Sverdlovsk Oblast ( rus, Свердловская область, Sverdlovskaya oblast) 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 ...
(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 Kingdom of ...
) of Russia located in the
Ural Federal District
Ural Federal District (russian: Ура́льский федера́льный о́круг, ''Uralsky federalny okrug'') is one of the eight federal districts of Russia. Its population was 12,080,523 (79.9% urban) according to the 2010 Censu ...
. 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
Yekaterinburg
Yekaterinburg ( ; rus, Екатеринбург, p=jɪkətʲɪrʲɪnˈburk), alternatively romanized as Ekaterinburg and formerly known as Sverdlovsk ( rus, Свердло́вск, , svʲɪrˈdlofsk, 1924–1991), is a city and the administra ...
, formerly known as Sverdlovsk. Its population is 4,297,747 (according to the
2010 Census).
Geography
![Yekaterinburg Border Asia Europe](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/90/Yekaterinburg_Border_Asia_Europe.jpg)
Most of the oblast is spread over the eastern slopes of the Middle and North Urals and the
Western Siberian Plain
The West Siberian Plain (russian: За́падно-Сиби́рская равни́на ''Zapadno-Sibirskaya ravnina'') is a large plain that occupies the western portion of Siberia, between the Ural Mountains in the west and the Yenisei River ...
. Only in the southwest does the oblast stretch onto the western slopes of the
Ural Mountains
The Ural Mountains ( ; rus, Ура́льские го́ры, r=Uralskiye gory, p=ʊˈralʲskʲɪjə ˈɡorɨ; ba, Урал тауҙары) or simply the Urals, are a mountain range that runs approximately from north to south through western ...
.
The highest mountains all rise in the North Urals, Konzhakovsky Kamen at and Denezhkin Kamen at . The Middle Urals is mostly hilly country with no discernible peaks; the mean elevation is closer to above sea level. Principal rivers include the
Tavda
Tavda (russian: Тавда́) is a town in Sverdlovsk Oblast, 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 it ...
, the
Tura, the
Chusovaya
The Chusovaya (russian: Чусова́я) is a river flowing in Perm Krai, Sverdlovsk Oblast and Chelyabinsk Oblast of Russia. A tributary of the Kama, which in turn is a tributary of the Volga, it discharges into the Chusovskoy Cove of the Ka ...
, and the
Ufa
Ufa ( ba, Өфө , Öfö; russian: Уфа́, r=Ufá, p=ʊˈfa) is the largest city and capital city, capital of Bashkortostan, Russia. The city lies at the confluence of the Belaya River (Kama), Belaya and Ufa River, Ufa rivers, in the centre-n ...
, the latter two being tributaries of the
Kama
''Kama'' (Sanskrit ) means "desire, wish, longing" in Hindu, Buddhist, Jain, and Sikh literature.Monier Williamsकाम, kāmaMonier-Williams Sanskrit English Dictionary, pp 271, see 3rd column Kama often connotes sensual pleasure, sexual ...
.
Sverdlovsk Oblast borders with, clockwise from the west,
Perm Krai
Perm Krai (russian: Пе́рмский край, r=Permsky kray, p=ˈpʲɛrmskʲɪj ˈkraj, ''Permsky krai'', , ''Perem lador'') is a federal subject of Russia (a krai) that came into existence on December 1, 2005 as a result of the 2004 re ...
, the
Komi Republic
The Komi Republic (russian: Республика Коми; kv, Коми Республика), sometimes simply referred to as Komi, is a republic of Russia located in Eastern Europe. Its capital is the city of Syktyvkar. The population of th ...
,
Khanty–Mansi Autonomous Okrug
Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug–Yugra (Russian and Mansi: Ханты-Мансийский автономный округ — Югра, ''Khanty-Mansiysky avtonomny okrug — Yugra;'' Khanty: Хӑнты-Мансийской Aвтономной ...
,
Tyumen Oblast
Tyumen Oblast (russian: Тюме́нская о́бласть, ''Tyumenskaya oblast'') is a federal subject (an oblast) of Russia. It is geographically located in the Western Siberia region of Siberia, and is administratively part of the Urals ...
,
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 ...
, and
Chelyabinsk Oblasts, and the
Republic of Bashkortostan.
The area is traversed by the northeasterly line of equal latitude and longitude.
Natural resources
Rich in natural resources, the oblast is especially famous for metals (
iron
Iron () is a chemical element with symbol Fe (from la, ferrum) and atomic number 26. It is a metal that belongs to the first transition series and group 8 of the periodic table. It is, by mass, the most common element on Earth, right in f ...
