| Irkutsk Oblast | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Иркутская область (Russian) | |||
| — Oblast — | |||
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| Anthem: None | |||
| Coordinates: | |||
| Political status | |||
| Country | Russia | ||
| Federal district | Siberian[1] | ||
| Economic region | East Siberian[2] | ||
| Established | September 26, 1937 | ||
| Administrative center | Irkutsk | ||
| Government (as of September 2010) | |||
| - Governor[3] | Dmitry Mezentsev[4] | ||
| - Legislature | Legislative Assembly[5] | ||
| Statistics | |||
| Area (as of the 2002 Census)[6] | |||
| - Total | 767,900 km2 (296,487.8 sq mi) | ||
| Area rank | 5th | ||
| Population (2010 Census)[7] | |||
| - Total | 2,428,750 | ||
| - Rank | 20th | ||
| - Density | 3.16 /km2 (8.2 /sq mi) | ||
| - Urban | 79.6% | ||
| - Rural | 20.4% | ||
| Time zone(s) | IRKST (UTC+09:00)[8] | ||
| ISO 3166-2 | RU-IRK | ||
| License plates | 38 | ||
| Official languages | Russian[9] | ||
| http://www.govirk.ru/ | |||
Irkutsk Oblast (Russian: Ирку́тская о́бласть, Irkutskaya oblast) is a federal subject of Russia (an oblast), located in southeastern Siberia in the basins of Angara River, Lena, and Nizhnyaya Tunguska Rivers. The administrative center is the city of Irkutsk. Population: 2,428,750 (2010 Census).[7]
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In the 13th century, the Lake Baikal area came under Mongol influence. Genghis Khan conquered the Merkits and Tatars who were settling in the area by 1227, before going on to expand into wider Central Asia, establishing the Mongol Empire. The Mongols were succeeded by the Northern Yuan in the 14th century.
Russian presence in the area dates to the 17th century, as the Russian Tsardom expanded eastward following the conquest of the Khanate of Sibir in 1582.
By the end of the 17th century Irkutsk was a small town, the monasteries were being built, the suburbs and agricultural settlements were being formed.
Since the 18th century in Irkutsk the trades and crafts began to develop, the gold and silver craftsmen, smiths appeared. In relation with the expansion of Russian state to the East from Irkutsk, the city became a capital of enormous territories from the Enisey to the Pacific, it played an important role in the exploration and securing vast Eastern-Siberian and Far-Eastern territories to Russia. Gradually Irkutsk gained more meaning as the main transportation and trade center of Eastern Siberia, it became a center of trade routes from Kamchatka, Chukotka to Yakutia, Mongolia, and China. The administrative meaning of the city increased: it became a center of one fifth of the provinces of Siberia; in 1764 it became a center of independent province.
The 18th century in the history of Irkutsk was a century of the research expeditions. In Irkutsk first and second expeditions of Vitus Bering to the shores of Kamchatka were organized.
The merchant class formed in a city. In the second half of the eighteenth century Irkutsk industrial and merchant companies of Golikov, Trapeznikov, Bechevin, Milinikov, Sibirakov began to explore the Aleutian Islands and later Alaska. In 1799 the merchant companies were united in Russian- American company “for the trades on the territory of the Aleutian and Kuril islands and the rest part of North-Eastern sea, belonging to Russia by the right of discovery.” Grigorii Ivanovich Shelikhov, an outstanding seafarer, played an important role in mastering enormous spaces of northern part of Pacific ocean. He founded first colonies of Russian America.
In 1727, the Irkutsk Eparchy was founded.
During the 18th century, educational school, professional-technical education, science, museums, library, theater, book-printing were developed in Irkutsk. Educational and cultural organizations were opened. In 1725 first school in Eastern Siberia, attached to Voznesensky monastery, was opened, in 1754 – sea (navigation) school and secondary schools were opened. The 1780s were marked by the opening of the second public library among province towns in Russia, regional museum and an amateur theater. In Irkutsk outstanding representatives appeared, still remembered by the people. These were an architect, geographer, historian A.I.Losev, a writer I.T.Kalashnikov, a teacher S.S.Schukin. Siberian science was created. A.G.Laxman, Lomonosov's apprentice, one of the first Siberian mineralogist, worked in Irkutsk.
The city landscape was changing. The Spassky church, the oldest stone building of Eastern Siberia, unique Krestovozdvizhenskaya church, “Prikaznaya izba” (order house), first stone construction, and the Triumph gate were built.
