Irkutsk region is a subject of the Russian Federation in the
southeastern part of the Siberian Federal District. Included in the East
Siberian economic region.
The administrative center is the city
of Irkutsk.
It borders in the west with the Krasnoyarsk
Territory, in the northeast with Yakutia, in the east with the
Trans-Baikal Territory, in the east and south with Buryatia, in the
southwest with Tuva.
Area - 774,846 km² (4.52% of the territory
of Russia).
Population - 2,344,360 people. (2023). Population
density - 3.03 people/km² (2023). The share of the urban population is
78.25% (2022).
Irkutsk
Angarsk
Baikal-Lena Nature Reserve
Nizhneudinsk
Pribaikalsky National
Park
Tayshet
Vitim Nature Reserve
Usolye-Sibirskoye
Ust-Orda
Cafe "U Petra" (On the federal highway P255 near the city of Alzamay). 200-300R. A reliable, proven cafe with delicious food (as evidenced by the constant large number of heavy-duty vehicles nearby) on the P255 highway will be useful for car travelers. Nearby there is a parking lot, a hotel, a store, a civilized toilet, a gas station.
Archaeological research in recent years has revealed the existence of
Stone Age people, contemporaries of the mammoth and the antediluvian
bull, in the Irkutsk province, in the valleys of the Angara River and
its tributaries; weapons, jewelry and utensils of the Stone Age have
been found in various places. Many things dating back to the periods
when humans first became acquainted with metals have also been found in
these places.
The settlement of the Irkutsk region began in the
Paleolithic era.
Artifacts from the Lower Paleolithic have been
found at the Georgievskoye-1 site.
The Igeteysky Log III site
dates back to the Middle Paleolithic.
The leaf-shaped and oval
bifaces of the initial Upper Paleolithic at the sites of the Baikal
region Malta, Kurchatov Bay, Leonovo-1,3, Mys Dunayskiy-3 and
Levoberezhny Kaltuk are dated to the first half of the marine isotope
stage MIS 3. The sites of Malta, Buret, Igeteyskiy Log I, Makarovo III,
Makarovo-4, Krasny Yar, Sosnovy Bor layer 4, Glazkovskiy necropolis and
others belong to the Late Paleolithic. On the territory of Irkutsk, the
following sites belong to the Upper Paleolithic: Military Hospital, im.
Arembovsky, Shchapova I-III, Pereselenchesky Punkt, im. Gerasimov,
Mamony II, lower horizons of Verkholenskaya Mountain I, Grove
"Zvezdochka". The Shchapova I site is dated by the radiocarbon method to
an age of 39,900±1285 years. n., Gerasimov site — 36,750±380 —
26,985±345 years ago, Mamony-II site — 31,400±150 years ago, Military
Hospital site — 22,900±500 — 29,700±500 years ago, Verkholenskaya
Mountain-I layer 3 — 12,570±180 years ago.
In the Usolsky
district near the village of Buret there is the Upper Paleolithic Buret
site, near the village of Malta — the Malta site. The MA-1 boy from the
Malta site, who lived 24,000 years ago, had the Y-chromosomal haplogroup
R* and the mitochondrial haplogroup U. These sites, belonging to the
Malta-Buret culture, are known for their finds of Paleolithic Venuses.
The multi-layered Kovrizhka IV site in the Bodaibo region dates back
to 15-18 thousand years ago.
The study of mitochondrial DNA in
paleopopulations of the early Neolithic Kitoy culture (Lokomotiv burial
ground in the upper reaches of the Angara, in the area of the city of
Irkutsk) and the Isakov culture of the developed Neolithic that replaced
it (Ust-Ida I burial ground on the middle Angara) allowed us to conclude
that the populations of these cultures are genetically related.
In the Shamanka II burial ground, located near Slyudyanka on the
southwestern coast of Lake Baikal, a cultural layer containing finds
from the early Neolithic - Bronze Age was recorded on the western
exposure of the slope of the second hill of the Shamansky Mys.
Y-chromosomal haplogroups R1a1, K (N1a1-TAT>F1419>Y24317>pre-B187,
sample DA345, ~ 3000 years BC, Ust-Ida, Isakov culture, late Neolithic),
C3, Q1a3 and E-L914 were identified at Neolithic and Bronze Age sites in
the Baikal region (Lokomotiv, Shamanka II, Ust-Ida, Kurma XI). At the
Lokomotiv site of the Glazkov necropolis (8000-6800 years ago),
Y-chromosomal haplogroups R1a1-M17 (LOK_1980.006 and LOK_1981.024.01), K
(N1a2-pre-L666, sample DA359, ~ 4700 years BC, Kitoy culture, early
Neolithic), C3 and mitochondrial haplogroups F, A, D, C, U5a, G2a were
determined. At the Shamanka II site, Y-chromosomal haplogroups K and
mitochondrial haplogroups A, D, C, G2a were determined. The Neolithic
samples from the Shamanka site were found to have the following
Y-chromosomal haplogroups: N1a2-L666 (samples DA245, DA248, DA250, DA251
and DA362), Kitoy culture), N2-Y6503 (sample DA247) and mitochondrial
haplogroups C4, G2a1, D4e1, D4j; the Bronze Age samples were found to
have the Y-chromosomal haplogroups Q1a2a-L53, Q1a2a1c-L330 and
mitochondrial haplogroups C4a1a3, C4a2a1, F1b1b, G2a1. At the Kurma XI
site of the late Neolithic - early Bronze Age, mitochondrial haplogroups
A, D, F, Z and Y-chromosomal haplogroup Q were determined.