,
copper
Copper is a chemical element with the symbol Cu (from la, cuprum) and atomic number 29. It is a soft, malleable, and ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. A freshly exposed surface of pure copper has a pinkis ...
,
gold
Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile met ...
,
platinum
Platinum is a chemical element with the symbol Pt and atomic number 78. It is a dense, malleable, ductile, highly unreactive, precious, silverish-white transition metal. Its name originates from Spanish , a diminutive of "silver".
Pla ...
), minerals (
asbestos
Asbestos () is a naturally occurring fibrous silicate mineral. There are six types, all of which are composed of long and thin fibrous crystals, each fibre being composed of many microscopic "fibrils" that can be released into the atmosphere b ...
,
gemstones,
talcum),
marble
Marble is a metamorphic rock composed of recrystallized carbonate minerals, most commonly calcite or Dolomite (mineral), dolomite. Marble is typically not Foliation (geology), foliated (layered), although there are exceptions. In geology, the ...
and
coal
Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock, formed as rock strata called coal seams. Coal is mostly carbon with variable amounts of other elements, chiefly hydrogen, sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen.
Coal is formed when dea ...
. It is mostly here that the bulk of Russian industry was concentrated in the 18th and 19th centuries.
Climate
The area has
continental climate
Continental climates often have a significant annual variation in temperature (warm summers and cold winters). They tend to occur in the middle latitudes (40 to 55 north), within large landmasses where prevailing winds blow overland bringing som ...
patterns, with long cold winters (average temperatures reaching to on the Western Siberian Plain) and short warm summers. Only in the southeast of the oblast do temperatures reach in July.
History
From ancient times to the 16th century
The territory of the region has been inhabited since ancient times. Numerous sites of ancient people were discovered, dating from the Paleolithic to the Iron Age. The Upper Paleolithic includes the Garinsky site on the right bank of the
Sosva river near the village of
Gari
Gari may refer to: Places
*Gari, Tombouctou Region, Mali, a village
*Gari, Russia, several inhabited localities
* Gari, Kruševac, Serbia, a village
*Gari (river), Monte Cassino, Lazio, Italy
*Gari, an Indigenous name for Fraser Island in Queens ...
, the site in the Shaitansky grotto, and the site in the Bezymyanny cave (X millennium BC). In 1890, the 11 thousand years old (Mesolithic)
Shigir idol
The Shigir Sculpture, or Shigir Idol (russian: Шигирский идол), is the oldest known wooden sculpture in the world, made during the Mesolithic period, shortly after the end of the last Ice Age. The wood it was carved from is approximate ...
was discovered.
[Объекты культурного наследия Свердловской области (список)](_blank)
/ref>
A settlement and a burial ground in the Kalmatsky Brod tract are located on the right bank of the Iset river
The river Iset (russian: Исеть) in Russia flows from the Urals through the Sverdlovsk and Kurgan Oblasts, then through Tyumen Oblast in Western Siberia into the river Tobol. The city of Yekaterinburg is on the upper part of the river.
Th ...
and date back to the Sarmatian time (from the 3rd century BC to the 2nd century AD). They belong to the Kalmak archaeological culture. In the Kalmatsky Brod burial ground, the skeletal skulls were strongly deformed by tight bandaging in early childhood, which indicates the penetration of steppe ethnic elements to the north.[''Сальников К. В.']
Древнейшие памятники истории Урала
1952.
There are numerous pictograms
A pictogram, also called a pictogramme, pictograph, or simply picto, and in computer usage an icon, is a graphic symbol that conveys its meaning through its pictorial resemblance to a physical object. Pictographs are often used in writing and g ...
on the Koptelovsky stone, on the Oblique stone, on the Two-eyed stone, Starichnaya, Serginskaya, the rock paintings of the Bronze Age on the Neyva River, Tagil River (villages Brekhovaya, Gaevaya, Komelskaya), rock carvings on Shaitan-Kamen on the right bank of the Rezh river tied to indigenous Ural population, possibly speakers of a Ugric language
The Ugric or Ugrian languages ( or ) are a proposed branch of the Uralic language family. The name Ugric is derived from Ugrians, an archaic exonym for the Magyars (Hungarians) and Yugra, a region in northwest Russia.
Ugric includes three s ...
.['' Khimiya i Zhizn'', 9, 1974, p. 80] The Gostkovskaya Pisanitsa refers to the Middle Ages.
