Irkutsk Oblast
Encyclopedia
Irkutsk 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:
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 eighteenth 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 1879 summer could be considered to be a dramatic period in city history. In the 22–24 July 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.
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.
falls in the summer
months, with the wettest month being July, with 96.2 millimetres (3.8 in) of rain. January is the driest month, with only 11 millimetre (0.433070866141732 in) of precipitation. Annual precipitation averages 419.8 millimetres (16.5 in).
Irkutsk Oblast is one of a number of unique natural areas in Russia in terms of mineral reserves. The most important mineral resources are hydrocarbon
s, 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.
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.
, the population of the oblast is 2.77 million, of whom 79.6% live in urban areas, and 20.4% in rural areas. 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 93.38% of the population, according to the 2002 Census, while Buryats are 3.1%. Tofalars number 837, an increase from 722 in 1989.
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.
Irkutsk Oblast registered natural population growth in 2008, the first time after 1993. 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).
infection rate in Russia. 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.
Federal subjects of Russia
Russia is a federation which, since March 1, 2008, consists of 83 federal subjects . In 1993, when the Constitution was adopted, there were 89 federal subjects listed...
of Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
(an oblast
Oblast
Oblast is a type of administrative division in Slavic countries, including some countries of the former Soviet Union. The word "oblast" is a loanword in English, but it is nevertheless often translated as "area", "zone", "province", or "region"...
), located in southeastern Siberia
Siberia
Siberia is an extensive region constituting almost all of Northern Asia. Comprising the central and eastern portion of the Russian Federation, it was part of the Soviet Union from its beginning, as its predecessor states, the Tsardom of Russia and the Russian Empire, conquered it during the 16th...
in the basins of Angara River
Angara River
The Angara River is a long river in Irkutsk Oblast and Krasnoyarsk Krai, south-east Siberia, Russia. It is the only river flowing out of Lake Baikal, and is the headwater tributary of the Yenisei River....
, Lena
Lena River
The Lena is the easternmost of the three great Siberian rivers that flow into the Arctic Ocean . It is the 11th longest river in the world and has the 9th largest watershed...
, and Nizhnyaya Tunguska Rivers. The administrative center is the city of Irkutsk
Irkutsk
Irkutsk is a city and the administrative center of Irkutsk Oblast, Russia, one of the largest cities in Siberia. Population: .-History:In 1652, Ivan Pokhabov built a zimovye near the site of Irkutsk for gold trading and for the collection of fur taxes from the Buryats. In 1661, Yakov Pokhabov...
. Population:
History
In the 13th century, the Lake BaikalLake Baikal
Lake Baikal is the world's oldest at 30 million years old and deepest lake with an average depth of 744.4 metres.Located in the south of the Russian region of Siberia, between Irkutsk Oblast to the northwest and the Buryat Republic to the southeast, it is the most voluminous freshwater lake in the...
area came under Mongol influence. Genghis Khan
Genghis Khan
Genghis Khan , born Temujin and occasionally known by his temple name Taizu , was the founder and Great Khan of the Mongol Empire, which became the largest contiguous empire in history after his death....
conquered the Merkits and Tatars
Tatars
Tatars are a Turkic speaking ethnic group , numbering roughly 7 million.The majority of Tatars live in the Russian Federation, with a population of around 5.5 million, about 2 million of which in the republic of Tatarstan.Significant minority populations are found in Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan,...
who were settling in the area by 1227, before going on to expand into wider Central Asia, establishing the Mongol Empire
Mongol Empire
The Mongol Empire , initially named as Greater Mongol State was a great empire during the 13th and 14th centuries...
. The Mongols were succeeded by the Northern Yuan in the 14th century.
Russian presence
Russian conquest of Siberia
The Russian conquest of Siberia took place in the 16th and 17th centuries, when the Siberian Khanate had become a loose political structure of vassalages which were becoming undermined by the activities of Russian explorers who, though numerically outnumbered, pressured the various family-based...
in the area dates to the 17th century, as the Russian Tsardom expanded eastward following the conquest of the Khanate of Sibir
Conquest of the Khanate of Sibir
The Khanate of Sibir was a Muslim state located just east of the middle Ural Mountains. Its conquest by Ermak in 1582 was the first event in the Russian conquest of Siberia.-Russia:...
