Samara Oblast ( rus, Сама́рская о́бласть, r=Samarskaya oblast, p=sɐˈmarskəjə ˈobləsʲtʲ) is a
federal subject
The federal subjects of Russia, also referred to as the subjects of the Russian Federation (russian: субъекты Российской Федерации, subyekty Rossiyskoy Federatsii) or simply as the subjects of the federation (russian ...
of
Russia
Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eig ...
(an
oblast
An oblast (; ; Cyrillic (in most languages, including Russian and Ukrainian): , Bulgarian: ) is a type of administrative division of Belarus, Bulgaria, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, and Ukraine, as well as the Soviet Union and the Kingdo ...
). Its
administrative center
An administrative center is a seat of regional administration or local government, or a county town, or the place where the central administration of a commune is located.
In countries with French as administrative language (such as Belgium, Lu ...
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
Samara. From 1935 to 1991, it was known as Kuybyshev Oblast ( rus, Ку́йбышевская о́бласть, r=Kuybyshevskaya Oblast, p=ˈkujbɨʂɨfskəjə ˈobləsʲtʲ). As of the
2010 Census, the population of the oblast was 3,215,532.
The oblast borders
Tatarstan
The Republic of Tatarstan (russian: Республика Татарстан, Respublika Tatarstan, p=rʲɪsˈpublʲɪkə tətɐrˈstan; tt-Cyrl, Татарстан Республикасы), or simply Tatarstan (russian: Татарстан, tt ...
in the north,
Orenburg Oblast in the east,
Kazakhstan
Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a transcontinental country located mainly in Central Asia and partly in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia to the north and west, China to the east, Kyrgyzstan to the southeast, Uzbeki ...
(
West Kazakhstan Province
West Kazakhstan Region ( kk, Батыс Қазақстан облысы, translit=Batys Qazaqstan oblysy; russian: Западно-Казахстанская область, translit=Zapadno-Kazakhstanskaya oblast) is a region of Kazakhstan. The re ...
) in the south,
Saratov Oblast
Saratov Oblast (russian: Сара́товская о́бласть, ''Saratovskaya oblast'') is a federal subject of Russia (an oblast), located in the Volga Federal District. Its administrative center is the city of Saratov. As of the 2010 Cen ...
in the southwest and
Ulyanovsk Oblast
Ulyanovsk Oblast (russian: Ульяновская область, ''Ul’janovskaja oblast’'') is a federal subject of Russia (an oblast). It is located in the Volga Federal District. Its administrative center is the city of Ulyanovsk. Populati ...
in the west.
History
The Samara region contains a remarkable succession of archaeological cultures from 7000 BC to 4000 BC. These sites have revealed Europe's earliest pottery (
Elshanka culture The Elshanka culture (Russian: Елшанская культура) was a Subneolithic or very early Neolithic culture that flourished in the middle Volga region in the 7th millennium BC. The sites are mostly individual graves scattered along the ...
), the world's oldest
horse burial
Horse burial is the practice of burying a horse as part of the ritual of human burial, and is found among many Indo-European speaking peoples and others, including Chinese and Turkic peoples. The act indicates the high value placed on horses in ...
and signs of
horse worship
Horse worship is a spiritual practice with archaeological evidence of its existence during the Iron Age and, in some places, as far back as the Bronze Age. The horse was seen as divine, as a sacred animal associated with a particular deity, or as ...
(the Syezzheye cemetery of
Samara culture
The Samara culture was an Eneolithic (Copper Age) culture that flourished around the turn of the 5th millennium BCE, at the Samara Bend of the Volga River (modern Russia). The Samara culture is regarded as related to contemporaneous or subseque ...
) and the earliest
kurgan
A kurgan is a type of tumulus constructed over a grave, often characterized by containing a single human body along with grave vessels, weapons and horses. Originally in use on the Pontic–Caspian steppe, kurgans spread into much of Central As ...
s associated with
Proto-Indo-Europeans
The Proto-Indo-Europeans are a hypothetical prehistoric population of Eurasia who spoke Proto-Indo-European (PIE), the ancestor of the Indo-European languages according to linguistic reconstruction.