Medieval history and the Russian expansion
Before the first Russian colonists arrived to the region, it was populated by various Turkic and Ugrian
The Ugric or Ugrian languages ( or ) are a proposed branch of the Uralic language family. The name Ugric is derived from Ugrians, an archaic exonym for the Magyars (Hungarians) and Yugra, a region in northwest Russia.
Ugric includes three s ...
tribes. By the 16th century, when the Middle Urals were under influence of various Tatar
The Tatars ()[Tatar]
in the Collins English Dictionary is an umbrella term for different khanates, the strongest local state was the Vogul
The Mansi ( Mansi: Мāньси / Мāньси мāхум, ''Māńsi / Māńsi māhum'', ) are a Ugric indigenous people living in Khanty–Mansia, an autonomous okrug within Tyumen Oblast in Russia. In Khanty–Mansia, the Khanty and Mansi ...
Pelym principality with its center in Pelym.
The Russian conquest of the Khanate of Kazan
The Khanate of Kazan ( tt, Казан ханлыгы, Kazan xanlıgı; russian: Казанское ханство, Kazanskoye khanstvo) was a medieval Tatar Turkic state that occupied the territory of former Volga Bulgaria between 1438 and 1552 ...
in the 1550s paved the way further east, which was now free from Tatar depredations (see Yermak Timofeyevich
Yermak Timofeyevich ( rus, Ерма́к Тимофе́евич, p=jɪˈrmak tʲɪmɐˈfʲejɪvʲɪtɕ; born between 1532 and 1542 – August 5 or 6, 1585) was a Cossack ataman and is today a hero in Russian folklore and myths. During the rei ...
). The first surviving Russian settlements in the area date back to the late 16thearly 17th centuries (Verkhoturye
Verkhoturye (russian: Верхоту́рье) is a historical town and the administrative center of Verkhotursky District of Sverdlovsk Oblast, Russia, located in the middle Ural Mountains on the left bank of the Tura River north of Yekaterinb ...
, 1598; Turinsk
Turinsk (russian: Туринск) is a town and the administrative center of Turinsky District of Sverdlovsk Oblast, Russia, located on the right bank of the Tura River midway between Verkhoturye and Tyumen, near its confluence with the Yar ...
, 1600; Irbit
Irbit (russian: Ирби́тStress is given per the ''Dictionary of modern geographical names'', entry o().) is a town in Sverdlovsk Oblast, Russia, located from Yekaterinburg by train or by car, on the right bank of the Nitsa. Population:
...
, 1633; Alapayevsk
Alapayevsk (russian: Алапа́евск) is a town in Sverdlovsk Oblast, Russia, located at the confluence of the Neyva and Alapaikha rivers. Population: 44,263 ( 2002 census); 50,060 ( 1989 census); 49,000 (1968).
History
Alapayevsk is ...
, 1639). At that time, those small trading posts were governed under Siberia
Siberia ( ; rus, Сибирь, r=Sibir', p=sʲɪˈbʲirʲ, a=Ru-Сибирь.ogg) is an extensive geographical region, constituting all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has been a part of ...
n administration in Tobolsk
Tobolsk (russian: Тобо́льск) is a town in Tyumen Oblast, Russia, located at the confluence of the Tobol and Irtysh rivers. Founded in 1590, Tobolsk is the second-oldest Russian settlement east of the Ural Mountains in Asian Russia, an ...
. After the 1708 administrative reform, Verkhoturye, Pelym and Turinsk became a part of the new Siberian Governorate, in 1737 their territories were assigned to the Kazan Governorate
The Kazan Governorate (russian: Каза́нская губе́рния; tt-Cyrl, Казан губернасы; cv, Хусан кӗперниӗ; mhr, Озаҥ губерний), or the Government of Kazan, was a governorate (a '' guberniya'') ...
. Verkhoturye in 1910
Rise of the mining-metallurgical era
During the 18th century, rich resources of iron and coal made Ural an industrial heartland of Russia. After getting control over Ural mines, the Demidov
The House of Demidov (russian: Деми́довы) also Demidoff, was a prominent Russian noble family during the 18th and 19th centuries. Originating in the city of Tula in the 17th century, the Demidovs found success through metal products, ...
family put the region in the forefront of Russian industrialization. Yekaterinburg
Yekaterinburg ( ; rus, Екатеринбург, p=jɪkətʲɪrʲɪnˈburk), alternatively romanized as Ekaterinburg and formerly known as Sverdlovsk ( rus, Свердло́вск, , svʲɪrˈdlofsk, 1924–1991), is a city and the administra ...
