Volgograd Oblast
49.3544.305Koordinaten: 49 ° 21 ' N, 44 ° 18' E
The Volgograd Oblast (Russian Волгоградская область / Volgogradskaya oblast ) is a Oblast in southern Russia. In the north of the oblast borders the Saratov Oblast, on the east by Kazakhstan, on the southeast by the Astrakhan Oblast and the Republic of Kalmykia, in the south and west by the Rostov Oblast and to the northwest by the Voronezh Oblast.
Natural space
The oblast is situated in the southeastern part of the East European Plain and is bordered to the east by Kazakhstan. The Volga, Europe's longest river and the Don flow through the area. The Volga divides the area into two parts: in the eastern half dominated flat lowlands, the western part is a hilly relief, the Volga plate ( to 358 m), dominated. The natural area is characterized by the transition from the forest-steppe in the north- west to the semi-desert in the east. Only 4.3 percent of the territory is covered with forests. In the area there are about 200 rivers that feed the Sea of Azov and the Caspian Sea. They provide the habitat for a diverse flora and fauna. In the region there are over 9000 species of insects, 80 species of fish, 8 species of amphibians, 15 reptiles, 300 bird species and 80 mammal species. In the Volgograd Oblast, there are seven nature parks.
The Volgograd Oblast has in the northwest over black earth and in the rest area on brown soils. It has a continental climate with cold winters and little snow and hot dry summers. The average temperature is 7.5 degrees Celsius in Volgograd, in February -9.9 degrees and 24.2 degrees in July. The growing season is 181 days long. The rainfall is in the long -term average in the northwest at 450 mm per year, in the southeast at 270 mm, in Volgograd at 373 mm.
Economy
The Volgograd Oblast is one of the most economically developed regions of Russia with a balanced economic structure, which is combined by a diversified agriculture and a variety of other industries.
The Volgograd Oblast also has a high potential of natural resources. The area is rich in oil, so that even petrochemicals is here. There are also numerous other raw materials for the chemical industry, for example manufacture of fertilizers (potassium, magnesium, sodium, phosphates), material for the construction industry (limestone, sandstone), molding sand for steel industry, iron ore, non-ferrous and rare metals such, titanium ( element ), and zirconium.
Economically dominated in the industrial sector, the metalworking and mechanical engineering (22 percent of Russian tractor production ), oil refineries and chemical industry, resulting mainly in the Greater Volgograd to a strong environmental impact. Light industry (including shoes, furs, leather goods ) is composed in the oblast from 207 companies. The textile industry is concentrated in Kamyshin.
Agriculture is characterized by grain (all types), vegetables (especially potatoes) and oil crops from. 61 percent of the cultivated agricultural land are ordered with sunflower and mustard grain, 29 percent of fodder plant and 9 percent. In animal production outweighs the milk and beef production.
The Volga and the Don are important water roads. Both rivers are connected by the Volga - Don canal.
History
The area around Volgograd was given its geographical location on the isthmus between the Volga and Don in ancient times an important trading route. Settled here in the 5th century BC Scythians. In the 8th and 9th centuries, the area belonged to the kingdom of the Khazars, in the 11th and 12th centuries here talking to different tribes, among others, the Polovcer. With the Mongol invasion in the 13th century it came under the rule of the Golden Horde, which is about 50 km east of Volgograd, the river Akhtuba, built one of their centers with the city. End of the 16th century the area came to the Russian Tsardom.
Administrative divisions and largest cities
The Volgograd oblast is divided into 33 Rajons and 6 urban districts. In addition to the Oblastverwaltungszentrum Volgograd there are two other major cities, Wolschski and Kamyshin. In total there are 19 cities in the oblast and 18 urban-type settlements.