Knowledge of them comes chiefly from ...
(e.g., Krivoluchye assigned to
Khvalynsk culture
The Khvalynsk culture was a Middle Copper Age ("Eneolithic") culture (c. 4900 – 3500 BC) of the middle Volga region. It takes its name from Khvalynsk in Saratov Oblast. The Khvalynsk culture extended from the Samara Bend in the north (the loca ...
).
The
Russian Empire
The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War. ...
established a
''guberniya'' (governorate) in the area in 1851, the
Samara Governorate Samara Governorate (russian: Самарская губерния) was an administrative division (a '' guberniya'') of the Russian Empire and Russian SFSR, located in the Volga Region. It existed from 1850 to 1928; its seat was in the city of Samara ...
, which was administered from the city of
Samara. During the
Revolution of 1905, a rebellion took place in November that year at the village of Novaya Tsarevshchina (now Volzhsky) and spread to the village of Stary Buyan, leading to the formation of the short-lived separatist state, the
Stary Buyan Republic, within the governorate. There was little local opposition to the new state, and after the failure of local police to end the rebellion, it was successfully suppressed by a
punitive expedition
A punitive expedition is a military journey undertaken to punish a political entity or any group of people outside the borders of the punishing state or union. It is usually undertaken in response to perceived disobedient or morally wrong beh ...
of
Cossacks and
gendarmes
Wrong info! -->
A gendarmerie () is a military force with law enforcement duties among the civilian population. The term ''gendarme'' () is derived from the medieval French expression ', which translates to "men-at-arms" (literally, " ...
led by the vice-governor of the governorate in Samara.
After the decree of
Tsar Nicholas II
Nicholas II or Nikolai II Alexandrovich Romanov; spelled in pre-revolutionary script. ( 186817 July 1918), known in the Russian Orthodox Church as Saint Nicholas the Passion-Bearer,. was the last Emperor of Russia, King of Congress Polan ...
on
religious tolerance
Religious toleration may signify "no more than forbearance and the permission given by the adherents of a dominant religion for other religions to exist, even though the latter are looked on with disapproval as inferior, mistaken, or harmful". ...
the
Old Believers were forced to pay taxes in favour to the Orthodox Church that they believed to be heretical. The then Ministry of Interior forbade Samara's public officials to prosecute in this practice, which was contrary to the spirit of the decree.
Under
Soviet
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nation ...
rule most of the governorate's territory was transformed into the Middle Volga Oblast, which was established on May 14, 1928, and a year later on October 20, 1929, it was again transformed into Middle Volga Krai.
[''Administrative-Territorial Structure of the Union Republics. 1987.'', p. 162] On January 27, 1935, Samara and the Middle Volga Krai were renamed Kuybyshev and Kuybyshev Krai, respectively, in honor of the
Bolshevik
The Bolsheviks (russian: Большевики́, from большинство́ ''bol'shinstvó'', 'majority'),; derived from ''bol'shinstvó'' (большинство́), "majority", literally meaning "one of the majority". also known in English ...
leader
Valerian Kuybyshev
Valerian Vladimirovich Kuybyshev (russian: Валериа́н Влади́мирович Ку́йбышев; – 25 January 1935) was a Russian revolutionary, Red Army officer, and prominent Soviet politician.
Biography
Early years
Bo ...
.
On December 5, 1936, Kuybyshev Krai was transformed into Kuybyshev Oblast upon the adoption of the
1936 Soviet Constitution
Events
January–February
* January 20 – George V of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions and Emperor of India, dies at his Sandringham Estate. The Prince of Wales succeeds to the throne of the United Kingdom as King E ...
.
On January 25, 1991 by the Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the RSFSR, the Kuibyshev Oblast was renamed the Samara Oblast. On April 21, 1992, the Congress of People's Deputies of Russia approved the decision of the presidium of the parliament to rename the region, amending Art. 71 of the Constitution of the RSFSR of 1978, which entered into force on May 16, 1992.
