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by Nadia F., a Russian woman living in St Petersburg, Russia
The Volga river in Western Russia is Europe's longest river. With a length of 3,690 km (2,293 miles), it provides the core of the largest river system in Europe.
The fertile river valley provides a great wheat-growing region, and also has many mineral riches. A large petroleum industry centres on the Volga valley. Other minerals include natural gas, salt, and potash. The Volga Delta and the nearby Caspian Sea offer superb fishing grounds. Astrakhan, at the delta, is the centre of the caviar industry. Volgograd and Nizhny Novgorod are important manufacturing cities on the banks of the Volga. During Soviet rule, Nizhny Novgorod was closed to foreigners. Other important cities on the river include Saratov, Kazan, Tolyatti, and Samara. Nine major hydroelectric power stations and several large artificial lakes formed by dams lie along the Volga. The largest of the lakes are, from north to south, the Rybinsk, Nizhny Novgorod, Samara, and Volgograd reservoirs. The ancient scholar Ptolemy of Alexandria mentioned the Volga in his Geography. The river basin played an important role in the great movements of people from Asia to Europe. A powerful Bulgarian empire once flourished where the Kama river joins the Volga. Also, Volga passed through the Khazar khaganate. Volgograd witnessed the Battle of Stalingrad, the major victory of the Soviet Union over Germany in World War II. The Russian people's deep feeling for the Volga often finds echoes in their songs and literature.
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