8. City BeachVolzhsky Samara , known from 1935 to 1991 as Kuybyshev , is the sixth largest city in Russia and the administrative center of Samara Oblast. Some statistics indicate that it is the eighth or ninth-largest city by population., rather than sixth. It is in the southeastern part of European Russia at the confluence of the Volga and Samara rivers, on the east bank of the Volga which acts as the city's western boundary; across the river are the Zhiguli Mountains, after which the local beer is named. The northern boundary is formed by the Sokolyi Hills and by the steppes in the south and east. The city covers 46,597 hectares , with a population of 1,164,685 ; the metropolitan area of Samara, Tolyatti and Syzran has a population of over 3 million. It is about 300 kilometres from Kazan, 410 kilometres from ... From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.