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 Census, its population was 2,521,892.[9]

Saratov Oblast
Oblast
Саратовская область
Flag Coat of arms
Anthem: [1]
Coordinates: 51°47′N 46°44′E
Country	Russia
Federal district	Volga[2]
Economic region	Volga[3]
Established	December 5, 1936[4]
Administrative center	Saratov[5]
Government
• Body	Oblast Duma[6]
• Governor[6]	Valery Radayev[7]
Area [8]
• Total	100,200 km^2 (38,700 sq mi)
Area rank	36th
Population  (2010 Census)[9]
• Total	2,521,892
• Estimate  (2018)[10]	2,462,950 (-2.3%)
• Rank	19th
• Density	25/km^2 (65/sq mi)
• Urban	74.5%
• Rural	25.5%
Time zone	UTC+4 (MSK+1 [11])
ISO 3166 code	RU-SAR
License plates	64, 164
OKTMO ID	63000000
Official languages	Russian[12]
Website	http://saratov.gov.ru/

Geography

The oblast is located in the southeast of European Russia, in the northern part of the Lower Volga region. From west to east its territory stretches for 575 kilometers (357 mi), and from north to south for 330 kilometers (210 mi).

The oblast borders on:

• Volgograd Oblast to the south
• Voronezh and Tambov oblasts to the west
• Penza, Samara and Ulyanovsk oblasts to the north;
• the Kazakhstan (West Kazakhstan Region) to the east

Natural resources

Of particular agricultural importance are valuable agricultural ordinary and southern chernozyom areas; chestnut soils are widespread. The oblast has many water resources: besides the river Volga (which divides the oblast in two) there are many identified sources and mineral-water deposits.

Minerals

More than 40 small oil and gas fields have been explored in the region, with the unexplored part of the promising areas being unexplored. Explored a lot of oil shale deposits, including a large Ozinskoye, deposits of quality cement raw materials, phosphorites, construction, ballast and glass sands, construction clay and stone.

Climate

The climate in the region is temperate: a long dry hot summer, on the left bank of Volga river a considerable number of days with a temperature above +30 °C (86 °F). Winter is frosty, the average number of days with precipitation is 12-15 per month, with fogs an average of 4–10 days per month, With snowstorms - an average of 4–10 days a month. Spring is short. In March, snowstorms, drifts on roads, an average of 5–7 days are possible. Days with fogs in March averaged 5–9. In the spring, usually with the last decade of March to the third decade of April, a limit is imposed on the roads with a hard surface on the movement of heavy vehicles, the beginning of which is timed to the transition of the average daily temperature through 0. Autumn does not differ from year to year by the constancy of the weather. A stable snow cover is created in the northern regions by November 25, and in the central and southern regions - from November 29 to December 8. The region crosses the climatic separating and wind-destroying Voeykov axis, it passes on average through the eastern and northern regions of the region, sometimes falling to the south, and also to the border of the forest and forest-steppe zones, which goes northwards, especially in the spring, which affects the climate of the region.

Ecology

The modern ecological state of the Saratov oblast is critical. Intensive pollution of the environment continues as production increases. The fuel, chemical and petrochemical industries are developing more dynamically than the average for Russia. The foreign trade turnover of the Saratov region in 2011 increased by 36.8%.[13] The basis of exports is the products of the fuel and energy and petrochemical complex. Products of machine building continue to be delivered to the countries of the near abroad. Simultaneously with the economic growth of the region, environmental damage is also increasing. To date, the ecological state of the Saratov oblast is not improving. Measures are not taken to stop negative environmental impacts, prevent uncontrolled impacts (such as accidents, uncontrolled emissions, which can lead not only to disasters of a local nature, but also to a larger scale). All marked negative manifestations occur against the background of dangerous natural processes: landslides, karst, earthquakes, flooding. To solve a whole range of environmental problems, the Committee for Environmental Protection and Nature Management of the Saratov oblast developed the "Program for Stabilization and Improvement of the Ecological Situation in the Territory of the Saratov oblast", which was based on the proposals of the administrations of cities and districts of the region, city district environmental committees, enterprises and organizations Region. The program is financed from budgets of different levels, funds of environmental funds, enterprises and organizations of the region. As a result, the volume of capital expenditures aimed at protecting the environment of the region increased due to all sources of financing. Objects of the public are unknown.

