 the production of trolleybuses 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.

Rodionov. Moscow Lyceum, 1998

"Economic geography of Russia", uch. ed. IN AND. Vidyapina. Infra-M, 1999

The Volga region is one of the largest geographical objects of the Russian Federation. It is located along the banks of the Volga River. The economy is well developed here. A navigable river, railway lines crossing the Volga region up and down provide local residents with everything necessary for a full-fledged existence. There is access to the sea along the Volga, which also favorably affects the economic and geographical position of the region.

The Volga region is famous for its mineral reserves. Among them are especially appreciated:

• oil;
• sulfur;
• salt.

In addition, there are enough raw materials for the manufacture of high-quality building materials.

The population of the Volga region

The Volga region is a multinational region. The history of the formation of the modern population began many centuries ago. The original inhabitants were Mari, Chuvash and Mordovians. Over time, other peoples also migrated here.

Today, the Volga region is the most populated and developed. The annual population growth is due to the active migration of people from other areas. Thanks to rich resources, the issue of employment is not so acute here. The main part of the population occupies the capitals of the national republics and large industrial cities, where unemployment is practically excluded.

Now the structure of the population of the Volga region is mainly Russians and Tatars. Some of the most populated cities are Volgograd, Saratov, Samara and Kazan.

The indicator of the standard of living of the population of the Volga region is low. Now the main priority task and goal for the Volga region is to improve the living conditions of local citizens.

Industry of the Volga region

The Volga region is known to many as the center of the machine-building industry. Mechanical engineering in the Volga region includes the production of a wide range of equipment and machines, for example, cars, machine tools, computers and devices, bearings, electrical products, motors for special equipment, etc.

An important place in this industry is given to the production of aircraft, trucks and cars, buses and trolleybuses, ships, as well as bicycles and other small vehicles.

Samara and Saratov specialize mainly in the aviation industry, which dates back to the war. Now the factories of these cities produce turbojet aircraft.

The oil industry is developing in connection with the needs of the local population. Mechanical engineering and the production of equipment and parts are in great demand among residents of nearby regions.

Due to the rich mineral resources such as oil and gas, there are several gas and oil refineries in the Volga region. The leading regions for oil production are the Republic of Tatarstan and Samara.

The Volga, Nizhnekamsk, Volgograd and Saratov regions are distinguished among others by the productive operation of the largest hydroelectric power plants.

Agriculture of the Volga region

The agro-industrial complex of the Volga region is effectively developing to this day. Favorable climatic conditions and soft fertile soil make the Volga region the main supplier of grain crops throughout almost all of Russia. Wheat, rice, millet, corn and buckwheat are grown here. In addition, vegetables and melons, such as tomatoes and watermelons, grow well on the soils of the Volga region.

The warm humid climate promotes good growth of rice, barley, sunflower and other moisture and light-loving crops.

Numerous winter pastures contribute to the active development of animal husbandry. Thanks to this, the Volga region supplies the Russian regions not only with grain and vegetables, but also with wool, meat and milk. The most common animals on local farms are pigs and sheep. Birds are raised here mainly for their down. For the further expansion of livestock farms, the inhabitants of the rural areas of the Volga region face important tasks:

• improvement and expansion of fields for growing fodder crops necessary for livestock;
• increase and improvement of farms and paddocks;
• landscaping and moistening of natural areas where animals graze.

Residents of the coastal regions of the Volga region are effectively engaged in fishing. This type of activity is especially relevant in the Astrakhan region. Here, special attention is paid to the cleanliness of reservoirs. To this end, all industrial enterprises, plants and factories are under careful control. New treatment facilities are being built at a fast pace and existing ones are being improved. Currently, plants and factories are being built for the processing, breeding and keeping of fish, especially the sturgeon family.

Due to the variety of grain crops and sunflowers, there are many oil mills in the Volga region. The largest of them are located in the Saratov and Volgograd regions.

Most of the content of the granaries is sent to the milling of flour. Some of the largest and most developed flour and cereal enterprises are located on the territory of Samara, Saratov and Volgograd.

This activity brings a significant profit to the entire Volga region, which makes it possible to raise the standard of living of the population from year to year.

and St. Petersburg). The Kazan Kremlin is included in the list of UNESCO World Heritage Sites.

“Sarafan”, “brake”, “attic”, “closet”, “pencil”, “lighthouse”, “hard labor”, “money” - these words came into Russian from Tatar.

In modern Tatarstan, there are two equal languages ​​- Russian and Tatar. Until 1927, the Tatar script was built on the basis of the Arabic script, from 1927 to 1939 it developed on the basis of the Latin script, and from 1939 to the present, on the basis of the Cyrillic alphabet. There are three dialects in the Tatar language - western (Mishar), middle (Kazan-Tatar) and eastern (Siberian-Tatar).

According to the results of the 1897 census, the Tatars turned out to be one of the most literate peoples of the Russian Empire - this is due to the ability to read and write in their native language and, often, in Arabic or Turkish.

The modern cities of Tatarstan - Kazan and Yelabuga were founded as border fortresses.

Catherine II presented Sviyazhsk with her gilded carriage. After some time, the carriage was taken for restoration, but never returned.

In 1926, Tatarstan had such a long and snowy winter that the snow began to melt only in May, the Volga overflowed its banks, and a flood began. It went on for almost a month. Kazan turned into Venice, people moved around the city exclusively by boat.

According to the Constitution of the Republic of Tatarstan, each of its residents has the right to obtain a passport of a Russian citizen with an insert in the Tatar language and with the image of the state emblem of Tatarstan.

In the 1930s, some churches and monasteries in Sviyazhsk were destroyed. One of them was used as a branch of the Gulag, and after the death of I.V. Stalin, his buildings became a psychiatric hospital.

Kazan holds the record for the number of victories won in team sport competitions.

Karboz (Kar - snow, boz - ice) - this is the name of the well-known berry - Watermelon (distorted name). The Tatars were the first to bring watermelon to the territory of present-day Russia in the 13th-14th centuries and began to grow this delicious berry.

In 1552, Kazan was taken by storm after a seven-week siege by the troops of Ivan the Terrible. In the second half of the 16th century, Kazan turned into a Russian city.

Volga Bulgaria was the first in Europe to start smelting cast iron.

The brightest Tatar holiday - Sabantuy - the holiday of the plow, which is celebrated in June. The most spectacular events at this celebration are the national wrestling (koresh) and horse racing.

QIP (ICQ) was created by Tatar Ilkham Zyulkorneev from Kazan in 2004.

Kazan bears the title "Third Capital of Russia". This title is not named, but official. Kazan received this title for its cultural heritage and not only.

The total damage caused to the Republic of Tatarstan as a result of the harmful effects of the waters of the Nizhnekamsk reservoir (washout and destruction of the banks) is more than 400 million rubles a year.

