Belgorod Oblast

Subject of the Russian Federation Belgorod Oblast Белгородская область flag coat of arms Federal district Central Russia surface 27,134  km² population 1,532,526 inhabitants (as of October 14, 2010) Population density 56 inhabitants / km² Administrative center Belgorod Official language Russian Ethnic composition Russians (91.66%) Ukrainians (2.73%) (as of 2010) governor Yevgeny Savchenko Founded January 6, 1954 Time zone UTC + 3 Telephone prefixes (+7) 472xx Postcodes 308000-309999 License Plate 31 OKATO 14th ISO 3166-2 RUBLE Website www.belregion.ru

Coordinates: 50 ° 36 '  N , 37 ° 18'  E

The Belgorod Oblast ( Russian Белгородская область Belgorodskaya oblast ) is a federal subject of Russia . The administrative center is Belgorod with 356,402 inhabitants (as of October 14, 2010), 70 km north of the Ukrainian metropolis of Kharkiv . In terms of population, the oblast ranks 30th among the subjects of the Russian Federation.

Location and geography

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  The Walui

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  The Neschegol

The oblast lies on the border with Ukraine around 500 to 700 kilometers south of Moscow and extends over around 27,000 km², making it 71st in Russia. Its north-south extension is 190 km, west-east it is around 270 km. In the north it borders on Kursk Oblast , in the east on Voronezh Oblast and in the west and south the 540 km long state border with Ukraine runs.

Geologically, the oblast lies on the southern edge of the Central Russian Plate . The territory of Belgorod Oblast lies in the catchment areas of the two rivers Don and Dnieper . The central and eastern part of the area belongs to the catchment area of ​​the Don. Its most important rivers Seversky Donets and its tributaries Oskol and Aidar flow in southern directions , the rivers in the northeast of the oblast, such as the Tichaya Sosna , in eastern directions. The hill country in the western part of the area, with an average height of 200 meters, is drained from the Worskla and the Seim in a westerly direction to the Dnepr flowing into the Ukraine. There are a total of 480 large and small rivers and streams. Most of the area is characterized by forest and meadow landscapes , the steppe and meadow landscape predominates in the south. About 10 percent of the territory is covered by forest. In terms of mineral resources, there are mainly iron ore ( Kursk magnetic anomaly ), and deposits of bauxite , apatite , lime, clay , gold, graphite and other metals. 77 percent of the area of ​​the oblast consists of fertile black earth . The largest occurring wild animals are wild boar, roe deer, elk, wild hares, foxes, martens, polecats and a few dozen wolves. The Belogorje nature reserve includes many forms of landscape and vegetation of the southern forest steppe.

The climate is temperate continental with relatively mild winters and long summers. The average temperature in January is −8 ° C and in July around 20 ° C. The frost-free period is around 155 to 160 days, with an average of 1,800 hours of sunshine annually. The annual rainfall is around 540 to 550 mm. The east of the oblast is a little drier with 400 mm of precipitation.

history

Map of the Belgorod governorate from 1745

The coat of arms of the Belgorod governorates from 1730

Belgorod Oblast looks back on a long history of settlement. In the 8th century, the Alans lived on the territory of Belgorod Oblast , then the Khazars followed . The first Slavs came from the north and settled here in the second half of the first millennium. During the time of the Kievan Rus , this area was part of the Chernigov principality . The Mongol invasion of the Rus also devastated this region. The area then went to the possession of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, which was expanding strongly to the east . In the course of the Russo-Lithuanian wars , the region had belonged to the Moscow state since 1500. The area formed the southern line of defense of the Moscow Rus against the Crimean Tatars at the end of the 16th century . Especially Zaporozhian Cossacks settled here to protect the border.

In the 18th century, with the further advance of Russia, the Belgorod defense line lost its importance. From 1708 the area became part of the Kiev and Azov governorates . In 1727 the Belgorod governorate was created from parts of the Kiev governorate, with a population of over a million inhabitants and 34 cities (Kursk, Oryol, Brjansk, Valujki, etc.), making it much larger than today's oblast. Between 1775 and 1779 the governorate was divided. The Belgorod area now became part of the Kursk Governorate . Handicrafts and trade dominated the economy, chalk was mined and lime, bricks, saltpeter and wax were produced. In the second half of the 19th century, the development of the railway network and industrialization began.

Between 1917 and 1919 the area of ​​today's Belgorod Oblast belonged to the Ukrainian SSR . In the Second World War in Belgorod and the surrounding area heavy fighting took place. Heavy tank battles broke out during the Battle of Kursk near Prokhorovka (July 12, 1943). Belgorod Oblast was formed in 1954 from parts of Russia 's Kursk Oblast and Voronezh Oblast .