On 1 August 1997 Samara Oblast signed a power-sharing agreement with the federal government, granting it autonomy. This agreement would be abolished on 22 February 2002.
Tolyatti
Tolyatti ( rus, Толья́тти, p=tɐlʲˈjætʲ(ː)ɪ), also known as Togliatti, formerly known as Stavropol (1737–1964), is a city in Samara Oblast, Russia. It is the largest city in Russia which does not serve as the administrative center ...
is the largest city in Russia which does not serve as the administrative center of a federal subject.
Administrative divisions
Demographics
![Life expectancy in Russian subject -Samara Oblast](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b0/Life_expectancy_in_Russian_subject_-Samara_Oblast.png)
Population:
''Ethnic groups'':
According to the 2010 Census, the ethnic makeup of the oblast was:
*2,645,124
Russians
, native_name_lang = ru
, image =
, caption =
, population =
, popplace =
118 million Russians in the Russian Federation (2002 '' Winkler Prins'' estimate)
, region1 =
, pop1 ...
(85.6%)
*126,124
Tatars
The Tatars ()[Tatar]
in the Collins English Dictionary is an umbrella term for different (4.1%)
*84,105
Chuvashes
The Chuvash people ( , ; cv, чӑваш ; russian: чуваши ) are a Turkic peoples, Turkic ethnic group, a branch of Onogurs, Oghurs, native to an area stretching from the Volga-Ural region to Siberia. Most of them live in Chuvashia and th ...
(2.7%)
*65,447
Mordvins
The Mordvins (also Unified Mordvin people, Mordvinians, Mordovians; russian: мордва, Mordva, Mordvins (no equivalents in Moksha and Erzya)) is an obsolete but official term used in the Russian Federation to refer both to Erzyas and Mo ...
(2.1%)
*42,169
Ukrainians
Ukrainians ( uk, Українці, Ukraintsi, ) are an East Slavic ethnic group native to Ukraine. They are the seventh-largest nation in Europe. The native language of the Ukrainians is Ukrainian. The majority of Ukrainians are Eastern Ort ...
(1.4%)
*22,981
Armenians
Armenians ( hy, հայեր, '' hayer'' ) are an ethnic group native to the Armenian highlands of Western Asia. Armenians constitute the main population of Armenia and the ''de facto'' independent Artsakh. There is a wide-ranging diasp ...
(0.7%)
*123,691 people were registered from administrative databases, and could not declare an ethnicity. It is estimated that the proportion of ethnicities in this group is the same as that of the declared group.
*Births (2008): 36,439 (11.5 per 1000)
*Deaths (2008): 48,593 (15.3 per 1000)
;Vital statistics for 2012
*Births: 38 952 (12.1 per 1000)
*Deaths: 44 593 (13.9 per 1000)
*Total fertility rate:
2009 - 1.42 , 2010 - 1.44 , 2011 - 1.44 , 2012 - 1.54 , 2013 - 1.59 , 2014 - 1.65 , 2015 - 1.71 , 2016 - 1.72(e)
;Religion
According to a 2012 survey
35% of the population of Samara Oblast adheres to the
Russian Orthodox Church
, native_name_lang = ru
, image = Moscow July 2011-7a.jpg
, imagewidth =
, alt =
, caption = Cathedral of Christ the Saviour in Moscow, Russia
, abbreviation = ROC
, type ...
, 7% are
unaffiliated generic
Christians
Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words '' Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρ ...
, 1% are Orthodox Christian believers who do not belong to any church or are members of non-Russian
Orthodox church
Orthodox Church may refer to:
* Eastern Orthodox Church
* Oriental Orthodox Churches
* Orthodox Presbyterian Church
* Orthodox Presbyterian Church of New Zealand
* State church of the Roman Empire
* True Orthodox church
See also
* Orthodox (di ...
es, 3% are
Muslims, and 1% of the population are adherents of
Rodnovery
The Slavic Native Faith, commonly known as Rodnovery
* bg, Родноверие, translit=Rоdnoverie
* bs, Rodnovjerje
* mk, Родноверие, translit=Rodnoverie
* cz, Rodnověří
* hr, Rodnovjerje
* pl, Rodzimowierstwo; Rodzima ...