In the Raifa section of the Volga-Kama Reserve, the age of trees in pine forests can reach 210 years, while their height is 38 meters and their width is 76 cm.

Gabdulla Tukay is a Tatar folk poet, literary critic, publicist and translator. For Tatar
he is as important to the people as Pushkin is to the Russian people.

The Kazan Gunpowder Factory sent more than a million charges for Katyushas to the front.

In penitential collections of the 14th century, a kiss with an open mouth and the use of tongue was called Tatar. And only in the XVIII century such kisses began to be called already French.

In the waters of the Kuibyshev and Nizhnekamsk reservoirs, on the territory of the Republic of Tatarstan, there are 124 sunken and abandoned ships.

Interesting facts about the Ulyanovsk region

The Ulyanovsk region got its name in 1943, in honor of its most famous resident - Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov - Lenin.

On the runway of the airport named after N.M. Karamzin (former "Ulyanovsk-Central") in the summer of 1973, an episode was filmed from Eldar Ryazanov's comedy "The Incredible Adventures of Italians in Russia" - an airplane landing on a highway.

Ulyanovsk is one of three cities in the world where a huge musical instrument is installed on the streets - a 7-meter wind organ.

One of the largest aircraft manufacturing plants in Europe, Aviastar, is located in Ulyanovsk. It produces AN-124 Ruslan cargo-lifting aircraft and TU-204 passenger aircraft. The Ulyanovsk region ranks first in Russia in the production of civil aircraft and fifth in the production of cars.

The "Lower Terrace" is the only place in Russia that is below the water level of a nearby reservoir. At one time, this area was supposed to fall into the flood zone of the future Kuibyshev reservoir on the Volga. Therefore, a dam was built and now a whole area with 40,000 inhabitants lives 6-10 meters below the Volga level.

In the Northern Hemisphere, due to the tilt of the Earth's axis, all rivers wash away their right bank. The Volga flows from north to south, and the Sviyaga flows from south to north, therefore, their banks are washed away to meet each other. Rivers converge at a rate of 4 mm per year. The minimum distance between the rivers is now 2 km, so they will meet only after millions of years.

Ulyanovsk is the most multinational city in the Volga region. Representatives of more than 80 nationalities live here.

In the basement of the Ulyanovsk Drama Theatre, under the small stage, from October 1 to October 25, 1774, Emelyan Pugachev was imprisoned.

Ulyanovsk is the city of seven winds. Despite the high development of industry, the air in the city is always clean.

In Sviyazhsky Bay, 165 species and varieties of algae feel great, including representatives of all major groups of freshwater algae.

In Ulyanovsk there is an unusual monument - "Oblomov's Sofa".

The Kuibyshev reservoir, according to many scientists, brought more trouble and loss than good. The water quality in the Volga, with the advent of the reservoir, has deteriorated and continues to deteriorate, the banks of the mighty Russian river have been subjected to erosion and landslides, the balance of natural systems has been disturbed, fish are dying, sliding banks are destroying buildings and residential buildings. After the creation of the reservoir, the Volga, in this area, began to freeze almost a week earlier and freed from ice later. The growth conditions of coastal and aquatic vegetation, habitats of birds and fish have changed. At the bottom of the Kuibyshev reservoir today, a huge amount of bottom sediments containing heavy metals and oil products has accumulated, which poses a serious threat to the ecology of the Volga.

Ulyanovsk is a port of five seas: along the Volga and canals you can get to the Caspian, Azov, Black, Baltic and White seas.

The most remote place in the region is located on the border with Chuvashia, 10 kilometers northwest of Bolshoy Kuvay. Bears constantly come to this area, therefore, it can be safely called the bear corner of the region.

The Volzhanka confectionery factory occupies the 6th place in Russia in the production of confectionery products, producing more than 140 products - caramel, sweets, chocolate, cookies, waffles, marmalade.

275 million years ago, the territory of modern Ulyanovsk was flooded by a warm tropical sea.

Power of the Volga HPP named after V.I. Lenin, whose dam forms the Kuibyshev reservoir, is 2315 MW; average annual output - 10.5 billion kWh.

The largest beluga caught within the city of Ulyanovsk was 5 meters long and weighed 1,400 kg.

Interesting facts about the Samara region

The Samara region is not one of the seismically hazardous zones, but spring earthquakes in Togliatti are now often spoken about. During the spring flood, the Volzhskaya HPP begins to discharge large volumes of water from the upstream to the downstream. The flow falling from almost 40 meters height causes a large wave that destroys the shore, and micro-earthquakes occur in the territories adjacent to the hydroelectric power station.

Who has not heard of the famous Zhiguli beer? The brewery, built in 1881 in Samara by the Austrian nobleman Alfred von Vakano, is still working and is one of the symbols of the city.
Those who wish can still admire the old buildings built in the style of the German Renaissance, buy beer-themed souvenirs in the factory building and, of course, try the freshest Zhigulevskoye.

The name of the revolutionary Valerian Kuibyshev during the years of Soviet power was given to several cities at once: Samara, Kainsk in the Novosibirsk region, Spassk in Tataria. Kuibyshevka was called Belogorsk in the Amur region. The vast reservoir in the north-west of the Samara region, on the banks of which Togliatti is located, also became Kuibyshevsky.

Blue Lake, located in the Sergievsky district of the Samara region, has been known since antiquity. From the bottom beats a powerful hydrogen sulfide source. There is no life in the lake, this explains its transparency.The beauty of the lake is fascinating, you want to look at its transparent depth (about 17 meters) again and again. But, most of all, those who can dive are lucky. According to divers, if you dive and look up, then, as in the picture, you can see clouds floating across the sky, trees growing on the shore, and comrades waiting for you.The locals believe in the healing power of the lake and associate many legends with it. They say that in the old days a horse with a cart fell into the lake, supposedly they were not found, and also that sometimes tarred boards with mysterious writings float to the surface ...

In 1859, traveling along the Volga, Samara was visited by the French writer A. Dumas, upon his return to his homeland, he published the book “From Paris to Astrakhan”, in which he devoted pages to the Samara province.

In the middle of the 19th century, Samara became the first city in the world where a koumiss clinic was opened for the treatment of consumptive patients. Nestor Postnikov, while practicing medicine, noticed that sour mare's milk helps in the treatment of tuberculosis. After that, the doctor in 1858, with his own money, six miles from Samara, built a koumiss clinic. Very soon, the Samara koumiss clinic gained great popularity. The institution was visited by members of the royal family, people from England came for treatment, Germany, France , Italy, Portugal. For his service to medicine, Nestor Postnikov was awarded the Order of St. Anna of two degrees and the Order of St. Vladimir. In addition, Postnikov became a nobleman, and his name was entered in the Noble Genealogy Book. Now the Samara Regional Clinical Antituberculosis Dispensary named after Postnikov is located in the former koumiss clinic.

