Urals economic region - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Ural economic region is one of twelve economic regions of Russia

Economic regions of Russia

Russia is divided into twelve economic regions —groups of federal subjects sharing the following characteristics:*Common economic and social goals and participation in development programs;*Relatively similar economic conditions and potential;...

. This prominent industrial region consists of the following subdivisions (with their administrative centers): Bashkortostan

Bashkortostan

The Republic of Bashkortostan , also known as Bashkiria is a federal subject of Russia . It is located between the Volga River and the Ural Mountains. Its capital is the city of Ufa...

(Ufa

Ufa

-Demographics:Nationally, dominated by Russian , Bashkirs and Tatars . In addition, numerous are Ukrainians , Chuvash , Mari , Belarusians , Mordovians , Armenian , Germans , Jews , Azeris .-Government and administration:Local...

), Chelyabinsk Oblast

Chelyabinsk Oblast

-External links:*...

(Chelyabinsk

Chelyabinsk

Chelyabinsk is a city and the administrative center of Chelyabinsk Oblast, Russia, located in the northwestern side of the oblast, south of Yekaterinburg, just to the east of the Ural Mountains, on the Miass River. Population: -History:...

), Kurgan Oblast

Kurgan Oblast

Kurgan Oblast is a federal subject of Russia . Its administrative center is the city of Kurgan. Population: -History:The oblast was formed on February 6, 1943, just when the Soviet Army decisively defeated Hitler's forces near Stalingrad...

(Kurgan

Kurgan

Kurgan is the Turkic term for a tumulus; mound of earth and stones raised over a grave or graves, originating with its use in Soviet archaeology, now widely used for tumuli in the context of Eastern European and Central Asian archaeology....

), Orenburg Oblast

Orenburg Oblast

Orenburg Oblast is a federal subject of Russia . Its administrative center is the city of Orenburg. From 1938 to 1957, it bore the name Chkalov Oblast in honor of Valery Chkalov...

(Orenburg

Orenburg

Orenburg is a city on the Ural River and the administrative center of Orenburg Oblast, Russia. It lies southeast of Moscow, very close to the border with Kazakhstan. Population: 546,987 ; 549,361 ; Highest point: 154.4 m...

), Perm Krai

Perm Krai

Perm Krai is a federal subject of Russia that came into existence on December 1, 2005 as a result of the 2004 referendum on the merger of Perm Oblast and Komi-Permyak Autonomous Okrug. The city of Perm became the administrative center of the new federal subject...

(Perm

Perm

Perm is a city and the administrative center of Perm Krai, Russia, located on the banks of the Kama River, in the European part of Russia near the Ural Mountains. From 1940 to 1957 it was named Molotov ....

), Sverdlovsk Oblast

Sverdlovsk Oblast

Sverdlovsk Oblast is a federal subject of Russia located in the Urals Federal District. Its administrative center is the city of Yekaterinburg formerly known as Sverdlovsk. Population: -Geography:...

(Yekaterinburg

Yekaterinburg

Yekaterinburg is a major city in the central part of Russia, the administrative center of Sverdlovsk Oblast. Situated on the eastern side of the Ural mountain range, it is the main industrial and cultural center of the Urals Federal District with a population of 1,350,136 , making it Russia's...

) and Udmurt Republic

Udmurtia

The Udmurt Republic , or Udmurtia is a federal subject of Russia . Its capital is the city of Izhevsk. Population: -History:...

(Izhevsk

Izhevsk

Izhevsk is the capital city of the Udmurt Republic, Russia, situated on the Izh River in the Western Urals. Population: From 1984 to 1987 Izhevsk carried the name Ustinov |Minister of Defense of the USSR]], Marshal of the Soviet Union, Dmitry Ustinov). The city is an important industrial center,...

). It is mostly located in the Central, and partly in the Southern and Northern parts of the Urals

Ural (region)

Ural is a geographical region located around the Ural Mountains, between the East European and West Siberian plains. It extends approximately from north to south, from the Arctic Ocean to the bend of Ural River near Orsk city. The boundary between Europe and Asia runs along the eastern side of...

