Vladimir Oblast (russian: Влади́мирская о́бласть, ''Vladimirskaya oblast'') is a federal subject of Russia (an oblast). Its closest border 66 km east of central Moscow, the administrative center is the

city A city is a human settlement of notable size.Goodall, B. (1987) ''The Penguin Dictionary of Human Geography''. London: Penguin.Kuper, A. and Kuper, J., eds (1996) ''The Social Science Encyclopedia''. 2nd edition. London: Routledge. It can be def ...

of Vladimir, which is located east of Moscow. As of the 2010 Census, the oblast's population was 1,443,693. The UNESCO World Heritage List includes the 12th-century cathedrals of Vladimir,

Suzdal Suzdal ( rus, Суздаль, p=ˈsuzdəlʲ) is a town that serves as the administrative center of Suzdalsky District in Vladimir Oblast, Russia, which is located on the Kamenka River, north of the city of Vladimir. Vladimir is the admin ...

, Bogolyubovo, and Kideksha.

Geography

Vladimir Oblast borders Moscow, Yaroslavl,

Ivanovo Ivanovo ( rus, Иваново, p=ɪˈvanəvə) is a types of inhabited localities in Russia, city in Russia. It is the administrative center and largest city of Ivanovo Oblast, located northeast of Moscow and approximately from Yaroslavl, Vlad ...

, Ryazan, and Nizhny Novgorod Oblasts. The oblast is situated in the center of the East European Plain. The

Klyazma The Klyazma (, ''Klyaz'ma''), a river in the Moscow, Nizhny Novgorod, Ivanovo and Vladimir Oblasts in Russia, forms a left tributary of the Oka.Oka Oka or OKA may refer to: Cars * Oka (automobile), a small car designed by AvtoVAZ and produced by ZMA and SeAZ * OKA 4wd, a large 4-wheel-drive vehicle made in Western Australia by OKA Military * 2B1 Oka, Soviet 420 mm self-propelled mor ...

are the most important rivers. There are approximately three hundred lakes. The oblast is situated in a zone of mixed forests.

Fauna

The oblast's fauna currently includes more than fifty species of mammals (some examples including

elk The elk (''Cervus canadensis''), also known as the wapiti, is one of the largest species within the deer family, Cervidae, and one of the largest terrestrial mammals in its native range of North America and Central and East Asia. The common ...

, wild boar, roe deer, red and sika deer,

lynx A lynx is a type of wild cat. Lynx may also refer to: Astronomy * Lynx (constellation) * Lynx (Chinese astronomy) * Lynx X-ray Observatory, a NASA-funded mission concept for a next-generation X-ray space observatory Places Canada * Lynx, Ontar ...

, wolf, squirrel, rabbit, marten, fox, weasel, badger and other fur-bearing animals), five species of reptiles, and ten species of amphibians. The semiaquatic Russian desman is listed in the Russian Red Book of endangered species. The region is inhabited by 216 species of birds, among which are the

capercaillie ''Tetrao'' is a genus of birds in the grouse subfamily known as capercaillies. They are some of the largest living grouse. Taxonomy The genus ''Tetrao'' was introduced in 1758 by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in the tenth edition of his ...

, black grouse, grouse, partridge, woodcock, goose, duck, etc. The lesser white-fronted goose is listed in the Red Book. Hunting season runs from October to February with the following license and permit restrictions: *Elk, wild boar, red deer, and sika deer from mid-November through mid-January *Hare from October through January *Grouse, black grouse, woodcock, duck and goose for 10 days in April. Bodies of water in the region are rich in numerous species (about 40) of fresh-water fish (e.g. eel,

roach Roach may refer to: Animals * Cockroach, various insect species of the order Blattodea * Common roach (''Rutilus rutilus''), a fresh and brackish water fish of the family Cyprinidae ** ''Rutilus'' or roaches, a genus of fishes * California roach ...

pike Pike, Pikes or The Pike may refer to: Fish * Blue pike or blue walleye, an extinct color morph of the yellow walleye ''Sander vitreus'' * Ctenoluciidae, the "pike characins", some species of which are commonly known as pikes * ''Esox'', genus of ...

