Kostroma Oblast is a federal subject

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"...

). Its administrative center is the city of Kostroma

Kostroma

Kostroma is a historic city and the administrative center of Kostroma Oblast, Russia. A part of the Golden Ring of Russian towns, it is located at the confluence of the Volga and Kostroma Rivers...

.

Major historic towns include Kostroma

Kostroma

Kostroma is a historic city and the administrative center of Kostroma Oblast, Russia. A part of the Golden Ring of Russian towns, it is located at the confluence of the Volga and Kostroma Rivers...

, Sharya

Sharya

Sharya is a town in Kostroma Oblast, Russia, located on the left bank of the Vetluga River northeast of Kostroma. Population: 26,000 .The settlement of Sharya was founded in 1906 and granted town status in 1938.-Twin towns/sister cities:...

, Nerekhta

Nerekhta

Nerekhta is a town in Kostroma Oblast, Russia. Population: It has been known since the early 13th century. The town does not retain many marks of antiquity, apart from several 17th-century churches. It has been known for its textiles since the 19th century...

, Galich

Galich, Russia

Galich is a town in Kostroma Oblast, Russia, situated on the southern bank of Lake Galichskoye. It is also a minor railroad node of the Trans-Siberian railway. Population: -History:...

, Soligalich

Soligalich

Soligalich is a town and the administrative center of Soligalichsky District of Kostroma Oblast, Russia, located on the right bank of the Kostroma River. Population: -History:...

, and Makaryev

Makaryev

Makaryev is a town in Kostroma Oblast, Russia, located on the right bank of the Unzha River , east of Kostroma. Population:...

. Textile industries have been developed there since the early 18th century. The oblast was detached from Yaroslavl Oblast

Yaroslavl Oblast

Yaroslavl Oblast is a federal subject of Russia , which is located in the Central Federal District, surrounded by Tver, Moscow, Ivanovo, Vladimir, Kostroma, and Vologda Oblasts. This geographic location affords the oblast the advantages of proximity to Moscow and St. Petersburg...

 in 1944.

The Governor of the oblast was Viktor Shershunov

Viktor Shershunov

Viktor Shershunov was the governor of Kostroma Oblast, Russia. He previously worked at the Prosecutor's Office of Kostroma Oblast....

 from 1997 until his death in a car crash on September 20, 2007. As of 2011, Igor Slyunyayev

Igor Slyunyayev

-References:...

 is the Governor.

History

From c. 300 CE the whole current area of Kostroma with exception the area east of River Unzha was part of historical Finno-Ugric peoples' lands, like the Merya people and their loose tribal confederation. There were at least 109 Merya settlements located in the area of which the most important below mentioned trading centers and important hill fortresses were later recorded by the Russians as the Russians founded towns in the late 9th to 12th centuries.

Geography

Kostroma Oblast borders Vologda Oblast

Vologda Oblast

Vologda Oblast is a federal subject of Russia . Its administrative center is Vologda. The largest city is Cherepovets.Vologda Oblast is rich in historic monuments, such as the magnificent Kirillo-Belozersky Monastery, Ferapontov Convent , medieval towns of Velikiy Ustyug and Belozersk, baroque...

 (N), Kirov Oblast

Kirov Oblast

Kirov Oblast is a federal subject of Russia . Its administrative center is the city of Kirov. Population: -History:In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Vyatka remained a place of exile for opponents of the tsarist regime, including many prominent revolutionary figures.In 1920, a number of...

 (E), Nizhny Novgorod Oblast

Nizhny Novgorod Oblast

Nizhny Novgorod Oblast is a federal subject of Russia . Its administrative center is the city of Nizhny Novgorod. Population: The oblast is crossed by the Volga River. Apart from Nizhny Novgorod's metropolitan area, the biggest city is Arzamas...

 (S), Ivanovo Oblast

Ivanovo Oblast

Ivanovo Oblast is a federal subject of Russia .Its three largest cities are Ivanovo , Kineshma, and Shuya.The principal center of tourism is Plyos. The Volga River flows through the northern part of the oblast....

 (W), and Yaroslavl Oblast

Yaroslavl Oblast

Yaroslavl Oblast is a federal subject of Russia , which is located in the Central Federal District, surrounded by Tver, Moscow, Ivanovo, Vladimir, Kostroma, and Vologda Oblasts. This geographic location affords the oblast the advantages of proximity to Moscow and St. Petersburg...

 (NW). The main rivers are the Volga

Volga River

The Volga is the largest river in Europe in terms of length, discharge, and watershed. It flows through central Russia, and is widely viewed as the national river of Russia. Out of the twenty largest cities of Russia, eleven, including the capital Moscow, are situated in the Volga's drainage...

 and the Kostroma

Kostroma River

The Kostroma is a river in the European part of Russia. It flows through the Kostroma and Yaroslavl Oblasts, and is a left tributary of the Volga, which it enters at the Gorky Reservoir, at the city of Kostroma, at ....

. Much of the area is covered by woods, making it one of the principal timber producing regions in Europe.

Administrative divisions

The region was formed on August 13, 1944. It is divided into 24 administrative districts, 7 cities under regional jurisdiction, 4 cities under district jurisdiction, 3 city districts, 18 towns, and 250 rural councils.

Economy

The main industrial sectors include the fuel, chemical and petrochemical

Petrochemical

Petrochemicals are chemical products derived from petroleum. Some chemical compounds made from petroleum are also obtained from other fossil fuels, such as coal or natural gas, or renewable sources such as corn or sugar cane....

