Ulyanovsk, city and administrative centre of Ulyanovsk oblast (region), western Russia. It lies along the Volga River at its confluence with the Sviyaga. Founded in 1648, it was a key fortress on the Sinbirsk defensive line; in 1924 it was renamed after V.I. Ulyanov (Lenin), who was born there and whose home is preserved as a museum. Ulyanovsk has engineering industries that produce buses and light trucks, machine tools, and motors; there are also food-processing and consumer-goods industries. The city has polytechnic, agricultural, and teacher-training institutes. Pop. (2006 est.) 617,200.