, perch, bream,

rudd ''Scardinius'' is a genus of ray-finned fish in the family Cyprinidae commonly called rudds. Locally, the name "rudd" without any further qualifiers is also used for individual species, particularly the common rudd (''S. erythrophthalmus''). Th ...

, and

sturgeon Sturgeon is the common name for the 27 species of fish belonging to the family Acipenseridae. The earliest sturgeon fossils date to the Late Cretaceous The Late Cretaceous (100.5–66 Ma) is the younger of two epochs into which the Cretace ...

in the

Klyazma River The Klyazma (, ''Klyaz'ma''), a river in the Moscow, Nizhny Novgorod, Ivanovo and Vladimir Oblasts in Russia, forms a left tributary of the Oka.ice fishing in winter. Additionally, the oblast has several hunting farms.

Hydrography

The total expanse of the oblast's surface waters is 32.9 hectares. The region has hundreds of rivers with a total length of more than 8.6 million kilometers—there are 560 rivers and streams throughout the oblast. The Klyazma River flows into the

Oka River The Oka (russian: Ока́, ) is a river in central Russia, the largest right tributary of the Volga. It flows through the regions of Oryol, Tula, Kaluga, Moscow, Ryazan, Vladimir and Nizhny Novgorod and is navigable over a large part of its ...

on the south-eastern edge of the oblast's border with the

Nizhny Novgorod Region Nizhny Novgorod Oblast (russian: link=no, Нижегородская область, ''Nizhegorodskaya oblast''), is a federal subject of Russia (an oblast). Its administrative center is the city of Nizhny Novgorod. It has a population of 3,310,5 ...

. The Klyazma River's major tributaries in the Vladimir Region are the

Sherna The Sherna (russian: Ше́рна) is a river in Vladimir and Moscow Oblasts in Russia. It is a left tributary of the Klyazma. It has a length of 89 km, and a drainage basin A drainage basin is an area of land where all flowing surface ...

(with the Molokcha flowing into it), the

Kirzhach Kirzhach (russian: Киржа́ч) is a town and the administrative center of Kirzhachsky District in Vladimir Oblast, Russia, located on the Kirzhach River in the west of the oblast, west of Vladimir and south of Alexandrov. Population: Et ...

(with its own tributaries being the Big and Small Kirzhach), the

Peksha Peksha (russian: Пекша) is a rural locality (a village) and the administrative center of Pekshinskoye Rural Settlement, Petushinsky District, Vladimir Oblast Vladimir Oblast (russian: Влади́мирская о́бласть, ''Vladimi ...

, the

Koloksha Koloksha (russian: Колокша) is a rural locality (a village) in Kolokshanskoye Rural Settlement, Sobinsky District, Vladimir Oblast, Russia. The population was 31 as of 2010. There are 6 streets. Geography Koloksha is located on the Koloks ...

, the Nerl, the

Sudogda Sudogda (russian: Су́догда) is a town and the administrative center of Sudogodsky District in Vladimir Oblast, Russia, located on the left bank of the river Sudogda (Klyazma's tributary) southeast of Vladimir, the administrative center ...

, the

Uvod The Uvod (russian: У́водь) is a river in Ivanovo and Vladimir Oblasts in Russia, a left tributary of the Klyazma (Volga's basin).Lukh and the Suvorosch. Tributaries of the Oka within Vladimir oblast are the

Gus Gus is a masculine name, often a diminutive for Angus, August, Augustine, or Augustus, and other names (e.g. Aengus, Argus, Fergus, Ghassan, Gustav, Gustave, Gustafson, Gustavo, Gussie). It can also be used as the adaptation into English of ...

, Unzha, and Ushna rivers. The Dubna River, a tributary of the Volga River, originates near the town of Alexandrov. The Oka River is navigable throughout the region (157 km). The rivers in the region are characterized by their flat currents, broad valleys and meandering channels. Water levels are characterized by their high spring tides, low water periods over summer-autumn with occasional flooding during heavy rains, and stable/low levels throughout the winter. There are about three hundred lakes covering an area of five thousand hectares. Most of them are small and undrained and many are overgrown with a peat layer. The origin of the lakes varies. Numerous

oxbow lake An oxbow lake is a U-shaped lake or pool that forms when a wide meander of a river is cut off, creating a free-standing body of water. In South Texas, oxbows left by the Rio Grande are called '' resacas''. In Australia, oxbow lakes are call ...