, forest, woodworking (lumber, plywood, chipboard

Chipboard

Chipboard may refer to:* A type of paperboard generally made from reclaimed paper stock; the term generally used in the US** White lined chipboard, a grade of paperboard* Particle board, a type of engineered wood known as "chipboard" in some countries...

, fiberboard

Fiberboard

Fiberboard is known as low density fiberboard is a type of engineered wood product that is made out of wood fibers. Types of fiberboard include particle board, medium-density fiberboard, and hardboard. Fiberboard is sometimes used as a synonym for particle board, but particle board usually refers...

, and furniture

Furniture

Furniture is the mass noun for the movable objects intended to support various human activities such as seating and sleeping in beds, to hold objects at a convenient height for work using horizontal surfaces above the ground, or to store things...

), pulp and paper, food (alcoholic beverages and starch), light (linen

Linen

Linen is a textile made from the fibers of the flax plant, Linum usitatissimum. Linen is labor-intensive to manufacture, but when it is made into garments, it is valued for its exceptional coolness and freshness in hot weather....

, hemp

Hemp

Hemp is mostly used as a name for low tetrahydrocannabinol strains of the plant Cannabis sativa, of fiber and/or oilseed varieties. In modern times, hemp has been used for industrial purposes including paper, textiles, biodegradable plastics, construction, health food and fuel with modest...

, and jute fabrics; clothing

Clothing

Clothing refers to any covering for the human body that is worn. The wearing of clothing is exclusively a human characteristic and is a feature of nearly all human societies...

, shoes, and knitted goods), building material, power

Electrical power industry

The electric power industry provides the production and delivery of electric energy, often known as power, or electricity, in sufficient quantities to areas that need electricity through a grid connection. The grid distributes electrical energy to customers...

 and engineering excavator

Excavator

Excavators are heavy construction equipment consisting of a boom, stick, bucket and cab on a rotating platform . The house sits atop an undercarriage with tracks or wheels. A cable-operated excavator uses winches and steel ropes to accomplish the movements. They are a natural progression from the...

s, machine tools, and equipment for the textile

Textile

A textile or cloth is a flexible woven material consisting of a network of natural or artificial fibres often referred to as thread or yarn. Yarn is produced by spinning raw fibres of wool, flax, cotton, or other material to produce long strands...

, chemical, food

Food

Food is any substance consumed to provide nutritional support for the body. It is usually of plant or animal origin, and contains essential nutrients, such as carbohydrates, fats, proteins, vitamins, or minerals...

, and woodworking industries.

The jewelry trade began developing in Kostroma in the 19th century. Engraving

Engraving

Engraving is the practice of incising a design on to a hard, usually flat surface, by cutting grooves into it. The result may be a decorated object in itself, as when silver, gold, steel, or glass are engraved, or may provide an intaglio printing plate, of copper or another metal, for printing...

, silver niello (silver with black engraving), and ornaments with colored glass and enamel insets are some examples of the art. The largest center of the jewelry industry is the village of Krasnoe-on-Volga.

Agriculture

Agriculture is one of Kostroma Oblast's most important sectors. Rye

Rye

Rye is a grass grown extensively as a grain and as a forage crop. It is a member of the wheat tribe and is closely related to barley and wheat. Rye grain is used for flour, rye bread, rye beer, some whiskeys, some vodkas, and animal fodder...

, wheat

Wheat

Wheat is a cereal grain, originally from the Levant region of the Near East, but now cultivated worldwide. In 2007 world production of wheat was 607 million tons, making it the third most-produced cereal after maize and rice...

, barley

Barley

Barley is a major cereal grain, a member of the grass family. It serves as a major animal fodder, as a base malt for beer and certain distilled beverages, and as a component of various health foods...

, and oat

Oat

The common oat is a species of cereal grain grown for its seed, which is known by the same name . While oats are suitable for human consumption as oatmeal and rolled oats, one of the most common uses is as livestock feed...

s are grown here, and beekeeping

Beekeeping

Beekeeping is the maintenance of honey bee colonies, commonly in hives, by humans. A beekeeper keeps bees in order to collect honey and other products of the hive , to pollinate crops, or to produce bees for sale to other beekeepers...

 and plant cultivation are expanding. Traditional 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...

 cultivation and processing is reviving. However, agriculture in the region is mainly oriented towards livestock farming, e.g., beef

Beef

Beef is the culinary name for meat from bovines, especially domestic cattle. Beef can be harvested from cows, bulls, heifers or steers. It is one of the principal meats used in the cuisine of the Middle East , Australia, Argentina, Brazil, Europe and the United States, and is also important in...

 and dairy cattle

Dairy cattle

Dairy cattle are cattle cows bred for the ability to produce large quantities of milk, from which dairy products are made. Dairy cows generally are of the species Bos taurus....

, pig

Pig

A pig is any of the animals in the genus Sus, within the Suidae family of even-toed ungulates. Pigs include the domestic pig, its ancestor the wild boar, and several other wild relatives...

s, sheep, and poultry

Poultry

Poultry are domesticated birds kept by humans for the purpose of producing eggs, meat, and/or feathers. These most typically are members of the superorder Galloanserae , especially the order Galliformes and the family Anatidae , commonly known as "waterfowl"...

. Agricultural land occupies 940,000 hectares in the Oblast, including 26,400 hectares allotted to individual farm

Farm

A farm is an area of land, or, for aquaculture, lake, river or sea, including various structures, devoted primarily to the practice of producing and managing food , fibres and, increasingly, fuel. It is the basic production facility in food production. Farms may be owned and operated by a single...

s and 551,000 hectares of cropland.

External links

• Kostroma regional Internet Magazine