Central Black Earth Region

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Ivan Shishkin's painting depicts forest steppe adapted for arable agriculture.

Central Black Earth Region or Central Chernozem Region (Центрально-черноземная область, Центральная черноземная область, Центрально-черноземная полоса) is a segment of the Eurasian chernozem belt that lies within Central Russia and comprises Voronezh Oblast, Lipetsk Oblast, Belgorod Oblast, Tambov Oblast, Oryol Oblast and Kursk Oblast. Between 1928 and 1934, these regions were briefly united into Central Chernozem Oblast, with the centre in Voronezh.

The Black Earth Region is famous for its very good soil, called Black Earth, or Chernozem, hence the name. Although its importance has been primarily agricultural, the Chernozem Region was developed by the Soviets as an industrial region based on iron ores of the Kursk Magnetic Anomaly.

The area contains a biosphere nature reserve called Central Chernozem Reserve (42 km²). It was created in 1935 within the Kursk and Belgorod oblasts. A prime specimen of forest steppe in Europe, the nature reserve consists of typical virgin land (tselina) steppes and deciduous forests.

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