Syzran ( rus, Сызрань, p=ˈsɨzrənʲ) is the third largest

city A city is a human settlement of notable size.Goodall, B. (1987) ''The Penguin Dictionary of Human Geography''. London: Penguin.Kuper, A. and Kuper, J., eds (1996) ''The Social Science Encyclopedia''. 2nd edition. London: Routledge. It can be def ...

Samara Oblast Samara Oblast ( rus, Сама́рская о́бласть, r=Samarskaya oblast, p=sɐˈmarskəjə ˈobləsʲtʲ) is a federal subject of Russia (an oblast). Its administrative center is the city of Samara. From 1935 to 1991, it was known as Kuyb ...

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-ei ...

, located on the right bank of

Saratov Reservoir Saratov Reservoir (russian: Саратовское водохрани́лище) is an artificial lake in the lower part of the Volga River in Russia formed by the dam of the Saratov Hydroelectric Station situated in the city of Balakovo. Filling ...

of the

Volga River The Volga (; russian: Во́лга, a=Ru-Волга.ogg, p=ˈvoɫɡə) is the longest river in Europe. Situated in Russia, it flows through Central Russia to Southern Russia and into the Caspian Sea. The Volga has a length of , and a catch ...

. Population:

History

Founded in 1683 as a

fortress A fortification is a military construction or building designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is also used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Latin ''fortis'' ("strong") and ''facere'' ...

, Syzran grew into an important trading center and was granted town status in 1796. One tower from the 17th-century fortress still stands. It is also the site of

Syzran Bridge The Syzran Bridge across the Volga River near Syzran, was designed by Nikolai Belelubsky and Konstantin Mikhailovsky. It was the first rail bridge across the Volga in its lower reaches. Opened by Konstantin Posyet in 1880 as a part of the Sa ...

, once the longest bridge in Europe.

Administrative and municipal status

Within the framework of administrative divisions, Syzran serves as the

administrative center An administrative center is a seat of regional administration or local government, or a county town, or the place where the central administration of a commune is located. In countries with French as administrative language (such as Belgium, Lu ...

of Syzransky District, even though it is not a part of it. As an administrative division, it is, together with three rural localities, incorporated separately as the city of oblast significance of Syzran—an administrative unit with the status equal to that of the

districts A district is a type of administrative division that, in some countries, is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or counties, several municipalities, subdivisions ...

.Charter of Samara Oblast'' As a municipal division, the city of oblast significance of Syzran is incorporated as Syzran Urban Okrug.Law #189-GD

Economy

The city's main employers are a large oil refinery owned by

Rosneft PJSC Rosneft Oil Company ( stylized as ROSNEFT) is a Russian integrated energy company headquartered in Moscow. Rosneft specializes in the exploration, extraction, production, refining, transport, and sale of petroleum, natural gas, and petro ...

, OAO Tyazhmash heavy industry machinery metallurgy mechanical turbines related to electricity production (and working with Czech Blansko firm CKD Blansko on some works, like in South America), and the Syzran power station.

Twin towns and sister cities

Syzran is twinned with: *

Pingdingshan Pingdingshan (), also known as Eagle City ( zh, s=鹰城, p=Yīngchéng, t=鷹城), is a prefecture-level city in central Henan province, China. It had 4,904,701 inhabitants at the 2010 census whom 1,756,333 lived in the built-up (or metro) a ...

Henan Henan (; or ; ; alternatively Honan) is a landlocked province of China, in the central part of the country. Henan is often referred to as Zhongyuan or Zhongzhou (), which literally means "central plain" or "midland", although the name is a ...

, China (November 28, 2000)

Notable people

* Konstantin Fedin, novelist and literary functionary * Alexey Tolstoy, writer * Arkady Ostrovsky, composer * Andrei Sinyavsky, writer * Mikhail Korniyenko, cosmonaut * Glukoza, singer * Viktor Nikitin, singer * Ekaterina Vetkova, handball player

References

Notes

Sources

* *

External links

Official website of Syzran
*
Old photos of Syzran
{{Authority control Cities and towns in Samara Oblast Populated places on the Volga Syzransky Uyezd