, but also includes parts of the East European

East European Plain

The East European Plain is a plain comprising a series of river basins in Eastern Europe. Together with the Northern European Plain it constitutes the European Plain. It is the largest mountain-free part of the European landscape.The plain spans approximately and averages about in elevation...

and West Siberian Plain

West Siberian Plain

The West Siberian Plain is a large plain that occupies the western portion of Siberia, between the Ural Mountains in the west and the Yenisei River in the east, and by the Altay Mountains on the South-East. Much of the plain is poorly drained and consists of some of the world's largest swamps and...

s. Its extent is different from that of the Ural Federal District.

Geography and natural resources

The region is crossed by rivers belonging to the Volga basin

Volga Region

Volga Region is a historical region of Russia that encompasses the territories adjacent to the flow of Volga River. According to the flow of the river, it is usually classified into the Middle Volga Region and Lower Volga Region...

(Kama

Kama River

Kama is a major river in Russia, the longest left tributary of the Volga and the largest one in discharge; in fact, it is larger than the Volga before junction....

, Visher, Chusovaya and Samara

Samara River

The Samara is a river in Russia, left tributary of Volga. The city of Samara is located at the confluence of Volga and Samara. It rises southwest of the southern end of the Ural Mountains close to the middle Ural River near the town of Orenburg. It then flows west or west northwest to meet the...

), Ob basin

Ob River

The Ob River , also Obi, is a major river in western Siberia, Russia and is the world's seventh longest river. It is the westernmost of the three great Siberian rivers that flow into the Arctic Ocean .The Gulf of Ob is the world's longest estuary.-Names:The Ob is known to the Khanty people as the...

(Tobol

Tobol River

Tobol is a river in Kurgan and Tyumen Oblasts in Russia and Kazakhstan, left tributary of the Irtysh. The length of the Tobol River is 1591 km. The area of its drainage basin is 426,000 km². Average discharge at mouth is 805 m³/s. The lower reaches of the river freeze up in late October -...

, Iset

Iset River

Iset River is a river in Sverdlovsk, Kurgan, and Tyumen Oblasts in Russia. It rises in the Ural Mountains 25km northwest of Yekaterinburg and flows east into the Tobol River. To the north of its basin is that of Tura River and to the south, the Uy River. The length of the Iset River is...

, Tura

Tura River

Tura River , also known as Dolgaya River ) is a historically important Siberian river which flows eastward from the central Ural Mountains into the Tobol River, a part of the Ob River basin. The main town is Tyumen....

and Tavda

Tavda River

The Tavda River is a Siberian river that drains part of the central Ural mountains into the Tobol River. It is north of the Tura River and south of the Konda River. It is located in Sverdlovsk Oblast and Tyumen Oblast. It is formed by the confluence of the Lozva and Sosva Rivers. The length of...

) and the Ural River

Ural River

The Ural or Jayıq/Zhayyq , known as Yaik before 1775, is a river flowing through Russia and Kazakhstan. It arises in the southern Ural Mountains and ends at the Caspian Sea. Its total length is 1,511 mi making it the third longest river in Europe after the Volga and the Danube...

basin. Their potential hydropower resources are estimated at 3.3 million kilowatts. By 2010, there are only two dams and associated reservoirs, both on the Kama River: Botkin Reservoir and Kama Reservoir

Kama Reservoir

The Kama Reservoir, also known as the Perm Reservoir , is a reservoir formed by the dam of the Kama Hydroelectric Station near Perm . The Kama Reservoir has a surface area of 1,915 km² and a water volume of 12,2 cubic km. Its length along the Kama is 272 km, major width - up to...

. The climate is temperate continental in the western and continental in the eastern part of the region. More than 40% of the area is covered by taiga forests having the timber reserves of 3.5 billion cubic meters. The southern part is dominated by the steppe, which is largely cultivated. The area is exceptionally rich in various ores and minerals, such as valuable chalcopyrite

Chalcopyrite

Chalcopyrite is a copper iron sulfide mineral that crystallizes in the tetragonal system. It has the chemical composition CuFeS2. It has a brassy to golden yellow color and a hardness of 3.5 to 4 on the Mohs scale. Its streak is diagnostic as green tinged black.On exposure to air, chalcopyrite...

, nickel oxide

Nickel oxide

Nickel oxide may refer to:* Nickel oxide, NiO, green, well-characterised oxide* Nickel oxide, Ni2O3, black, not well-characterised oxide...