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 eighteenth 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 1879 summer could be considered to be a dramatic period in city history. In the 22–24 July 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.
Geography
Irkutsk Oblast borders with the Republic of Buryatia and the Tuva Republic in the south and southwest, with Krasnoyarsk KraiKrasnoyarsk Krai
Krasnoyarsk Krai is a federal subject of Russia . It is the second largest federal subject after the Sakha Republic, and Russia's largest krai, occupying an area of , which is 13% of the country's total territory. The administrative center of the krai is the city of Krasnoyarsk...
in the west, with the Sakha Republic in the northeast, and with Zabaykalsky Krai in the east.
The unique and world-famous Lake Baikal
Lake Baikal
Lake Baikal is the world's oldest at 30 million years old and deepest lake with an average depth of 744.4 metres.Located in the south of the Russian region of Siberia, between Irkutsk Oblast to the northwest and the Buryat Republic to the southeast, it is the most voluminous freshwater lake in the...
is located in the southeast of the region. It is drained by the Angara
Angara River
The Angara River is a long river in Irkutsk Oblast and Krasnoyarsk Krai, south-east Siberia, Russia. It is the only river flowing out of Lake Baikal, and is the headwater tributary of the Yenisei River....
, 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
Lena River
The Lena is the easternmost of the three great Siberian rivers that flow into the Arctic Ocean . It is the 11th longest river in the world and has the 9th largest watershed...
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
Central Siberian Plateau
The Central Siberian Plateau is made up of sharply demarcated surfaces of varying altitudes occupying most of Siberia between the Yenisei and Lena rivers. It extends over an area of 3.5 million km². The highest point is the Putoran Mountains rising to 1701 m. To the north of the plateau are...
and of its eastern extension, the Patom Plateau.
Climate
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). Winters are very cold, with average high temperatures in Irkutsk of -14.9 C and average lows of -25.3 C in January. Summers are warm but short: the average high in July is 24.5 °C (76.1 °F) and the average low is 11.2 °C (52.2 °F). However, by September, the weather cools down significantly to an average daily high of 15.3 °C (59.5 °F) and an average daily low of 2.5 °C (36.5 °F). More than half of all precipitationPrecipitation (meteorology)
In meteorology, precipitation In meteorology, precipitation In meteorology, precipitation (also known as one of the classes of hydrometeors, which are atmospheric water phenomena is any product of the condensation of atmospheric water vapor that falls under gravity. The main forms of precipitation...
falls in the summer
Summer
Summer is the warmest of the four temperate seasons, between spring and autumn. At the summer solstice, the days are longest and the nights are shortest, with day-length decreasing as the season progresses after the solstice...
months, with the wettest month being July, with 96.2 millimetres (3.8 in) of rain. January is the driest month, with only 11 millimetre (0.433070866141732 in) of precipitation. Annual precipitation averages 419.8 millimetres (16.5 in).
Economy
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.Irkutsk Oblast is one of a number of unique natural areas in Russia in terms of mineral reserves. The most important mineral resources are hydrocarbon
Hydrocarbon
In organic chemistry, a hydrocarbon is an organic compound consisting entirely of hydrogen and carbon. Hydrocarbons from which one hydrogen atom has been removed are functional groups, called hydrocarbyls....
s, 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...
, mica
Mica
The mica group of sheet silicate minerals includes several closely related materials having highly perfect basal cleavage. All are monoclinic, with a tendency towards pseudohexagonal crystals, and are similar in chemical composition...
, iron
Iron
Iron is a chemical element with the symbol Fe and atomic number 26. It is a metal in the first transition series. It is the most common element forming the planet Earth as a whole, forming much of Earth's outer and inner core. It is the fourth most common element in the Earth's crust...
, 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.
The region is one of the country's leaders in development-ready reserves and probable reserves of rare metals, especially niobium
Niobium
Niobium or columbium , is a chemical element with the symbol Nb and atomic number 41. It's a soft, grey, ductile transition metal, which is often found in the pyrochlore mineral, the main commercial source for niobium, and columbite...