In the
diet of dogs that lived in the Baikal region 7400-6300 years ago, a
significant amount of protein was obtained from freshwater sources.
In the sample irk40 (5567 years before the present), the
Y-chromosomal haplogroup Q-YP4004>Q-YP4004* was determined.
In a
representative of the Ust-Belskaya culture I1526 from the Ust-Belaya II
site on the Angara in the Usolsky district (4410 - 4100 years before the
present), the mitochondrial haplogroup C4a1a3 and Y-chromosomal
haplogroup Q1a2a were determined.
The earliest historical information about the local population of the
Angara region dates back to the end of the 12th century, that is, to the
time, as it is assumed, the Buryats occupied these places. By the time
the Russians appeared on the banks of the Angara River, the Buryats were
already the most numerous and powerful people here, and the Tungus also
lived there. Before the arrival of the Russians, this territory was part
of many proto-Mongol and Mongol states that replaced each other.
A report from the Yenisei voivode I. I. Rzhevsky to the Siberian Prikaz
was found in the archive of ancient acts. It contains a detailed account
of the circumstances of the founding of the Irkutsk fort by the Yenisei
boyar's son Yakov Ivanovich Pokhabov in the summer of 1661.
In
1628, the first fort on this river, Rybinsk, appeared in the middle
reaches of the Angara. In 1630, the Ilimsk winter hut was founded on the
portage leading to the Lena River, and on the latter, the Nikolsky
Pogost, renamed in 1655 as the Kirensky Fortress. In 1652, the Irkutsk
Yasak Winter Hut was founded, and in 1654, the Balagansky Fortress was
founded in the very center of the Buryat nomads.
The first clerk
of the new fort was the Cossack foreman Pavel Novichkov. Under his
command were 20 service people. At first, the fort was called
Yandashsky, after the local prince Yandash Dorogi, but already in 1662
it began to be called Irkutsky (in the old days they wrote "Irkutsky"),
since it was located not far from the mouth of the Angara tributary -
the Irkut.
In difficult conditions and with limited resources,
the settlers in Siberia established arable lands, hayfields, built
farmsteads, villages, towns and cities, salt works, flour mills, forges,
mined iron ore and smelted iron, found mica, and later silver, gold and
other minerals, were engaged in trades and crafts, laid the foundations
of industry, created centers of culture on the Siberian outskirts of
Russia. Gradually, the region began to turn into a province and on its
territory there were more than 500 settlements. The population grew due
to the arrival of new parties of Russian settlers and exiles. In 1700,
Irkutsk became the center of these exchanges, as well as the center of
control of the entire border mining and factory industry. The first
mines of Transbaikalia were attributed to it. In 1717, the influence of
the Irkutsk region spread to Yakutsk, an older center of the development
of Northern Siberia.
In 1708, the Siberian Order was liquidated
and the Siberian Governorate was formed.
In 1719, Irkutsk became
one of the five main cities of the newly established Siberian
Governorate. In 1724, the Irkutsk Province was formed as part of the
Siberian Governorate. The province included the cities of Irkutsk,
Verkhneudinsk, Ilimsk, Kirensk, Nerchinsk, Nizhneudinsk and Yakutsk. In
those same years, it also became an important religious center. Due to
the refusal to allow a missionary bishop to enter China, a primatial
church cathedra was organized here, the largest after Tobolsk.
In
1736, the Siberian province was divided into two parts for the first
time, thus opening competition between Eastern and Western Siberia,
Tobolsk and Irkutsk. In this rivalry, the West of Siberia trumps its
antiquity, proximity to native Russia and European markets, but the
victory went to the young East, where the bulk of mineral resources were
located. In 1764, the Irkutsk province was separated from the Siberian
province. In 1783, the Irkutsk viceroyalty was opened. In 1799-1801,
Irkutsk was the headquarters of the Russian-American Company (the
memorial building of its first office has survived). Irkutsk becomes not
only a border city, but also an ocean city. State expeditions organized
by the Russian government to the Far East, Yakutia, Mongolia, China,
Alaska, were also formed in Irkutsk. From here the second settlement of
the Amur banks began. All embassies to Beijing traveled through Irkutsk,
caravan trade routes to Mongolia and China passed through. Wholesale
trade in Eastern Siberia was also concentrated mainly in the hands of
Irkutsk merchants.
At the beginning of the 19th century, Irkutsk became the official
residence of the Siberian Governor-General and the capital of Eastern
Siberia. In 1805, the Yakutsk Region was separated from the Irkutsk
Governorate. In 1818, the outstanding lawyer Mikhail Speransky was
appointed the Siberian Governor. The city became the center of local
legislative creativity. Legislative acts on the governance of Siberia
and its peoples were created and tested here. Later, Speransky compiled
the first Code of Laws in three centuries, and it can be assumed that
this Code of Laws was also tested in draft form in Siberia. The legal
culture of the management team selected by Speransky made the Irkutsk
bureaucracy stand out even more sharply not only against the Siberian,
but also against the all-Russian background.
In 1822, the East
Siberian Governor-Generalship was created (since 1887, the Irkutsk
Governor-Generalship).