, chromite

Chromite

Chromite is an iron chromium oxide: FeCr2O4. It is an oxide mineral belonging to the spinel group. Magnesium can substitute for iron in variable amounts as it forms a solid solution with magnesiochromite ; substitution of aluminium occurs leading to hercynite .-Occurrence:Chromite is found in...

, magnetite

Magnetite

Magnetite is a ferrimagnetic mineral with chemical formula Fe3O4, one of several iron oxides and a member of the spinel group. The chemical IUPAC name is iron oxide and the common chemical name is ferrous-ferric oxide. The formula for magnetite may also be written as FeO·Fe2O3, which is one part...

, bauxite

Bauxite

Bauxite is an aluminium ore and is the main source of aluminium. This form of rock consists mostly of the minerals gibbsite Al3, boehmite γ-AlO, and diaspore α-AlO, in a mixture with the two iron oxides goethite and hematite, the clay mineral kaolinite, and small amounts of anatase TiO2...

, potassium

Potassium

Potassium is the chemical element with the symbol K and atomic number 19. Elemental potassium is a soft silvery-white alkali metal that oxidizes rapidly in air and is very reactive with water, generating sufficient heat to ignite the hydrogen emitted in the reaction.Potassium and sodium are...

salts, manganese

Manganese

Manganese is a chemical element, designated by the symbol Mn. It has the atomic number 25. It is found as a free element in nature , and in many minerals...

, aluminium

Aluminium

Aluminium or aluminum is a silvery white member of the boron group of chemical elements. It has the symbol Al, and its atomic number is 13. It is not soluble in water under normal circumstances....

, gold

Gold

Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au and an atomic number of 79. Gold is a dense, soft, shiny, malleable and ductile metal. Pure gold has a bright yellow color and luster traditionally considered attractive, which it maintains without oxidizing in air or water. Chemically, gold is a...

, platinum

Platinum

Platinum is a chemical element with the chemical symbol Pt and an atomic number of 78. Its name is derived from the Spanish term platina del Pinto, which is literally translated into "little silver of the Pinto River." It is a dense, malleable, ductile, precious, gray-white transition metal...

, as well as coal, oil and natural gas. The area is famous for semi-precious stones, such as emerald

Emerald

Emerald is a variety of the mineral beryl colored green by trace amounts of chromium and sometimes vanadium. Beryl has a hardness of 7.5–8 on the 10 point Mohs scale of mineral hardness...

, amethyst

Amethyst

Amethyst is a violet variety of quartz often used in jewelry. The name comes from the Ancient Greek ἀ a- and μέθυστος methustos , a reference to the belief that the stone protected its owner from drunkenness; the ancient Greeks and Romans wore amethyst and made drinking vessels of it in the belief...

, aquamarine

Aquamarine

Aquamarine may mean:* Aquamarine , a color, a shade between green and blue and clear* Aquamarine , a gemstone-quality blue berylAquamarine may also refer to:...

, jasper

Jasper

Jasper, a form of chalcedony, is an opaque, impure variety of silica, usually red, yellow, brown or green in color; and rarely blue. This mineral breaks with a smooth surface, and is used for ornamentation or as a gemstone. It can be highly polished and is used for vases, seals, and at one time for...

, rhodonite

Rhodonite

Rhodonite is a manganese inosilicate, SiO3 and member of the pyroxenoid group of minerals, crystallizing in the triclinic system...

, malachite

Malachite

Malachite is a copper carbonate mineral, with the formula Cu2CO32. This green-colored mineral crystallizes in the monoclinic crystal system, and most often forms botryoidal, fibrous, or stalagmitic masses. Individual crystals are rare but do occur as slender to acicular prisms...

and diamond

Diamond

In mineralogy, diamond is an allotrope of carbon, where the carbon atoms are arranged in a variation of the face-centered cubic crystal structure called a diamond lattice. Diamond is less stable than graphite, but the conversion rate from diamond to graphite is negligible at ambient conditions...

