The Volga region, known as the Povolzhye (UK: /pəˈvɔːlʒeɪ/ pə-VAWL-zhay, US: /pəˈvoʊlʒeɪ/ pə-VOHL-zhay; Russian: Поволжье, romanized: Povolžje, IPA: [pɐˈvoɫʐje]; lit.
The Volga Region is almost entirely within the East European Plain, with a notable distinction contrasting the elevated western side featuring the Volga Upland, and the eastern side known as Transvolga (Russian: Заволжье, Zavolžje).
[citation needed] The Idel-Ural region, a collection of six federal subjects between the Volga River and the Ural Mountains, is generally considered as a part of the Volga Region, although the river does not run through each of them.
[citation needed] According to different sources, the region was mainly inhabited by Slavic, Turkic and Viking people.
[3] The region is home to a large portion of Russia's population, with the major cities of Yaroslavl, Kostroma, Nizhny Novgorod, Cheboksary, Kazan, Ulyanovsk, Tolyatti, Samara, Saratov, Volgograd and Astrakhan all located directly on the Volga River.