Chita Oblast
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Chita Oblast (English) Читинская область (Russian) |
|
|---|---|
.svg/200px-Russia_-_Chita_Oblast_(2008-01).svg.png) Location of Chita Oblast in Russia |
|
| Coat of Arms | Flag |
 Coat of arms of Chita Oblast |
 Flag of Chita Oblast |
| Anthem: None | |
| Administrative center | Chita |
| Established | September 26, 1937 |
| Political status Federal district Economic region |
Oblast Siberian East Siberian |
| Code | 75 |
| Area | |
| Area - Rank within Russia |
431,500 km² 12th |
| Population (as of the 2002 Census) | |
| Population - Rank within Russia - Density - Urban - Rural |
1,155,346 inhabitants 47th 2.7 inhab. / km² 63.9% 36.1% |
| Official language | Russian |
| Government | |
| Governor | Ravil Geniatulin |
| First Deputy Governor | Vladimir Okunev |
| Legislative body | Oblast Duma |
| Charter | Charter of Chita Oblast |
| Official website | |
| http://obladm.chita.ru/ | |
Chita Oblast (Russian: Чити́нская о́бласть), Chitinskaya oblast) was a federal subject of Russia (an oblast) in south-east Siberia, Russia. Its administrative center was the city of Chita. It had extensive international borders with China (998 km) and Mongolia (868 km) and internal borders with Irkutsk and Amur Oblasts, as well as with the Buryat and the Sakha Republics. On March 1, 2008, Chita Oblast merged with Agin-Buryat Autonomous Okrug to form Zabaykalsky Krai.
The territory that made up the former Chita Oblast was first explored by Cossacks led by Pyotr Beketov in 1653. People began to move into and develop the area in order to strengthen Russia's border with China and Mongolia, extract mineral resources, and build the Trans-Siberian railway. In 1920, Chita became the capital of the Far East Republic, which merged with Russia in November 1922, a month before the Soviet Union was constituted. In 1923, Chita Oblast was formed.
The oblast was rich in ferrous, non-ferrous, rare, and precious metals, coal, charcoal, and mineral waters. Russia's estimated reserves of ores with a high uranium content are 145,400 tons. Most of these deposits are located in the former Chita Oblast, near Krasnokamensk, site of the Priargunsky Mining and Chemical Combine (PMCC).[1] Forests cover about 60% of its territory. As a result, the oblast's main industries were metallurgy, fuel, and timber. It also had advanced light and food industries. Local agriculture focused on cattle, sheep, and reindeer breeding.
Contents |
[edit] Geography
[edit] Time zone
Chita Oblast was located in the Yakutsk Time Zone (YAKT/YAKST). UTC offset is +0900 (YAKT)/+1000 (YAKST).
[edit] Administrative divisions
[edit] Demographics
Birth rate: Quite high at 13.77 (2004), but still there were more deaths than births (2005 official figures).
The population were mostly Russians and Buryats, along with some Ukrainians and a few Evenks. There were 1,000 Jews, who mostly speak Yiddish in the regional capital. According to the 2002 census, Russians made up 89.8% of the population while Buriots were 6.1%. Other significant groups were Tatars (0.71%), Armene (0.31%), Byelorussian (0.26%), Azeri (0.18%), Evenks (0.13%), Nemts (0.11%), Chuvash (0.11%), Bashkirs (0.11%), Moldvin (0.07%), Mordvin (0.06%), Uzbek (0.06%) and Dargwa (0.05%).
In 2007, Chita Oblast recorded a small natural population increase (+0.03% without taking any migration into account), becoming one of the only two Russian federal subjects to reverse its population decline in 2007. The other federal subject was Kamchatka Oblast, with a NGPR of +0.005%. Chita Oblast is one of only twenty Russian federal subjects to have a +ve natural growth of population.[2][3] But population of Chita actually decreased in 2007 due to very heavy emigration.
Vital Statistics for 2007: Source
Birth Rate: 14.63 per 1000
Death Rate: 14.33 per 1000
Net Immigration: -3.2 per 1000
NGR: +0.03% per Year
PGR: -0.29% per Year