In the late eighteenth century – the early nineteenth century Irkutsk was gradually increasing its meaning as a trade, craft, cultural city. It became the center of trade with China and since the 1830s – a gold-manufacturing center of Eastern Siberia and. In 1803, Irkutsk became a center of Siberian general-governor unit, and in 1822 it became a center of Eastern Siberian general – governor unit. General- governors of Eastern Siberia influenced on the city fate greatly.
Irkutsk merchants explored the Yeniseysky and Leno-Vitimsky golden regions, they substantially increased their capitals, they became the richest merchants in Siberia. Irkutsk merchant class began to play remarkable role in a city development. Intensive city construction was being undertaken. Private residences, hospitals, orphanages, educational schools were built, significant funds were spent on education and the development of science.
An architectural look of the city was being changed. The White House, done in Russian classic style, Moscow Triumphal Gates – outstanding monument of the nineteenth century, were built in the honor of the tenth anniversary since the day of the beginning of Alexander I rule.
In the second half of the nineteenth century the book printing appeared in Irkutsk, first newspapers “Irkutsk province news”, “Amur” were released. The names of A.P.Schapov, M.B.Zagoskin, V.I.Vagin were connected with the newspaper “Siberia”. In 1851 first scientific organization of Eastern Siberia – the Siberian branch of Russian geographical society, was opened. In 1877 it was called Eastern-Siberian branch. V.I.Dybovskii, A.L.Chekanovskii, I.D.Cherskii, V.A.Obruchev, a geologist, geographer and researcher of Siberia, worked in Irkutsk on exploring Baikal and Lena.
The summer of 1879 could be considered to be a dramatic period in city history. In the July 22–24 fire of the almost all central part of the city was burnt, more than the two thirds of city constructions and 75 city districts were destroyed.The city began to revive, getting a new look. Stone and wooden constructions built after the fire have been preserved up to present days.
The arrival of the first train via the Trans Siberian main line to Irkutsk in 1898 could be marked as the most remarkable event in the late nineteenth century. The construction of Great Siberian main line contributed to the further city development.
The lives of the politically exiled were connected with Irkutsk city. First exiled, who lived in Irkutsk for more than 3 months, was A.N. Radischev. Since the 1830s the Decembrists lived in settlements and in the colonies near Irkutsk. Volkonsky and Trubetskoy houses became house-museums at the present time. N. A. Panov, I. V. Podzhio, A. Z. Muravyov, P. A. Mukhanov, A. P. Yushnevsky, V. A.Bechasnov, the wife of Trubetskoy and their children stayed in Irkutsk land forever. In the late 1850s, the Petrashevtzy appeared in Irkutsk. The exiled historian-democrat, A.P.Schapov, lived here till his last days, the Polish rebels and revolutionaries (including narodnik) lived here as well.
A well-known Russian publicist of the nineteenth century, N. Shelgunov, wrote about Irkutsk: “Irkutsk is the only Siberian city, which has the city character. ...As England created London, France - Paris, Siberia – created Irkutsk. Siberia is proud of Irkutsk, “not see this city” means “not to see Siberia”.
In the early nineteenth century the city was considerably changed, especially its center. Large building were being built, mason streets were being made, cab drivers and night light appeared. The water-supply and first electrification stations began to work. The Irkutsk Regional museum with stamped last names of famous researches of Siberia on its walls (1883), the building of the first public community, city theater (1897), Kazan' cathedral, made in new Byzantine style(1893), and the Roman Catholic cathedral (1895) completed an architectural style of the city. In 1908 a monument to Alexander III was opened on a picturesque place of Angara embankment.
The city was damaged and influenced by the political events of the twentieth century – the Russian revolution, the 1917 October revolution, the Civil war and the Great Patriotic War.
Since the 1930s industrial construction of the city has begun. Mechanical engineering plants, the air plant, brick and concrete plants, tea fabric, plants of food industry were being built. Economic development of the city contributed to scientific, educational and cultural development. The first-born of the Higher education in Eastern Siberia, Irkutsk State University was founded in 1918. Its departments were developing as independent institutes: medical, pedagogical, finance-economical. In 1930 the metallurgic institute was opened, in 1934 agricultural institute was organized.
Since the 1950s a fast development of Irkutsk city began after the Great Patriotic War, modern industrious look of a city was being built up. In 1947 streetcar routes were opened in the city, trolleybus routes in 1972. In 1958 a TV center was established. The city large district and micro regions construction period began. New districts such as Baykalsky, Solnechny, Yubileyny, Primorsky, Akademgorodok and others were growing up.[10]
Irkutsk Oblast borders with the Republic of Buryatia and the Tuva Republic in the south and southwest, with Krasnoyarsk Krai in the west, with the Sakha Republic in the northeast, and with Zabaykalsky Krai in the east.
