Where is it? Ulyanovsk Oblast is a region in southern part of western Russia. It is bordered by Chuvashia (also known as the Chuvash Republic); Samar, Saratov and Penza Oblasts; and the republics of Tatarstan and Mordovia. It is in the Moscow time zone, and you can find the local time here.

What's the biggest city? Ulyanovsk, whose population includes 635,947 of the region's 1,382,811 million people, according to the 2002 census. It is located on the Middle Volga and Sviyaga rivers Until 1924, the city was known as Simbirsk. Dimitrovgrad is the region's second largest city.

Who lives here? Ethnic Russians account for about 72% of the population, but there is a large contingent of Tatars and Chuvash.

What do they do here? There's a diversified industrial base that includes Russia's homegrown SUV brand, the UAZ Patriot. UAZ is owned by the giant steel conglomerate Severstal. Japan's Isuzu has an auto plant in the area, too. And recent reports say U.S. candy maker Mars is planning an investment in the region.

Does it have any English-language news sources? There is a limited amount of news on The Russia News Service Web site.

How do I see what it looks like? Judging by the limited shots on Flickr, this is not a very photogenic place.

How do I get here? You have a choice of rail or air, though rail may be the better option. Ulyanovsk Vostochny Airport is served only by Polet Airlines and Volga Dnepr from Moscow.

Which adoption agencies work here? Adoption Associates is the only one that I have found.

Which Russian adoption bloggers have been here? Suz, who blogs at "Russian Adoption Dva" was adopting a second daughter from Ulyanovsk, but unfortunately lost the referral after a long, drawn-out process. There is one Yahoo! group, Ulyanovsk_Adoption.

Truly trivia: Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov was born in what was then Simbirsk in April 1870. Vladimir who, you ask? He a gentleman who came to be better known by his revolutionary alias, Lenin. The city and region were renamed in his honor after his death.

Need more information? Ulyanovsk is off the beaten path for "Way To Russia" so far. Kommersant, as usual, delivers plenty of detail. The region has its own Web site, in Russian; the city's Russian-language Web site is here. Ulyanovsk can get steamy in the summer: Here's the current weather.

Image Credit: Alexey Sidorenko