s are scattered along the river valleys. The largest of them are Lake Urvanovskoe (12 km long) and Lake Visha (length about 10 km). In the

Meshchera Lowlands Meshchera Lowlands (Meshchyora Lowlands) (), also referred to as simply Meshchera/Meshchyora, is a spacious lowland in the middle of the European Russia. It is named after the Finnic Meshchera people, which used to live there (later mixing ...

and in the northwest of the oblast are lakes of ancient alluvial valleys: Isikhry, Svyatoe and others. Lakes of

karst Karst is a topography formed from the dissolution of soluble rocks such as limestone, dolomite, and gypsum. It is characterized by underground drainage systems with sinkholes and caves. It has also been documented for more weathering-resistant ro ...

origin, located in the lower reaches of the Klyazma and in the center of

Vyaznikovsky District Vyaznikovsky District (russian: Вя́зниковский райо́н) is an administrativeLaw #130-OZ and municipalLaw #62-OZ district (raion), one of the sixteen in Vladimir Oblast, Russia. It is located in the northeast of the oblast. The are ...

(a northeastern district in the oblast), have highly mineralized water and are associated with underground watercourses. The largest and deepest of them is

Lake Kshchara A lake is an area filled with water, localized in a Depression (geology), basin, surrounded by land, and distinct from any river or other outlet that serves to feed or drain the lake. Lakes lie on land and are not part of the World Ocean, oce ...

. In the districts of Alexandrov and Yuryev-Polsky glacial lakes are small in size. The main masses of wetlands in the region (total area of 37.4 thousand hectares) occur in Meshchera and

Balakhna Balakhna (russian: Балахна́) is a town and the administrative center of Balakhninsky District in Nizhny Novgorod Oblast, Russia, located on the right bank of the Volga River, north of Nizhny Novgorod, the administrative center of the obl ...

(in the northeast of the oblast) lowlands.

History

The territory of modern Vladimir Oblast has been populated since ancient times. The oldest known traces of human settlement date to the Upper Paleolithic. A settlement of Homo Sapiens dating back to between 32,050 BC and 28,550 BC was discovered in the area of Sungir, located around 200km east of Moscow. The region of Vladimir were inhabited by different people like Slavs, Tatars, Finno-Ugrics and Balts. The East Slavic tribe of the Buzhans originated in the Vladimir region. Archaeological excavations of Volga Finn settlements document also the Finno-Ugric roots of this land. Merya, Muromian, and Meshchera are inhabited territory of the region during this period. Since the 10th century AD, Slavic colonization of the area began in Murom and

. The current territory of Vladimir Oblast became was part of Kievan Rus. After the breakdown of the authority of Kievan Rus, the region became part of the Rostov-Suzdal principality in the 11th century and then the

Vladimir-Suzdal principality Vladimir-Suzdal (russian: Владимирско-Су́здальская, ''Vladimirsko-Suzdal'skaya''), also Vladimir-Suzdalian Rus', formally known as the Grand Duchy of Vladimir (1157–1331) (russian: Владимиро-Су́здальс ...

in the 12th century. The Vladimir region rapidly developed in the mid-12th century during the rule of Yuri Dolgorukiy and

Andrey Bogolyubsky Andrew I (died 28 June 1174), his Russian name in full, Andrey Yuryevich Bogolyubsky "Andrew made Vladimir the centre of the grand principality and placed a series of his relatives on the now secondary princely throne of Kiev. Later he also com ...

. New townships arose— Yuriev-Polsky,

Yaropolch-Zalessky Vyazniki (russian: Вя́зники) is a town and the administrative center of Vyaznikovsky District in Vladimir Oblast, Russia. Population: History The strategic height overlooking the Klyazma River was of great importance for defending appr ...

, Gorokhovets, Starodub-on-the-Klyazma, Mstislavl—along with princely residences in Kideksha and Bogolyubovo. The

Vladimir Highway The Vladimir Highway (Russian: Влади́мирский тракт, ''Vladimirskiy trakt''), familiarly known as the ''Vladimirka'' (Влади́мирка), was a road leading east from Moscow to Vladimir and Nizhny Novgorod. Its length was a ...