By 1825, when Alexander I died, Irkutsk
had taken second place in Siberia in terms of population and first place
in terms of the number of registered merchants (the financial and
industrial elite of the entire region). Only Tobolsk had a slightly
larger population by inertia, but it was declining. The boundaries of
its influence were clearly defined, and St. Petersburg's control was
felt much more strongly. The first capital of Siberia had nowhere to
develop.
But the Irkutsk region continued to develop. Ties with
China were strengthened, influence in Mongolia was slowly spreading, and
the shores of the Arctic and Pacific Oceans were held. The growing
region also strengthened the growth of its center.
The expulsion
of convicted Decembrists had a significant impact on the increase in the
social status of the Siberian capital. They were scattered throughout
Siberia, but only Irkutsk turned out to be the place where they were
subsequently concentrated. This unique "cultural landing" significantly
spurred the development of the city. But it was spurred even more by the
discovery of gold-bearing provinces. Before the discovery of the
California deposits in 1849, Irkutsk was the center of control of gold
mining of world significance until the second quarter of the 19th
century.
1848 is the heyday of Irkutsk. The beginning of the
governorship of Muravyov (the future Count of Amur) was marked by a new
decisive onslaught to the east, as a result of which Russia was given
back the regions once lost under the Treaty of Nerchinsk. However, the
Amur and Primorsky regions immediately began to show a desire for
isolation and independent construction of local centers. A little later,
Alaska breaks away from Siberia. Eastern projects, in particular the
Manchurian and Primorsky regions, are developing more and more actively.
Vladivostok, naturally, begins to lay claim to the role of a border
center opposite to St. Petersburg.
Since 1851, from the time of
the separation of the Transbaikal region, the Irkutsk province has been
in its current borders.
At the end of the 19th century, the
territory of the current Irkutsk region was called the Irkutsk
Governorate.
The Japanese War of 1905 stopped the rapid decline of Irkutsk as the center of Siberia and returned some of the capital's functions here. People who had rushed to the Sakhalin and Harbin region began to settle here again. The rapid economic development of the Irkutsk Governorate, associated with the construction of the Trans-Siberian Railway, continued.
After the February Revolution in 1917, the previously existing
Irkutsk Governorate-General, which included the Irkutsk and Yenisei
Governorates, the Trans-Baikal and Yakut regions, ceased to exist.
The dramatic events of the Civil War of 1917-1922 unfolded on the
territory of the region. After the October Revolution of 1917, the
Bolsheviks broke the system of self-organization of production that had
been developing for years, nationalized joint-stock and private
industrial enterprises and even small handicraft workshops. All products
were declared state property and were subject to centralized
distribution. Economic incentives disappeared, production links were
disrupted. The market economy was replaced by an administrative-command
system.
The Siberian anti-Bolshevik government, red partisans and
detachments of Kolchak and Ataman Semyonov were also active. In 1920,
Admiral A. V. Kolchak was shot in Irkutsk.
On August 15, 1924, the territory of the Irkutsk province was divided
into 3 districts - Irkutsk, Tulunsky, Kirensky and 2 industrial regions
- Cheremkhovo and Bodaibo.
From 1925 to 1930, the territory of
Irkutsk was part of the Siberian Territory (the regional center was the
city of Novosibirsk), on June 28, 1926, by the decree of the All-Russian
Central Executive Committee, the Irkutsk Governorate was abolished, and
three districts were created on its territory - Irkutsk, Tulunsky and
Kirensky, and from 1930 to 1936 it was part of the East Siberian
Territory, in 1936-1937 - in the East Siberian Region (the regional and
regional center was the city of Irkutsk).
On September 26, 1937,
by the decree of the Central Executive Committee of the USSR, the
Irkutsk Region was formed (the regional center was the city of Irkutsk).
On January 15, 1938, the Supreme Soviet of the USSR approved the
creation of the region.
The Great Patriotic War bled the Irkutsk village dry. A huge number
of men were called up to the front. Their share of the total population
of the region decreased from 51% in 1940 to 20% in 1944. The number of
tractors and combines was reduced. The supply of new equipment ceased. A
large number of horses were sent to the army. Women and teenagers became
the main force of collective farm and industrial production. It was on
their shoulders that the burden of running the farm, producing goods,
and providing the front and rear with food and weapons fell. During the
war, agricultural production declined, the number of livestock
decreased, and grain farming fell into disrepair. However, despite the
difficulties, the belief that “the enemy will be defeated and victory
will be ours” did not allow one to lose heart. People worked tirelessly
in factories, on collective farms, women and girls mastered male
professions, stood at the machines, sat on tractors and combines,
teenagers worked at the machines, primary school students were busy in
the fields collecting ears of corn.
The peasants of the Irkutsk
region made their contribution to the defeat of the enemy. During the
war, collective and state farms donated 800 thousand tons of grain, 150
thousand tons of potatoes and milk, 44 thousand tons of meat, 1.5
thousand tons of wool to the state defense fund.
During the Great
Patriotic War, the economy was even more centralized and subordinated to
the needs of defense. Industrial enterprises switched to the production
of military products. 22 large mechanical engineering and light industry
enterprises, 10 trusts and over 25 thousand workers and specialists were
evacuated from the western regions to the Irkutsk region.
The
evacuated enterprises were quickly deployed on the basis of existing
production facilities and in the shortest possible time provided the
front with the necessary products. Thus, the Irkutsk Kuibyshev Plant
installed equipment from a machine-building plant in Kramatorsk, and a
machine-building enterprise from the Lugansk region was located in
Cheremkhovo. In addition, equipment from the Dnepropetrovsk shoe factory
arrived in Irkutsk, and sewing factories evacuated from Odessa and
Dnepropetrovsk set up production in Usolye-Sibirskoye, Telma and
Cheremkhovo.
