ULIANOVSK, a province of the Russian S.F.S.R. lying west of the Volga river, with the Chuvash A.S.S.R. and the Tatar A.S.S.R. to the north, the provinces of Nizhegorod and Penza to the west, and Samara to the east. Area 34,986 sq. kilometres. Pop. (1926) 1,381,300. It occupies part of the former Simbirsk province. The south-east is occupied by the mid-Russian plateau, of which a part, known as the Zhegulev hills thrusts out a tongue which compels the Volga to make its great Samara bend. The Svyaga rises in the Samarskaya Luka hills and flows parallel to the Volga, but in an opposite direction, at a distance of 2 to 20 miles. The Sura, flowing north, drains the west of the province and forms a navigable waterway. The geological formations include post-Pliocene upper layers containing mammoth bones.
There are extensive beds of bituminous shale with a high calorific value on the Volga-Svyaga watershed ; and in 1919 work was begun at the Kashpir shale mine south of Syzran, and the shale is sent to Samara for fuel for electric plant. By-products are used in the manufacture of sulphur, ichthyol, shale-tar, fireproof ma terials, etc. Asphalt is worked at Syzran. Salt, ochre, iron-ore and various building stones are produced in small quantities. There are patches of forest, hut local demand for fuel, building and household purposes exceeds supply by more than 70% and the timber used in the province is mainly imported. The soils vary from rich black earth to grass-covered alkaline sands, and there is much water meadow along the rivers. The climate is continental, ranging between extremes of —47° F and +115° F, winter lasts for five months, and the rainfall is about 17.6 in. per annum. Spring rains sometimes fail and cause severe famines, as in 1911 and 1921. Destructive hailstorms often occur in June and July.
Agriculture is the main occupation and 83.9% of useful land is cultivated, though mainly on a three-field system, with primitive implements. Maize cultivation is increasing and efforts are made
to spread its use among the peasants for food and cattle fodder. Winter rye and oats are the chief crops. Wheat, lentils, sunflower seed, potatoes, cabbages, onions and melons are also grown, and there is some cultivation of flax and hemp. Stock raising dimin ished disastrously after 1921, but sheep, goats and pigs have almost reached their normal level. Of factory industries the mak ing of woollen goods, flour-milling, distilling and brewing are the chief, and there are some saw-milling, brick-making, nail and leather factories. Koustar or peasant industries include the making of tombstones, saddlery, nets, purses and violins and guitars. They diminished markedly after the famine.
There are only two towns with populations of more than 20,000, Ulianovsk and Syzran (q.v.). The literacy rate is very low, 26.8% for the whole province and 17.8% among women. The district was originally peopled by Finnish tribes; Russian colonization began on the west of the Sura in the 14th century and reached the east two centuries later, lines of forts being established to protect the settlers; Ulianovsk (Simbirsk) was thus erected in 1648. Communications are mainly by river; the railway system is poor.
Ulianovsk (formerly Simbirsk), the chief town of the province, lies on a hill 56o ft. above the Volga at a point where the Svyaga closely approaches it, in 54° 23' N., 48° 25' E. Pop. (1933) 73,700. Its suburbs extend to the Svyaga and to the Volga. Sub urbs on the left bank of the Volga are cut offafrom communication during the spring and autumn, but are reached by boat in summer and sleigh in winter. The town has a brisk river trade and has saw-mills, flour-mills, breweries, distilleries and brick-yards. It has railway communication across the Volga and with the west. The historian Karamzin was born here in 1766. Ulianovsk was the scene of much fighting during the Civil War of 1917-1920.