, a pre-modern civilian road that has been in use since atleast the 14th century, traverses the region, bringing people between Moscow and Nizhny Novgorod. Most, if not all, of modern Vladimir, during the Soviet period, seems to have been part of Ivanovo Oblast until it became a separate Federal Subject in 1944.

Politics

During the Soviet period, the high authority in the oblast was shared between three persons: The first secretary of the Vladimir CPSU Committee (who in reality had the greatest authority), the chairman of the oblast Soviet (legislative power), and the Chairman of the oblast Executive Committee (executive power). Since 1991, CPSU lost all the power, and the head of the Oblast administration, and eventually the governor was appointed/elected alongside elected regional parliament. The Charter of Vladimir Oblast is the fundamental law of the region. The Legislative Assembly of Vladimir Oblast is the province's standing legislative (representative) body. The Legislative Assembly exercises its authority by passing laws, resolutions, and other legal acts and by supervising the implementation and observance of the laws and other legal acts passed by it. The highest executive body is the Oblast Government, which includes territorial executive bodies such as district administrations, committees, and commissions that facilitate development and run the day to day matters of the province. The Oblast administration supports the activities of the Governor who is the highest official and acts as guarantor of the observance of the oblast Charter in accordance with the Constitution of Russia.

Administrative divisions

Economy and transportation

The largest companies in the region include the local branches of Mondelez International (revenues of $ million in 2017) and Ferrero SpA ($ million), Treyd Servis (baby food manufacturer, $ million), Starodvorskiye Kolbasy (sausage producer, $ million). The

Gusevskoye peat narrow gauge railway The Gusevskoye peat railway is located in Vladimir Oblast, Russia. The peat railway was opened in 1920, and has a total length of which is currently operational; the track gauge is . History Gusevskoye peat railway emerged in the 1920s, in the ...

for hauling peat operates in the Gus-Khrustalny District.

Demographics

Population: 1,443,693 ( 2010 Census); *Births (2012): 16 445 (11.5 per 1000) *Deaths (2012): 23 733 (16.6 per 1000) *Total fertility rate: 2009 - 1.46 , 2010 - 1.46 , 2011 - 1.50 , 2012 - 1.62 , 2013 - 1.59 , 2014 - 1.64 , 2015 - 1.73 , 2016 - 1.72(e) Ethnic composition (2010): * Russians: 95.6% * Ukrainians: 0.9% * Tatars: 0.5% * Armenians: 0.5% *

Belarusians , native_name_lang = be , pop = 9.5–10 million , image = , caption = , popplace = 7.99 million , region1 = , pop1 = 600,000–768,000 , region2 = , pop2 ...

: 0.3% *Others: 2.2% *95,410 people were registered from administrative databases, and did not declare an ethnicity. It is estimated that the proportion of ethnicities in this group is the same as that of the declared group.

Settlements

Religion

According to a 2012 survey 42.3% of the population of Vladimir Oblast adheres to the Russian Orthodox Church, 5.1% are unaffiliated Christians, 1.2% are Eastern Orthodox Christian believers who don't belong to the church or belong to other (non-Russian) Eastern Orthodox churches, and 0.5% of the population are adherents of the Slavic native faith (Rodnovery). In addition, 32% of the population declares to be "

spiritual but not religious "Spiritual but not religious" (SBNR), also known as "spiritual but not affiliated" (SBNA), is a popular phrase and initialism used to self-identify a life stance of spirituality that does not regard organized religion as the sole or most valuable ...

", 13.9% is

atheist Atheism, in the broadest sense, is an absence of belief in the existence of deities. Less broadly, atheism is a rejection of the belief that any deities exist. In an even narrower sense, atheism is specifically the position that there no ...

, and 4.8% follows other religions or did not give an answer to the question.

Notable people

Edward Shatov Edward Shatov, Augustinians of the Assumption (born on 10 October 1973, Vladimir Oblast, USSR) is a Russian Catholic priest and a Catholic convert from Russian Orthodoxy. Biography Shatov was born in a small village in the Vladimir Oblast and was b ...

(born 1973), Russian Catholic priest, director of Center for Family of Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Mother of God at Moscow

References

Notes

Sources

External links

* {{Use mdy dates, date=March 2013 States and territories established in 1944 Oblasts of Russia