, Nevyansk
Nevyansk (russian: Невья́нск) is a town and the administrative center of Nevyansky District in Sverdlovsk Oblast, Russia, located on the Neyva River ( Ob's basin) on the eastern slope of the Middle Urals, north of Yekaterinburg. Po ...
and Tagil ironworks, founded in the 1700s to 1720s, soon joined the ranks of the major producers in Europe. Throughout the 18th and 19th century those newly founded factory towns enjoyed a status of special mining-metallurgical districts allowed to have a certain rate of financial and proprietary autonomy. During the 1781 reform middle Ural finally got its own regional administration in the form of the Perm Governorate
Perm Governorate (russian: link=no, Пермская губерния) was an administrative unit of the Russian Empire and the Soviet Union from 1781 to 1923. It was also known as the ''government of Perm''. It was located on both slopes of t ...
.
When in 1812 the Russian government legalized gold digging for its citizens, Middle Ural became a center of gold mining. Entrepreneurs of the Perm Governorate also started the gold rush in West Siberia, soon Yekaterinburgers began to dominate the Russian market of precious metals and gemstones.
After the emancipation reform of 1861, major Middle Uralian industries that were heavily dependent on serf labor entered decline, although it also allowed light industry to thrive. In 1878, Perm
Perm or PERM may refer to:
Places
*Perm, Russia, a city in Russia
** Permsky District, the district
**Perm Krai, a federal subject of Russia since 2005
**Perm Oblast, a former federal subject of Russia 1938–2005
**Perm Governorate, an administra ...
and Yekaterinburg were connected with a railroad, in 1888, railroads reached Tyumen
Tyumen ( ; rus, Тюмень, p=tʲʉˈmʲenʲ, a=Ru-Tyumen.ogg) is the administrative center and largest city of Tyumen Oblast, Russia. It is situated just east of the Ural Mountains, along the Tura River. Fueled by the Russian oil and gas in ...
, and ultimately, in 1897, Yekaterinburg joined the Trans-Siberian network. Emergence of railroad transportation helped to revitalize economy of Ural.
Soviet Ural
The Bolsheviks
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 ...
established their power in Yekaterinburg and Perm during the first days of the October Revolution
The October Revolution,. officially known as the Great October Socialist Revolution. in the Soviet Union, also known as the Bolshevik Revolution, was a revolution in Russia led by the Bolshevik Party of Vladimir Lenin that was a key mome ...
of 1917. In early 1918 the dethroned Czar 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 Pola ...
and his family were transferred under custody to Yekaterinburg. Local Bolsheviks decided autonomously to execute the royal family on July 17, 1918, to prevent its rescue of by the approaching White Army
The White Army (russian: Белая армия, Belaya armiya) or White Guard (russian: Бѣлая гвардія/Белая гвардия, Belaya gvardiya, label=none), also referred to as the Whites or White Guardsmen (russian: Бѣлогв ...
forces. Ten days later Yekaterinburg was captured by the Czechoslovak troops of Sergei Wojciechowski
Sergey Nikolayevich Voytsekhovsky (russian: Серге́й Никола́евич Войцехо́вский; cs, Sergej Nikolajevič Vojcechovský; 16 October 1883 in Vitebsk – 7 April 1951) was a Colonel of the Imperial Russian Army, Maj ...
. For the next year the Anti-bolshevik forces took control over the region. On 19 August 1918, Provisional Government of Ural was formed in Yekaterinburg by a coalition of liberal and democratic socialist parties, it was supposed to serve as a buffer between the Komuch
The Committee of Members of the Constituent Assembly was an anti-Bolshevik government that operated in Samara, Russia, during the Russian Civil War of 1917–1922. It formed on June 8, 1918, after the Czechoslovak Legion had occupied the city. ...
and Provisional Siberian governments. After the Kolchak Kolchak, Kolçak or Kolčák is a surname. Notable people with the surname include:
* Iliash Kolchak ("Kolchak-Pasha") ( fl. before 1710–1743), Moldavian mercenary and military commander
* Alexander Kolchak (1873–1920), Russian naval commande ...
coup d'état in Omsk in November 1918, the Government of Ural was disbanded.
In July 1919, in the course of the Yekaterinburg offense, Yekaterinburg and the surrounding areas were recaptured by the Red Army
The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army (Russian: Рабо́че-крестья́нская Кра́сная армия),) often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic and, after ...
forces under command of Vasily Shorin
Vasily Ivanovich Shorin (russian: Василий Иванович Шорин; 26 December 1870 January 1871 Kalyazin ''–'' 29 June 1938, Leningrad) was a Soviet military commander, who commanded several military units of the Red Army during t ...
