Volgograd, formerly Tsaritsyn, and Stalingrad, is the largest city and the administrative centre of Volgograd Oblast, Russia. The city lies on the western bank of the Volga, covering an area of 859.4 square kilometres, with a population of over 1 million residents. Volgograd is the fifteenth-largest city in Russia, the second-largest city on the Southern Federal District, and the fourth-largest city on the Volga.
The city was founded as the fortress of Tsaritsyn in 1589. By the nineteenth century, Tsaritsyn had become an important river-port and commercial centre, leading to its population expanding rapidly.
Early in the Russian Civil War, in November 1917, Tsaritsyn came under Soviet control. It fell briefly to the White Army in mid-1919 but quickly returned to Soviet control in January 1920.
On April 10, 1925, the city was renamed Stalingrad in honor of Joseph Stalin. During World War II, the Axis forces attacked the city, leading to the Battle of Stalingrad, one of the largest and bloodiest battles in the history of warfare. On 10 November 1961, Nikita Khrushchev's administration changed the name of the city to Volgograd.