Leningrad Oblast

Subject of the Russian Federation Leningrad Oblast Ленинградская область flag coat of arms Federal district Northwest Russia surface 83,908  km² population 1,716,868 inhabitants (as of October 14, 2010) Population density 20 inhabitants / km² Administrative center St. Petersburg Official language Russian Ethnic composition Russians (89.6%) Ukrainians (2.5%) Belarusians (1.6%) (as of 2002) governor Alexander Drosdenko Founded August 1, 1927 Time zone UTC + 3 Telephone prefixes (+7) 813xx Postcodes 187000-188999 License Plate 47 OKATO 41 ISO 3166-2 RU-LEN Website www.lenobl.ru

Coordinates: 59 ° 51 ′  N , 31 ° 18 ′  E

The Leningrad Oblast ( Russian Ленинградская область / Leningradskaja oblast ) is an oblast in the north-western part of Russia . The area encloses Saint Petersburg , the seat of the administration is also there, but the city itself is a separate administrative unit. In contrast to the city, the oblast retained its Soviet-era name following a resolution by the local Soviets .

geography

The oblast includes the greater Saint Petersburg area and stretches from the Finnish and Estonian borders over the southern half of Lake Ladoga to Lake Onega . The west-east extension is 450 km, the maximum north-south extension 320 km. The main rivers are Neva and Volkhov . There are 1,800 lakes on the territory of Leningrad Oblast. Among them are the largest and the second largest freshwater lake in Europe with Lake Ladoga and Lake Onega.

Fortress Schlüsselburg

economy

Vyborg

Monastery in Tikhvin

The economy is diverse; The most important branches of industry include mechanical engineering, wood processing, the chemical industry and energy generation. Tourism also plays a role. The city of Saint Petersburg is one of the most visited places in Russia, and many tourists are drawn to the area around the city and thus to Leningrad Oblast.

history

In the 17th century, what is now Leningrad Oblast belonged to the Swedish Empire

The area on the Gulf of Finland was known as Ingermanland and was inhabited by Finno-Ugric peoples for a long time . With the Wepsen , Woten and Ischoren (Ingriern), small remnants of these peoples still live in the region. In the 8th century AD, the Slavs firmly settled on this territory. The Slavs advanced along the main waterways, the Baltic Sea and Lake Ladoga, and opened up the country. The relations of the Eastern Slavs with the less numerous indigenous people were of a peaceful nature.

During this time, Old Ladoga was built on the banks of the Volkhov River , the oldest settlement in northwestern Russia. In the 9th and 10th centuries, Old Ladoga played an important role as a political and economic center in the development of the Old Russian state. A related event is the invitation in 862 of the Varangian dynasty of the Rjuriks with brothers and entourage to Alt-Lagoda, who were supposed to end the disputes among the tribes after the death of the last member of the local Slavic tribal chiefs. This event is considered to be the founding date of the Russian state (see History of Russia ).

The territory of today's Leningrad Region belonged to the countries of the Novgorod Republic from 1136 to 1478 . In the 13th and 14th centuries, these lands became a battleground in fending off the attacks of the masters of Livonia and Sweden. In 1240 the famous Battle of the Neva took place, in which the Russian troops, under the command of Prince Alexander Nevsky, repulsed the Swedes. In January 1478, the Novgorod Republic ended. Their lands went to the Grand Duchy of Moscow .

In the time of turmoil , in the early 17th century, the area went to Sweden. Russia's attempt to recapture the lost territories by military means in the years 1656–1658 initially failed. Early 18th century during the Great Northern War , the area was Peter I . recaptured. In order to secure Russia's access to the Baltic Sea, Peter I founded the new St. Petersburg fortress on May 16, 1703 on an island in the Neva Delta, which then became the capital of the Russian Empire. The historical predecessor of the oblast was the Ingermanland Governorate (later Saint Petersburg , Petrograd, Leningrad Governorate ), which was formed in 1708. The Leningrad Oblast was formed on August 1, 1927, but with a much larger area than today. It was not until after 1945 that it was essentially given its current layout.

