Saratov Region

Saratov Oblast is a federal subject of Russia (an oblast), located in the Volga Federal District. Its administrative center is the city of Saratov. As of the 2010 Census, its population was 2,521,892.

Geography

The oblast is located in the southeast of European Russia, in the northern part of the Lower Volga region. From west to east its territory stretches for 575 km, and from north to south for 330 km.

The oblast borders on:

• Volgograd Oblast to the south
• Voronezh and Tambov oblasts to the west
• Penza, Samara, Ulyanovsk and Orenburg oblasts to the north;
• the Republic of Kazakhstan to the east

Natural resources

Of particular agricultural importance are valuable agricultural ordinary and southern chernozyom areas; chestnut soils are widespread. The oblast has many water resources: besides the river Volga (which divides the oblast in two) there are many identified sources and mineral-water deposits.

History