Samara embankment is a cascade of beautiful terraces descending to the Volga beaches. In summer, the embankment becomes a favorite vacation spot for citizens; numerous city holidays and festivals are held here. Fountains, flower beds, sports grounds and playgrounds for creativity, cafes, attractions, rental of rollers and bicycles - everyone will find something to their liking!

Samara has the tallest railway station building in Europe. The total height of the station, together with the dome and spire, reaches 101 meters. The railway station has an observation deck. This is a large balcony around the dome of the station complex. The site is located at an altitude of 95 meters. This is equivalent to the level of the 18th floor. On the 2nd floor in the building of the Samara railway station there is a historical museum of the Kuibyshev highway.

On the night of July 21-22, 2005, circles mysteriously appeared on a buckwheat field near Tolyatti,
about 200 meters in diameter. Various theories of the appearance of these circles were expressed: from the landing of aliens to the PR action of the city administration.

The city-forming enterprise of Togliatti is AvtoVAZ, because of which the city is often called the "automobile capital of Russia", as well as the "Russian Detroit". Ecologists refer Togliatti to the regions of the third of four possible pollution classes. The main source of pollution is road transport and factories.

In Samara, the childhood and youthful years of the writer Alexei Tolstoy passed, Maxim Gorky began his literary career here, working in Samarskaya Gazeta, I.E. lived in this city. Repin, V.I. Surikov, I.K. Aivazovsky.

Ancient adits in the village of Shiryaevo are considered one of the most mysterious and full of secrets tourist sites in the Samara region, where not only Russian but also foreign tourists seek to get. This is a real underground city with galleries of tunnels, through which a double-decker bus can easily pass. Until now, in the caves you can see traces of narrow-gauge railway sleepers, there are even miraculously surviving pieces of rails. Stones of various sizes come across underfoot, sometimes whole mountains of harvested limestone. Some heaps of such blocks appeared as a result of collapses, therefore, walking through the dungeons, although interesting, is not safe.

Samara has been the capital twice. In 1918, from June to October, it was the capital of the Russian Democratic Federative Republic. The Russian Republic was one of the short-lived "white" states that were created on the territory of the country shortly after the October Revolution. And also, in October 1941, Kuibyshev (as Samara was called in the period from 1935 to 1991) became the reserve capital of the USSR for almost two years. Due to the difficult situation at the front, part of the apparatus of the Central Committee of the Party, a number of people's commissariats, embassies, military and diplomatic missions of 22 states, many industrial enterprises, and the troupe of the Bolshoi Theater were evacuated here. The writer Vasily Grossman called this period of the city's life "a mixture of the state community with evacuation bohemia."

Kuibyshev Square in Samara is the largest square in Europe. It occupies an area of ​​17.4 hectares. There are only four central squares larger than Samara's in territory - in Cairo, Havana, Beijing and Pyongyang.

The Big Irgiz is considered one of the most winding rivers in the world. In some sections, the distance between points along the channel is three or even five times greater than along a straight line.

"Stalin's Bunker" is one of the most interesting and mysterious museums in Samara. It was built specifically for the Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces of the USSR, Joseph Stalin, in case Moscow was occupied by the Nazis during World War II and the capital would have to be moved to Kuibyshev. The bunker is located at a depth of 37 meters. Built in 1942, declassified in 1990. At the moment, the structure is one of the largest bunkers in the world. It maintains a constant microclimate. The air temperature is constant and equals +19°C. The bunker contains Stalin's personal office, which has many false doors and secret exits. According to the Samarans who explore the dungeons, this is not the only bunker in Samara.

Interesting facts about the Penza region

Residents of Penza are called Penzas or Penzyaks, residents of Penza are called Penzas or Penzyaks.

The Penza Circus is the birthplace of the Russian circus, founded by the Nikitin brothers on December 25, 1873. Initially, the Nikitin Brothers built a circus in Penza on the banks of the Sura River, the performances took place on ice. One of the main features of this circus was that only Russian circus performers performed in it.

The Penza Planetarium is the only wooden planetarium in the world, there are no others like it.

In Penza, the parents of V.I. Lenin met and got married: Ulyanov and Blank.

Interesting facts about the Saratov region

In 1903 - 1906, P.A. was the governor of Saratov. Stolypin. At that time it was one of the largest and most revolutionized provinces in Russia. Here Stolypin could show his tough temper and ability to pacify the turmoil. For the suppression of a peasant uprising in the province in 1905, he even received the gratitude of Emperor Nicholas II.

Yuri Gagarin landed on Saratov land after his legendary flight into space. The second person who visited the near-Earth orbit, German Titov, was also met by Saratov region upon his return.

In Saratov, the outstanding geneticist and botanist Nikolai Ivanovich Vavilov tragically ended his life in a prison hospital.

Saratov is an old theater city. The first fortress theater appeared here in 1803. There are currently nine theaters in the city.

In 1901, "platinum water" was discovered in the vicinity of Rtishchev. Since 1907, water has been supplied to the royal court. The water was considered medicinal and had anti-cancer properties. The entire process of bottling and delivering water was classified. After the 1917 revolution, the source was lost.

Throughout its history, the city has repeatedly moved from one place to another. The settlement, founded somewhat higher up the Volga than modern Saratov, completely burned down in the winter of 1613-1614, and the garrison that made up its population went to Samara. In 1617, Saratov was rebuilt again, but already on the left bank of the Volga - at the confluence of the Saratovka River into the Volozhka.

Until 1992, Saratov was a city closed to foreigners, since several large defense industry enterprises worked here.

Saratov became the third city in Russia to start using telephone communications.

In the second half of the 18th century, Empress Catherine II invited residents of European countries to move to Russia and settle on the banks of the Volga. Thousands of residents from European countries responded to the invitation, but most of all from the German states: Gössen, Baden, Saxony, Mainz and others. In 1764 - 1768, after the invitation of the Empress, 106 German colonies were formed in the territories of modern Saratov and Volgograd regions, in which 25,600 people settled. The German colonists turned the settlement into a large point of storage, processing and trade in bread.

Engels is the birthplace of the famous composer Alfred Schnittke. He is the author of music written for more than 60 films.

On August 15, 1670, Stepan Razin entered Saratov with an army, the inhabitants greeted him with bread and salt. From that moment until July 1671, Saratov became one of the centers of the Peasant War on the Lower Volga.

The only Russian Nobel Prize winner in chemistry and the third Russian scientist who was awarded the Nobel Prize, Nikolai Nikolaevich Semyonov, was born and studied in Saratov.

Near the city of Balakovo is the Balakovo Nuclear Power Plant, built in 1977-1985. Today it is the largest electricity producer in Russia. It generates about 30 billion kWh of electricity annually, which is more than any other power plant in the country. Balakovo NPP is a recognized leader in the nuclear power industry in Russia; it has repeatedly been awarded the title of "The Best NPP in Russia".