The war required the greatest exertion of forces.
Front-line brigades were organized at enterprises, which overfulfilled
daily plans. The motto became widespread: "If you have not completed the
task, do not leave work." Overtime work of children, teenagers, girls
and women became the norm. The population of the region collected warm
clothes for the front. All workers deducted money from their earnings to
the victory fund, signed up for military loans.
In total, during
the war years, the region's industry mastered the production of 50 types
of weapons, ammunition, equipment and food products for the front. The
role of the Irkutsk coal basin as the most important fuel and energy
region in the east of the country increased. New branches of industry
appeared. The production base of existing enterprises in machine tool
building and heavy engineering, food and light industry expanded.
In total, from 1940 to 1945, the volume of industrial output
increased by 21% and in 1945 exceeded the 1913 level by 13.8 times.
After the war, the first post-war five-year plan began and industry
was transferred to peacetime rails. The Irkutsk Heavy Machinery Plant
mastered the production of new types of machines for the metallurgical,
oil and gold mining industries. In Cheremkhovo, they began to create the
Novogrishinsky open-pit coal mine with a processing plant, the second
and third stages of the Khramtsovsky open-pit mine and the
Khramtsovskaya processing plant, as well as mine No. 6. In
Usolye-Sibirskoye, construction began on a machine-building plant for
the production of mining equipment and a new, largest salt plant in the
country. The Biryusinsky and Tulunsky hydrolysis plants were built. The
construction of the Taishet-Lena railway was resumed, which opened up
the possibility of developing the natural resources of the middle
Angara. In the spring of 1945, on the banks of the Angara River, not far
from Irkutsk, between the Sukhovskaya and Kita stations, preparations
began for the construction of the country's largest chemical plant and
city, named Angarsk. This marked the beginning of the creation of a new
branch of the petrochemical industry for Eastern Siberia and the Far
East.
In 1951-1955, the modern industrial appearance of the
region began to take shape. At the same time, the Irkutsk Hydroelectric
Power Station was being built. On the Angara, in the Padunsky section,
preparatory work began on the construction of the Bratsk Hydroelectric
Power Station. On the Lena River, construction began on the largest port
of Osetrovo. The construction of industrial enterprises continued in
Angarsk, where individual workshops of the first petrochemical plant in
Eastern Siberia were put into operation. In the outskirts of Irkutsk, in
1951, construction began on an aluminum plant and the city of Shelekhov.
In 1959, construction of the Baikal Pulp and Paper Mill and the city of
Baikalsk began. The first batch of snow-white salt "Extra" was released.
The Osetrovsky River Port began operating. In December 1960, the Irkutsk
Aluminum Plant produced its first metal. The metallurgical city of
Shelekhov grew rapidly. Train traffic was opened on the mountain section
of Irkutsk - Slyudyanka. The section of the Trans-Siberian Railway from
Cheremkhovo to Irkutsk and the 700-kilometer Taishet - Lena railway,
commissioned in 1958, were electrified. The Abakan - Taishet railway was
laid. The Korshunovsky Mining and Processing Plant was erected on Ilim
and the city of Zheleznogorsk was built. A television center, a cold
storage plant, student and academic campuses were built in Irkutsk.
Since June 1957, the management of industry and construction in the USSR
was transferred to the economic councils. The Irkutsk Economic Council
united about 250 enterprises and 25 branches of industry, producing 75%
of the total volume of production in the Irkutsk region.
In
August 1958, a representative conference on the development of
productive and industrial forces of Eastern Siberia was held in Irkutsk,
where the economic problems of the region were discussed. 600
organizations took part in its work, including more than 100 institutes
of the USSR Academy of Sciences and universities. The materials of the
conference were used as a basis for the development of new
industrialization projects. In 1973, the Khrebtovaya - Ust-Ilimsk
railway, 214 km long, was put into permanent operation. In 1974,
construction of the Western section of the BAM began (the construction
of this railway line north of Lake Baikal, with access to the Pacific
Ocean near the Imperial Harbor, was planned back in the
pre-revolutionary period). By the end of the five-year plan, 13 bridges
had been built on the BAM, including two large ones across the Lena and
Tayura. A second track was being laid on the Taishet-Lena section. Over
the years of industrialization, the Irkutsk Region has become a major
center of energy and energy-intensive industries. Non-ferrous
metallurgy, the petrochemical and pulp and paper industries, the
woodworking industry, mechanical engineering, and the extraction of
valuable minerals have developed here. The region has become a major
supplier of aluminum, petroleum products, timber, cellulose and paper,
organic synthesis products, and coal. In terms of industrial growth, the
degree of development of natural resources, specialization, and
concentration of industrial production, it has outstripped many other
regions, territories, and republics of Siberia and the Far East. In the
mid-80s, “perestroika” began, which brought significant changes to the
economic, political, demographic and social life of the entire USSR, and
the Irkutsk region was no exception.
In 1991-1997, the head of the Irkutsk Region administration was Yuri
Abramovich Nozhikov.
With the adoption of the Constitution of
Russia in 1993, the Irkutsk Region became a subject of the Russian
Federation.