Economy and Transport

Belgorod Oblast is a highly developed industrial and agricultural region in Russia. Iron ore mining and processing are particularly important economically. The iron ore is mined in the vicinity of Belgorod, Stary Oskol, Gubkin and Schebekino. One of the important branches of the economy is also the production of products from chalk . Mechanical engineering and metal processing also play a major role. There are chemical and biochemical plants in Schebekino . Large parts of the area are also used for agriculture. Agriculture in the Oblast has traditionally had strong trade ties with the agri-industrial sector of Ukraine. The most important crops are sugar beets, sunflowers, winter wheat and barley.

Regionally significant train routes and highways run across the territory of the Oblast. These connect the oblast with Moscow and Ukraine. The Crimean trunk road and the Moscow-Kharkiv-Sevastopol railway line are of great importance . The total of train kilometers in the oblast is 695 kilometers. The length of the paved roads is 8,500 kilometers.

population

The last Russian censuses in 2002 and 2010 showed a population of 1,511,620 and 1,532,526 residents, respectively. Thus the number of inhabitants increased by 20,906 people (+1.4%) in these eight years. The distribution of the different ethnic groups was as follows:

Population of the oblast by ethnic group

nationality	VZ 1989	percent	VZ 2002	percent	VZ 2010	percent
Russians	1,280,457	92.90	1,403,977	92.88	1,404,653	91.66
Ukrainians	75,145	5.45	57,846	3.83	41,914	2.73
Armenians	1,488	0.11	7,824	0.52	7,588	0.50
Turks	10	0.00	3,984	0.26	4,665	0.30
Azerbaijanis	1.911	0.14	4,531	0.30	4,621	0.30
Belarusians	5,097	0.37	4,912	0.32	3,284	0.21
Tatars	1,539	0.11	3,391	0.22	3,237	0.21
Moldovans	977	0.07	1,962	0.13	2,048	0.13
Zigane	1,303	0.09	1,772	0.12	1,989	0.13
German	1,068	0.08	2,183	0.14	1,922	0.13
Residents	1,378,287	100.00	1,511,620	100.00	1,532,526	100.00

Note: the proportions refer to the total number of inhabitants. Including the group of people who did not provide any information about their ethnic affiliation (2002 6,919 and 2010 44,012 people)

The population of the area today consists almost entirely of Russians. The Ukrainians are the only significant ethnic minority in Belgorod Oblast. Their number - like the number of Belarusians - is falling sharply, however.

Administrative divisions and cities

→ Main article : Administrative division of Belgorod Oblast

Belgorod Stary Oskol Gubkin Schebekino Alexeyevka Waluiki Stroitel Ukraine Kursk Oblast Voronezh Oblast Kharkiv

The oblast is divided into three city ​​districts (Belgorod, Gubkin and Stary Oskol ) and 19 Rajons (districts). There are a total of eleven cities in the oblast, including the two large cities of Belgorod and Stary Oskol, and 18 urban-type settlements .

city	Russian name	Residents (October 14, 2010)
Belgorod	Белгород	356,402
Stary Oskol	Старый Оскол	221.085
Gubkin	Губкин	88,560
Schebekino	Шебекино	44,279
Alexeyevka	Алексеевка	39,026
Waluiki	Валуйки	35,322
Stroitel	Строитель	23,933

See also : List of cities in Belgorod Oblast

Web links

Commons : Belgorod Oblast  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

• Official website of Belgorod Oblast
• Web atlas of Belgorod Oblast
• Belgorod Oblast Geoportal

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Administrativno-territorialʹnoe delenie po subʺektam Rossijskoj Federacii na 1 janvarja 2010 goda (administrative-territorial division according to subjects of the Russian Federation as of January 1, 2010). ( Download from the website of the Federal Service for State Statistics of the Russian Federation)
2. ↑ ^{a b c} Itogi Vserossijskoj perepisi naselenija 2010 goda. Tom 1. Čislennostʹ i razmeščenie naselenija (Results of the All-Russian Census 2010. Volume 1. Number and distribution of the population). Tables 5 , pp. 12-209; 11 , pp. 312–979 (download from the website of the Federal Service for State Statistics of the Russian Federation)
3. ↑ Nacional'nyj sostav naselenija po sub "ektam Rossijskoj Federacii. (XLS) In: Itogi Vserossijskoj perepisi naselenija 2010 goda. Rosstat, accessed on June 30, 2016 (Russian, ethnic composition of the population according to federal subjects , results of the 2010 census).