Interesting facts about the Volgograd region

In the north of the Volgograd region, there is the Medveditskaya ridge, where hills 200 - 380 meters high stretch along the Medveditsa River. The entire territory of the ridge is riddled with underground tunnels. No one knows who and when they were dug. Eyewitnesses say that real miracles happen here: springs with radioactive and distilled water beat, and fireballs burst out of the ground, which fly along the same “routes” every day. And in the sky above the ridge, according to the stories of local residents, luminous objects of a triangular shape often appear. They hover over the entrance to the tunnels, and then move away from north to south.

The Khoper River, which flows through the territory of the Volgograd region, is one of the cleanest in Europe, and, according to UNESCO, the cleanest among the small rivers of Europe. Its age exceeds 10,000 years.

The Tsimlyansk reservoir is called the sea, because its area is huge and is about 3,000 km². The Tsimlyansk reservoir is strongly elongated in length, but its width is also significant and, on average, is 38 km - the opposite bank is not visible or barely visible in many places, and the sky seems to dissolve in the Tsimlyansk waves. The water of the Tsimlyansk reservoir is quite clean, its quality, according to experts, ranges from II to III classes. This fact is especially impressive if we remember that Baikal water has been assigned class II, and Baikal is recognized as the cleanest lake in Russia. In addition, the Tsimlyansk reservoir is the most productive reservoir for catching fish in Russia: bream, blue bream, pike, carp, and silver bream are caught here. In order to maintain this honorary status, in recent decades, active measures have been taken to replenish the fish wealth of the reservoir. Numerous bays of the man-made sea are the most important spawning grounds for valuable fish species listed in the Red Book.

The well-known sculpture “The Motherland is Calling!”, which rises on Mamaev Kurgan, is included in the Guinness Book of Records as the largest statue in the world. Its height reaches 52 meters, and the length of the sword that the Motherland holds is 29 meters, the total height is 85 meters. Its construction lasted 8 years. In its design, there are direct analogies with the battle. The number of steps from the foot to the upper platform is 200, the Battle of Stalingrad continued for the same number of days. The silhouette of the monumental Motherland is taken as the basis for images on the emblem and flag of the Volgograd region. For comparison, other world-famous giant statues: the Statue of Liberty (New York, USA ) is 46 meters high, and the statue of Christ the Redeemer (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil ) - 38 meters.

The Tsimlyansk hydroelectric power station, together with the builders, was erected by prisoners of the Gulag (Tsimlyansk labor camp).

The Tsimlyansk reservoir poses a serious danger to residents of coastal areas.
Strong winds, rearing the waters of the artificial sea, fall on the shore and flood thousands of hectares of land. The waters of the artificial sea flooded many villages, including the village of Tsimlyanskaya, which gave the reservoir its name. The rise in the water level leads to a gradual erosion of the coast, and strong northerly winds also contribute to this. During the year, the reservoir captures up to 12 meters of land. To protect the coast, measures are being taken to strengthen them.

The pride of the natural park, which is located on the banks of the Tsimlyansk reservoir, are the herds of mustangs that have found shelter and well-fed food in these protected areas.

Volgograd has the largest length among the cities of Russia. It is located along the Volga at a length of 100 km. Sometimes residents from one end of the city never visit the other end of Volgograd in their entire lives.

In the Krasnoarmeisky district of Volgograd, at the entrance to the Volga-Don shipping canal, a giant monument to the leader of the October Revolution, V. I. Lenin, was erected; its height is as much as 27 meters, plus the height of the pedestal is 30 meters. So this Ilyich waved 57 meters! The monument is listed in the Guinness Book of Records as the world's largest monument erected to a real person.

E.Ya. was born in Uryupinsk. Dzhugashvili, grandson of I.V. Stalin. Also, the city is the birthplace of oil geologist D.V. Golubyatnikov.

Uryupinsk is famous for the unique breed of the Lon silver goat. Its durable fluff up to 10 cm long has a shade of gray with a blue steel tint. Outwardly, Uryupin shawls and shawls look like fur sable capes. Scarves made of straight fleece are especially valued.

The Volgograd metro has its own peculiarity. In the 70s, the construction of the metro became a necessity, but according to the status, Volgograd was not a “millionaire” city, which means that the status of the metro was not supposed. The city government gave the order to dig 3 underground stations and launched a “high-speed tram” through them under the busiest transport network, and the tram ran on ordinary rails, both above ground and underground. It is still called "metrotram".

Mamaev Kurgan is a mass grave of the defenders of the city who fell in battle. 11,000 Soviet soldiers and commanders are buried here. After the end of the Great Patriotic War, more than 1,000 fragments of shells and mines were found on every square meter of land on Mamayev Kurgan. For more than 10 years after the war, even grass did not grow on the mound.

The Volgograd Reservoir is the longest of all artificial seas on the Volga; it stretches for more than half a thousand kilometers from Saratov to Volgograd. This is a great place for fishing. Bream, pike perch, carp and fish coming from the Caspian are found here.

One of the largest fish elevators in Russia is operated in the dam of the Volga hydroelectric power station, that is, a special gateway, as it were, a fish elevator that lifts at certain intervals the “passengers” accumulated in it - valuable species of fish from the Caspian Sea, which in the spring tend up the Volga and its tributaries to their traditional spawning grounds.

Streets with the name "Stalingrad" exist in many cities of the world. There is also a metro station "Stalingrad" in Paris.

To this day, in Volgograd, the military and volunteers discover several dozen unexploded bombs and hundreds of shells that have survived in the city and its environs from the time of fierce battles with the German invaders. Such is the heavy legacy of the legendary Battle of Stalingrad.

Water exchange in the Volgograd reservoir occurs 4 to 10 times a year.

In 2003, the city of Volzhsky was declared the winner in one of the nominations of the competition "The most comfortable city in Russia."

In Volzhsky, there is a double numbering of houses and repeating street names in different microdistricts. And on Pushkin Street there is a single house with double numbering of apartments.

The Second Longitudinal Highway (or simply known to the townspeople as the Second Longitudinal) is recognized as the longest street in Russia. Its total length is more than 50 km! However, for convenience, this giant highway was divided into 16 streets and avenues, which received various names.

Many of our compatriots are in a hurry to go to Israel to see the famous Dead Sea, not even suspecting that its analogue is located on the territory of Russia. Lake Elton is the largest salt lake in Europe, with its healing properties surpassing the waters of the Dead Sea and Essentuki. It can rightly be called one of the wonders of Russia.

