Initially, the city was called Simbirsk after Sinbir (or Simbir), the ruler of a tribe of Volga Bulgars living in that area. The city was founded in 1648 by military leader Bogdan Khitrovo as one of the fortresses on the defence line running along the south-eastern frontier of Russia. In 1796, it was granted the status of a city. In 1924, in memory of Vladimir Ulyanov (Lenin), who was born there, the city was renamed Ulyanovsk. It is the administrative centre of the Ulyanovsk Region.
Its key architectural sights include: the Assembly Hall for the Nobility (built in 1838-47), Yazykov House (dating from the early 19th century), military college (1877), Public Assembly Hall (1910), and Peasant Land Bank (1911).
In the 1960s-70s, Ulyanovsk had its central part rebuilt to provide space for a Lenin memorial zone, which came to include some of old Simbirsk (houses once lived in by the Ulyanov family) and the Lenin Memorial Centre.
In population numbers the Ulyanovsk Region ranks 37th in Russia and 6th among the Volga regions. In population density (36.2 people per sq km), it is 29th in Russia and 3rd among the Volga regions, second only to the Samara Region and the Republic of Tatarstan. Its percentage of urban population is 72.8%.
Machine building and metal working are among the most developed industries in the city. Its leading plants and factories are: Ulyanovsk Auto Plant, Volzhskie Motory, Avtodetal-Service, Aviastar, Kontaktor, a mechanical and an engineering plant, and a heavy and custom-made machine tool plant.
The city has a population of about 623,100 people (or 45% of the region's), and the region, 1.3 million.
Ulyanovsk is located on Privolzhskaya Hills on the banks of the Volga (Kuibyshev Reservoir) and Sviyaga rivers, 893 km east of Moscow.
The Volga River divides the region into an elevated part on the right bank and lowlands on the left.
In the late 1640s, under the general direction of Bogdan Khitrovo, the city began building the Karsun-Simbirsk defence line (1647-1654).
Twenty-two years after its foundation, Simbirsk withstood a siege by rebel peasants led by their chieftain Stepan Razin.
In the 18th century, with the Russian state starting to expand southwards, the southern parts of what is now the Ulyanovsk Region began growing in size and population numbers, while Simbirsk slowly lost its military strategic significance.
The Soviets became established in Simbirsk a month after the October Revolution - on December 10, 1917. In 1918, the province became a focus of the Civil War. When the White Guard was expelled from Simbirsk in September 1918, the city became a logistical centre for Soviet government. For a time it was home for the headquarters and Revolutionary Military Council of the Eastern Front. The Simbirsk ammunition factory supplied the Red Army.
After Nazi Germany attacked the Soviet Union, Ulyanovsk provided shelter for factories, institutions and offices evacuated from the country's western regions, Moscow and Leningrad.
At present, the city has two military colleges, a Suvorov military school, a civil aviation school, four state universities, and some other branches.
Ulyanovsk is a major hub on the Kuibyshev Railway Line and has one main and three smaller railway stations. Close to the city are located two airports - Ulyanovsk-Tsentralny and Ulyanovsk-Vostochny. The Ulyanovsk river port is on the right bank of the Volga River, in the Zheleznodorozhny district.
A motorway bridge spans the two banks of the Volga, with a second one under construction (its first stage is slated to enter service in 2009).