. On the July 15th, the Perm Governorate was split by the Soviets and the east, for the first time in history, became a separate region, the Yekaterinburg Governorate. It was soon abolished and replaced by the Ural Oblast
The Ural Oblast (russian: Уральская область) was an oblast of the RSFSR within the USSR. It was created November 3, 1923 by the merger of Perm, Yekaterinburg, Chelyabinsk and Tyumen Governorates. The capital of the oblast was Sv ...
(1923-1934).
In the 1930s many industrial enterprises were established and built with the help of forced labour. Local industry received another impetus during World War II, when important producing facilities were relocated here from the European part of Russia to safeguard them from the advancing Germans (for example, IMZ-Ural
IMZ-Ural (russian: Ирбитский мотоциклетный завод, Irbitskiy Mototsikletniy Zavod, Irbit Motorcycle Factory) is a Russian maker of heavy sidecar motorcycles.
In 1940, the Soviet Union acquired the design and production t ...
, Kamensk-Uralsky Metallurgical Works
Kamensk-Uralsky Metallurgical Works J.S.Co. (KUMZ) is one of the town-forming enterprises of Kamensk-Uralsky, Sverdlovsk Oblast, Russia. KUMZ was founded especially for supplying of aerospace industry with semi-finished products in aluminium and m ...
). In the postwar period much of the region was off-limits to foreigners. It was over Sverdlovsk that the American U-2 spy plane pilot Gary Powers
Francis Gary Powers (August 17, 1929 – August 1, 1977) was an American pilot whose Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) Lockheed U-2 spy plane was shot down while flying a reconnaissance mission in Soviet Union airspace, causing the 1960 U-2 i ...
was shot down on May 1, 1960, while on a reconnaissance mission.
In 1979, there was an anthrax outbreak caused by an accident in a facility to develop biological weapons.
Post-Soviet transition
In 1993, Governor Eduard Rossel
Eduard Ergartovich Rossel (russian: Эдуард Эргартович Россель; born 8 October 1937) is a Russian politician, who was the governor (1995–2009) of Sverdlovsk Oblast, an oblast in Russia. He returned into office in 1995. ...
responded to perceived economic inequality by attempting to create a "Ural Republic
The Ural Republic (russian: Уральская Республика) was an unrecognized subject of the Russian Federation that existed from July 1, 1993 to November 9, 1993 within the boundaries of Sverdlovsk Oblast region. It was formed as a re ...
." Sverdlovsk led the "Urals Five" ( Kurgan Oblast, Orenburg Oblast, Perm Krai
Perm Krai (russian: Пе́рмский край, r=Permsky kray, p=ˈpʲɛrmskʲɪj ˈkraj, ''Permsky krai'', , ''Perem lador'') is a federal subject of Russia (a krai) that came into existence on December 1, 2005 as a result of the 2004 re ...
, Chelyabinsk Oblast and Sverdlovsk) in a call for greater regional power. They argued that the oblasts
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 Kingdom o ...
deserved as much power as the ethnic homeland republics
A republic () is a "state in which power rests with the people or their representatives; specifically a state without a monarchy" and also a "government, or system of government, of such a state." Previously, especially in the 17th and 18th ...
. The Urals Republic Constitution went into effect on October 27, 1993. Then Russian President Boris Yeltsin
Boris Nikolayevich Yeltsin ( rus, Борис Николаевич Ельцин, p=bɐˈrʲis nʲɪkɐˈla(j)ɪvʲɪtɕ ˈjelʲtsɨn, a=Ru-Boris Nikolayevich Yeltsin.ogg; 1 February 1931 – 23 April 2007) was a Soviet and Russian politician wh ...
dissolved the Urals Republic and the Sverdlovsk Parliament 10 days later (on November 9).
Administrative divisions
Demographics
Population:
Vital statistics
2011
*Births: 58,054
*Deaths: 60,740
2012
*Births: 61,451 (14.3 per 1,000)
*Deaths: 59,913 (13.9 per 1,000)
Total fertility rate:
Settlements
Ethnic groups
There were twenty-one recognized ethnic groups of more than two thousand persons each in the oblast. Residents identified themselves as belonging to a total of 148 different ethnic groups, including:
*3,684,843 Russians
, native_name_lang = ru
, image =
, caption =
, population =
, popplace =
118 million Russians in the Russian Federation (2002 '' Winkler Prins'' estimate)
, region1 =
, pop1 ...
