The Penza region — Penza and the territories being earlier the part of the Penza province — has appeared historically located on a joint of two worlds: nomadic and agricultural, three language groups (Finnish, Turkic, Slavic) and three cultures (Pagan, Muslim and Christian). It has defined an originality of the history of the land in many aspects.

The Penza region is unique in the following — there is no such place in the country which would be a part of five states in its history: Khazar Kaganate, Volga Bulgarija, Golden Horde, the Kazan khanate, Russia.

At the time of the Kazan khanate the Penza region began to turn gradually in deserted "wild field", so that modern cities and villages appeared only in XVII century here.

The city of Penza was founded in 1663 as a frontier outpost on the then southeastern border of Russia. At that time, in June-July, 1663 the jail was constructed as the main point of placing the builders, soldiers, arms and provision. 

The jail was settled down in a hardly noticeable place. The mountain covered it with thick forest from the south. It was planned to build a fortress on the slope of the mountain. Soon the fortress became the administrative and territorial unit center round which large villages, trading quarters and other settlements were erected.

From the middle of XVIII century the role of Penza as shopping center increases. There were two largest fairs in Penza where the merchants from different cities gathered. Annually merchants sent down the Sura river bread and wine to Petersburg, Moscow, Nizhni Novgorod and Yaroslavl.

In 1781 the coat of arms of Penza was confirmed. It shows a board with three sheaves placed on it: a wheaten one, barley and a millet sheave. They symbolized the riches and fertility of the Penza ground.

The coat of arms of Penza became with little changes the coat of arms of the whole Penza province. The difference of the provincial arms consisted in the dark red bands binding all three sheaves. The coat of arms of Penza and of the Penza province showed agricultural character of economy of the land very well.

The Penza region is famous for well-known people of Russia, which were barn, leaved or worked here. Among them there were general A.A. Tuchkov, gunners Zhemchuzhnikov, brothers Stolypin, and brothers Golitsyn — Vladimir and Alexander — which protected the Fatherland in 1812 and took part in the Borodino battle. Lieutenant general D.V. Davidov, the hero of Patriotic war of 1812, the military writer and the poet is also well known in Penza. Since 1820 the participant of that war and also the novelist, the playwright and the memoirist I.I. Lazhechnikov lived in Penza too.

Revolution in 1905 was marked by the demostrations of the workers and youth in Penza. After the revolution in 1917 the uprising of the white guard of Czech started in the city. After its suppression the front didn't reach the province any more, but Penza played a great role in the war: it was a base for placing artillery and warehouses.

During the Great Patriotic War the inhabitants of Penza showed themselves as heroes, for examples the members of the 354 motor-shootinge Krasnoznamennaja division. It fought bravely near Moscow and Rzhev, battled near Kursk, forced the Desna, the Dnepr, the Vistula, the Oder, and finished fights in East Prussia. The division was awarded by Lenin and Suvorov's awards for the courage shown in the battles. In victorious May of 1945 among hundreds of inscriptions on the Reichstag there were words «And we are from Penza».

Names of many outstanding figures of history whose life was connected with Penza region are written in the history of the Russian culture, literatures, arts, sciences, medicine. Among them are M.J. Lermontov, V.G. Belinsky, V.O. Kljuchevsky, N.F. Filatov, N.I. Lobachevsky, M.N. Zagoskin, A.N. Radishchev, G.I. Zaharin, F.I. Buslaev, A.I. Kuprin, N.P. Ogaryov, M.E. Saltykov-Shchedrin, K.A. Savitsky, V.E. Mejerhold and many others.