Altai Krai
| Altai Krai (English) Алтайский край (Russian) |
|
|---|---|
| - Krai - | |
.svg.png) |
|
 Coat of arms of Altai Krai |
 Flag of Altai Krai |
| Anthem | — |
| Political status | |
| Country | Russia |
| Political status | Krai |
| Federal district | Siberian[1] |
| Economic region | West Siberian[2] |
| Administrative center | Barnaul |
| Official language | Russian[3] |
| Statistics | |
| Population (2002 Census)[4] | 2,607,426 inhabitants |
| - Rank within Russia | 20th |
| - Urban[4] | 53.2% |
| - Rural[4] | 46.8% |
| - Density | 15.42 /km2 (39.9 /sq mi)[5] |
| Area (as of the 2002 Census)[6] | 169,100 km2 (65,289.9 sq mi) |
| - Rank within Russia | 22nd |
| Established | September 28, 1937 |
| License plates | 22 |
| ISO 3166-2:RU | RU-ALT |
| Time zone | OMST/OMSST (UTC+6/+7) |
| Government (as of December 2008) | |
| Governor[7] | Alexander Karlin[8] |
| Legislature | Legislative Assembly[9] |
| Charter | Charter of Altai Krai |
| Official website | |
| http://www.altairegion22.ru/en/ | |
Altai Krai (Russian: Алта́йский край, Altaysky kray) is a federal subject of Russia (a krai) in the Siberian Federal District. It borders with, clockwise from the south, Kazakhstan, Novosibirsk and Kemerovo Oblasts, and the Altai Republic. The krai's administrative center is the city of Barnaul.
The krai's economy depends on agriculture.
As of the 2002 Russian census, Russians form an overwhelming majority of the population, at 92%. Germans are the second-largest group, at about 3% (see Mennonite settlements of Altai). Other groups include Ukrainians (2%) , Kazakhs (0.4%) , Tatars (0.35%), Belarusians (0.32%), Armenians (0.31%), and people of other nationalities.
Contents |
Geography
Altai Krai has rolling foothills, grasslands, lakes, rivers, and mountains.[10] The climate is severe with long cold dry winters and hot, usually dry summers. The region's main waterway is the Ob River. The Biya, Katun, and Chuya Rivers are also important. The biggest lakes are Lake Kulundinskoye, Lake Kuchukskoye, and Lake Mikhaylovskoye.[11] Altai Krai has huge reserves of raw materials, especial materials used for building, as well as significant mineral reserves. These include nonferrous metals, lead and iron ores, manganese, tungsten, molybdenum, bauxite, and gold. Forests cover about 60,000 km² of the krai's land.[11] See also Geography of South-Central Siberia.
History
This area is part of a great crossroads in the ancient world.[12] Nomadic tribes crossed through the territory during periods of migration. The nomadic tribes were composed of different peoples. Archeological sites reveal that ancient humans lived in the area.[11] The Altay people are a Turkic people, some of whom have settled here, who were originally nomadic and date back to the 2nd millennium BCE.[13]
Economy
Industry
Altai Krai is situated in the southeastern part of Western Siberia and is part of the West Siberian economic region along with Kemerovo, Novosibirsk, Omsk, Tomsk, and Tyumen regions and the Altai Republic. The krai is favorably located close to major sources of raw materials, has a well-developed infrastructure, especially in the area of heavy industry, and an abundance of natural resources. It is a major industrial and agricultural region of the country. As in the rest of Russia, the economic restructuring of the 1990s led to a marked economic decline in Altai Krai, particularly in industry and agriculture. However, there is now reason to believe that the krai's economy is stabilizing. Its present economic prospects are good due to the presence of abundant local raw materials, high scientific potential, leading technologies, skilled personnel, and a low-cost labor force. The sales market extends far beyond the borders of the West Siberian economic region. The krai administration is interested in foreign investments and is creating the necessary conditions for setting up joint ventures.
There are more than 2000 industrial companies operating in both heavy and light industry. The leading sectors are the power, engineering, chemical and petrochemical, building material, textile, and light industries. Output is currently increasing in certain industries for the first time since perestroika. This increase is particularly noticeable in the flour-, grain-, and feed-milling and chemical and petrochemical industries and in individual heavy industry sectors, tractor production.
Small and medium business is developing rapidly in Altai Krai, which is a necessary condition for economic stability and growth. Today, nearly a quarter of the entire working population is employed in this sector.
Agriculture
Altai Krai is one of Russia's most important agricultural regions. Development of the krai's lands began in the second half of the 18th century; and peasants from other Russian regions began resettling here in 1861. By 1917, the krai's rural population had reached 1,998,000 people and the total area under cultivation was 25,060 square kilometres.
Today, farmland covers an area of 110,000 km², of which 69,220 km², or nearly 41% of the total area of the krai, is cropland. The main crops are hard varieties of spring wheat, buckwheat, millet, peas, barley, oats, and potatoes and other vegetables. This is this only region of Siberia where sunflowers, soybeans, sugar beets, and certain kinds of fruit grow.