(90.6%);
*143,803 Tatars
The Tatars ()[Tatar]
in the Collins English Dictionary is an umbrella term for different (3.5%);
*35,563 Ukrainians
Ukrainians ( uk, Українці, Ukraintsi, ) are an East Slavs, East Slavic ethnic group native to Ukraine. They are the seventh-largest nation in Europe. The native language of the Ukrainians is Ukrainian language, Ukrainian. The majority ...
(0.9%);
*31,183 Bashkirs
, native_name_lang = bak
, flag = File:Bashkirs of Baymak rayon.jpg
, flag_caption = Bashkirs of Baymak in traditional dress
, image =
, caption =
, population = approx. 2 million
, popplace ...
(0.8%);
*23,801 Mari (0.6%);
*14,914 Germans
, native_name_lang = de
, region1 =
, pop1 = 72,650,269
, region2 =
, pop2 = 534,000
, region3 =
, pop3 = 157,000
3,322,405
, region4 =
, pop4 = ...
(0.4%);
*14,215 Azerbaijanis
Azerbaijanis (; az, Azərbaycanlılar, ), Azeris ( az, Azərilər, ), or Azerbaijani Turks ( az, Azərbaycan Türkləri, ) are a Turkic people living mainly in northwestern Iran and the Republic of Azerbaijan. They are the second-most numer ...
(0.3%);
*13,789 Udmurts
The Udmurts ( udm, Удмуртъёс, ) are a Permian ( Finnic) ethnic group in Eastern Europe, who speak the Udmurt language. In the course of history, Russian-speakers have referred to them as ' (), Otyaks, Wotyaks or Votyaks.
Etymology
The ...
(0.3%);
*11,670 Belarusians (0.3%);
*11,510 Chuvash (0.26%);
*11,501 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 diaspora ...
(0.3%);
*11,138 Tajiks
Tajiks ( fa, تاجيک، تاجک, ''Tājīk, Tājek''; tg, Тоҷик) are a Persian-speaking Iranian ethnic group native to Central Asia, living primarily in Afghanistan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan. Tajiks are the largest ethnicity in Taj ...
(0.3%);
*9,702 Mordovians
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 Moksh ...
(0.22%);
*9,358 Uzbeks
The Uzbeks ( uz, , , , ) are a Turkic ethnic group native to the wider Central Asian region, being among the largest Turkic ethnic group in the area. They comprise the majority population of Uzbekistan, next to Kazakh and Karakalpak mino ...
(0.2%);
232,978 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.
Religion
According to a 2012 survey 43% of the population of Sverdlovsk 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 ...
, 5% are nondenominational Christians (excluding Protestant churches), 3% are Muslim
Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...
s, 2% are Orthodox Christian believers without belonging to any Church or are members of other 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, 1% are adherents of the Slavic native faith
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 ...
(Rodnovery), and 0.3% are adherents of forms of Hinduism
Hinduism () is an Indian religion or '' dharma'', a religious and universal order or way of life by which followers abide. As a religion, it is the world's third-largest, with over 1.2–1.35 billion followers, or 15–16% of the global p ...
(Vedism
The historical Vedic religion (also known as Vedicism, Vedism or ancient Hinduism and subsequently Brahmanism (also spelled as Brahminism)), constituted the religious ideas and practices among some Indo-Aryan peoples of northwest Indian Subco ...
, Krishnaism
Krishnaism (IAST: ''Kṛṣṇaism'') is a large group of independent Hinduism, Hindu traditions—sampradayas related to Vaishnavism—that center on the devotion to Krishna as ''Svayam Bhagavan'', ''Ishvara'', ''Para Brahman'', the source of ...
or Tantrism
Tantra (; sa, तन्त्र, lit=loom, weave, warp) are the esoteric traditions of Hinduism and Buddhism that developed on the Indian subcontinent from the middle of the 1st millennium CE onwards. The term ''tantra'', in the Indian ...
). In addition, 36% of the population declares to be "spiritual but not religious", and 9.7% is atheist.
Education
The most important institutions of higher education include Ural Federal University
la, Cogitare, agere, consequi!
, mottoeng = ''Think, act, achieve!''
, established = 1920 (established), 2011 (integrated)
, closed =
, type = Public
, affiliation =
, endowment = RU ...
