Location: Volgograd 🌎

Volgograd (Russian: Волгогра́д, IPA: [vəɫɡɐˈɡrat] ), formerly Tsaritsyn (Цари́цын; IPA: [tsɐˈrʲitsɨn]) (1589–1925), and Stalingrad (Сталингра́д; IPA: [stəlʲɪnˈɡrat] ) (1925–1961), 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 (331.8 square miles), with a population of slightly over one million residents. Volgograd is the sixteenth-largest city by population size in Russia, the second-largest city of 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 rapid population growth. In November 1917, at the start of the Russian Civil War, Tsaritsyn came under Bolshevik control. It fell briefly to the White Army in mid-1919 but returned to Bolshevik control in January 1920. In 1925, the city was renamed Stalingrad in honor of Joseph Stalin, who then ruled the country. During World War II, Axis forces attacked the city, leading to the Battle of Stalingrad, one of, if not the largest and bloodiest battles in the history of warfare, from which it received the title of Hero City. In 1961, Nikita Khrushchev’s administration renamed the city Volgograd as part of de-Stalinization. Volgograd today is the site of The Motherland Calls, an 85-metre (279 ft) high statue dedicated to the heroes of the Battle of Stalingrad, which is the tallest statue in Europe, as well as the tallest statue of a woman in the world. The city has many tourist attractions, such as museums, sandy beaches, and a self-propelled floating church. Volgograd was one of the host cities of the 2018 FIFA World Cup.