The unique and world-famous Lake Baikal is located in the southeast of the region. It is drained by the Angara, which flows north across the province; the outflow rate is controlled by the Irkutsk Dam. The two other major dams on the Irkutsk Oblast's section of the Angara are at Bratsk and Ust-Ilimsk; both forming large reservoirs. The Lena has its source in Irkutsk Oblast as well, and flows north-east into the neighboring Sakha Republic.
Irkutsk Oblast consists mostly of the hills and broad valleys of the Central Siberian Plateau and of its eastern extension, the Patom Plateau.
The climate varies from warm summer continental in the south to continental-subarctic in the northern part (Köppen climate classification: Dwc). For almost half the year, from mid-October until the beginning of April, the average temperature is below 0 °C (32 °F).[11] Winters are very cold, with average high temperatures in Irkutsk of −14.9 °C (5.2 °F) and average lows of −25.3 °C (−13.5 °F) in January. Summers are warm but short: the average high in July is +24.5 °C (76.10 °F) and the average low is +11.2 °C (52.16 °F). However, by September, the weather cools down significantly to an average daily high of +15.3 °C (59.54 °F) and an average daily low of +2.5 °C (36.50 °F).[12][13] More than half of all precipitation falls in the summer months, with the wettest month being July, with 96.2 millimeters (3.79 in) of rain. January is the driest month, with only 11 millimeters (0.43 in) of precipitation. Annual precipitation averages 419.8 millimeters (16.53 in).[14]
Irkutsk Oblast is a major industrial area whose production is very important for the economy of Eastern Siberia; certain sectors are of great importance to the Russian economy. In the level of industrial and natural resource development and specialization and concentration of production, Irkutsk Region has surpassed many other regions of Siberia and the Far East. It plays an important role in the national economy as a producer of power, aluminum, various kinds of power and heating equipment, chemicals and petrochemicals, wood products, and engineering products.[15]
Irkutsk Oblast is one of a number of unique natural areas in Russia in terms of mineral reserves. The most important mineral resources are hydrocarbons, gold, mica, iron, brown and hard coal, and table salt. There are also abundant subsurface deposits of nonmetallic raw materials for ferrous metallurgy. Coal reserves within the region include those of the Irkutsk basin, the extreme eastern part of the Kansk-Achinsk basin, and the southern part of the Tunguska basin. Most of these reserves are concentrated in Cheremkhovsky, Zalarinsky, Kuitunsky, and Tulunsky districts.[15]
The region is one of the country's leaders in development-ready reserves and probable reserves of rare metals, especially niobium, tantalum, lithium, and rubidium. The Beloziminskoe and Vishnyakovskoe deposits of the Sayanskaya rare metal province are notable for their large probable reserves of metals like lithium, cesium, magnesium, and strontium, as well as other elements like bromine and potassium, contained in the highly mineralized brines of the Angaro-Lensky salt basin. The basin has no equal among subsurface platform water resources in the country.[15]
Population: 2,428,750 (2010 Census results);[7] 2,581,705 (2002 Census);[16] 2,830,641 (1989 Census).[17]
The oblast is very thinly populated, with a population density of 3.5 people per square kilometer, compared to a national average of 8.7. Irkutsk is the administrative center and largest city, with 594,500 residents. Other large cities are Angarsk (267,000 people), Bratsk (253,600 people), Usolye-Sibirskoye (104,300 people), and Ust-Ilimsk (107,200 people).
