ChelyabinskChelyabinsk (Челя́бинск; Силәбе, Siläbe) is the administrative center and largest city of Chelyabinsk Oblast, Russia. It is the seventh-largest city in Russia, with a population of over 1.1 million people, and the second-largest city in the Ural Federal District, after Yekaterinburg. Chelyabinsk runs along the Miass River, and is just east of the Ural Mountains. The area of Chelyabinsk contained the ancient settlement of Arkaim, which belonged to the Sintashta culture.
OryolOryol (, eagle), also transliterated as Orel or Oriol, is a city and the administrative center of Oryol Oblast, Russia, situated on the Oka River, approximately south-southwest of Moscow. It is part of the Central Federal District, as well as the Central Economic Region. While there are no historical records, archaeological evidence shows that a fortress settlement existed between the Oka River and Orlik Rivers as early as the 12th century, when the land was a part of the Principality of Chernigov.
UfaUfa (Öfö; Уфа́) is the largest city in and the capital of Bashkortostan, Russia. The city lies at the confluence of the Belaya and Ufa rivers, in the centre-north of Bashkortostan, on hills forming the Ufa Plateau to the west of the southern Ural Mountains, with a population of over 1.1 million residents, up to 1.4 million residents in the urban agglomeration. Ufa is the tenth-most populous city in Russia, and the fourth-most populous city in the Volga Federal District.
MegaFonMegaFon (МегаФон), previously known as North-West GSM, is the second largest mobile phone operator and the third largest telecom operator in Russia. It works in the GSM, UMTS and LTE standard. The company serves 62.1 million subscribers in Russia and 1.6 million in Tajikistan. It is headquartered in Moscow. In 2002 the company changed its name from North-West GSM to MegaFon when it acquired several regional companies, becoming the first GSM company in Russia to cover all its territory.
Finnic peoplesThe Finnic or Fennic peoples, sometimes simply called Finns, are the nations who speak languages traditionally classified in the Finnic (now commonly Finno-Permic) language family, and which are thought to have originated in the region of the Volga River. The largest Finnic peoples by population are the Finns (or more precisely the Suomi, 6 million), the Estonians (1 million), the Mordvins (800,000), the Mari (570,000), the Udmurts (550,000), the Komis (330,000) and the Sami (100,000).
SaratovSaratov (UKsəˈrɑːtɒf , US-təf ; Сара́тов, sɐˈratəf) is the largest city and administrative center of Saratov Oblast, Russia, and a major port on the Volga River upstream of Volgograd. Saratov had a population of 901,361, making it the 17th-largest city in Russia by population. Saratov is from Volgograd, from Samara, and southeast of Moscow. The city stands near the site of Uvek, a city of the Golden Horde. Tsar Feodor I of Russia likely developed Saratov as a fortress to secure Russia's southeastern border.
Mari ElMari El (Марий Эл; Марий Эл; Мары Эл), officially the Mari El Republic, is a republic of Russia. It is in the European Russia region of the country, along the northern bank of the Volga River, and is administratively part of the Volga Federal District. The republic has a population of 696,459 (2010 Census). Yoshkar-Ola is the capital and the largest city. Mari El is one of Russia's ethnic republics, established for the indigenous Mari people, a Finnic nation who have traditionally lived along the Volga River and Kama River.
Khanate of KazanThe Khanate of Kazan (Kazan xanlıgı; Kazanskoye khanstvo) was a medieval Tatar Turkic state that occupied the territory of former Volga Bulgaria between 1438 and 1552. The khanate covered contemporary Tatarstan, Mari El, Chuvashia, Mordovia, and parts of Udmurtia and Bashkortostan; its capital was the city of Kazan. It was one of the successor states of the Golden Horde (Kipchak Khanate), and it came to an end when it was conquered by the Tsardom of Russia.