Belgorod Oblast
Belgorod Oblast (Russian: Белгоро́дская о́бласть, Belgorodskaya oblast) is a federal subject of Russia. Specifically, it is an oblast. Its administrative center (capital city) is the city of Belgorod. Population: 1,532,526 (2010 Census);[8]
| Belgorod Oblast Белгородская область (Russian) | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| — Oblast — | |||
| |||
| |||
| Political status | |||
| Country | Russia | ||
| Federal district | Central[1] | ||
| Economic region | Central Black Earth[2] | ||
| Established | 6 January 1954[3] | ||
| Administrative center | Belgorod[4] | ||
| Government (as of February 2014) | |||
| • Governor[6] | Vyacheslav Gladkov[5] | ||
| • Legislature | Oblast Duma[6] | ||
| Statistics | |||
| Area (as of the 2002 Census)[7] | |||
| • Total | 27,100 km2 (10,500 sq mi) | ||
| Area rank | 67th | ||
| Population (2010 Census)[8] | |||
| • Total | 1,532,526 | ||
| • Rank | 28th | ||
| • Density[9] | 56.55/km2 (146.5/sq mi) | ||
| • Urban | 66.1% | ||
| • Rural | 33.9% | ||
| Population (January 2013 est.) | |||
| • Total | 1,541,000[10] | ||
| Time zone(s) | MSK (UTC+04:00) | ||
| ISO 3166-2 | RU-BEL | ||
| License plates | 31 | ||
| Official languages | Russian[11] | ||
| Official website | |||
History
During the 17th century, Belgorod Oblast was home to a line of military forts that were held by the Cossacks.
After the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk, the territory was given to the Ukrainian State. Modern-day Belgorod Oblast was created in 1954 from parts of Kursk and Voronezh Oblasts.
Geography
Belgorod Oblast is part of the Central Black Earth economic region and the Central Federal District. It borders the Ukrainian oblasts of Luhansk, Kharkiv, and Sumy in the south and west, Kursk Oblast in the north and northwest, and Voronezh Oblast in the east.
The size of the oblast is around 27,100 square kilometers (10,500 sq mi). It is in the southwestern and southern slopes of the Central Russian Upland.
Belgorod Oblast has a temperate continental climate with mild winters and long summers.
Natural resources
Over 40% of the known iron ore reserves in Russia are in Belgorod Oblast. There are also large amounts of bauxite and apatite. Some other known resources are gold and graphite.
Culture
The Belgorod region had an important role in the evolution of Russian culture.[12] It was inhabited by different tribes besides East Slavs. It was one of the earliest Rus' principalities. Belgorod Oblast had an important role in the Russian wedding tradition of the Rushnyk. Belgorod is also famous for its wood carving.
Wood carving of Belgorod
Traditional folk costumes of Belgorod
Belgorod bread. Belgorod region was one of the Old Russian regions from which the Bread and Salt tradition spread
Demographics
The oblast is 67th place in area compared to the other Russian federal subjects. In population it is ranked 28th.
Largest cities and towns
Largest cities or towns in Belgorod Oblast
2010 Russian Census | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | Administrative Division | Pop. | |||||||
 Belgorod  Stary Oskol |
1 | Belgorod | City of oblast significance of Belgorod | 356,402 |  Gubkin  Shebekino | ||||
| 2 | Stary Oskol | Starooskolsky District | 221,085 | ||||||
| 3 | Gubkin | Gubkinsky District | 88,560 | ||||||
| 4 | Shebekino | Shebekinsky District | 44,277 | ||||||
| 5 | Alexeyevka | Alexeyevsky District | 39,026 | ||||||
| 6 | Valuyki | Valuysky District | 35,322 | ||||||
| 7 | Stroitel | Yakovlevsky District | 23,933 | ||||||
| 8 | Novy Oskol | Novooskolsky District | 19,530 | ||||||
| 9 | Chernyanka | Chernyansky District | 15,217 | ||||||
| 10 | Borisovka | Borisovsky District | 13,896 | ||||||
Ethnic groups
Russian is the only official language of the oblast.
| Ethnicity | Number | % |
|---|---|---|
| Russian | 1,404,653 | 94.4% |
| Ukrainian | 41,914 | 2.8% |
| Armenian | 7,588 | 0.5% |
| Azeri | 4,621 | 0.3% |
| Turkish | 4,665 | 0.3% |
| Others | 25,073 | 1.7% |
Administrative divisions
Belgorod Oblast is divided into twenty-one districts (raions).These are then divided into 335 rural okrugs. There are ten cities/towns in the oblast. There are also twenty urban-type settlements and 1,592 rural-type settlements.
Economy
Belgorod Oblast's large economy is based mainly on its mineral resources and its unique black soils. There are also many important railways and highways that go through the oblast. These connect Moscow to central Russia and Ukraine.
Belgorod Oblast Media
Map of Belgorod Governorate (1745)
Nikolo-Tikhvinsky Monastery in 1900
Old Russian Rushnyk in Belgorod
Oblast Administration building in Belgorod
Life expectancy at birth in Belgorod Oblast
Smolensky church in Belgorod
References
- ↑ 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", №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.).
- ↑ 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. ).
- ↑ Official website of Belgorod Oblast. History of Belgorod Oblast Archived 2016-07-21 at the Wayback Machine (in Russian)
- ↑ Charter of Belgorod Oblast, Article 2.3
- ↑ Official website of Belgorod Oblast. Yevgeny Stepanovich Savchenko, Governor of Belgorod Oblast Archived 2016-06-29 at the Wayback Machine (in Russian)
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Charter, Article 5
- ↑ Федеральная служба государственной статистики (Federal State Statistics Service) (2004-05-21). "Территория, число районов, населённых пунктов и сельских администраций по субъектам Российской Федерации (Territory, Number of Districts, Inhabited Localities, and Rural Administration by Federal Subjects of the Russian Federation)". Всероссийская перепись населения 2002 года (All-Russia Population Census of 2002) (in Russian). Federal State Statistics Service. Retrieved 2011-11-01.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unrecognized language (link) - ↑ 8.0 8.1 "Всероссийская перепись населения 2010 года. Том 1[[Category:Articles containing Russian language text]]". Всероссийская перепись населения 2010 года (2010 All-Russia Population Census) (in Russian). Federal State Statistics Service. 2011. Retrieved June 29, 2012.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|accessdate=(help); no-break space character in|accessdate=at position 9 (help); Unknown parameter|trans_title=ignored (|trans-title=suggested) (help); URL–wikilink conflict (help)CS1 maint: unrecognized language (link) - ↑ The density value was calculated by dividing the population reported by the 2010 Census by the area shown in the "Area" field. Please note that this value may not be accurate as the area specified in the infobox is not necessarily reported for the same year as the population.
- ↑ Belgorod Oblast Territorial Branch of the Federal State Statistics Service. Численность населения Белгородской области на 1 января Archived 3 March 2014 at the Wayback Machine (in Russian)
- ↑ Official throughout the Russian Federation according to Article 68.1 of the Constitution of Russia.
- ↑ "Belgorod oblast, Russia guide". russiatrek.org. Retrieved 2018-12-19.
Other websites
- (in Russian) Official website of Belgorod Oblast Archived 10 December 2020 at the Wayback Machine
- Belgorod Oblast sceneries photos