Industry

Ural economic region has a diverse and complex structure of machinery and metal industries. Nation-wide importance have ferrous and nonferrous metallurgy, mechanical engineering, chemistry, mining of minerals and natural gas, logging and wood processing. The Ural industry is characterized by the high concentration of production around certain areas, such as transport hubs, close cooperation between different branches and recycling of industrial waste. The timber production is concentrated in the north and agriculture mostly in the south. The areas of the Central Ural regions on the both sides of the Ural Mountains (Sverdlovsk, Nizhny Tagil, Chelyabinsk, Magnitogorsk, Orsk) are dominated by mining and processing of metals and suburban agriculture. The basin of Kama River (Berezniki, Solikamsk, Perm, Krasnokamsk, Chaikovsky) has developed chemical, timber and wood processing industries, machine building and some areas of agriculture (mostly potato, vegetable and dairy products).

Metallurgical industry is one of the oldest in the region and is based on the rich local deposits. Major metalworking enterprises are Magnitogorsk Iron and Steel Works

Magnitogorsk Iron and Steel Works

Magnitogorsk Iron and Steel Works , abbreviated as MMK, is the third largest steel company in Russia. It is located in the city of Magnitogorsk, in Chelyabinsk Oblast....

, Nizhniy Tagil Iron and Steel Works

Nizhniy Tagil Iron and Steel Works

OJSC Nizhniy Tagil Iron and Steel Works is a Russian steel manufacturer. It is part of the Evraz Group. Its name is abbreviated as NTMK or Nikom and NTMK is listed in RTS Index.-History:...

and Chelyabinsk Tube Rolling Plant

Chelyabinsk Tube Rolling Plant

Chelyabinsk Tube Rolling Plant manufactures every kind of steel pipe, including pipes used for the construction of petroleum, natural gas and water pipelines; and pipes used in manufacturing processes. It accounts for 11% of Russia's steel pipe output...

. They process ores not only from the Urals, but also from Kazakhstan and the Kursk Magnetic Anomaly

Kursk Magnetic Anomaly

Kursk Magnetic Anomaly is a territory rich in iron ores located within the Kursk, Belgorod, and Voronezh oblasts in Russia, and constitutes a significant part of the Central Chernozyom Region...

, whereas the coking coal

Coke (fuel)

Coke is the solid carbonaceous material derived from destructive distillation of low-ash, low-sulfur bituminous coal. Cokes from coal are grey, hard, and porous. While coke can be formed naturally, the commonly used form is man-made.- History :...

for their operation is brought from Kuzbass

Kemerovo Oblast

Kemerovo Oblast , also known as Kuzbass after the Kuznetsk Basin, is a federal subject of Russia , located in southwestern Siberia, where the West Siberian Plain meets the South Siberian mountains...

and Karaganda

Karaganda

Karagandy , more commonly known by its Russian name Karaganda, , is the capital of Karagandy Province in Kazakhstan. It is the fourth most populous city in Kazakhstan, behind Almaty , Astana and Shymkent, with a population of 471,800 . In the 1940s up to 70% of the city's inhabitants were ethnic...

coal basins. There are also many reconstructed historical plants. More than half of the iron ore for metallurgy comes from deposits of Magnitogorsk, Pervouralsk

Pervouralsk

Pervouralsk is a city in Sverdlovsk Oblast, Russia, located on the Chusovaya River west of Yekaterinburg. Population: 122,000 ; 90,000 ; 44,000 ....

, Bakalsk and Vysokogorsky District

Vysokogorsky District

Vysokogorsky District is an administrative and municipal district , one of the forty-three in the Republic of Tatarstan, Russia. Its administrative center is the rural locality of zheleznodorozhnoy stantsii Vysokaya Gora. District's population: 46,323 ; Population of the administrative center...

s. It is used not only for traditional metalworking, but there is also a large-scale production of ferroalloy

Ferroalloy

Ferroalloy refers to various alloys of iron with a high proportion of one or more other element, manganese or silicon for example. It is used in the production of steels and alloys as a raw material.The main ferroalloys are:*FeAl – ferroaluminum...

s. A major mining plant was opened near Kachkanar

Kachkanar

Kachkanar is a town in Sverdlovsk Oblast, Russia, located between the Isa and Vyya Rivers, north of Yekaterinburg in the Tura River basin. Population: It was founded in 1957 as an ore mining settlement and was granted urban-type settlement status in 1959...

in 1963 to process the abundant titanomagnetite ores of the region.
Ural economic region contains major metallurgical and chemical enterprises of Russia, such as Uralmash

Uralmash

Uralmash is a heavy machine production facility of the Russian engineering corporation OMZ. The facility is located in Yekaterinburg, Russia. The surrounding residential area where workers live is also called Uralmash....

