Saransk, Republic of Mordovia, Russia

A few years ago I was fairly actively trying to get a postcard of all the different Russian regions. This is one of those cards. I'm still missing a few regions, maybe I should start looking for them again...?

Saransk is the capital city of the Republic of Mordovia, Russia, as well as its financial and economic center. It is located in the Volga basin at the confluence of the Saranka and Insar Rivers, about 630 kilometers east of Moscow. Population: 297,415 (2010 Census).

Saransk has a relatively chilly version of the humid continental climate with warm but not hot summers and cold winters, that averages well below freezing for five months of the year.

Industrial activity in Saransk includes the production of electrical cables, chemical production, textile manufacturing, food processing, machine building, and metallurgy. The city has two thermal power stations. The city has the confectionary plant Lamzur.

Saransk is by far the largest city in Mordovia and accounts for 34.3% of the total population of the republic (as of the 2002 Census). Ethnic Russians form the majority of the population (about 85%), and Russian, rather than any of two co-official Mordvinic languages, is the common language of communication in the city. As with many provincial capitals in Russia, the population of Saransk has decreased since the dissolution of the Soviet Union, primarily as a result of economic migration to larger cities, made especially attractive by the downsizing, or outright collapse, of many smaller, regional, industrial enterprises.

Olga used a matching stamp!