Chelyabinsk Oblast

Chelyabinsk Oblast^[a] is a federal subject (an oblast) of Russia in the Ural Mountains region, on the border of Europe and Asia.^{[12][13][14][15]} Its administrative center is the city of Chelyabinsk.

Chelyabinsk Oblast
Oblast
Челябинская область
Flag Coat of arms
Anthem: Anthem of Chelyabinsk Oblast [1]
Coordinates: 55.16°N 61.40°E / 55.16; 61.40
Country	Russia
Federal district	Urals[2]
Economic region	Urals[3]
Administrative center	Chelyabinsk
Government
• Body	Legislative Assembly[4]
• Governor[5]	Aleksey Teksler[6]
Area [7]
• Total	88,529 km2 (34,181 sq mi)
• Rank	36th
Population  (2021 census)[8]
• Total	3,431,224
• Estimate  (2018)[9]	3,493,036
• Rank	9th
• Urban	82.6%
• Rural	17.4%
Time zone	UTC+5 (MSK+2 [10])
ISO 3166 code	RU-CHE
License plates	74, 174, 774
OKTMO ID	75000000
Official languages	Russian[11]
Website	www.pravmin74.ru

History

During the Middle Ages, Bashkir tribes inhabited the Southern Urals; they formed part of the Golden Horde, Nogai Horde, and smaller Bashkir unions. The Tsardom of Russia incorporated the area in the late 16th century. However, Russian colonization of the region only began in the 18th century, with the establishment of a system of fortresses and trade posts on the then-Russian border by the Orenburg Expedition [ru] in 1734. Many cities of Chelyabinsk Oblast, including the city of Chelyabinsk itself, trace their history back to those forts.

In 1743 the Chelyabinsk fortress became a center of the Iset Province [ru], a constituent part of the Orenburg Governorate (a direct successor of the Orenburg Expedition). The period from the 1750s to the 1770s saw the emergence of industrial enterprises in the Southern Urals when the first factory-centered towns like Miass, Kyshtym, and Zlatoust were founded. After the Southern Urals recovered from the Pugachev's Rebellion of 1773–1775, the territory of modern-day Chelyabinsk Oblast started to attract more people from the European part of Russia. By the mid-19th century Chelyabinsk was a major trade center in the Urals, and after the construction of the Trans-Siberian Railway in the 1890s, it became an important transport hub that connected Siberia to the rest of the Russian Empire.

In 1919, Chelyabinsk became the regional capital of the newly formed Chelyabinsk Governorate of the Russian SFSR, which combined eastern portions of the Orenburg Governorate with Kurgan of the Tobolsk Governorate. At this time, the population of the new region has already exceeded one million people. In 1923, together with the Perm, Yekaterinburg Governorate [ru] and Tyumen governorates, it merged into a single Ural Oblast that lasted only ten years, until 1934. On 17 January 1934, Chelyabinsk Oblast was finally established. Its current boundaries were formed when Kurgan Oblast was detached from it in 1943.

Soviet industrialization

During the 1930s the regional economy and industrial output grew as Chelyabinsk Oblast became a key focus of the First Five-Year Plan. Key factories and enterprises that formed the core of the modern Chelyabinsk economy, including the Magnitogorsk Iron and Steel Works, the Chelyabinsk Tractor Plant and the Chelyabinsk Metallurgical Plant, originated at this time. The economy continued to grow after the outbreak of the Great Patriotic War in 1941, as industries evacuated from the western parts of the Soviet Union to the Urals, and to Chelyabinsk Oblast in particular. During the war, Magnitogorsk alone produced one third of all Soviet steel, while the city of Chelyabinsk became the main center of Soviet tank production, earning the nickname "Tankograd" (Tank City).

Nuclear research

Chelyabinsk Oblast has been home to top-secret nuclear research since the 1940s. While there are no nuclear power stations in Chelyabinsk, a number of production reactors were located there starting with the early Cold War. A serious nuclear accident occurred in 1957 at the Mayak nuclear fuel reprocessing plant, 150 km (93 mi) north-west of the city, which led to evacuations and fatalities throughout the oblast, although not in Chelyabinsk city. The province was closed to all foreigners until 1992, with the sole exception of allowing a British medical team in following a two-train rail explosion in the mid-1980s.

