Saratov

Saratov (UK: /səˈrɑːtɒf/ sə-RAH-tof, US: /-təf/ -⁠təf; Russian: Саратов, pronounced [sɐˈratəf] ^ⓘ) is the largest city and administrative center of Saratov Oblast, Russia, and a major port on the Volga River. As of the 2021 Census,^[update] Saratov had a population of 901,361, making it the 17th-largest city in Russia by population. Saratov is 389 kilometres (242 mi) north of Volgograd, 442 kilometres (275 mi) south of Samara, and 858 kilometres (533 mi) 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. Saratov developed as a shipping port along the Volga and was historically important to the Volga Germans, who settled in large numbers in the city before they were expelled before and during World War II.

Saratov is home to a number of cultural and educational institutions, including the Saratov Drama Theater, Saratov Conservatory, Radishchev Art Museum, Saratov State Technical University, and Saratov State University.

The name Saratov may have been derived from, Sarı Taw (Сары Тау), meaning "Yellow Mountain" in the Tatar language. Another version of the name originates from the words, Sar Atau, which means [the] "Boggy Island".

Tsardom of Russia ca. 1590–1721
Russian Empire 1721–1917
Russian Republic 1917–1918
Russian Democratic Federal Republic 1918
Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic 1918–1922
Union of Soviet Socialist Republics 1922–1991
Russian Federation 1991–present

Uvek, a city of the Golden Horde, stood near the site of the modern city of Saratov from the mid-13th century until its destruction by Tamerlane in 1395. While the exact date of the foundation of modern Saratov is unknown, plausible theories date it to ca. 1590, during the reign (1584–1598) of Tsar Fyodor Ivanovich, who constructed several settlements along the Volga River in order to secure the southeastern boundary of his state. Town status was granted to it in 1708.

By the 1800s, Saratov had grown to become an important shipping port on the Volga. The Ryazan-Ural Railroad reached Saratov in 1870. In 1896, the line crossed the Volga and continued its eastward expansion. A unique train-ferry, owned by the Ryazan-Ural railroad, provided the connection across the river between the two ends of the railroad for 39 years, before the construction of a railway bridge in 1935.

During January 1915, with World War I dominating the Russian national agenda, Saratov became the destination for deportation convoys of ethnic Germans, Jews, Hungarians, Austrians and Slavs whose presence closer to the western front was perceived as a potential security risk to the state.