In the dumps and storehouses of enterprises in the Saratov oblast is located 24 million tons of industrial waste:

• 1 class of danger - 3,5 thousand tons; ("Tantalus", "Banner of Labor", "SAZ", "AIT", "ELMASH", "SEPO"),
• 2 class of danger - about 5 thousand tons;
• 3 class of danger - about 3 million tons;
• 4 class of danger - about 21 million tons.

In 1998, about 1.5 million tons of industrial wastes of 1-4 hazard classes were formed in the region, about 2 million tons of solid household waste. Compared to 1997, there was a decrease in the gross volume of industrial waste generation by 11%, which is associated with a fall in production volumes.

A particularly dangerous enterprise in Saratov is the AIT plant, which pollutes not only its own territory, but also the adjacent residential area. This enterprise for a long time exported to the dump of the Alexander Village Soviet production waste containing nickel and cadmium.

In dumps in the amount of more than 19 million tons (with a design capacity of 10.84 million tons) phosphogypsum from the production activity of Irgiz OJSC in Balakovo has been accumulated. Here the pollution is tens of times higher than the maximum permissible concentration for phosphates, chlorides, iron, ammonia and nitrates.

One of the most pressing problems is the problem of collection and disposal of technical and domestic garbage. The number of unauthorized landfills is growing. For today, the administrations of municipal entities and the Government of the Saratov oblast are not controlled or monitored in any way. The only measure is a one-time garbage collection in the territories of municipalities, initiated by public organizations of the Saratov region and "subbotniks", which are held in the spring and autumn.

Ecological state of the atmosphere

Annually, Saratov enterprises emit up to 50 million tons of harmful substances into the atmosphere. These include: carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxides, sulfur dioxide, hydrocarbons, aldehydes, heavy metals, ammonia, atmospheric dust.

The main sources of anthropogenic aerosol air pollution are thermal power plants (CHPs) that consume coal. Combustion of coal, cement production and smelting of cast iron give a total dust emission to the atmosphere equal to 170 million tons per year.

In 2011, Saratov was excluded from the list of Russian cities with very high levels of air pollution.[14]

Seismic activity

Historical and modern earthquakes are known in the region. The level of seismic activity in the territory of the region, according to the officially published map of the general seismic zoning of the territory of the Russian Federation (OSR-97-C), is determined by the probability of earthquakes with an intensity of up to 7 points inclusive on the Medvedev–Sponheuer–Karnik scale.

History

Prehistoric period

By the time of the Paleolithic in the territory of the Saratov oblast are the parking near the village of Aryash Novoburassky district and near the settlement Nepryakhin of the Ozinsky district.

Two male skulls from the cemetery of Khlopkov Bugor belong to the era of the Eneolithic.[15] A single barrow Panitsky 6B in the Krasnoarmeysky district has a dating of the end of the IV - beginning. III millennium BC.[16][17] By the town Khvalynsk was called the Eneolithic Khvalynsk culture (V-IV thousand BC.).

As part of the Golden Horde and the Kazan Khanate

In the middle of the 13th century prisoners captured by the Mongols from various conquered countries built one of the first and largest cities of the Golden Horde, Uvek, in the area of modern Saratov (Marco Polo tells of the Venetians visiting the city in 1262). In 1334, the Arab traveler Ibn Battuta visited it and recorded that Ukek is a city of "average size, but beautifully built, with abundant benefits and severe cold". At the end of the 14th century, the city was destroyed by Tamerlane.

In the next 200 years, a rare population of the Wild Fields was represented by the Nogais, and then by the Kalmyk nomad camps, Cossacks and fishing co-operatives of Russian monasteries. In the meantime, after the collapse of the Golden Horde, the Kazan Khanate was formed on the territory of the Kazan ulus, which in 1552 was conquered by the Russian Tsar Ivan IV.