Sławomir Grünberg has made the documentary Chelyabinsk: The Most Contaminated Spot on the Planet (1994) about the unsafe dumping of radioactive waste in the Techa River and in Lake Karachay.

Recent history

On 4 July 1997, Chelyabinsk, alongside Bryansk, Magadan, Saratov, and Vologda signed a power-sharing agreement with the government of Russia, granting it autonomy.^[16] The agreement would be abolished on 2 February 2002.^[17]

On 15 February 2013, a 10,000 ton meteoroid entered the Earth's atmosphere over Russia at about 09:20 YEKT (03:20 UTC). It passed over the southern Ural region and exploded in a meteor air burst over Chelyabinsk Oblast. About 1,500 people were reported injured, including 311 children. Health officials said 112 people had been hospitalized, mainly from injuries caused by glass from windows shattered by a shock wave; two were reported to be in serious condition. As many as 3,000 buildings in six cities across the region were damaged by the explosion and impacts. The meteor created a dazzling light as it air burst, bright enough to cast shadows during broad daylight in Chelyabinsk.

Economy

The largest companies in the region include Magnitogorsk Iron and Steel Works, Chelyabinsk Metallurgical Plant (Mechel group), Chelyabinsk Pipe Rolling Plant, Chelyabinsk Electrometallurgical Plant, Chelyabinsk Zinc Plant, Ashinsky Metallurgical Plant.^[18]

Geography

Chelyabinsk Oblast is on the eastern slope of the Southern Urals. Only a small part of the territory to the west is on the western slopes of the Southern Urals.

Chelyabinsk Oblast is situated in the Southern Urals, near Kurgan and Sverdlovsk oblast. Most of the Oblast is located to the east of the Ural Mountains, which form the continental boundary between Asia and Europe. This boundary is marked by a stone pillar at the Uraltau pass near the Urzhumka station (8 km (5.0 mi) from Zlatoust), which has "Europe" written on one side and "Asia" on the other. In Chelyabinsk Oblast, Zlatoust city, Katav-Ivanovsk, and Satka and Chelyabinsk, Troitsk, and Miass are in Europe. Magnitogorsk is located on both continents.^[19]

The area of Chelyabinsk Oblast is 88,900 km² (34,300 sq mi).^[20] The total length of its external border is 2,750 km (1,710 mi), and the Oblast measures 400 km (250 mi) from north to south and 490 km (300 mi) from west to east.

The highest point of Chelyabinsk Oblast, reaching 1,406 metres (4,613 ft) above sea level, is located in the Nurgush, a 50 kilometres (31 mi) long mountain range rising near lake Zyuratkul.^[21]

It also borders the country of Kazakhstan, specifically the Kostanay Region.

Relief

Chelyabinsk Oblast has a very diverse landscape, ranging from lowlands and hilly plains to mountain ranges with peaks exceeding 1,000 m, including Nurgush mountain (1406 m). The mountainous area has several ski resorts.

The West Siberian Plain is bounded on the west horizontal (elevation 190 m above sea level), which passes through the village of Bagaryak, Kunashak and continues through Chelyabinsk to the south. The lowlands are located in the northeast, and the elevation drops to 130 m in the eastern border region.

Hydrology

Numerous rivers originate within the region, within the basins of the Kama, Tobol, and Ural rivers. The region is home to 348 rivers longer than 10 km (6.2 mi) (totaling 10,235 km (6,360 mi) in length), 17 of which are over 100 km (62 mi) in length. Seven rivers, the Miass, Uy, Ural, Ay, Ufa, Uvelka, and Gumbeyka, pass through the area and are longer than 200 km (124 mi).

Lake Itkul

Chelyabinsk Oblast is also home to more than 3,748 lakes, mostly located in the north and east and covering a total area of 2,125 km² (820 sq mi). Many of the lakes in this area, including Lake Turgoyak, Zyuratkul, and Lake Itkul, are famous for their clear waters and attract tourism. Some of the lakes in the eastern foothills have tectonic origins as water accumulated in tectonic failures (basins), resulting in very deep lakes that can reach 30–40 m (98–131 ft).