In March 1994, the first elections to the Legislative
Assembly of the Irkutsk Region were held in the Irkutsk Region. 45
deputies of the first convocation were elected. At the same time,
elections for the governor of the Irkutsk Region were held. Yuri
Nozhikov became the first governor. In 1995, the Charter of the Irkutsk
Region was adopted.
In 1997-2005, the governor of the Irkutsk
Region was Boris Aleksandrovich Govorin.
In 2000, the Siberian
Federal District was created with its center in Novosibirsk, which
included all Siberian regions of Russia, including the Irkutsk Region.
Since 2002, the Baikal International Economic Forum has been held in
Irkutsk every four years. Since 2011, the Baikal Economic Forum has been
held every two years.
In 2005-2008, the head of the Irkutsk
region was Alexander Georgievich Tishanin.
On October 11, 2005,
an agreement on the unification of territories was signed between the
authorities of the Irkutsk region and the Ust-Orda Buryat Autonomous
Okrug in the village of Ust-Orda.
The new subject of the Russian
Federation is called "Irkutsk Oblast" and is the legal successor of both
subjects. The Ust-Orda Buryat Autonomous Okrug is part of it with a
special administrative status and is called the Ust-Orda Buryat Okrug.
On October 11, 2005, the parliaments of the Irkutsk Region and the
Ust-Orda Buryat Autonomous Okrug adopted an appeal to the President of
the Russian Federation "On the Formation of a New Subject of the
Federation". On April 16, 2006, a referendum was held on the unification
of the Irkutsk Region and the Ust-Orda Buryat Autonomous Okrug, as a
result of which, on January 1, 2008, the Ust-Orda Buryat Autonomous
Okrug became part of the Irkutsk Region.
From November 22, 2008
to May 10, 2009, the head of the Irkutsk Region was Igor Eduardovich
Esipovsky, who tragically died in a Bell 407 helicopter crash on May 10,
2009.
From June 8, 2009 to May 18, 2012, the governor of the
Irkutsk Region was Dmitry Fedorovich Mezentsev.
From May 18, 2012
to October 2, 2015, the region was headed by Sergey Vladimirovich
Eroshchenko.
Since October 2, 2015, the region has been headed by
Sergey Georgievich Levchenko.
In the summer of 2019, 22 people
died during the flood in the Irkutsk region, the damage from the flood
amounted to at least 29 billion rubles.
The Irkutsk region is the largest landlocked region in Russia. Also,
the Irkutsk region is one of the largest subjects of the Russian
Federation, occupying an area of 774,846 km² (4.52% of Russia's
territory), which is slightly smaller than Turkey (780,580 km²), and
also larger than any state entirely located in Europe. Forests occupy
71.5 million hectares, and the forest fund 69.4 million hectares (715
and 694 thousand km², respectively).
The distance from Irkutsk to
Moscow by rail is 5192 km, to Vladivostok - 4106 km. The time difference
between the region and Moscow is 5 hours.
The Irkutsk region is
located in Eastern Siberia. The southernmost point of the region is
located at 51° north latitude, the northern tip almost reaches the 65th
parallel. From north to south the region stretches for almost 1450 km,
from west to east for 1318 km.
The southeastern border of the
Irkutsk region runs along Lake Baikal.
The region occupies the
southeastern part of the Central Siberian Plateau, the plateaus and
ridges of which have heights from 500 to 1000 m.
In the south,
the Irkutsk region is surrounded by spurs of the Eastern Sayan (height
up to 2875 m): Agul Belki, Biryusinsky, Gutarsky, Okinsky, Udinsky and
other ridges; in the east - the Baikal Mountains: part of the northern
slopes of Khamar-Daban with the peak of Khan-Ula (2374 m, in the
territory of neighboring Buryatia in close proximity to its border with
the Irkutsk region), the Primorsky ridge with the highest point -
Three-headed Golets (1728 m), The Baikal ridge with Mount Chersky (2572
m), then the North Baikal and Patom highlands, part of the
Delyun-Uransky ridge and the western part of the Kodar ridge.
The
territory of the Irkutsk region is included in the Mongol-Baikal belt of
active earthquake occurrence.
The climate of the Irkutsk region is sharply continental, with long
cold winters and short but hot and dry summers. But even in the summer
months, during the breakthrough of cold Arctic fronts, night frosts down
to −1 −3 degrees are possible. Frosts do not occur only in July.
In winter, severe cold snaps are possible from October to March.
The Irkutsk region is part of the East Siberian economic region; is
of great economic importance, the main branches of specialization of the
region are forestry, woodworking, pulp and paper, mining, mechanical
engineering, etc. In terms of GDP per capita, the Irkutsk region ranks
20th among 85 subjects of the Federation, in terms of average per capita
income - 21st place.
Territorial-industrial complexes
The
Irkutsk region is divided into 6 territorial-industrial complexes (TIC):
Irkutsk-Cheremkhovo industrial zone
Bratsko-Ust-Ilimsk TPK
Ziminsko-Tulunsky TPK
Mamsko-Bodaybinsky mining district
Taishet
industrial district
Verkhnelensky TPK
The Irkutsk region is a large industrial region. In all-Russian
production, it provides 6.5% of electricity production, 15% of
commercial timber exports, 6% of coal production, almost 20% of
all-Russian pulp production, more than 10% of cardboard, and about 9% of
oil is processed. At the end of 2019, the industrial production index
decreased by 2.6 percentage points. compared to the same period last
year. This indicator is 3.7 percentage points lower than the Russian
average. and by 2.1 p.p. average value for the Siberian Federal
District.