Lake Elton is an elite balneological resort. The bottom sediments of the lake are represented by layers of salt, alternating with deposits of clay, silt and mud. This mud is highly radioactive. It contains impurities of iodine, iron salts, hydrogen sulfide, hydrocarbons, carbon dioxide and amine bases. The mud of Lake Elton has therapeutic and cosmetic properties. It has a complex effect on the functions and systems of the body. Salts with water make up a saturated saline solution, called brine, containing elements of bromine, sodium, magnesium and other macro- and microelements. The mineralization of brine ranges from 200 (spring and autumn) to 400 (summer) g/l.

Pelotherapy (mud therapy), in addition to thermal effects, has a chemical effect on the body, irritating the thermo- and chemoreceptors embedded in the skin. As a result of the penetration of certain chemicals through the skin, mud enhances the blood supply to the skin, enhances metabolism, regenerative and reparative processes, and has an analgesic, resolving and relaxing effect.

Many are convinced that the Dead Sea mud is the best on earth in terms of quality and effectiveness.
However, having studied the healing properties of Lake Elton, Russian scientists came to the conclusion that its mud and brine significantly exceed all analogues in terms of the content of iron sulfides, water-soluble salts, bischofite, boric acid, humic acids and their salts, lipids, various vitamins, minerals, enzymes and hormones. The air of Prieltonye also has healing qualities. Its ionization concentration is much higher than in most flat forest resorts in Russia.

Not far from the lake is the sanatorium "Elton", which offers various types of medical services. Here you can take mud baths and swim in the salty waters of the lake. The sanatorium receives 260 patients per visit. And in half a year, up to 2,000 people are cured on the shores of the lake. There is a legend that once, at the sanatorium, there was a museum of "Abandoned crutches". Allegedly, people who came there on crutches, after a month or two, they no longer needed them and left them in a sanatorium. Soon, so many crutches accumulated that it was decided to liquidate the museum. One of the inhabitants of the village made a fence for his garden out of these crutches.

Even in ancient times, people noticed the healing properties of Lake Elton. The first therapeutic baths were dug in the coastal layers of soil, where the patient lay down and covered himself with mud. After an hour, he plunged into the lake. After several such procedures, the disease receded.

Lake Elton is called by the Tatars and Kalmyks Altan-Nor (which translates as "gold mine") - from the purple-red color of its water. The Polovtsian khans considered the lake sacred and worshiped it, and the Cossacks believed that at sunset the heavenly lord descends into the waters of Elton and prolongs the life of all bathers. And they were partly right, because the waters of the lake really have an extraordinary healing power.

The Volga is the fifth longest river in Russia and the largest river in Europe. This is the most important and most Russian river. It connects Central Russia with the Volga region, the Urals and the Caspian. The Volga basin is extremely diverse in terms of physical and geographical conditions: taiga and mixed forests in the north, forest-steppe and steppe in the center, semi-desert and desert in the south. The Volga is connected to the Baltic Sea by the Volga-Baltic waterway; with the White Sea - the White Sea-Baltic Canal; through the Volga-Don Canal - with the Azov and Black Seas. Bread, timber, machine tools, oil, salt are the main types of transportation on the Volga.

Every second near Volgograd, the Volga carries 8,130 m³ of water. Below Volgograd, the flow of water in the river decreases, since it does not receive tributaries in the semi-desert and desert, it loses a lot of water to evaporation.

During the spring flood, the amplitude of the water level fluctuation in the Volga reached 17 meters (at the mouth of the Kama). With the construction of the Kuibyshev reservoir, the flow of the Volga began to be regulated, and fluctuations in the water level decreased.

The Panama Canal (81 km long) took 34 years to build, the Suez Canal (161 km long) took 11 years, and the Volga-Don Canal (101 km long) took 4.5 years.

During the construction of the Volga-Don Canal, 150 million m³ of earth was excavated, 3 million m³ of concrete was poured, 14,000 tons of metal structures were assembled, and 8,000 machines and mechanisms were used. In 1950, a group of engineers received the Stalin Prize for the development of the project for the construction of the Volga-Don Canal.

If you start moving along the Volga-Don Canal from Volgograd, then the ships must first go up 88 meters along the Volga lock stairs, then go down 44 meters along the Don lock stairs. For the whole journey, you will have to go through 13 locks: 9 on the Volga slope and 4 on the Don.

The architecture of the structure of the Volga-Don Canal is curious. So, the entrance lock of the navigable canal from the side of the Volga (lock No. 1) is decorated with an arch, 40 meters high (the height of a 16-storey building). Next to lock No. 10 there are monuments to the heroes of the civil war A. Parkhomenko, N. Rudnev and F. Sergeev (Artyom). The control towers of one of the locks in the Don region are decorated with equestrian statues of Red Army soldiers with swords drawn. At lock No. 13 there is a monument "Connection of Fronts" by sculptor E. Vuchetich. He recalls that in November 1942, the Nazi troops were surrounded here by the troops of the Stalingrad and Southwestern fronts.

Interesting facts about Kalmykia

Many generations of Kalmyks were deprived of the possibility of traditional religion. Only in 1988, the first Buddhist community was formed in Elista, although interest in the Buddhist religion and philosophy was practically lost. It took time to revive the cultural traditions of the ancestors. In Elista, in 1995, a branch of the Karmapa International Buddhist Institute (New Delhi, India ).

The Kalmyk language belongs to the Mongolian group of the Altaic language family. The Kalmyk alphabet was created in the middle of the 17th century on an old Mongolian graphic basis. In 1925, a new alphabet based on Russian graphics was adopted. The Kalmyk language is included in the list of endangered languages ​​by UNESCO.

In Kalmyk, the name of the Republic of Kalmykia sounds like Halmg Tangch: halmg - separated, and tangch - people, nation, region.

The greatest monument of the ancient culture of the Kalmyks - the heroic epic "Dzhangar", containing several tens of thousands of verses, is performed by dzhangarchi storytellers.

The Great Silk Road once ran across Kalmykia.

Kalmykia is the most treeless region of Russia.

Believing Kalmyks profess Lamaism, which is an offshoot of Buddhism, some Kalmyks are Orthodox.

The Kalmyk family has always had many children, in the past each couple had at least 10 children, but they often got sick, and only 3-4 children survived. Adult children lived with their families, separately from their parents. The marriage was concluded by agreement of the parents, and the daughter was extradited outside of her khoton. The Kalmyks did not have a kalym, but the gifts were often very generous.

The main drink of the Kalmyks was a kind of jomba tea: it was prepared from milk and butter, salted, seasoned with nutmeg and bay leaf. Such a drink quenched thirst on hot days and warmed in the cold.

The patron saint of saigas among the Kalmyks is the White Elder, the Buddhist deity of fertility and longevity.
And the Kalmyks were forbidden to shoot at the saigas during the hunt, which were huddled together: it was believed that at this time they were milked by the White Starets himself.

The Golden Horde built cities and mounds here - until now, the remains of the second capital of the ancient empire, Saray-Berke, have been preserved.