Sights

Taganay National Park

Taganay National Park is located northeast of the city of Zlatoust, Chelyabinsk Oblast. Taganay National Park is a popular tourist destination in the Urals. The park contains mountain ranges, alpine meadows, stone outcrops and a several kilometer stone river, forests, woodlands and mountain tundra, ancient mineral mines and mountain rivers flowing both to Europe and Asia. Taganay National Park was established on 5 March 1991, the first in the Urals.

Gagarin Park

Gagarin Central Park is a 12-hectare recreational space in Chelyabinsk. The park is named after Yuri Gagarin, a Soviet cosmonaut and the first person to enter space. The park contains forest walks, lakes, old quarries, and landscaped gardens. There is also a showground with rides.

Monuments

There are several monuments in Chelyabinsk, many of which are on Kirovka street, a pedestrian street in the center of Chelyabinsk. The monuments include a monument to Igor Kurchatov, a nuclear scientist, which opened in 1986 to the 250th anniversary of Chelyabinsk; a monument to Orlenok, on the Aloe polye in Chelyabinsk, which opened on 29 October 1958 on the day of the fortieth anniversary of the Komsomol; the Sculpture of the Postman; the Memorial to Law and Order Soldiers; the Monument to Soldiers-Internationalists; and a sculpture of a firefighter.

Politics

Seat of the Oblast government in Chelyabinsk

Governor's residence

During the Soviet period, the highest authority in the Oblast was shared between three positions: the First Secretary of the Chelyabinsk CPSU Committee (who held the most power), the Chairman of the Oblast Soviet (legislative power), and the Chairman of the Oblast Executive Committee (executive power). Since the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, the CPSU lost its monopoly on power.

Today, the Charter of Chelyabinsk Oblast governs the political structure of the region. The Legislative Assembly of Chelyabinsk Oblast serves as the province's regional parliament and exercises legislative authority, with the power to pass laws, resolutions, and other legal acts and oversee their implementation and observance. The Oblast Government, led by the Governor of Chelyabinsk Oblast, is the highest executive body in the region, and includes territorial executive bodies such as district administrations, committees, and commissions that facilitate development and run the day-to-day matters of the province.

Administrative divisions

Main article: Administrative divisions of Chelyabinsk Oblast

Demographics

Historical population

Year	Pop.	±%
1926	2,564,012	—
1939	1,729,000	−32.6%
1959	2,976,625	+72.2%
1970	3,288,801	+10.5%
1979	3,438,866	+4.6%
1989	3,623,732	+5.4%
2002	3,603,339	−0.6%
2010	3,476,217	−3.5%
2021	3,431,224	−1.3%
Source: Census data

Population: 3,431,224 (2021 Census);^[8] 3,476,217 (2010 Census);^[22] 3,603,339 (2002 Census);^[23] 3,623,732 (1989 Soviet census).^[24]

Life expectancy at birth in Chelyabinsk Oblast

Vital statistics for 2022:^[25][26]

• Births: 30,917 (9.1 per 1,000)
• Deaths: 45,564 (13.4 per 1,000)

Total fertility rate (2022):^[27]
1.47 children per woman

Life expectancy (2021):^[28]
Total — 69.16 years (male — 64.36, female — 73.79)

Ethnicities in Chelyabinsk Oblast in 2021^[29]

Ethnicity	Population	Percentage
Russians	2,526,414	86.3%
Bashkirs	128,071	4.4%
Tatars	120,242	4.1%
Kazakhs	29,057	1.0%
Ukrainians	17,154	0.6%
Tajiks	12,308	0.4%
Other Ethnicities	92,778	3.2%
Ethnicity not stated	505,200	–

Vital statistics for 2008

Source:^[30]