In 1960, the State Economic Council under the Council of Ministers of the USSR carried out comprehensive zoning of Altai Krai, which divided the krai into seven natural and economic agricultural zones. Wide temperature swings are characteristic of the krai's climate, so that ensuring harvest stability is not easy. It requires a specific approach to developing cropland in order to increase farming efficiency. The Kulundinskaya Plain, the Priobskoe Plateau, and the left and right banks of the Ob River are well developed agriculturally. Natural fodder land, including hayfields and pasture, occupies 39,060 km², which includes 11,930 km² of hayfields and 27130 km² of pasture.
Livestock farming specializes in meat, milk, wool, and egg production. Altai Krai is a major wool producer and an important base for breeding fine-fleeced pedigreed sheep, which makes it possible to export more than 30,000 head of pedigreed sheep per year. The territorial market also offers pedigreed swine, poultry, meat, eggs, honey, and wild products such as deer antlers, furs, and pelts.
Fruit-growing in Altai is made possible by specialists of the internationally known Lisavenko Horticultural Research Institute, which has developed a range of fruit and berry varieties adapted to the climate.
Today, Altai Krai not only meets the agricultural product requirements of its own population, but also the requirements of many other Russian regions. Altai exports many kinds of cereals, as well as processed grain products such as wheat and rye flour, pasta products, sugar beets, sunflower seeds, and flax fiber. The krai is Siberia's largest grain, sugar, and meat producer and its second-largest cheese producer.
Demographics
Russians make up 91.97% of the population, while Germans make up 3.05% and Ukrainians-Belorussians 2.34%. Around 98% of the population is Slavic, Finnic or German.[14]
During the first three months of 2009, there were around 7,484 births (1% higher than that of 2008).[17] Only 12 raions out of 72 were having a natural population growth during the same period (Barnaul, Belokurikha, Slavgorod, ZATO Sibirsky, Burlinsky, Deutsche Nationalkreis Halbstadt, Rubtsovsk, Soviet, Soloneshensky, Tretyakovsky and Habarsky Raions were having natural population growth).
Administrative divisions
Politics
On August 7, 2005 the Krai's then head of administration Mikhail Yevdokimov died in a car crash.
Sister district
See also
- Altay Mountains
- Sayan Mountains
References
- Алтайское краевое Законодательное Собрание. №3-ЗС 5 июня 1995 г. «Устав (основной закон) Алтайского края», в ред. Закона №126-ЗС от 30 ноября 2007 г. (Altai Krai Legislative Assembly. #3-ZS June 5, 1995 Charter (Basic Law) of Altai Krai, as amended by the Law #126-ZS of November 30, 2007. ).
Notes
- ↑ 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", №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).
- ↑ 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. ).
- ↑ According to Article 68.1 of the Constitution of Russia, Russian is the official language on the whole territory of the Russian Federation. Article 68.2 further stipulates that only the republics have the right to establish official languages other than Russian.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 Федеральная служба государственной статистики (Federal State Statistics Service) (2004-05-21). "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)" (in Russian). Всероссийская перепись населения 2002 года (All-Russia Population Census of 2002). Federal State Statistics Service. http://perepis2002.ru/ct/html/TOM_01_04_1.htm. Retrieved 2010-03-01.
- ↑ The value of density was calculated automatically by dividing the 2002 Census population by the area specified in the infobox. Please note that this value may not be accurate as the area specified in the infobox is not necessarily reported for the same year as the Census (2002).
- ↑ Федеральная служба государственной статистики (Federal State Statistics Service) (2004-05-21). "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)" (in Russian). Всероссийская перепись населения 2002 года (All-Russia Population Census of 2002). Federal State Statistics Service. http://perepis2002.ru/ct/html/TOM_01_03.htm. Retrieved 2008-10-17.
- ↑ Charter, Article 82
- ↑ Official website of Altai Krai. Biography of Alexander Bogdanovich Karlin
- ↑ Charter, Article 67
- ↑ "Russian program — Altai". http://www.pacificenvironment.org/article.php?list=type&type=83. Retrieved 2006-11-30.
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 11.2 "Altai Territory". http://www.kommersant.com/t-82/r_5/n_426/Altai_Territory/. Retrieved 2006-11-29.
- ↑ "Greater Altai – Altai Krai, Republic of Altai, Tyva (Tuva), and Novosibirsk — Crossroads". http://www.pacificenvironment.org/article.php?id=934. Retrieved 2006-11-30.
- ↑ "Peoples from Russia — Alexey, guide in Altay region". http://www.waytorussia.net/Features/RussianPeople/2003Sept24/. Retrieved 2006-11-30.
- ↑ http://www.perepis2002.ru/index.html?id=87
- ↑ www.altairegion22.ru/rus/region_news/?news_id=48260
- ↑ http://www.amic.ru/news/81924/&dd=20&mm=2&yy=2008
- ↑ www.regnum.ru/news/1152452.html
- ↑ China and Russia sister cities
External links
Media related to Altai Krai at Wikimedia Commons- Kommersant.com. Information about Altai Krai
- Library of Congress Russian (pdf)
- History of Altai