In ancient times, the Kalmyks baked carcasses of animals in a huge earthen pit, into which air was blocked, it was covered with earth in a special way. This dish was prepared all day long.

The ancestors of the Kalmyks are the Oirats, who came to the Caspian steppes at the end of the 16th and beginning of the 17th centuries. Until that time, the Oirats were in close contact with the Turkic and Tungus-Manchurian tribes, which had an impact on the emerging culture. According to one of the hypotheses, the Oirats separated from the Mongol tribes, they did not accept Islam, for which they were called Kalmaks by the Turkic peoples, which meant “breakaways”, “remnant”.

The largest Buddhist temple in Europe functions in Kalmykia. The temple was opened in 2005.

Kalmyks have all the features of the Central Asian anthropological type of the Mongoloid race: short stature, outlined cheekbones, Mongolian eyes, swarthy skin, black straight hair. There are other features characteristic of nomadic peoples in the past: keen hearing and excellent eyesight, endurance, the ability to endure both summer heat and icy winds.

It is in Kalmykia that the Great Historical Crossroads, the geographical center of Eurasia, is located.

December 28, 1943 is a tragic date in the history of the Kalmyk people. On this day, a decision was made to forcibly deport Kalmyks to the regions of the Far North, Siberia and Kazakhstan . The Kalmyks were declared a people who helped the invaders. The Kalmyk ASSR was liquidated and restored only in 1957. After the eviction of the Kalmyks, Elista was renamed the city of Stepnoy and was called that until the return of the Kalmyk people.

Elista is considered the "chess capital of Russia". Here they built a town for chess players from all over the world. Even in all schools of the republic, chess has been introduced as a subject of instruction.

In 1991 His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama visited Elista.

The Kalmyk steppes, through which the chain of Sarpinsky lakes stretches, turn into a real desert in a dry summer. The temperature in July reaches +45°C in the shade (!), hot dry winds blow. But, when the sun disappears behind the horizon line, a rather cold night sets in. In the long autumn, lakes are often covered with a veil of fog, and rains turn dust into impenetrable clay. In winter, real frost can hit down to -25 ° C, but the salt content in the water of the lakes does not allow them to freeze.

When the lake dries up, the fish burrow deep into the silt and fall into a state similar to suspended animation. There are cases when, when digging a well at the bottom of a dried-up lake, under a crust of solid silt, sleepy tenches and crucian carp were found at a depth of 2-3 meters. Fish can be in a state of suspended animation for a long time - from 1 year to several years, but for this it is necessary that the sludge in the depths be liquid.

The Black Earth reserve is home to the bustard, one of the largest (by weight - up to 15 kg) flying birds in Russia. And the symbol of the reserve is the saiga antelope, one of the few antelopes in Russia.

Interesting facts about the Astrakhan region

The famous campaign of Stepan Razin up the Volga began with the capture of Astrakhan. Arriving in 1670 with an army after a campaign in Persia, the Cossack chieftain besieged the city and took it by cunning - while in one place an assault was imitated by drumming and noise, in another - the main part of the army calmly entered the city.

The main industry of the Astrakhan region is fuel. Here is the Astrakhan gas condensate field, the largest in the European part of Russia.

In the souvenir shops of Astrakhan you can buy fish skin products.

The Astrakhan region, by right, is considered a "bird talker". More than 260 species of birds live here, many of which are listed in the Red Book. Including the majestic white-tailed eagle, graceful pink flamingo and "Caspian hummingbird" rezun.

The pearl of the Astrakhan region is the lotus. It has been known in the Volga delta for more than 200 years, it is called the Caspian rose. From mid-July to September, these outlandish flowers, intoxicating with their beauty and aroma, bloom, attracting hundreds and thousands of tourists. For Kalmyks who practice Buddhism, the lotus is a sacred flower.

The Astrakhan Kremlin is one of the seven Russian cities that have retained their fortress walls.

On the territory of the Astrakhan region, wild hemp grows well and is fought against every year.

It was from the territory of the Astrakhan region that on July 22, 1951, for the first time in the history of the earth, two earthlings flew into space into the upper atmosphere - the dogs Dezik and Gypsy. The rocket rose to a height of about 101 km, reaching the Karman line (the conditional boundary of the Earth's atmosphere and space). The flight lasted about 20 minutes, the container with the dogs landed safely a few kilometers from the launch pad.

The Volga-Akhtuba floodplain is one of the largest river valleys in the world and the only section of the Volga that has retained its natural structure. The floodplain is covered with 40-meter alluvial deposits. In terms of the scale of the alluvial process, it can be compared with the floodplain of the Nile and the Amazon.

Covered with a frequent network of channels and branches of various lengths and widths, the Volga-Akhtuba floodplain during spring floods is almost completely flooded with water. The water spill can reach 20 - 30 meters. At this time, large flocks of fish from the Caspian Sea and from the lower reaches of the Volga enter the flooded meadows and channels for spawning. In rapidly warming shallow water, juvenile fish develop well. Once, in this area, received about 80% of the world's sturgeon and delicacy fish. Today, the situation, unfortunately, has changed - rivers no longer give such a catch. After the descent of the water, a layer of very fertile silty deposits remains on the floodplain. Local residents have adapted to grow the famous Astrakhan watermelons, rice and tomatoes on these soils.

Bactrian camels are bred in the Astrakhan region. They reach up to 1.5 tons in weight and are the largest camels on Earth. In October, an agricultural exhibition is held where camel races are held. Most of the camels in Russia are grown in the Astrakhan region.

At the beginning of the 20th century, beluga whales weighed over a ton and lived in the Lower Volga; female caviar accounted for up to 15% of the total body weight. Such specimens can now only be seen in local history museums.

During the reign of Peter I, the Wedding Riot took place in Astrakhan, when 100 weddings were played in one day. The reason was a rumor about the forced extradition of girls for foreigners.

Astrakhan is located at a mark of minus 25 meters from the level of the World Ocean.

Filming of such famous films as "My friend Ivan Lapshin", "It can't be", "We'll live until Monday" took place in Astrakhan.

A little over 100 pairs of white-tailed eagles nest throughout Russia, and only in the Volga-Akhtuba floodplain are 24 known nesting nests of these giant birds.

Lake Baskunchak is the largest deposit of self-planting salt. Baskunchak salt makes up 80% of all Russian salt and is considered one of the best in the world.

Many people associate Astrakhan with black caviar, but now you can officially buy it, practically, at the same prices as in Moscow. True, they sell mainly caviar from Dagestan and Kalmykia, obtained from fish illegally caught in the Caspian Sea. The highest quality caviar is mature, it looks light and very large. It is extracted from fish that has already come to spawn in the river, which is why the best caviar is Astrakhan.The most valuable caviar is beluga caviar, then sturgeon, then stellate sturgeon, they differ in color and size.

