Ulyanovsk, formerly Simbirsk, is a city on the Volga River in Russia. It is the administrative centre of the Ulyanovsk region, and the birthplace of Vladimir Lenin. Ulyanovsk is a significant industrial city. It is home to UAZ, a large automobile manufacturing plant, and Aviastar, an airplane plant that is best known as the manufacturer of the heavy aircraft An-124 «Ruslan», Now Ulyanovsk possesses huge cultural wealth. Buildings, houses and memorable places, which in majority have already become a part of present-day Ulyanovsk, are precious “witnesses” of historical events to descendants. Here are working dozens of museums and their branches, dramatic and puppet theatres, theater for young spectators, state Philharmonic Society, Academic Symphony Orchestra, modern movie theaters and entertaining centers, are published dozens of newspapers and magazines. Ulyanovsk is warm from about mid-May to early September. The average summer temperature is +22° C. July is typically the warmest month with highs reaching 30° C, although heat waves can occur even as early as the last decade of May. Snow arrives in late November-early December and stays until late March-early April. The average winter temperature is −10° C, although it can drop as low as −30° C. Winters are windy and snowy. Late autumn and winter have very little daylight, just 5–6 hours, December 23 being the shortest day of the year. In March-April, snow begins melting, and the thaw lasts for about a month.