, Ural State Medical University
Ural State Medical University (russian: Федеральное государственное бюджетное образовательное учреждение высшего образования «Уральский государстве ...
, Ural State University of Economics
Ural State University of Economics (USUE, russian: УрГЭУ) is a major Russian university situated in Ekaterinburg, Sverdlovsk Oblast.
History
It was created on 10 October 1967 as '' Sverdlovsk institute of national economy'' (russian: СИН ...
, Ural State Law University
la, Intelligentia, honorem, glossarium
, mottoeng = ''Intelligence, honor, creativity''
, established = 1918 (as the Law Faculty of the Irkutsk State University), 1931
, closed =
, type = Public
, a ...
, Ural State Mining University and Ural State Academy of Architecture and Arts
Urals Academy of Architecture (Ural State Academy of Visual Arts and Architecture; russian: Уральская государственная архитектурно-художественная академия, often abbreviated USAAA or in Ru ...
, all located in the capital Yekaterinburg.
Politics
200px, Legislative Assembly of Sverdlovsk Oblast
The oblast's Charter, adopted on 17 December 1994, with subsequent amendments, establishes the oblast government. The Governor
A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...
is the chief executive, who appoints the Government, consisting of ministries and departments. The Chairman of the Government, commonly referred to as the Prime Minister, is appointed with the consent of the lower house of the legislature
A legislature is an assembly with the authority to make law
Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior,Robertson, ''Crimes against humanity'', 90. with its p ...
, a process similar to the appointment of the federal Prime Minister. But the Governor cannot nominate the same candidate more than twice, yet he/she can dismiss the house after three failed attempts to appoint the Premier. The Legislative Assembly consists of the Oblast Duma, the lower house, and the House of Representatives, the upper house. Members of the legislature serve four-year terms. However, half of the Duma is re-elected every two years. The Duma (28 members) is elected by party lists. The 21 members of the House of Representatives are elected in single-seat districts in a first-past-the-post system. The Sverdlovsk Legislative Assembly was the first bicameral legislature outside an autonomous republic, and the first regional legislature in Russia to elect members based on both party lists and single-seat districts.
Compliance with the Charter is enforced by the Charter Court. The existence of such regional courts in Russia, formed and functioning outside the federal judiciary, although challenged, has been upheld and persisted successfully in most constituent members of the Federation where they were established.
Until President Putin
Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin; (born 7 October 1952) is a Russian politician and former intelligence officer who holds the office of president of Russia. Putin has served continuously as president or prime minister since 1999: as prime min ...
's reforms of 2004, the Governor was elected by direct vote for terms of four years. Eduard Rossel
Eduard Ergartovich Rossel (russian: Эдуард Эргартович Россель; born 8 October 1937) is a Russian politician, who was the governor (1995–2009) of Sverdlovsk Oblast, an oblast in Russia. He returned into office in 1995. ...
has been the only elected governor (first elected governor for an oblast in Russia) since 1995 (appointed in 1991 and dismissed in 1993 by President Yeltsin
Boris Nikolayevich Yeltsin ( rus, Борис Николаевич Ельцин, p=bɐˈrʲis nʲɪkɐˈla(j)ɪvʲɪtɕ ˈjelʲtsɨn, a=Ru-Boris Nikolayevich Yeltsin.ogg; 1 February 1931 – 23 April 2007) was a Soviet and Russian politician wh ...
), re-elected in 1999 and 2003.
Since 2012, the oblast's Governor is Yevgeny Kuyvashev
Yevgeny Vladmirovich Kuyvashev (Russian: Евгений Владимирович Куйвашев; born on 16 March 1971) is a Russian statesman who is currently the governor of Sverdlovsk Oblast since 29 May 2012. He was the acting governor on ...
.
Chairmen of the Oblast Duma
Chairmen of the House of Representatives of the Legislative Assembly
Economy and transportation
Even though it could do with modernizing, the region's industries are quite diverse. 12% of Russia's iron and steel industry is still concentrated in Sverdlovsk oblast. Iron and copper are mined and processed here, the logging industry and wood-processing are important, too.
The largest companies in the region include Ural Mining and Metallurgical Company
Ural Mining and Metallurgical Company (UMMC or UGMK russian: Открытое акционерное общество «Уральская горно-металлургическая компания») is a Russian metallurgical company based in ...
, UralVagonZavod
UralVagonZavod (russian: ОАО «Научно-производственная корпорация «УралВагонЗавод», , Open Joint Stock Company "Research and Production Corporation Uralvagonzavod") is a Russian machine-buildin ...