In the industry of the region, the forestry,
woodworking and pulp and paper, mining, fuel industries, non-ferrous
metallurgy, energy, mechanical engineering, food, chemical and
petrochemical industries, and ferrous metallurgy have gained the
greatest development. An important factor in industrial development is
the region's mineral resources. Thus, the development of the large
Sukhoi Log deposit, which accounts for 28% of gold reserves in Russia,
is expected.
Industry is concentrated in Irkutsk and a number of
regional centers.
Large industrial enterprises of the region:
Bratsk timber industry complex;
Bratsk Aluminum Plant;
JSC
"Battery Technologies";
Angarsk Petrochemical Company;
Irkutsk
Aviation Plant;
Irkutsk Heavy Engineering Plant;
Irkutskcable;
Irkutskenergo;
Korshunovsky Mining and Processing Plant;
Osetrovsky river port;
Sayanskkhimplast;
SUEK;
Vostsibugol;
Usolmash;
Ust-Ilimsk timber industry complex;
Irkutsk Aluminum
Plant;
PJSC "Verkhnechonskneftegaz"
Irkutsk Oil Company.
Rural population - 524.3 thousand people, 22% of the population of the Irkutsk region. The area of agricultural land is 2.38 million hectares, arable land - 1.6 million hectares. The region is half supplied with agricultural products; food products are imported from other regions. In 2019, agricultural production amounted to 61.9 billion rubles, exports (oil and fat products, eggs, poultry meat, drinking water, etc.) amounted to $42.5 million.
Livestock farming accounts for 46% of agricultural production. They
raise cows (meat and dairy cattle (Kalmyk, Hereford)), pigs, sheep,
goats, horses, deer, rabbits, poultry (chickens (Hisex White), ducks,
geese, turkeys, guinea fowl, quails, pheasants, ostriches), bees ,
fur-bearing animals (mink, blue fox), fish (trout, carp, peled).
Fishing, fur trade.
As of June 1, 2021, the number of cattle in
all categories of farms is 382.1 thousand heads, including cows - 150.5
thousand heads, pigs - 219.5 thousand heads, sheep and goats - 113.9
thousand heads, poultry in agricultural organizations 6481.7 thousand
heads
In 2019, the number of cattle in all categories of farms is
290.8 thousand heads, including cows - 132.7 thousand heads, pigs -
181.7 thousand heads, sheep and goats - 104.4 thousand. heads
Dairy breeding cattle breeding in the Irkutsk region is represented by
black-and-white, Simmental, Holstein, black-and-white and red-and-white
cattle. The average productivity of cows according to valuation was 6449
kg of milk, for the black-and-white breed - 6,514 kg, for the Simmental
breed - 5,488 kg, for the red-and-white breed - 5,360 kg. Beef cattle
breeding is represented by Hereford, Kazakh white-headed, Aberdeen-Angus
and Kalmyk cattle. The main breeds of pigs in the region are Large
White, Landrace and Duroc.
There are 27 breeding organizations in
the region. The breeding stock of cattle is 37.3 thousand heads,
including 16.6 thousand heads of cows. The productivity of cattle in
breeding organizations is 6711 kg, and in general in agricultural
organizations of the region, the milk yield per 1 cow was 5872 kg (the
average for Russia is 6486 kg). 449.6 thousand tons of milk, 151.1
thousand tons of meat, 985.2 million eggs were produced (the egg
production of laying hens is 334 pieces).
Large and medium-sized
organizations produce 95% of meat. For 9 months of 2020, the volume of
purchases of milk from peasant (farmer) and private farms in the region
amounted to 28.2 thousand tons, meat - 2.3 thousand tons.
If you choose the right variety of any agricultural crop, the yield
increase can be up to 200%. Therefore, the use of certain zoned
varieties of grains, vegetables, and potatoes recommended in a given
year is of great importance.
They grow wheat (spring), oats,
barley (spring), rye (winter), buckwheat, millet, rapeseed (spring),
soybeans, corn (feed), peas, sunflower (silage), potatoes, cucumbers,
white cabbage, table beets , carrots, onions, fruits, currants,
gooseberries, sea buckthorn, perennial and annual herbs, fodder root
crops.
More than 50% of all arable land (and 60% of production)
in the region is located in the forest-steppe zone with favorable
climatic conditions along the Trans-Siberian Railway from Irkutsk to
Tulun, as well as on the right bank of the upper reaches of the Angara
(Bokhan - Ust-Uda). 20% of the arable land is chernozem in the steppe
zone in the Ust-Ordynsky Buryat Okrug, Cheremkhovo and Olkhonsky
districts. The rest of the arable land is in the taiga zone, with
insufficient heat supply for agricultural crops, in the northern regions
along the Taishet-Lena railway, the Western section of the BAM and the
upper reaches of the Lena River.