District (2008)	Type	Births	Deaths	NG	BR	DR	NGR
Chelyabinsk Oblast	Obl	44931	52625	-7694	12.8	15.0	-0.22%
Urban Areas	Obl	34550	41787	-7237	12.1	14.6	-0.25%
Rural Areas	Obl	10381	10838	-457	15.9	16.6	-0.07%
Chelyabinsk	Urb	12540	14192	-1652	11.5	13.0	-0.15%
Verkhny Ufaley	Urb	516	727	-211	13.6	19.1	-0.55%
Zlatoust	Urb	2111	2658	-547	11.1	13.9	-0.28%
Karabash	Urb	227	262	-35	14.5	16.7	-0.22%
Kopeysk	Urb	1737	2476	-739	12.5	17.8	-0.53%
Kyshtym	Urb	535	695	-160	12.5	16.2	-0.37%
Lokomotivny	Urb	117	41	76	11.8	4.1	0.77%
Magnitogorsk	Urb	5276	6112	-836	12.9	14.9	-0.20%
Miass	Urb	2289	2559	-270	13.7	15.3	-0.16%
Ozyorsk	Urb	912	1312	-400	9.2	13.2	-0.40%
Snezhinsk	Urb	544	586	-42	10.8	11.6	-0.08%
Tryokhgorny	Urb	402	338	64	11.7	9.8	0.19%
Troitsk	Urb	1085	1269	-184	13.2	15.4	-0.22%
Ust-Katav	Urb	318	515	-197	11.3	18.2	-0.69%
Chebarkul	Urb	550	698	-148	12.7	16.2	-0.35%
Yuzhnouralsk	Urb	428	602	-174	11.1	15.6	-0.45%
Agapovsky	Rur	649	513	136	18.5	14.6	0.39%
Argayashsky	Rur	831	671	160	19.7	15.9	0.38%
Ashinsky	Rur	831	1286	-455	12.6	19.5	-0.69%
Bredinsky	Rur	485	480	5	15.6	15.4	0.02%
Varnensky	Rur	460	453	7	15.9	15.7	0.02%
Verkhneuralsky	Rur	575	743	-168	13.6	17.6	-0.40%
Yemanzhelinsky	Rur	648	923	-275	12.2	17.3	-0.51%
Yetkulsky	Rur	443	466	-23	14.7	15.5	-0.08%
Kartalinsky	Rur	702	809	-107	14.1	16.2	-0.21%
Kaslinsky	Rur	461	758	-297	12.0	19.7	-0.77%
Katav-Ivanovsky	Rur	448	709	-261	12.8	20.2	-0.74%
Kizilsky	Rur	432	400	32	16.2	15.0	0.12%
Korkinsky	Rur	900	1256	-356	13.8	19.3	-0.55%
Krasnoarmeysky	Rur	638	754	-116	14.6	17.3	-0.27%
Kunashaksky	Rur	521	549	-28	17.6	18.6	-0.10%
Kusinsk	Rur	420	535	-115	13.9	17.7	-0.38%
Nagaybaksky	Rur	334	392	-58	15.0	17.7	-0.27%
Nyazepetrovsky	Rur	298	433	-135	14.6	21.3	-0.67%
Oktyabrsky	Rur	419	398	21	15.6	14.8	0.08%
Plastovsky	Rur	450	453	-3	17.2	17.3	-0.01%
Satkinsky	Rur	1230	1398	-168	14.2	16.1	-0.19%
Sosnovsky	Rur	942	933	9	16.0	15.8	0.02%
Troitsky	Rur	529	506	23	17.1	16.3	0.08%
Uvelsky	Rur	508	533	-25	16.1	16.9	-0.08%
Uysky	Rur	385	387	-2	14.6	14.7	-0.01%
Chebarkulsky	Rur	494	538	-44	16.6	18.1	-0.15%
Chesmensky	Rur	311	307	4	15.5	15.3	0.02%

Settlements

Largest cities or towns in Chelyabinsk Oblast 2010 Russian Census
	Rank		Administrative Division	Pop.
Chelyabinsk Magnitogorsk	1	Chelyabinsk	City of oblast significance of Chelyabinsk	1,130,132	Zlatoust Miass
	2	Magnitogorsk	City of oblast significance of Magnitogorsk	407,775
	3	Zlatoust	City of oblast significance of Zlatoust	174,962
	4	Miass	City of oblast significance of Miass	151,751
	5	Kopeysk	City of oblast significance of Kopeysk	137,601
	6	Ozyorsk	Closed administrative-territorial formation of Ozyorsk	82,164
	7	Troitsk	Town of oblast significance of Troitsk	78,372
	8	Snezhinsk	Closed administrative-territorial formation of Snezhinsk	48,810
	9	Satka	Town of oblast significance of Satka	45,178
	10	Chebarkul	Town of oblast significance of Chebarkul	42,844

Chelyabinsk Oblast is highly urbanized.