Practically, all the leaders of the USSR and the Russian Federation were avid hunters and fishermen, therefore, they often spent their holidays in the Volga Delta. Dmitry Medvedev and Vladimir Putin were also here.

Lake Baskunchak became the "author" of a curious cartographic incident - a lake is drawn on all maps of the region, and a railway line runs right through the water. In fact, the tracks lie on a small embankment, and if there were no embankment, then the trains would probably go quietly and on salt - that's how hard most of the lake's surface is. Baskunchak contains not even water, but brine (a saturated aqueous solution of salt), which appears mainly in winter and spring. The level of brine varies depending on climatic conditions and is 0.1 - 0.8 meters. The thickness of the surface of the salt deposit in the lake is 10 - 18 meters in the center and 1 - 4 meters near the shores.

Astrakhan is located on 11 islands. There are over 50 bridges in the city.

In Lake Baskunchak you can and should (extremely good for the skin) swim without fear of drowning. Only after water procedures it is necessary to plunge into fresh water.

In the Astrakhan region, the American prickly pear cactus grows in the wild.

The uniqueness of the Baskunchak salt deposit lies in the fact that, due to natural features, it is able to restore lost reserves over the years due to numerous springs flowing into Baskunchak along its northwestern coast. It was this quality of it that, at one time, gave rise to the myth of the inexhaustibility of the lake and the infinity of its reserves. During the day, more than 2,500 tons of salts enter the lake, and more than 930,000 tons per year. In addition to this salt, which is continuously introduced into Baskunchak Lake by springs, a huge amount of salt has accumulated in the basin itself over the past geological times, the thickness of which is 20–50 meters, and deposits of rock salt have been found in the bowels of the earth at the site of the lake, going to a depth of 10 km ( !).

Big Bogdo is the most revered mountain of Buddhists. According to legend, three Buddhist monks carried this mountain through the air by force of will. Seeing the beautiful girl, they lost their temper and dropped the mountain, but could not lift it again. Scientists still cannot unravel the mystery of the origin of the mountain, arguing that according to all scientific calculations, Bogdo should not exist.

Astrakhan standard time is 1 hour ahead of Moscow, although in reality it is only 42 minutes ahead.

In the Volga delta, the water is very clear, reeds growing in abundance here act like a giant filter. You can see how the fish swims in the water, this is especially striking in comparison with the water upstream, when putting your hand into the water you do not see your own palm.

For almost 200 years, the only tools used by the salt workers were a shovel and a pood pick (special iron scrap). Standing almost to the waist in brine corroding the skin, the workers manually loosened the salt layer with a heavy pick and loaded the salt into carts drawn by camels. Thus, the supply of over 10 million poods of the purest Baskunchak salt to the Russian market was provided by the hard labor of almost 40,000 hired workers. With the advent of Soviet power, the active introduction of mechanization began. By 1934, 3 salt pumps were already working on the lake. In 1972, a new salt factory was put into operation, with a capacity of 800,000 tons of salt per year, producing ground, packaged and briquetted salt.

Astrakhan is known as one of the largest centers of the fishing industry. The Caspian Research Institute of Fisheries and Oceanography operates here.

Astrakhan watermelons brought all-Union glory to the region, but it must be borne in mind that they mean varieties bred by local plant breeders, unfortunately, now they are being replaced by foreign varieties that are more productive, although inferior in taste. Previously, watermelons were not only eaten fresh, but also salted. Local scientists were able to cross a watermelon with a melon, resulting in "moon watermelons" - with yellowish flesh and a pleasant taste.

Several centuries ago, the Khvalynsk Sea approached the Astrakhan region several tens of kilometers closer, and the Volga passed much closer to the Astrakhan Kremlin.

Over the past century, the land area in the Volga delta has increased 10 times.

5,000 hectares of the territory of the Astrakhan Reserve are occupied by thickets of the walnut lotus. Its rhizomes and fruits are the favorite food of geese and swans. Perhaps it was these birds that brought the lotus seeds to the Volga delta during their flights.

Rice is grown in Astrakhan and quite tasty.

Of the birds listed in the Red Book, in the Astrakhan Reserve you can see the curly pelican, the Egyptian heron, the little cormorant.

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

Once the Volga region was part of the Volga Bulgaria, the Polovtsian Steppe, the Golden Horde and Russia.

The following areas 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 boundary between the middle and lower Volga is usually considered the Zhigulevskaya hydroelectric power station above Samara.

Volga ethnonym: Volzhans.

The relief is flat, dominated by lowlands and hilly plains. The climate is temperate continental and continental. Summer is warm, with average monthly air temperature in July +22° - +25°С; winter is quite cold, the average monthly air temperature in January and February is ?10° - ?15°C. The average annual rainfall in the north is 500-600 mm, in the south 200-300 mm. Natural zones: mixed forest (Tatarstan), forest-steppe (Tatarstan (partial), 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 dry winds in 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 of the 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 population of Russia). The basis of the population are the townspeople. For example, in the Samara region, this figure is more than 80%, which is generally slightly higher than the national figure (about 73%).

Volga-Vyatka economic region

Located on the middle Volga. The territory of the district is stretched from the southwest to the 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 area 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, the population is very uneven. The majority of the population is Russian, in addition, Mari, Erzya, Chuvash, Tatars, 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.

Povo? Lzhsky economic region is one of 11 economic regions of the Russian Federation, consists of 8 federal subjects:

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

Located on the lower Volga. The area of ​​the territory 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%. The Volga economic region includes 94 cities, 3 million-plus cities (Samara, Kazan, Volgograd), 12 subjects of the federation. 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 Black Earth region and the North Caucasus. The economic axis is the Volga River.

The main branches of specialization: oil and gas production, oil and petrochemical industry, mechanical engineering (especially the automotive industry).

In agriculture: oilseeds, cereals and vegetables and gourds. Animal husbandry (meat and dairy cattle breeding, sheep breeding, pig breeding).

A feature of the geographical position of the region is its length along the Volga for almost 1500 km, which affects the economic activity, location and functions of settlements at all stages of development. The center of the economic region is located in the city of Samara. The Volga economic region is also 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 Nizhnevolzhskaya industrial zone of the Povolzhsky economic region is located in the city of Volgograd.

Adjacent to the middle and lower reaches of the Volga and economically gravitating towards it. Within the Volga region, a relatively elevated right bank with the Volga Upland and a left bank stand out - the so-called. Zavolzhye. In natural terms, the regions located in the upper reaches of the Volga are sometimes also referred to the Volga region.

Once the Volga region was part of the Volga Bulgaria, the Polovtsian Steppe, the Golden Horde and Russia.

The following areas 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 southern edge of Samarskaya Luka [ ]) - Chuvashia, Republic of Mari El, Tatarstan, Ulyanovsk and Samara regions;
• Lower Volga (from the confluence of the Kama [ ] to the Caspian Sea)- the Republic of Tatarstan, Ulyanovsk, Samara, Saratov, Volgograd regions, the Republic of Kalmykia and Astrakhan region.