, tantalum
Tantalum
Tantalum is a chemical element with the symbol Ta and atomic number 73. Previously known as tantalium, the name comes from Tantalus, a character in Greek mythology. Tantalum is a rare, hard, blue-gray, lustrous transition metal that is highly corrosion resistant. It is part of the refractory...
, lithium
Lithium
Lithium is a soft, silver-white metal that belongs to the alkali metal group of chemical elements. It is represented by the symbol Li, and it has the atomic number 3. Under standard conditions it is the lightest metal and the least dense solid element. Like all alkali metals, lithium is highly...
, and rubidium
Rubidium
Rubidium is a chemical element with the symbol Rb and atomic number 37. Rubidium is a soft, silvery-white metallic element of the alkali metal group. Its atomic mass is 85.4678. Elemental rubidium is highly reactive, with properties similar to those of other elements in group 1, such as very rapid...
. The Beloziminskoe and Vishnyakovskoe deposits of the Sayanskaya rare metal province are notable for their large probable reserves of metals like lithium, cesium, magnesium
Magnesium
Magnesium is a chemical element with the symbol Mg, atomic number 12, and common oxidation number +2. It is an alkaline earth metal and the eighth most abundant element in the Earth's crust and ninth in the known universe as a whole...
, and strontium
Strontium
Strontium is a chemical element with the symbol Sr and the atomic number 38. An alkaline earth metal, strontium is a soft silver-white or yellowish metallic element that is highly reactive chemically. The metal turns yellow when exposed to air. It occurs naturally in the minerals celestine and...
, as well as other elements like bromine
Bromine
Bromine ") is a chemical element with the symbol Br, an atomic number of 35, and an atomic mass of 79.904. It is in the halogen element group. The element was isolated independently by two chemists, Carl Jacob Löwig and Antoine Jerome Balard, in 1825–1826...
and 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...
, 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.
Demographics
As of the 2002 CensusRussian Census (2002)
Russian Census of 2002 was the first census of the Russian Federation carried out on October 9 through October 16, 2002. It was carried out by the Russian Federal Service of State Statistics .-Resident population:...
, the population of the oblast is 2.77 million, of whom 79.6% live in urban areas, and 20.4% in rural areas. 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
Irkutsk
Irkutsk is a city and the administrative center of Irkutsk Oblast, Russia, one of the largest cities in Siberia. Population: .-History:In 1652, Ivan Pokhabov built a zimovye near the site of Irkutsk for gold trading and for the collection of fur taxes from the Buryats. In 1661, Yakov Pokhabov...
is the administrative center and largest city, with 594,500 residents. Other large cities are Angarsk
Angarsk
Angarsk is a city in Irkutsk Oblast, Russia, situated on the Angara River, from Moscow. It serves as the administrative center of Angarsky District, although it is not administratively a part of it. Population:...
(267,000 people), Bratsk
Bratsk
Bratsk is a city in Irkutsk Oblast, Russia, located on the Angara River near the vast Bratsk Reservoir. Population: Although the name sounds like the Russian word for 'brother' , it actually comes from 'bratskiye lyudi', an old name for the Buryats.-History:The first Europeans in the area arrived...
(253,600 people), Usolye-Sibirskoye
Usolye-Sibirskoye
Usolye-Sibirskoye is a town in Irkutsk Oblast, Russia, located on the left bank of the Angara River. Population: -History:It was founded in 1669 under the name Usolye, an archaic Russian word for a salt producing town, by Mikhalevs brothers, the Cossacks who had discovered salt deposits in a...
(104,300 people), and Ust-Ilimsk
Ust-Ilimsk
Ust-Ilimsk is a town in Irkutsk Oblast, Russia, located on the Angara River. Population: 53,000 .-History:An ostrog was built on the present site of the town in the 17th century; however, the modern town was not founded until 1966, during the construction of the Ust-Ilimsk Hydroelectric Power...
(107,200 people).
Most of the population are ethnic Russians
Russians
The Russian people are an East Slavic ethnic group native to Russia, speaking the Russian language and primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries....
. A minority group, the Buryats
Buryats
The Buryats or Buriyads , numbering approximately 436,000, are the largest ethnic minority group in Siberia and are mainly concentrated in their homeland, the Buryat Republic, a federal subject of Russia...
