ASTRAKHAN. (I) A province in the Russian Republic (U.S.S.R.) consisting of a narrow strip on either side of the Volga river from about lat. 48° 2' N. to the Caspian sea. Area 27,984 sq.km. Pop. (5926) 516,706; urban 153,134; rural 363,572. The Akhtuba river runs parallel with the Volga river and the area lying along their courses consists of chains of lagoons, with dark ish, alluvial, damp soil, in places impregnated with salt, and in the south-east are shifting sand hills and sand dunes. In the ravines and adjoining the lagoons are belts suitable for plough culture and in some years considerable crops are raised, but the rainfall is unreliable and the province is one of frequent famine, the 1921 famine being of unprecedented severity. Near the Volga is a flowery oasis, with melon and other vegetables, but the rest of the area is steppe-desert in type, blossoming in spring, but a monot onous yellow grey waste in summer. At Astrakhan the average rainfall is only 5.9in. per annum; average temperatures, January 59.0°F, July 77.9°F. The population consists of Russians, Tatars, Kalmucks and Kirghiz and the chief occupation is fishing (herring, sturgeon, perch, carp, salmon) , which employed 250,000 men be fore the war. There are indications of a conflict of interests be tween the need of the agriculturists for irrigation and of the fisheries for a quiet breeding place for fish. Home industries are leather, furriery, linen and cotton hosiery. Salt is obtained from the lakes in the north and in some places the vine is cultivated.
(2) A town, administrative centre for the area and for the Kalmuck autonomous area, situated on the left bank of the Volga river at the head of the delta. Lat. 46°22' N. Long. 48°6' E. Alt. 5oft. below sea-level, frozen 3-4 months. Its Caspian trade is hampered by the need for dredging the Volga delta and by the unsatisfactory state of the dry cargo fleet, though oil transport is adequate. Its chief exports are fish, caviare, water melons and wine from its own area, grain, salt, metal, cotton and woollen goods from the interior, along with timber floated down the river from the north in spring. It is an entrepot for naphtha and kero sene from Baku, cotton and dried fruits from Turkestan, ri,.e, fruit and carpets from Persia and timber from the Caucasus. The skin of the new-born Persian lamb "astrakhan" is named from the city. Tanning, shipbuilding, brewing and small manufactures, e.g., soap and tar products are carried on. The city is divided into three parts. (I) the Kreml or fortress (155o) on a hill, with a brick cathedral, an archbishop's palace and a monastery, (2) the White Town, with administrative offices and bazaars, (3) suburbs with wooden houses and irregular unpaved streets. The Greek Catholics, the Armenian Church and the Lamaists all had centres here. In 1919 a university was founded and there are technical schools, museums, wide squares and public gardens.
Formerly the city was the capital of a Tatar State and stood 7m. to the north but it was destroyed by Timur in 1395 and the present city built. Ivan IV. expelled the Tatars in 1556, the Turks besieged it in 1569 and Stenka Razin captured it in 167o. Peter the Great made it the centre for his campaign against Persia and Catherine II. gave it special trading privileges. In the 18th cen tury it was plundered by the Persians. It has been several times almost destroyed by fire, and was decimated by cholera (1830) and by famine (1921).