Magadan Oblast edit
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Magadan Oblast edit
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| Magadan Oblast (English) Магаданская область (Russian) |
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.svg) Location of Magadan Oblast in Russia |
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| Coat of Arms | Flag |
 Coat of arms of Magadan Oblast |
 Flag of Magadan Oblast |
| Anthem: None | |
| Administrative center | Magadan |
| Established | December 3, 1953 |
| Political status Federal district Economic region |
Oblast Far Eastern Far Eastern |
| Code | 49 |
| Area | |
| Area - Rank within Russia |
461,400 km² 11th |
| Population (as of the 2002 Census) | |
| Population - Rank within Russia - Density - Urban - Rural |
182,726 inhabitants 81st 0.4 inhab. / km² 92.3% 7.7% |
| Official language | Russian |
| Government | |
| Governor | Nikolay Dudov |
| First Deputy Governor | Nikolay Karpenko |
| Legislative body | Oblast Duma |
| Charter | Charter of Magadan Oblast |
| Official website | |
| http://www.magadan.ru/ | |
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Magadan Oblast (Russian: Магада́нская о́бласть, Magadanskaya oblast) is a federal subject of Russia (an oblast) in the Far Eastern Federal District. Its administrative center is the city of Magadan.
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Magadan Oblast was established in 1953 in what had popularly been known as Kolyma. As a result of considerable raw resources, especially gold, silver, tin, and tungsten deposits, mining activities and road building had been developed during the Stalin era in the 1930s and 1940s under the coordination of Dalstroy and its forced labor camps. On Stalin's death, Dalstroy was disbanded and the regional administration took over many of its former responsibilities. From then on, paid labor replaced most of the convict-based manpower, attracted by the region's rapid economic expansion, especially the gold-mining interests.
The indigenous peoples of the region, including the Evens, Koryaks, Yupiks, Chukchis, Orochs, Chuvans and Itelmens, who had traditionally lived from fishing along the Sea of Okhotsk coast or from reindeer herding in the River Kolyma valley, suffered from the industrialisation of the area but were able to rely on institutional support until 1987 when Perestroika started to cause many of the older structures to close. As a result, many of those who can no longer rely on traditional sources of income are now unemployed1.
Chukotka was formerly an autonomous okrug subsumed within Magadan Oblast, but it declared its separation in 1991.
Magadan Oblast consists principally of mountainous desert, tundra, and taiga. The southern part of the region is partly forested with birch, willow, mountain ash, larch and alder.
The animal species in the south include snow sheep, reindeer, moose and brown bears. There are also many varieties of birds, including ducks and seabirds. The Sea of Okhotsk has rich fishing grounds for pollock, herring, cod, flounder and salmon, as well as whales, seals, crabs and shellfish.
The economy is centred on mining interests for gold, silver and other non-ferrous metals. The city of Magadan is the only large industrial centre. The other main contributor to the economy is fishing, particularly for export, with processing companies in Magadan, Ola, Yamsk, and Evensk. Recently, there has been interest in exploiting the coal resources in the region. Over the medium term, there seem to be excellent opportunities for petroleum and natural gas exploitation. Agriculture is not well developed in the region.
Unfortunately, despite these rich natural resources, the economy has not prospered as much as might have been expected in recent years. The severe climate and poorly developed infrastructure are partly to blame but the difficult transition from Soviet times has led to the collapse of a number of companies with the result that many inhabitants have left the region. Recently, there do seem to have been renewed efforts to encourage foreign investment which could lead to improvements in the economy. Indeed, on a visit to Magadan in November 2005, President Vladimir Putin supported the extension of special tax advantages for the region in order to encourage gold exploitation2. Companies involved in food processing and production include Gormolzavod, a distillery, a pasta factory, a sausage factory, the Dukcha state poultry farm, and the Khasynsky state farm.
Magadan Oblast is located in the Magadan Time Zone (MAGT/MAGST). UTC offset is +1100 (MAGT)/+1200 (MAGST).
Population: 182,726 (2002 Census).
Ethnic groups: According to the 2002 Census the ‘national composition’ was: • 146,488 Russians (80.17%); • 18,068 Ukrainians (9.89%); • 2,527 Evens (1.38%); • 2,169 Belarusians (1.19%); • 2,006 Tatars (1.10%); • 888 Koryaks (0.49%); • 808 Ingush (0.44); • 780 Germans (0.43); • 643 Itelmen (0.35%); • 563 Azeris (0.31%); • 479 Moldovans (0.26%); • 469 Yakuts (0.26%); • 466 Buryats (0.26%); • 378 Ossetians (0.21%); • 357 Chuvash (0.20%); • 344 Bashkirs (0.19%); • 330 Armenians (0.18%); • 314 Kamchadals (0.17%); • and a few other groups of less than three hundred persons each. • In addition, 0.33% of the inhabitants declined to state their nationality on the census questionnaire.3