, have a special Ust-Orda Buryat Okrug inside the oblast. Russians and other Slavic/Germanic groups make up 93.38% of the population, according to the 2002 Census, while Buryats are 3.1%. Tofalars number 837, an increase from 722 in 1989.
One small ethnic group, concentrated in three villages (Pikhtinsk, Sredne-Pikhtinsk, and Dagnik) in Zalarinsky District
Zalarinsky District
Zalarinsky District is an administrative district , one of the 33 in Irkutsk Oblast, Russia....
is the so-called "Bug Hollanders": descendants of Polish-speaking Lutheran farmers who had moved to Siberia from the then Russian Volhynia
Volhynia
Volhynia, Volynia, or Volyn is a historic region in western Ukraine located between the rivers Prypiat and Southern Bug River, to the north of Galicia and Podolia; the region is named for the former city of Volyn or Velyn, said to have been located on the Southern Bug River, whose name may come...
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
History of Germans in Russia and the Soviet Union
The German minority in Russia and the Soviet Union was created from several sources and in several waves. The 1914 census puts the number of Germans living in Russian Empire at 2,416,290. In 1989, the German population of the Soviet Union was roughly 2 million. In the 2002 Russian census, 597,212...
, and during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
were usually drafted for work in labor camps, instead of front-line military service.
Irkutsk Oblast registered natural population growth in 2008, the first time after 1993. 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).
Vital statistics for 2008
- Population: 2,505,577
- Urban Pop: 1,976,459
- Rural Pop: 529,118
- Births: 37,548(2008)
- Birth rate: 14.99 (2008)
- Urban Birth Rate: 14.06 (2008)
- Rural Birth Rate: 18.43 (2008)
- Deaths: 35,359 (2008)
- Death rate: 14.11 (2008)
- Urban Death Rate: 13.82 (2008)
- Rural Death Rate: 15.21 (2008)
- TFRTotal Fertility RateThe total fertility rate of a population is the average number of children that would be born to a woman over her lifetime if she were to experience the exact current age-specific fertility rates through her lifetime, and she...
: 1.734 children per women. (2008) - Urban TFRTotal Fertility RateThe total fertility rate of a population is the average number of children that would be born to a woman over her lifetime if she were to experience the exact current age-specific fertility rates through her lifetime, and she...
: 1.585 children per women. (2008) - Rural TFRTotal Fertility RateThe total fertility rate of a population is the average number of children that would be born to a woman over her lifetime if she were to experience the exact current age-specific fertility rates through her lifetime, and she...
: 2.392 children per women. (2008) - Natural Growth Rate: +0.08% per year (+0.02% in Urban areas & +0.32% in Rural areas).
| District in 2007 | Type | Birth Rate | 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% |
Health
Despite its remoteness, Irkutsk was reported in 2004 to have the highest HIVHIV
Human immunodeficiency virus is a lentivirus that causes acquired immunodeficiency syndrome , a condition in humans in which progressive failure of the immune system allows life-threatening opportunistic infections and cancers to thrive...
infection rate in Russia. 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.
See also
- Music of IrkutskMusic of IrkutskThe city of Irkutsk is the administrative center of Irkutsk Oblast, both of which produced several famous popular musicians and have a number of styles of folk music. Musicians from Irkutsk include the rock bands Bely Ostrog, Printsip Neopredelyonnosti, and Chyorno-Belye Snimki...
- Irkutsk Botanic Garden
- Irkutsk State UniversityIrkutsk State UniversityIrkutsk State University was founded in October 1918 in Irkutsk, Siberia.At present, the University consists of 10 faculties, 4 educational institutions and 2 branches. Over 18 thousand students including 300 foreign students from 27 countries study at University in 52 specialties. More than 620...
- Lake BaikalLake BaikalLake Baikal is the world's oldest at 30 million years old and deepest lake with an average depth of 744.4 metres.Located in the south of the Russian region of Siberia, between Irkutsk Oblast to the northwest and the Buryat Republic to the southeast, it is the most voluminous freshwater lake in the...
Further reading
- Brumfield, William. Irkutsk: Architectural Heritage in Photographs (Moscow: Tri Kvadrata Publishing, 2006) ISBN 9785946070614
External links
- Kommersant.com. Information about Irkutsk Oblast.