As part of the Moscow kingdom and the Russian Empire

After the capture of Kazan and the territorial-state reform of Peter I in 1708, the conquered Kazan Khanate became the so-called formally independent Kazan tsardom in union with the Russian State. In 1708 the Kazan tsardom was transformed into the Kazan Governorate. In 1717, the Astrakhan Governorate was separated from it.

On December 25, 1769, the Saratov Province of the Astrakhan Governorate was created. On January 11, 1780 Empress Catherine II issued a decree establishing the Saratov viceregency from the northern districts of the Astrakhan Governorate (Saratov, Khvalynsky, Volsky, Kuznetsky, Serdobsky, Atkarskiy, Petrovsky, Balashov and Kamyshinsky). By decree of Emperor Paul I of December 12, 1796, the Saratov Viceroyalty was abolished, and its counties were divided between the Penza and Astrakhan Governorates.

Between the autumn of 1891 through the summer of 1892, the territory of the Saratov Governorate became part of the main zone of crop failure caused by drought (see Russian famine of 1891–92).

The Soviet period

In 1918, part of the territory of the Saratov Governorate was included in the newly formed autonomous region of the Germans in the Volga region. In 1928, the province was disbanded, and its territory became part of the Lower Volga oblast, soon transformed into the Lower Volga krai.

January 10, 1934 the Lower Volga krai was divided into Saratov and Stalingrad krais. According to the Constitution of the USSR, adopted on December 5, 1936, the Saratov krai was reorganized into the Saratov oblast, with the creation of the Volga German Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic.

By the decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR on September 7, 1941, in Saratov oblast were included the territories of 15 cantons of the former Volga German Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic (Balzer, Zolotovsky, Kamensk, Ternovsky, Kukkus, Zelman, Krasnoyarsk, Marksstadt, Untervalden, Fedorov, Gnadenfly, Krasno-Kutsky, Lysanderzhsky, Mariental and Eckheim).[18]

After the abolition of the Balashov oblast by the Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the RSFSR of November 19, 1957, these cities and districts were returned to the Saratov region.[19]

Modern history

On 4 July 1997, Saratov, alongside Bryansk, Chelyabinsk, Magadan, and Vologda signed a power-sharing agreement with the government of Russia, granting it autonomy.[20] The agreement would be abolished on 9 February 2002.[21]

Politics

Façade of the Oblast Duma building

During the Soviet period, the high authority in the oblast was shared between three persons: The first secretary of the Saratov CPSU Committee (who in reality had the most authority), the chairman of the oblast Soviet (legislative power), and the Chairman of the oblast Executive Committee (executive power). In 1991, the CPSU lost all its power, and the head of the Oblast administration, and eventually the governor was appointed or elected alongside elected the regional parliament.

The Charter of Saratov Oblast is the fundamental law of the oblast. The Legislative Assembly of Saratov 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 it passes. 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.

Economy

Administrative divisions

Main article: Administrative divisions of Saratov Oblast

Demographics

Population: 2,521,892 (2010 Census);[9] 2,668,310 (2002 Census);[22] 2,686,483 (1989 Census).[23]

Ethnic groups: most of the ethnic Germans who used to live in the area have been repatriated. The German Consulate in Saratov closed in June 2004, stating that there were only 18,000 ethnic Germans left in the oblast (including 2,000 in the city of Saratov)

There were twenty recognized ethnic groups of more than two thousand persons each in Saratov Oblast at the time of the 2010 Census. The ethnic composition was reported to be:[9]

• Russians:(87.6%);
• Kazakhs:(3.1%);
• Tatars:(2.2%);
• Ukrainians:(1.7%);
• Armenians:(1%);
• Azerbaijani:(0.6%);
• Chuvash:(0.5%);
• Mordovians:(0.4%);
• Germans:(0.3%);
• Belarusians:(0.3%);
• Chechens:(0.2%);
• 2.1% others.
• 64,878 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.[24]
• Births (2008): 27,492 (10.7 per 1000)
• Deaths (2008): 39,291 (15.2 per 1000)[25]