, Uralkhimmash, Uralhydromash, etc. There are also major machinery plants producing freight wagons (Nizhny Tagil), cars and motorcycles (Izhevsk

Izhevsk

, Ural Automotive Plant

Ural Automotive Plant

The Ural Automotive Plant is a major manufacturer of heavy-duty trucks in Russia. It was established in 1941, when the ZiS factory was evacuated from Moscow during the World War II, and is now part of the GAZ group.-External links:* on GAZ website...

in Miass

Miass

Miass is a city in Chelyabinsk Oblast, Russia, located west of Chelyabinsk, on the eastern slope of the southern Urals, on the bank of the Miass River. Population: -History:...

), tractors (Chelyabinsk and Orsk

Orsk

Orsk is the second largest city in Orenburg Oblast, Russia, located on the steppe about southeast of the southern tip of the Ural Mountains. The city straddles the Ural River. Since this river is considered a boundary between Europe and Asia, Orsk can be said to lie in two continents. It is...

), machine-tools (in Chelyabinsk, Orenburg, Alapaevsk, etc.). The chemical industry of the region is focused on the production of basic chemicals such as potassium and magnesium salts (Berezniki, Solikamsk

Solikamsk

Solikamsk is a town in Perm Krai, Russia. It is the third-largest town in Perm Krai, with a population of It was founded in 1430. The name of the town is derived from the Russian words "" and "" .It is famous for its production of salt, in particular, potassium chloride, which is used as a...

), fertilizers (Berezniki, Solikamsk, Perm

Perm

, Krasnouralsk

Krasnouralsk

Krasnouralsk is a types of inhabited localities in Russia town in Sverdlovsk Oblast, Russia. Population: Cosmonaut Vitaliy Sevastyanov was born here.-History:It was established in 1832 with the discovery of gold....

, etc.), sulfuric acid

Sulfuric acid

Sulfuric acid is a strong mineral acid with the molecular formula . Its historical name is oil of vitriol. Pure sulfuric acid is a highly corrosive, colorless, viscous liquid. The salts of sulfuric acid are called sulfates...

and sulfur

Sulfur

Sulfur or sulphur is the chemical element with atomic number 16. In the periodic table it is represented by the symbol S. It is an abundant, multivalent non-metal. Under normal conditions, sulfur atoms form cyclic octatomic molecules with chemical formula S8. Elemental sulfur is a bright yellow...

, chlorine

Chlorine

Chlorine is the chemical element with atomic number 17 and symbol Cl. It is the second lightest halogen, found in the periodic table in group 17. The element forms diatomic molecules under standard conditions, called dichlorine...

and its derivatives. Developed is also production of Coke (fuel)

Coke (fuel)

, rubber, paint, synthetic fibers and yarns, plastics and resins (Sverdlovsk, Nizhny Tagil, etc.), alcohols (Orsk), as well as petrochemical industry (Perm, Sverdlovsk, Orenburg). Ural is one of the most important Russian mining and processing regions of talc (Miass

Miass

Miass is a city in Chelyabinsk Oblast, Russia, located west of Chelyabinsk, on the eastern slope of the southern Urals, on the bank of the Miass River. Population: -History:...

deposit), magnesite

Magnesite

Magnesite is magnesium carbonate, MgCO3. Iron substitutes for magnesium with a complete solution series with siderite, FeCO3. Calcium, manganese, cobalt, and nickel may also occur in small amounts...

(Satka field) and construction materials. In 1975, it produced 14.6 million tonnes of cement and 6.8 million cubic meters of precast reinforced concrete structures and components. About half of the harvested timber is processed locally, in Perm, Krasnokamsk, Tavda, Krasnovishersk and other cities, mostly for paper (1 million tonnes in 1973), sawn timber and plywood (213,000 m² in 1973). Unprocessed timber is floated down the Kama to the Volga area.