As of September 27, 2022, the
harvesting campaign is in full swing, 164.7 thousand hectares of grain
and leguminous crops have been threshed, or 41.2% of the sown area (a
total of 403.3 thousand hectares of grain and leguminous crops have been
sown, of which 85.1 thousand ha are barley), the gross harvest amounted
to 372.7 thousand tons of grain crops with a yield of 22.6 c/ha (+1% by
2021), including wheat - 170.1 thousand tons, barley - 137.6 thousand
tons , oats 53.1 thousand tons. The potato harvesting plan was completed
by 89.7%, and the vegetable harvesting plan by 55%. Agricultural
enterprises and peasant farms dug up 76.4 thousand tons of potatoes and
collected 14.1 thousand tons of open ground vegetables. The average
yield of potatoes is 206.7 c/ha (178.5 c/ha in 2021), vegetables 293.9
c/ha (+19%). Harvesting carrots, beets and onions continues, and we have
begun harvesting cabbage. In terms of gross potato harvest, the leaders
are Usolsky district - 36 thousand tons, Irkutsk district - 27 thousand
tons, Cheremkhovo district - 6 thousand tons, in the collection of
vegetable crops in Usolsky district - 9.8 thousand tons, Irkutsk region
- 3.4 thousand tons, Bratsk area 472 tons.
In 2020, 23 thousand
hectares of fallow land were put into circulation, of which 25% were in
the Bratsk region. During the period from 2017 to 2019, 90.4 thousand
hectares were introduced.
In 2020, agricultural organizations and
peasant farms harvested 53.6 thousand tons of potatoes, with a yield of
151.2 c/ha; they harvested 40% more open-ground vegetables - 26.2
thousand tons with a yield of 289.5 c/ha.
In 2020, the harvest of
grain and leguminous crops was 865.1 thousand tons (in weight after
processing) (+85.9 thousand tons or 11%). 56.2% of the harvest was
collected by peasant farms, the share of agricultural organizations in
grain production is decreasing annually, in 2020 - from 45.8% to 43.5%.
There are 179 agricultural organizations, 1,600 peasant (farm)
enterprises and 290.4 thousand personal subsidiary plots of the
population, 1,090 non-profit associations in the region. 64 agricultural
consumer cooperatives and 21 organizations are engaged in the purchase
of surplus agricultural products from private plots of the population.
The Irkutsk region accounts for 1.5% of the volume of agricultural
products in Russia and 8.9% of agricultural products in the Siberian
Federal District. At the end of 2019, the agricultural production index
was 2.6 percentage points lower than the same period in 2018. This
indicator is 7 percentage points lower than the Russian average. and by
2.3 p.p. average value for the Siberian Federal District.
The dynamic development of trade relations with China after the
collapse of the USSR led to changes in forestry and the environmental
situation in the region. Based on ten years of observations, it was
concluded that the volume of felling is many times greater than
permitted and declared. This has caused concern to the World Wildlife
Fund. Chinese-owned sawmills and timber yards play a key role in the
spread of illegal logging (page 17). Moreover, representatives of
organized crime groups occupy not the last place in this business. There
has been an emerging trend of Chinese logging companies operating under
the guise of local (Russian) ones. For example, one of the largest
sawmill companies in Russia (Trans-Siberian Forestry Company), according
to data, sold shares to Chinese entrepreneurs, and in fact ceased to be
Russian. Poaching contributes to the decline of rare animal species; and
the main direction of smuggling was the export of parts and derivatives.
In the Taishet region, it is planned to develop charcoal production,
which is environmentally unsafe. Data obtained from the analysis of
satellite images objectively indicate significant damage caused to the
forest fund from 2001 to 2019.
The level of economic development of the Irkutsk region is largely
determined by the state of the electric power industry. There are 4
hydroelectric power stations operating in the region, which form the
basis of the region’s energy sector:
Irkutsk hydroelectric power
station;
Bratsk hydroelectric power station;
Ust-Ilimsk
hydroelectric power station;
Mamakan hydroelectric power station.
In 2011, the region generated 62.5 billion kWh of energy. The
majority of electricity production in the region is controlled by OAO
Irkutskenergo.
In February 2004, a cooperation agreement was signed between OAO
Gazprom and the administration of the Irkutsk region, providing for the
development by Gazprom of a General Gasification and Gas Supply Scheme
for the Irkutsk Region. On December 16, 2005, Gazprom and the Irkutsk
region signed an agreement on gasification of the region. It is planned
to gasify 899 settlements in the region and increase the level of
gasification of the region with natural gas to 82%. This will exceed the
current all-Russian level (64%). Currently, the gasification program for
the region is frozen until 2018.
The Irkutsk region has one of
the largest hydrocarbon reserves on the territory of the Russian
Federation; the total recoverable reserves of free gas (C1 + C2),
recorded in the state balance sheet of the Russian Federation, amount to
3.64 trillion. m³, gas condensate - 170.9 million tons. On the territory
of the Irkutsk region there are more than a dozen oil, gas and gas
condensate fields, the largest of which are the Kovykta gas condensate
field and the Verkhnechonskoye oil and gas condensate field.
Despite the natural resources, in 2019 the share of natural fuel
consumption in the region fluctuates around 9%; it is provided by the
local gas transmission system in Bratsk and the Bratsk region. By 2024,
the Cabinet of Ministers intends to reach the figure of 10.4%.
The region has a fairly well-developed transport system, which includes all types of transport: air, water, rail, and road.
The main transport is rail. Almost 70 million tons of cargo are transported by rail per year. The main transport artery of the Irkutsk region is the Trans-Siberian Railway. The western section of the BAM stretches across the territory of the region, from the city of Taishet to the east. The operational length of public railways is about 2,500 km.