, Enel Russia, Nizhniy Tagil Iron and Steel Works, Federal Freight
The Federal Freight (russian: Федеральная грузовая компания) is a railway business established in Russia by Russian Railways
Russian Railways (russian: link=no, ОАО «Российские железные дор ...
.
Transport
Yekaterinburg
Yekaterinburg ( ; rus, Екатеринбург, p=jɪkətʲɪrʲɪnˈburk), alternatively romanized as Ekaterinburg and formerly known as Sverdlovsk ( rus, Свердло́вск, , svʲɪrˈdlofsk, 1924–1991), is a city and the administra ...
is a prominent road, rail and air hub in the Ural region. As the economic slump subsided, several European airlines started or resumed flights to the city. These include Lufthansa, British Airways
British Airways (BA) is the flag carrier airline of the United Kingdom. It is headquartered in London, England, near its main hub at Heathrow Airport.
The airline is the second largest UK-based carrier, based on fleet size and passengers ...
, CSA
CSA may refer to:
Arts and media
* Canadian Screen Awards, annual awards given by the Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television
* Commission on Superhuman Activities, a fictional American government agency in Marvel Comics
* Crime Syndicate of Amer ...
, Turkish Airlines
Turkish Airlines ( Turkish: ''Türk Hava Yolları'') is the national flag carrier airline of Turkey. , it operates scheduled services to 340 destinations in Europe, Asia, Africa, and the Americas, making it the largest mainline carrier in the ...
, Austrian Airlines
Austrian Airlines AG, often shortened to Austrian, is the flag carrier of Austria and a subsidiary of the Lufthansa Group. The airline is headquartered on the grounds of Vienna International Airport in Schwechat where it also maintains its ...
and Finnair
Finnair ( fi, Finnair Oyj, sv, Finnair Abp) is the flag carrier and largest airline of Finland, with its headquarters in Vantaa on the grounds of Helsinki Airport, its hub. Finnair and its subsidiaries dominate both domestic and international ...
. Malév Hungarian Airlines
MALÉV Ltd. ( hu, Malév Zrt.), which did business as MALÉV Hungarian Airlines ( hu, Magyar Légiközlekedési Vállalat, abbreviated ''MALÉV'', ), was the flag carrier of Hungary from 1946 until 2012. Its head office was in Budapest, with i ...
used to be among those carriers but they had to drop their flights to SVX ( IATA airport code for Sverdlovsk) after a few months.
The Alapaevsk narrow-gauge railway serves the communities around Alapayevsk
Alapayevsk (russian: Алапа́евск) is a town in Sverdlovsk Oblast, Russia, located at the confluence of the Neyva and Alapaikha rivers. Population: 44,263 ( 2002 census); 50,060 ( 1989 census); 49,000 (1968).
History
Alapayevsk is ...
.
Терминалы A и B аэропорта Кольцово.jpg, Koltsovo International Airport
Koltsovo International Airport (russian: Аэропорт Кольцово) is the international airport serving Yekaterinburg, Russia, located 16 km (10 mi) southeast of the city. Being the largest airport in Sverdlovsk Oblast, Kolt ...
E-burg asv2019-05 img21 Sverdlovsk Railway building.jpg, Main office of Sverdlovsk Railway
Объездная.jpg, E22 bypass in the Yekaterinburg
Alapayevsk-narrow-gauge bridge.jpg, Alapaevsk narrow-gauge railway
Sister relationships
* Bà Rịa–Vũng Tàu province
Bà Rịa–Vũng Tàu ) is a province of Vietnam. It is located on the coast of the country's Southeast region. It also includes the Côn Đảo islands, located some distance off Vietnam's southeastern coast. From 1954 to 1975, under South ...
, Vietnam
* Harbin, China
Notable people
* Vladik Dzhabarov
See also
* Yakov Sverdlov
Yakov Mikhailovich Sverdlov (russian: Яков Михайлович Свердлов; 3 June Old_Style_and_New_Style_dates">O._S._22_May.html" ;"title="Old_Style_and_New_Style_dates.html" ;"title="nowiki/>Old Style and New Style dates">O. S ...
, a communist revolutionary after whom Sverdlovsk and subsequently Sverdlovsk Oblast were named.
* Church of the Purification of the Blessed Virgin Mary, a building of regional historical significance in Staropyshminsk village.
References
External links
*
Investment portal of Sverdlovsk Oblast
*
Official website of the Government of Sverdlovsk Oblast
{{Authority control
States and territories established in 1934