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

The relief is flat, dominated by lowlands and hilly plains. The climate is temperate continental and continental. Summer is warm, with average monthly air temperature in July +22° - +25°С; winter is quite cold, the average monthly air temperature in January and February is −10° - −15°С. The average annual rainfall 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) and Volgograd regions), semi-deserts (Kalmykia, Astrakhan region). The southern part of the territory is characterized by dust storms and dry winds in the warm half of the year (from April to October).

Volga Federal District

It includes the regions of the Middle Volga region, a number of regions of Central Russia (Mordovia, Penza region) and the Urals (Perm Territory, Bashkortostan). Center - Nizhny Novgorod. The territory of the district is 6.08% of the territory of the 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 population of Russia). The basis of the population are the townspeople. For example, in the Samara region, this figure is more than 80%, which is generally slightly higher than the national figure (about 73%).

Volga-Vyatka economic region

Association of cities of the Volga region

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, took place 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 the life of a qualitatively new structure of interaction between municipalities - the Association of the cities of the Volga region (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, Tolyatti, Arzamas, Balakovo, Dimitrovgrad, Novokuibyshevsk, Novocheboksarsk, Sarapul, Sterlitamak and Syzran. More than thirteen million people live in the cities of the Association.

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Notes

An excerpt characterizing the Volga region

- You will be forced to dance, as you danced under Suvorov (on vous fera danser [you will be forced to dance]), - said Dolokhov.
- Qu "est ce qu" il chante? [What is he singing there?] - said one Frenchman.
- De l "histoire ancienne, [Ancient history,] - said another, guessing that it was about previous wars. - L" Empereur va lui faire voir a votre Souvara, comme aux autres ... [The Emperor will show your Suvar, as well as others …]
“Bonaparte…” began Dolokhov, but the Frenchman interrupted him.
- No Bonaparte. There is an emperor! Sacre nom… [Damn it…] he shouted angrily.
“Damn him to your emperor!”
And Dolokhov cursed in Russian, rudely, like a soldier, and, throwing up his gun, walked away.
"Let's go, Ivan Lukich," he said to the company commander.
“That’s how it is in the guardian style,” the soldiers in the chain began to speak. - Come on, Sidorov!
Sidorov winked and, turning to the French, began to babble incomprehensible words often, often:
“Kari, mala, tafa, safi, muder, kaska,” he muttered, trying to give expressive intonations to his voice.
- Go Go go! ha ha, ha, ha! Wow! Wow! - there was a roar of such healthy and cheerful laughter between the soldiers, involuntarily communicated to the French through the chain, that after that it seemed necessary to unload their guns, blow up the charges and disperse as soon as possible to everyone's homes.
But the guns remained loaded, the loopholes in the houses and fortifications looked forward just as menacingly, and just as before, the cannons turned against each other, removed from the limbers.

Having traveled the entire line of troops from the right to the left flank, Prince Andrei climbed the battery from which, according to the officer's headquarters, the entire field was visible. Here he got off his horse and stopped at the last of the four guns removed from the limbers. A sentry gunner walked ahead of the guns, stretched out in front of the officer, but at the sign made to him resumed his even, boring walk. Behind the guns were the limbers, still behind the hitching post and fires of the artillerymen. To the left, not far from the last gun, was a new wicker hut, from which animated officer voices were heard.
Indeed, from the battery, a view of almost the entire disposition of Russian troops and most of the enemy was opened. Directly opposite the battery, on the horizon of the opposite hillock, the village of Shengraben could be seen; to the left and to the right one could distinguish in three places, among the smoke of their fires, masses of French troops, of which, obviously, most of them were in the village itself and behind the mountain. To the left of the village, in the smoke, it seemed that something like a battery, but with a simple eye it was impossible to see it well. Our right flank was located on a rather steep hill, which dominated the position of the French. Our infantry was stationed along it, and dragoons were visible at the very edge. In the center, where Tushin's battery was located, from which Prince Andrei examined the position, there was the most gentle and direct descent and ascent to the stream that separated us from Shengraben. To the left, our troops adjoined the forest, where the fires of our infantry chopping firewood smoked. The French line was wider than ours, and it was clear that the French could easily outflank us on both sides. Behind our position was a steep and deep ravine, along which it was difficult for artillery and cavalry to retreat. Prince Andrei, leaning on the cannon and taking out his wallet, drew for himself a plan for the disposition of the troops. In two places he made notes with a pencil, intending to communicate them to Bagration. He intended, firstly, to concentrate all the artillery in the center and, secondly, to transfer the cavalry back to the other side of the ravine. Prince Andrei, constantly being with the commander-in-chief, following the movements of the masses and general orders, and constantly engaged in historical descriptions of battles, in this upcoming business involuntarily thought about the future course of hostilities only in general terms. He imagined only the following kind of major accidents: “If the enemy leads an attack on the right flank,” he said to himself, “the Kyiv grenadier and Podolsky chasseurs will have to hold their position until the reserves of the center approach them. In this case, the dragoons can hit the flank and knock them over. In the event of an attack on the center, we set up the central battery on this hill and, under its cover, pull together the left flank and retreat to the ravine in echelons, ”he reasoned to himself ...
All the time that he was on the battery at the gun, he, as often happens, without ceasing, heard the sounds of the voices of the officers speaking in the booth, but did not understand a single word of what they said. Suddenly the sound of voices from the booth struck him with such an intimate tone that he involuntarily began to listen.
“No, my dear,” said a pleasant and seemingly familiar voice to Prince Andrei, “I say that if it were possible to know what would happen after death, then none of us would be afraid of death. So, dove.
Another, younger voice interrupted him:
“Yes, be afraid, don’t be afraid, it doesn’t matter, you won’t pass it.”
- You're still afraid! Eh, you learned people,” said a third courageous voice, interrupting both of them. - Then you, artillerymen, are very learned because you can bring everything with you, both vodka and snacks.
And the owner of the manly voice, apparently an infantry officer, laughed.
“But you’re still afraid,” continued the first familiar voice. You're afraid of the unknown, that's what. No matter how you say that the soul will go to heaven... after all, we know that there is no sky, but there is only one sphere.
Again the courageous voice interrupted the gunner.
“Well, treat yourself to your herbalist, Tushin,” he said.
“Ah, this is the same captain who stood at the sutler without boots,” thought Prince Andrei, recognizing with pleasure the pleasant philosophizing voice.
“You can get a herbalist,” said Tushin, “but still comprehend the future life ...
He did not agree. At this time, a whistle was heard in the air; closer, closer, faster and more audible, more audible and faster, and the core, as if not having finished everything that was needed, exploding spray with inhuman force, plopped into the ground not far from the booth. The earth seemed to gasp from a terrible blow.