The Baikal-Amur Mainline (BAM) is a railway in Eastern Siberia and the Far East. One of the largest railways in the world. The main route Taishet - Sovetskaya Gavan was built with long interruptions from 1938 to 1984. The construction of the central part of the railway, which took place in difficult geological and climatic conditions, took more than 12 years, and one of the most difficult sections, the Severomuysky tunnel, was put into permanent operation only in 2003.
Air transportation is carried out through two airports: Irkutsk and Bratsk, which have international status and operate flights to China, Mongolia, Tajikistan, Thailand, Uzbekistan, South Korea, Japan, and Vietnam. There are also 10 local airports (in the cities of Ust-Kut, Bodaibo, Kirensk, Ust-Ilimsk, Zheleznogorsk-Ilimsky, Nizhneudinsk, Kazachinskoye, Khuzhir, Yerbogachen, and Mama) and several helicopter landing sites in hard-to-reach areas (Nizhneudinsky, Zhiglovsky, Katangsky, and Kirensky districts).
A developed network of automobile roads allows transporting goods by automobile transport to most settlements of the region. The length of public roads with hard surfaces is more than 12,655 km. In terms of the length of automobile roads, the region ranks second in the Siberian Federal District.
The largest shipping rivers Angara, Lena, Nizhnyaya Tunguska flow through the territory of the region, which determined the development of water transport, which accounts for about 10% of the total cargo turnover. The largest ports are located on the Lena River: Kirensk and Osetrovo, through which cargo is transshipped to the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia) and to the northern regions of the Irkutsk region.
As of 2016, 26 universities and branches of universities operated in the Irkutsk region, including universities in Irkutsk, Angarsk and Bratsk.
The Irkutsk region has a rich history, so many settlements here have
architectural and historical monuments. There are more than sixty
museums in the region, in this parameter the Irkutsk region is among the
leaders of Siberia along with the Omsk region and the Krasnoyarsk
region.
On the territory of the region there are unique natural
sites, first of all, Lake Baikal and the Pribaikalsky National Park. 47
km from Irkutsk there is the architectural and ethnographic museum
"Taltsy", also the Circum-Baikal Railway is popular with residents and
guests of the region, including 58 tunnels and galleries, more than 500
bridges and viaducts, about 600 retaining, coastal protection walls, as
well as 172 architectural monuments. Ski slopes in Baikalsk also attract
tourists. 40 km from Baikalsk near the village of Novosnezhnaya there
are Teplye Lakes. In December 2006, the Irkutsk Region won the right to
create a special economic zone of the tourism and recreational type
"Gates of Baikal" on the territory of the village of Bolshoe Goloustnoye
on the shore of Lake Baikal. In 2010, the territory of the city of
Baikalsk was partially included in the SEZ. As of 2020, the area of
the SEZ is 763 hectares, and 8 residents are registered on its
territory.
There are many theater, pop and dance groups in the
region, competitions and festivals are held annually. There are regional
branches of the Union of Writers and the Union of Artists of Russia.
A lot of local periodicals are published here, such as
"Vostochno-Sibirskaya Pravda", "Konkurent", "Irkutsk Reporter",
"Kommersant. Siberia. Irkutsk", "Vostochny Format", "Pyatnitsa", "SM
number one", "Kopeyka", "Baikal news", "Angarsk lights", "Moi godas",
"Nasha Sibskan", newspaper "Oblasticnaya", "Irkutsk", "Arguments and
facts" in the Supreme Court, "Trud" Irkutsk, "Trud-7" Irkutsk, "Express
newspaper" Irkutsk, "Komsomolskaya Pravda" Baikal, "Choose the
temptations of the big city" Irkutsk, "Video channel", "All
announcements of Irkutsk", "From hand to hand" Irkutsk, "Irkutsk
province", literary almanac "Siberia", children's magazine
"Sibiryachok", "Supermarket of new buildings" and others.
Irkutsk
Region Day is celebrated (September 27, usually the first or second
Sunday of October, annually established by the organizing committee).
The largest medical institutions in the region are:
Irkutsk
Regional Clinical Hospital. On March 24, 1948, the city clinical
hospital was transformed into a regional clinical hospital;
Irkutsk
Regional Anti-Tuberculosis Dispensary;
Interregional Burn Center;
Irkutsk Diagnostic Center;
Irkutsk Regional Oncology Dispensary;
Irkutsk Regional Center for the Prevention and Control of AIDS and
Infectious Diseases;
Center for Molecular Diagnostics;
Territorial
Center for Disaster Medicine of the Irkutsk Region;
East Siberian
Scientific Center of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of
Medical Sciences;
Branch of the State Scientific and Technical
Complex "Microsurgery of the Eye" named after Academician S.N. Fedorov.
As of July 2016, the region has recorded a generalized stage of the HIV
epidemic. Every 50th resident of the region is infected with HIV. In
total, according to official data, 36,435 people are infected with HIV
in the region, or more than 1.5% of the population. As of 2018, the
severity of the HIV epidemic in the region is the worst in Russia.
"The HIV/AIDS epidemic is considered generalized if more than 1% of
pregnant women are diagnosed with HIV. Unfortunately, this figure is
already in 20 regions of Russia. Irkutsk stands out in that for a long
time they did not create a specialized center for the prevention and
control of AIDS, since the then governor did not believe in the
existence of this disease. Then, instead of engaging in prevention among
drug users, they looked for a pest who, "in order to infect drug addicts
with HIV, added crushed bones of people who died from AIDS to heroin."
Vadim Pokrovsky, head of the Federal Center for the Prevention and
Control of HIV Infection