(Slavic folk religion). In addition, 30% of the population declares to be "spiritual but not religious", 13% is
atheist, and a further 10% follows other religions or did not give an answer to the question.
Economy
In 1997, Samara Oblast became one of the few federal subjects to receive the approval of the
President of Russia
The president of the Russian Federation ( rus, Президент Российской Федерации, Prezident Rossiyskoy Federatsii) is the head of state of the Russian Federation. The president leads the executive branch of the federal ...
to implement external bonded loans (Presidential decree No. 1212, dated 12.10.1997 "On Creating Conditions to Conduct Loans Operations on the Internal and External Capital Markets").
Samara Oblast (or Samara Region) has several special investment sites which are built to implement new plants, industries, factories, create new jobs and increase investments in the Samara Region.
* Special economic zone of industrial-production type «Togliatti»
* Industrial Park «Preobrazhenka»
* Industrial Park «Chapaevsk»
* Technopark in the sphere of high technologies "Zhiguli Valley"
* Industrial Park «Togliattisyntez»
* Industrial Park «Stavropolskiy»
In order to help Russian and foreign investors to select a site for project implementation, to provide consulting services free of charge Ministry for Economic Development, Investments and Trade of the Samara Region organized a Non-Profit Unitary Organization – Fund "Investment Promotion Agency of the Samara Region".
The Agency cooperates with investors on the "one-stop-shop" principle, as well as:
* Searches for foreign partners according to the companies' priorities;
* Provides investment consulting services and monitors the implementation of investment projects;
* Promotes the investment opportunities of the Samara Region in Russia and foreign countries by participation in conferences, exhibitions, forums and other events.
Politics
During the
Soviet
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nation ...
period, the high authority in the oblast was shared between three persons: The first secretary of the Samara CPSU Committee (who in reality had the biggest authority), the chairman of the oblast Soviet (legislative power), and the Chairman of the oblast Executive Committee (executive power). After the abolition of Article 6 of the Constitution of the USSR in March 1990, the CPSU lost its monopoly on power. The head of the Oblast administration, and eventually the governor was appointed/elected alongside elected
regional parliament.
The Charter of Samara Oblast is the fundamental law of the oblast. The Legislative Assembly of Samara 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
The Constitution of the Russian Federation () was adopted by national referendum on 12 December 1993. Russia's constitution came into force on 25 December 1993, at the moment of its official publication, and abolished the Soviet system of gov ...
.
Governors:
*
Konstantin Titov
Konstantin Alekseyevich Titov (russian: Константин Алексеевич Титов; born October 30, 1944 in Moscow) is a Russian politician. He was the Senator from Samara Oblast from 2007 to 2014 and Governor of Samara Oblast from 19 ...
(1991—2007)
*Vladimir Artyakov (2007—2012)
*
Nikolay Merkushkin
Nikolay Ivanovich Merkushkin (russian: Николай Иванович Меркушкин; mdf, Кола Меркушкин; born 5 February 1951) is a Russian politician who served as Governor of Samara Oblast from 2012 to 2017 and as Head of ...
(2012—2017)
*
Dmitry Azarov (acting) (2017—)
Sister relations
*
Győr-Moson-Sopron County
Győr-Moson-Sopron ( hu, Győr-Moson-Sopron megye, ; german: Komitat Raab-Wieselburg-Ödenburg; sk, Rábsko-mošonsko-šopronská župa) is an administrative county (comitatus or '' megye'') in north-western Hungary, on the border with Slovakia ( ...
,
Hungary
Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the ...
References
Notes
Sources
*
*
*
External links
*
Official website of Samara OblastCentral Eurasian Information Resource: Images of Samara Oblast University of Washington Digital Collection
{{Use mdy dates, date=December 2015
Oblasts of Russia