Astrakhan Oblast

Infobox Russian federal subject
EnglishName=Astrakhan Oblast
RussianName=Астраханская область
Locator

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LocatorMap



CoatOfArmsLink=Coat of arms of Astrakhan Oblast

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FlagLink=Flag of Astrakhan Oblast
AnthemLink="none"
AdmCtrOrCapital=Administrative center
AdmCtrName=Astrakhan
FoundationDate=December 27, 1943
PoliticalStatus=Oblast
PoliticalStatusLink=Oblasts of Russia
FederalDistrict=Southern
EconomicRegion= Volga
CodeNumber=30
Area=44100
AreaRank=55th
Population=1005276
PopulationRank=55th
UrbanPopulation=67.7%
RuralPopulation=32.3%
LangLangs
LangList=Russian
HeadTitle=Governor
HeadName=Alexander Zhilkin
PrimeTitle=Chairman of the Government
PrimeName=Konstantin Markelov
Legislature=State Duma
ConstitutionType=Charter
ConstitutionName=Charter of Astrakhan Oblast
Website=http://www.astrobl.ru/

Astrakhan Oblast ( _ru. Астраха́нская о́бласть, "Astrakhanskaya oblast") is a federal subject of Russia (an oblast). Its administrative center is the city of Astrakhan.

Geography

Time zone

Astrakhan Oblast is located in the Moscow Time Zone (MSK/MSD). UTC offset is +0300 (MSK)/+0400 (MSD).

Administrative divisions

Demographics

"Population":
1,005,276 (2002 Census); 998,114 (1989 Census)

"Ethnic groups":
According to the 2002 Census the ‘national composition’ was • Russian 69.69% • Kazakh 14.21% • Tatar 7.02% • Ukrainian 1.25% • Chechen 1.00% • Azeri 0.82% • Kalmyk 0.71% • Armenian 0.63% • Nogay 0.45% • Roma 0.43% • Avar 0.42% • Lezgin 0.36% • Dargin 0.35% • Belarusians 0.26% • Turkmen 0.21% • Korean 0.21% • Astrakhan Tatar 0.20% • German 0.14% • Kumyks 0.14% • Georgian 0.12% • Chuvash 0.12% • Turkish 0.11% • Uzbek 0.10% • Jewish 0.10% • Mordvin 0.09% • Tabasaran 0.08% • with many other groups of less than eight hundred persons each. • An additional 0.29% of residents declined to state their nationality or ethnocultural identity on the census questionnaire. [cite paper|url=http://www.perepis2002.ru/ct/doc/English/4-2.xls |title=National Composition of Population for Regions of the Russian Federation |accessdate=2006-07-20 |format=XLS |publisher=2002 Russian All-Population Census |date=2002]

*Births (2008 Jan-Aug): 9,210 (13.8 per 1000)
*Deaths (2008 Jan-Aug): 9,295 (13.9 per 1000) [http://www.oblstat.astranet.ru/astrobl/nasel/nasel-oper.htm]

Religion

A majority of the population (primarily ethnic Russians) adheres to Orthodox Christianity. There is also a significant Muslim minority, constituting around 30% of the population.

History

Astrakhan Governorate ("guberniya") of the Russian Empire was created in 1717. It was on the southwestern frontier of the empire and was known as Astrakhan krai.

As of 1917, it bordered Saratov, Samara, and Stavropol Governorates, Don Cossack Voisko, Ural Cossack Host, Terek Oblast, and the Caspian Sea. It included the Kalmyk steppe and Kyrgyz steppe.

Since 1919 the geography of the guberniya/oblast has been changed many times. It assumed its present form in 1957.

ee also

*Astrakhan Khanate
*Music of Astrakhan

References

*"Astrakhan Oblast. A Reference on Administrative-Territorial Subdivision, 1918-1983", Volgograd, 1984, in Russian. ("Астраханская область. Справочник по административно-территориальному делению, 1918-1983 гг." Волгоград: Ниж.-Волж. кн. изд-во, 1984. – 336 с.)

External links

*ru icon [http://www.astrobl.ru/ Official website of Astrakhan Oblast]
*ru icon [http://www.astrakhan.ru/ Geographical Domain of Astrakhan Oblast]
*ru icon [http://www.astrakhan.name/ Website of Astrakhan Oblast and of Astrakhan]
*ru icon [http://www.astrobl.ru/Memo/default.asp The Book of Memory of Victims of Political Represions of Astrakan Oblast] , a list of 10,955 names repressed in Astrakhan Oblast in 1918-1986.