There is significant mining of coal (in Kizelovsky, Serovsky and Chelyabinsk areas), oil (Kama and Orenburg areas), gas and peat, but it is not sufficient for the industry and therefore Urals imports coal from the Kuzbass and Karaganda, gas (from Western Siberia and Central Asia) and oil. Refining centers are in Perm, Krasnokamsk and Orsk. Orenburg is the center of gas production and has one of Europe's largest gas condensate deposits. Electricity is provided by a network of thermal

Thermal power stations in Russia and Soviet Union

The first large peat-fired thermal power station in Russia was built on a location about 80 km away from Moscow, in the place of the current city of Elektrogorsk, during 1912-1914. It was called Elektroperedacha , and the settlement around the station acquired this name, Elektroperedacha, as well...

and hydroelectric power stations and by the Beloyarsk Nuclear Power Station

Beloyarsk Nuclear Power Station

The Beloyarsk Nuclear Power Station , was the second of the then Soviet Union's nuclear plants. It is situated by Zarechny in Sverdlovsk Oblast, Russia. Zarechny township was created to service the station, which is named after the Beloyarsky District...

. The electrical network is connected to the power grids of the Tyumen and Aktobe regions and the central European parts of Russia.

Food and agriculture

The food industry of the Ural economic region specializes in producing wheat, meat and dairy, mostly around the major industrial centers. Most fields are located in southern areas. The land division is as follows (all data below are likely from 1970s): arable land 17.8 million hectares, hayfields 2.9 million ha, pastures 7 million hectares. The irrigated area is 128 hectares and 70 thousand hectares are drained. The total sown area is 16.4 million ha, of which 10.9 million ha is used for grains, 4.9 million ha for fodder

Fodder

Fodder or animal feed is any agricultural foodstuff used specifically to feed domesticated livestock such as cattle, goats, sheep, horses, chickens and pigs. Most animal feed is from plants but some is of animal origin...

crops, 0.1 million ha for technical sunflower and flax

Flax

Flax is a member of the genus Linum in the family Linaceae. It is native to the region extending from the eastern Mediterranean to India and was probably first domesticated in the Fertile Crescent...

and 0.5 million ha for potatoes and vegetables. Grains are dominated by the spring wheat (5.7 million hectares). Well-developed is greenhouse farming. Livestock (1980s) was 3,900,000 cattle and 2,300,000 cows, 2,000,000 pigs, 4,600,000 sheep and goats, 34,600,000 items of poultry. Food and closes industries produce flour, meat and dairy, leather and footwear, garment and textile. There is a factory of linen (Sverdlovsk) and plants producing synthetic silk (Orenburg

Orenburg

, Chaikovsky).

Transport

Trains account for most transport in the region with the operational length of railways about 10,000 km. Most important railways are latitudinal, crossing the Central and Southern Ural in six places: Nizhny Tagil – Perm, Sverdlovsk – Perm, Sverdlovsk – Kazan, Chelyabinsk – Ufa, Orsk – Orenburg and Magnitogorsk – West Siberia. Because of the high traffic density, most railways are electrified. The region is crossed by several major pipelines supplying and transporting natural gas from the Tyumen Oblast and Central Asia and oil from Western Siberia. There is industrial navigation on the Kama River. Major cities have local and domestic airports, with the major airline carrier being Ural Airlines

Ural Airlines

Ural Airlines is an airline based in Yekaterinburg, Russia, operating scheduled and chartered domestic and international flights out of Koltsovo International Airport...

Socio-economic indicators

Being one of the most populated areas of Russia, Ural economic region has a large Gross Domestic Product

Gross domestic product

Gross domestic product refers to the market value of all final goods and services produced within a country in a given period. GDP per capita is often considered an indicator of a country's standard of living....

(GDP), mostly due to the urban economic activity. The GDP per capita is above the national average, but the average monthly wages are lower than those in the major central-European cities such as Moscow and Saint Petersburg. The fraction of wages paid in full is below the national average. Most industry is based on large enterprises; their structure has not been affected much by the privatization and reforms after the collapse of the Soviet Union. The proportion of employees in ex-Soviet enterprises in the Urals is above the national average, while the proportion in new private enterprises is well below average.

Geography and natural resources

Industry

Food and agriculture

Transport

Socio-economic indicators

See also