Ulyanovsk is situated in the central part of European Russia on the bank of the Volga River. It is the administrative and industrial center of the Ulyanovsk Region.
This city was founded in 1648 as a fortress to defend Russia's southern border and was originally known as Simbirsk. In 1924 the city was renamed Ulyanovsk in honor of Vladimir Ulyanov, better known as Lenin, who was born in Simbirsk in 1870.