Most of the population are ethnic Russians. A minority group, the Buryats, have a special Ust-Orda Buryat Okrug inside the oblast. Russians and other Slavic/Germanic groups make up 93.5% of the population, according to the 2010 Census, while Buryats are 3.3%. Tofalars number 837, an increase from 722 in 1989.[7]
One small ethnic group, concentrated in three villages (Pikhtinsk, Sredne-Pikhtinsk, and Dagnik) in Zalarinsky District is the so-called "Bug Hollanders": descendants of Polish-speaking Lutheran farmers who had moved to Siberia from the then Russian Volhynia in 1911-1912 in search of affordable land. Although they had long lost German (or Dutch) language of their ancestors (even in the early twentieth century they spoke Ukrainian and read Polish), they were still considered ethnic Germans, and during World War II were usually drafted for work in labor camps, instead of front-line military service.[18]
Irkutsk Oblast registered natural population growth in 2008, the first time after 1993.[19] Still, the future prospects for population growth in Irkutsk seems bleak. In 2007, women in Irkutsk were having an average of 1.602 children each. Fertility rate was extremely low in urban areas, where women were having just 1.477 children each. In rural areas however, the fertility rate was slightly above replaceable levels. In rural areas of Irkutsk Oblast, women were having an average of 2.165 children each. (Figures are not available for 2008, although for Russia as a whole fertility rates for 2008 were approx. 6% higher than that in 2007, and for Irkutsk 9% higher).[20]
| District in 2007 | Type | Birth Rate[22] | Death Rate | NGR |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Irkutsk Oblast | Obl | 13.8 | 14.0 | -0.02% |
| Bratsk | Urb | 11.8 | 13.0 | -0.12% |
| Zima | Urb | 17.4 | 17.2 | 0.02% |
| Irkutsk | Urb | 13.5 | 12.6 | 0.09% |
| Sayansk | Urb | 12.9 | 11.8 | 0.11% |
| Svirsk | Urb | 14.3 | 21.7 | -0.74% |
| Tulun | Urb | 13.9 | 15.3 | -0.14% |
| Usolye-Sibirskoye | Urb | 13.1 | 16.3 | -0.32% |
| Ust-Ilimsk | Urb | 10.5 | 9.4 | 0.11% |
| Cheremkhovo | Urb | 15.1 | 20.6 | -0.55% |
| Angarsky | Rur | 11.0 | 13.5 | -0.25% |
| Balagansky | Rur | 15.9 | 14.1 | 0.18% |
| Bodaybinsky | Rur | 13.6 | 13.9 | -0.03% |
| Bratsky | Rur | 13.5 | 14.7 | -0.12% |
| Zhigalovsky | Rur | 18.8 | 16.7 | 0.21% |
| Zalarinsky | Rur | 16.0 | 15.9 | 0.01% |
| Ziminsky | Rur | 14.7 | 16.4 | -0.17% |
| Irkutsky | Rur | 16.1 | 13.1 | 0.30% |
| Kazachinsko-Lensky | Rur | 15.3 | 11.8 | 0.35% |
| Katangsky | Rur | 12.8 | 14.6 | -0.18% |
| Kachugsky | Rur | 17.3 | 15.4 | 0.19% |
| Kirensky | Rur | 13.6 | 14.7 | -0.11% |
| Kuytunsky | Rur | 16.0 | 17.0 | -0.10% |
| Mamsko-Chuysky | Rur | 9.9 | 19.3 | -0.94% |
| Nizhneilimsky | Rur | 14.3 | 15.0 | -0.07% |
| Nizhneudinsky | Rur | 14.2 | 19.9 | -0.57% |
| Olkhonsky | Rur | 18.6 | 13.0 | 0.56% |
| Slyudyansky | Rur | 16.4 | 15.6 | 0.08% |
| Tayshetsky | Rur | 13.6 | 16.4 | -0.28% |
| Tulunsky | Rur | 15.8 | 15.9 | -0.01% |
| Usolsky | Rur | 14.1 | 14.0 | 0.01% |
| Ust-Ilimsky | Rur | 14.4 | 12.3 | 0.21% |
| Ust-Kutsky | Rur | 16.5 | 14.5 | 0.20% |
| Ust-Udinsky | Rur | 19.0 | 15.4 | 0.36% |
| Cheremkhovsky | Rur | 18.1 | 16.1 | 0.20% |
| Chunsky | Rur | 14.4 | 16.4 | -0.20% |
| Shelekhovsky | Rur | 13.7 | 12.3 | 0.14% |
| Alarsky | OAO | 15.5 | 11.7 | 0.38% |
| Bayandayevsky | OAO | 18.2 | 14.0 | 0.42% |
| Bokhansky | OAO | 16.1 | 12.9 | 0.32% |
| Nukutsky | OAO | 21.2 | 12.6 | 0.86% |
| Osinsky | OAO | 17.9 | 12.3 | 0.56% |
| Ekhirit-Bulagatsky | OAO | 20.8 | 11.5 | 0.93% |
Despite its remoteness, Irkutsk was reported in 2004 to have the highest HIV infection rate in Russia.[23] Tens of thousands of drug addicts, mostly ethnic Russians in their mid to late teens are infected. The number of reported AIDS cases increased by more than 10,000% during the 1999-2000 period. Although the epidemic, which started in 1999, is reported to have slowed down, Irkutsk will lose tens of thousands of its working age population from 2010 onwards. This is one of the reasons Irkutsk's male life expectancy, at 53 years, is one of the lowest in all of Russia. Preventive measures are in place to prevent the spread of the epidemic to the generation which was born after the breakup of the USSR.[24][25][26][27][28]
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