After the Winter War (1939-1940) Finland lost some territories to the Soviet Union. This enlarged the Leningrad Oblast. From July 1941 to August 1944, bitter battles of the Second World War took place here. The battle for Leningrad is one of the most important battles. For 900 days and nights the soldiers of the Leningrad and Volkhov Fronts held up the Wehrmacht and Finnish troops on the access routes to Leningrad. During the Leningrad blockade , the “ Road of Life ”, the only line connecting the besieged city and the hinterland , ran on the territory of the area . The war has caused enormous damage to Leningrad Oblast. Industry in the occupied districts was almost completely destroyed. 16 cities and over 4,000 settlements were devastated. In January 1945 the oblast had only 483,000 inhabitants, compared to the 1,258,000 inhabitants before the war.

By 1978, the area of ​​the city of Leningrad was expanded to include the satellite cities of Kolpino , Pushkin , Lomonossow , Kronstadt , Peterhof and adjacent suburbs. These cities are now considered municipal districts of Saint Petersburg and therefore no longer administratively or territorially belong to the oblast.

After the collapse of the Soviet Union , the oblast was spared many problems in the post-Soviet area, such as a decline in population.

population

The last Russian censuses in 2002 and 2010 showed a population of 1,669,205 and 1,716,868 residents, respectively. Thus the number of inhabitants increased by 47,663 people (+ 2.86%) in these eight years. In 2010, 1,127,551 people lived in cities. This corresponds to 65.67% of the population (in Russia 73%). By January 1, 2014, the population increased further to 1,763,924 people. The distribution of the different ethnic groups was as follows:

Piskaryovskoye Memorial Cemetery , St. Petersburg

Population of the oblast by ethnic group

nationality	VZ 1989	percent	VZ 2002	percent	VZ 2010	percent
Russians	1,502,901	90.88	1,495,295	89.58	1,485,905	86.55
Ukrainians	49.182	2.97	41,842	2.51	31,769	1.85
Belarusians	33,704	2.04	26,290	1.58	16,830	0.98
Tatars	7,757	0.47	9.432	0.57	8,693	0.51
Armenians	1,761	0.11	5,518	0.33	7,072	0.41
Uzbeks	1,188	0.07	1,001	0.06	6,717	0.39
Azerbaijanis	1,920	0.12	3,855	0.23	4,574	0.27
Finns	11,833	0.72	7,930	0.48	4,366	0.25
Zigane	4.215	0.25	4,573	0.27	3,885	0.23
Wepsen	4,273	0.26	2,019	0.12	1,380	0.08
Karelians	3,371	0.20	2,057	0.12	1,345	0.08
Jews	3,587	0.22	1,734	0.10	1,206	0.07
Ischoren	276	0.02	177	0.01	169	0.01
Residents	1,653,723	100.00	1,669,205	100.00	1,716,868	100.00

Note: the proportions refer to the total number of inhabitants. It includes the group of people who did not provide any information about their ethnic affiliation (39,028 in 2002 and 114,747 in 2010)

The area's population is around 90% Russians. The Ukrainians and Belarusians are the only notable ethnic minorities in Leningrad Oblast. Their number - like the number of Finns, Wepsen, Karelians and Jews - drops sharply as a result of assimilation. The indigenous and once dominant Finno-Ugric peoples (Wepsen, Karelians, Finns, Ischors and Woten) are also culturally largely assimilated and today have almost completely disappeared. Around 1800 there were more than 100,000 Wepsen (Central and South Wepsen), Ischoren and Woten in what was then Ingermanland . In the 1959 census, their share was only a few percentage points. On the other hand, numerous people have immigrated from the Transcaucasus and Central Asia since the end of the Soviet Union. Most of them, however, settled in Saint Petersburg itself and not in the oblast.

Administrative divisions and cities

→ Main article : Administrative divisions of Leningrad Oblast

The oblast is divided into 17 Rajons and one urban district ( Sosnovy Bor ).

There are a total of 31 cities and 32 urban-type settlements .

Biggest cities

Surname	Russian	Residents (October 14, 2010)
Gatchina	Гатчина	92,937
Vyborg	Выборг	79,962
Sosnovy Bor	Сосновый Бор	65,788
Vsevolozhsk	Всеволожск	59,704
Tikhvin	Тихвин	58,459
Kirishi	Кириши	52,309

See also : List of cities in Leningrad Oblast

Web links

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

• Official website of Leningrad Oblast
• Lenoblin form

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} 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. ↑ Sowet, roschdjonny "wetrom peremen" ( Memento from January 21, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) on газетавести.рф (accessed on February 5, 2013)