Vital statistics for 2012

• Births: 28 364 (11.3 per 1000)
• Deaths: 35 664 (14.2 per 1000) [26]

Total fertility rate:[27] 2009 - 1.41 | 2010 - 1.40 | 2011 - 1.40 | 2012 - 1.51 | 2013 - 1.54 | 2014 - 1.57 | 2015 - 1.60 | 2016 - 1.55(e)

Settlements

Religion

Religion in Saratov Oblast as of 2012 (Sreda Arena Atlas)[28][29]
Russian Orthodoxy			30%
Other Orthodox			1%
Other Christians			4.8%
Islam			2.4%
Hinduism			0.5%
Rodnovery and other native faiths			1.1%
Spiritual but not religious			38.1%
Atheism and irreligion			15.6%
Other and undeclared			6.5%

According to a 2012 survey[28] 30% of the population of Saratov Oblast adheres to the Russian Orthodox Church, 4% are unaffiliated generic Christians, 1% are Orthodox Christians who believe but aren't members of any church or are members of non-Russian Orthodox churches. 2% are Muslims, 1% of the population adheres to Rodnovery (Slavic folk religion), and 0.5% adheres to forms of Hinduism (Vedism, Krishnaism or Tantrism). In addition, 38% of the population declares to be "spiritual but not religious", 16% is atheist, and 7.5% follows other religions or did not give an answer to the question.[28]

See also

• List of Chairmen of the Saratov Oblast Duma
• Volga German Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic

References

Notes

1. The official symbols of Saratov Oblast, enumerated in Article 4 of the Charter of Saratov Oblast, include only its flag and coat of arms.
2. Президент Российской Федерации. Указ №849 от 13 мая 2000 г. «О полномочном представителе Президента Российской Федерации в федеральном округе». Вступил в силу 13 мая 2000 г. Опубликован: "Собрание законодательства РФ", No. 20, ст. 2112, 15 мая 2000 г. (President of the Russian Federation. Decree #849 of May 13, 2000 On the Plenipotentiary Representative of the President of the Russian Federation in a Federal District. Effective as of May 13, 2000.).
3. Госстандарт Российской Федерации. №ОК 024-95 27 декабря 1995 г. «Общероссийский классификатор экономических регионов. 2. Экономические районы», в ред. Изменения №5/2001 ОКЭР. (Gosstandart of the Russian Federation. #OK 024-95 December 27, 1995 Russian Classification of Economic Regions. 2. Economic Regions, as amended by the Amendment #5/2001 OKER. ).
4. Charter of Saratov Oblast, Preamble
5. Charter of Saratov Oblast, Article 10.4
6. Charter of Saratov Oblast, Article 6
7. Official website of Saratov Oblast. Valery Vasilyevich Radayev, Governor of Saratov Oblast (in Russian)
8. Федеральная служба государственной статистики (Federal State Statistics Service) (May 21, 2004). "Территория, число районов, населённых пунктов и сельских администраций по субъектам Российской Федерации (Territory, Number of Districts, Inhabited Localities, and Rural Administration by Federal Subjects of the Russian Federation)". Всероссийская перепись населения 2002 года (All-Russia Population Census of 2002) (in Russian). Federal State Statistics Service. Retrieved November 1, 2011.
9. Russian Federal State Statistics Service (2011). "Всероссийская перепись населения 2010 года. Том 1" [2010 All-Russian Population Census, vol. 1]. Всероссийская перепись населения 2010 года [2010 All-Russia Population Census] (in Russian). Federal State Statistics Service.
10. "26. Численность постоянного населения Российской Федерации по муниципальным образованиям на 1 января 2018 года". Federal State Statistics Service. Retrieved January 23, 2019.
11. "Об исчислении времени". Официальный интернет-портал правовой информации (in Russian). June 3, 2011. Retrieved January 19, 2019.
12. Official throughout the Russian Federation according to Article 68.1 of the Constitution of Russia.
13. "На 36,8% увеличился внешнеторговый оборот региона". www.saratov.aif.ru. Retrieved April 2, 2018.
14. "ГТРК Саратов - Саратов исключен из списка российских городов с очень высоким уровнем загрязнения воздуха". gtrk-saratov.ru. Retrieved April 2, 2018.
15. Казарницкий А. А. О краниологических особенностях населения ямной археологической культуры Северо-Западного Прикаспия
16. Богданов С. В., Хохлов А. А. Энеолитический могильник в урочище Красноярка // Известия Самарского научного центра Российской академии наук. Выпуск № 3-1 / том 14 / 2012
17. Мимоход Р. А. Курганы эпохи бронзы — раннего железного века в Саратовском Поволжье: характеристика и культурно-хронологическая атрибуция комплексов
18. "= GESCHICHTE DER WOLGADEUTSCHEN = Указ ПВС СССР от 7 сентября 1941 г." www.wolgadeutsche.ru. Retrieved April 2, 2018.
19. Иванова Л. П. Балашов — областной центр. В кн.: Балашовский край. Краеведческий альманах. 2001, N1(2) Archived September 28, 2007, at the Wayback Machine
20. "Moscow Signs Power-Sharing Agreements With Five More Regions". Jamestown. July 7, 1997. Retrieved May 2, 2019.
21. Chuman, Mizuki. "The Rise and Fall of Power-Sharing Treaties Between Center and Regions in Post-Soviet Russia" (PDF). Demokratizatsiya: 146.
22. Russian Federal State Statistics Service (May 21, 2004). "Численность населения России, субъектов Российской Федерации в составе федеральных округов, районов, городских поселений, сельских населённых пунктов – районных центров и сельских населённых пунктов с населением 3 тысячи и более человек" [Population of Russia, Its Federal Districts, Federal Subjects, Districts, Urban Localities, Rural Localities—Administrative Centers, and Rural Localities with Population of Over 3,000] (XLS). Всероссийская перепись населения 2002 года [All-Russia Population Census of 2002] (in Russian).
23. "Всесоюзная перепись населения 1989 г. Численность наличного населения союзных и автономных республик, автономных областей и округов, краёв, областей, районов, городских поселений и сёл-райцентров" [All Union Population Census of 1989: Present Population of Union and Autonomous Republics, Autonomous Oblasts and Okrugs, Krais, Oblasts, Districts, Urban Settlements, and Villages Serving as District Administrative Centers]. Всесоюзная перепись населения 1989 года [All-Union Population Census of 1989] (in Russian). Институт демографии Национального исследовательского университета: Высшая школа экономики [Institute of Demography at the National Research University: Higher School of Economics]. 1989 – via Demoscope Weekly.
24. "ВПН-2010". www.perepis-2010.ru. Retrieved April 2, 2018.
25. http://srtvstat.renet.ru/digital/region1/default.aspx
26. "Естественное движение населения в разрезе субъектов Российской Федерации". www.gks.ru. Retrieved April 2, 2018.
27. "Каталог публикаций::Федеральная служба государственной статистики". www.gks.ru. Retrieved April 2, 2018.
28. "Arena: Atlas of Religions and Nationalities in Russia". Sreda, 2012.
29. 2012 Arena Atlas Religion Maps. "Ogonek", № 34 (5243), 27/08/2012. Retrieved 21/04/2017. Archived.

Sources

• Саратовская областная Дума. Закон №46-ЗСО от 2 июня 2005 г. «Устав (Основной Закон) Саратовской области», в ред. Закона №54-ЗСО от 28 апреля 2015 г. «О внесении изменений в Устав (Основной Закон) Саратовской области». Вступил в силу после официального опубликования. Опубликован: "Неделя области", Спецвыпуск, №38 (156), 4 июня 2005 г. (Saratov Oblast Duma. Law #46-ZSO of June 2, 2005 Charter (Basic Law) of Saratov Oblast, as amended by the Law #54-ZSO of April 28, 2015 On Amending the Charter (Basic Law) of Saratov Oblast. Effective as of after the official publication.).