Astrakhan

Astrakhan (Russian: А́страхань AH-struh-khun) is a city in Russia.

Understand
Astrakhan is in the south-east of European Russia, in the Caspian Lowland, in the lower reaches of the Volga river. The region is a part of the Southern Federal District and is a border region: by land it borders on Kazakhstan, and on Azerbaijan, Iran, Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan by sea. The Volgograd region and the Republic of Kalmykia are the Astrakhan region’s neighbours within the Russian Federation. The area of the region is 49,000 km². The region consists of 11 rural areas, 442 villages and settlements. Besides the regional center there are 5 towns in the region – Akhtubinsk, Kamyzyak, Znamensk, Kharabali, and Narimanov.

Over 1 million people live in the Astrakhan region. Half of them live in the regional center, Astrakhan City.

Astrakhan is famous for its cultural traditions, dating back to the remote past. Representatives of over 140 nations and nationalities live here. All world religions have found here their adherents. A native, poet Velimir Khlebnikov called Astrakhan the triangle of Christ, Mohammed and Buddha.

In spite of its multinational structure, Astrakhan has always been and still remains one of the most politically stable regions of Russia.

By car
Transport network of the region is constituted by over 7,000 km of automobile roads, 65 active ferries and 275 bridges. International transport corridor E-40 “West-East” crosses Astrakhan region. It links Western and Eastern Europe with Kazakhstan, Central Asia and China through the south of Russia (Rostov-on-Don, Volgograd, Astrakhan). Besides, roads M-6 “Kaspiy” Moscow (Kashira) – Astrakhan, Astrakhan – Elista – Stavropol, Astrakhan – Atyrau (Kazakhstan) play an important role in the transport infrastructure of the Astrakhan region.

Get around
Public local transport is only provided by minibuses (marshrutki).

Astrakhan districts

1. Kirovskiy (Кировский)

2. Sovetskiy (Советский)

3. Leninskiy (Ленинский)

4. Trusovskiy (Трусовский)

See
Astrakhan tourism has a clearly defined trend – fishing and hunting. Our region occupies 25-30% of Russian market for fishing and hunting, which have already become the brand of the Astrakhan region. At the same time other kinds of tourism are developing, such as cultural and educational tourism, eco-tourism, cruises, business travelling and event tourism.

Consulates

 * 🇮🇷 Iran
 * 🇰🇿 Kazakhstan

Go next
River cruises down the Volga operate during the summer months (early May to end of September). Dozens of boats operated by different companies run from Moscow to Astrakhan. One way or return cruises may be reserved to/from practically any city along the Volga. Turflot.ru and infoflot.ru are several sites that offer tours.

Sample price for cruise: Moscow to Astrakhan (one-way) with three daily meals is approximately US$500.