Religion

Religion in Chelyabinsk Oblast as of 2012 (Sreda Arena Atlas)[31][32]
Russian Orthodoxy			30.9%
Other Orthodox			5.1%
Other Christians			8.9%
Islam			6.9%
Rodnovery and other native faiths			0.7%
Spiritual but not religious			29%
Atheism and irreligion			14.5%
Other and undeclared			4%

According to a 2012 survey,^[31] 30.9% of the population of Chelyabinsk Oblast adheres to the Russian Orthodox Church, 8% are unaffiliated generic Christians, 5% adheres to other Eastern Orthodox Churches, 8% of the population is Muslim, 1% adheres to Slavic Rodnovery (Slavic Neopaganism), and 0.4% to forms of Hinduism (Vedism, Krishnaism or Tantrism). In addition, 29% of the population deems itself to be "spiritual but not religious", 14% is atheist, and 4.7% follows other religions or did not give an answer to the question.^[31]

Partner cities

Chelyabinsk Oblast cooperates with:

• Ashgabat, Turkmenistan (1997)^[33]

See also

• List of Chairmen of the Legislative Assembly of Chelyabinsk Oblast

References

Notes

1. Russian: Челябинская область, romanized: Chelyabinskaya oblast', IPA: [tɕɪˈlʲæbʲɪnskəjə ˈobɫəstʲ]; Bashkir: Силәбе өлкәһе, romanized: Siläbe ölkähe, IPA: [sʲilæˈβɘ ʉlkæˈhɘ]

Citations

1. Law #60
2. Президент Российской Федерации. Указ №849 от 13 мая 2000 г. «О полномочном представителе Президента Российской Федерации в федеральном округе». Вступил в силу 13 мая 2000 г. Опубликован: "Собрание законодательства РФ", No. 20, ст. 2112, 15 мая 2000 г. (President of the Russian Federation. Decree #849 of May 13, 2000 On the Plenipotentiary Representative of the President of the Russian Federation in a Federal District. Effective as of May 13, 2000.).
3. Госстандарт Российской Федерации. №ОК 024-95 27 декабря 1995 г. «Общероссийский классификатор экономических регионов. 2. Экономические районы», в ред. Изменения №5/2001 ОКЭР. (Gosstandart of the Russian Federation. #OK 024-95 December 27, 1995 Russian Classification of Economic Regions. 2. Economic Regions, as amended by the Amendment #5/2001 OKER. ).
4. Charter, Article 8.3-1
5. Charter, Article 8.4
6. Official website of the Governor of Chelyabinsk Oblast Boris Alexandrovich Dubrovsky Archived 2014-07-07 at the Wayback Machine, Acting Governor of Chelyabinsk Oblast
7. "Сведения о наличии и распределении земель в Российской Федерации на 01.01.2019 (в разрезе субъектов Российской Федерации)". Federal Service for State Registration, Cadastre and Cartography. Archived from the original on 9 February 2022. Retrieved 29 August 2023.
8. Russian Federal State Statistics Service. Всероссийская перепись населения 2020 года. Том 1 [2020 All-Russian Population Census, vol. 1] (XLS) (in Russian). Federal State Statistics Service.
9. "26. Численность постоянного населения Российской Федерации по муниципальным образованиям на 1 января 2018 года". Federal State Statistics Service. Retrieved 23 January 2019.
10. "Об исчислении времени". Официальный интернет-портал правовой информации (in Russian). 3 June 2011. Retrieved 19 January 2019.
11. Official throughout the Russian Federation according to Article 68.1 of the Constitution of Russia.
12. "Investing in Chelyabinsk city - Invest in Russia". Unvestunrussia.biz. Archived from the original on 1 December 2020. Retrieved 9 June 2016.
13. "On cooperation between the Chelyabinsk region and Japan" (PDF). Rotobo.or.jp. Archived (PDF) from the original on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 9 June 2016.
14. "Invest in Ural". Investunural.com. Archived from the original on 24 February 2013. Retrieved 9 June 2016.
15. "Guide to Investment : Chelyabinsk Region" (PDF). Econom-chelrug.ru. Archived from the original (PDF) on 6 March 2016. Retrieved 9 June 2016.
16. "Moscow Signs Power-Sharing Agreements With Five More Regions". Jamestown. 7 July 1997. Archived from the original on 2 May 2019. Retrieved 2 May 2019.
17. Chuman, Mizuki. "The Rise and Fall of Power-Sharing Treaties Between Center and Regions in Post-Soviet Russia" (PDF). Demokratizatsiya: 146. Archived from the original (PDF) on 8 March 2019. Retrieved 2 May 2019.
18. "Выписки ЕГРЮЛ и ЕГРИП, проверка контрагентов, ИНН и КПП организаций, реквизиты ИП и ООО". СБИС (in Russian). Archived from the original on 21 October 2018. Retrieved 20 October 2018.
19. "Magnitogorsk - is our city in the Urals". City of Magnitogorsk. 24 August 2012. Archived from the original on 4 May 2016. Retrieved 12 June 2016.
20. "ВПН-2010". Perepis-2010.ru. Archived from the original on 25 December 2018. Retrieved 9 June 2016.
21. "Bolshoi Nurgush - Peak Visor". Archived from the original on 29 January 2022. Retrieved 29 January 2022.
22. Russian Federal State Statistics Service (2011). Всероссийская перепись населения 2010 года. Том 1 [2010 All-Russian Population Census, vol. 1]. Всероссийская перепись населения 2010 года [2010 All-Russia Population Census] (in Russian). Federal State Statistics Service.
23. Federal State Statistics Service (21 May 2004). Численность населения России, субъектов Российской Федерации в составе федеральных округов, районов, городских поселений, сельских населённых пунктов – районных центров и сельских населённых пунктов с населением 3 тысячи и более человек [Population of Russia, Its Federal Districts, Federal Subjects, Districts, Urban Localities, Rural Localities—Administrative Centers, and Rural Localities with Population of Over 3,000] (XLS). Всероссийская перепись населения 2002 года [All-Russia Population Census of 2002] (in Russian).
24. Всесоюзная перепись населения 1989 г. Численность наличного населения союзных и автономных республик, автономных областей и округов, краёв, областей, районов, городских поселений и сёл-райцентров [All Union Population Census of 1989: Present Population of Union and Autonomous Republics, Autonomous Oblasts and Okrugs, Krais, Oblasts, Districts, Urban Settlements, and Villages Serving as District Administrative Centers]. Всесоюзная перепись населения 1989 года [All-Union Population Census of 1989] (in Russian). Институт демографии Национального исследовательского университета: Высшая школа экономики [Institute of Demography at the National Research University: Higher School of Economics]. 1989 – via Demoscope Weekly.
25. "Information on the number of registered births, deaths, marriages and divorces for January to December 2022". ROSSTAT. Archived from the original on 2 March 2023. Retrieved 21 February 2023.
26. "Birth rate, mortality rate, natural increase, marriage rate, divorce rate for January to December 2022". ROSSTAT. Archived from the original on 2 March 2023. Retrieved 21 February 2023.
27. Суммарный коэффициент рождаемости [Total fertility rate]. Russian Federal State Statistics Service (in Russian). Archived from the original (XLSX) on 10 August 2023. Retrieved 10 August 2023.
28. "Демографический ежегодник России" [The Demographic Yearbook of Russia] (in Russian). Federal State Statistics Service of Russia (Rosstat). Retrieved 1 June 2022.
29. "Национальный состав населения". Federal State Statistics Service. Retrieved 29 August 2023.
30. ^{[dead link]}
31. "Arena: Atlas of Religions and Nationalities in Russia" Archived 2017-12-06 at the Wayback Machine. Sreda, 2012.
32. 2012 Arena Atlas Religion Maps. "Ogonek", № 34 (5243), 27/08/2012. Retrieved 21/04/2017. Archived.
33. "Интернет портал СНГ. 7.4. Соглашения между регионом государства – участника СНГ и регионом государства – участника СНГ (Российская Федерация)". Archived from the original on 9 June 2016.

Sources

• Законодательное Собрание Челябинской области. Закон №22-ЗО от 25 мая 2006 г. «Устав (основной закон) Челябинской области», в ред. Закона №427-ЗО от 30 апреля 2009 г. (Legislative Assembly of Chelyabinsk Oblast. Law #22-ZO of May 25, 2006 Charter (Basic Law) of Chelyabinsk Oblast, as amended by the Law #427-ZO of April 30, 2009. ).

External links

• Reddatabook of Chelyabinsk Oblast
• Regional Development Agency of Chelyabinsk region