Krasnoyarsk Kray, Russia

Krasnoyarsk Territory is the largest region of Central Siberia. Although its administrative borders cover a vast territory from the Sayan Mountains to the Arctic Ocean, geographically and culturally the Krasnoyarsk Territory is divided into three approximately equal parts. This guide is dedicated to the southern one, which extends to Yeniseisk and Angara. To the north is the taiga Evenkia, and even further north is the harsh polar Taimyr.

The south of the Krasnoyarsk Territory is one of the most beautiful corners of Siberia. The mountain taiga on the Sayan spurs closely borders here with beautiful forest-steppe. The region is deserted in a Siberian way, but at the same time it is not deprived of transport: moving around it is only a little more difficult than somewhere in Central Russia. People come here most often for the sake of natural beauty, although there are also interesting historical cities in the south of the Krasnoyarsk Territory.

 

Cities

Krasnoyarsk is not a popular tourist destination, although there is a lot to see. The city is interesting for its antiquity: there are no less pre-revolutionary houses in it than in Yeniseisk; Among them are carved wooden ones, merchant stone ones, and even large shopping arcades of a metropolitan scale. Another, no less interesting aspect of Krasnoyarsk is natural. The city stands on the slopes of the Eastern Sayan Mountains, which together with the Yenisei create a unique topography: bare hills and taiga-covered rocks. It’s worth staying in Krasnoyarsk for at least a couple of days, one of which is dedicated to the surrounding area: the famous Pillars or a trip along the Yenisei towards the Krasnoyarsk Hydroelectric Power Station.

Achinsk welcomes those who travel to the Krasnoyarsk Territory from the west. At its core, it is an industrial city that grew up around a giant alumina refinery, although there is also an old part in Achinsk - quarters of good merchant buildings, decorated with wonderful stone carvings. Closer to the outskirts there is a pre-revolutionary military town, the only one in Central Siberia. The city also owes its industry to another, less traditional attraction - its own tram system that delivers workers to the plant. In Achinsk the roads to Krasnoyarsk and Abakan diverge, and the latter passes through most of the interesting places in Khakassia.

Divnogorsk is a city on the Yenisei in the vicinity of Krasnoyarsk, interesting for its picturesque rocky landscapes and proximity to the majestic Krasnoyarsk hydroelectric power station, the lower of the cascade of three Yenisei power plants. In one direction from Divnogorsk, it’s a stone’s throw to the Krasnoyarsk Reservoir, a favorite vacation spot, along the banks of which there are several caves. In the other direction, downstream, is the village of Ovsyanka, the birthplace of the writer Viktor Astafiev, where a memorial museum is located. In addition to the wonderful scenery on the road connecting Krasnoyarsk with Divnogorsk, there are several places where you can buy Yenisei fish or taste it cooked in the best traditions of Siberian cuisine.

Yeniseysk is the ancient capital of Eastern Siberia and the first Russian city on the Yenisei. Having grown up on river trade, Yeniseisk completely lost its significance when the Trans-Siberian Railway passed through Krasnoyarsk, and was literally mothballed somewhere out of time with all its wooden houses, old signs and way of life that had not changed for decades. This alone, along with the majestic Yenisei, is worth crossing the 300 km of emptiness that separates Yeniseisk from Krasnoyarsk. Another, no less interesting attraction of the city is the old temples, built in a special type of Baroque style. North of Yeniseisk all roads end, and the real Siberian taiga begins, where there are more animals than people.

Kansk is located in the east of the Krasnoyarsk Territory on the road to Irkutsk. The most dramatic events of the civil war on Krasnoyarsk soil took place in the city, so many died here, and the Czech writer Jaroslav Hasek only stayed late and managed to get married. In recent years, the city has been chosen as the venue for an alternative film festival - of course, Kansky: with all the accompanying, no less ironic attributes. The city behind these curiosities is less interesting than, for example, Achinsk or Minusinsk, but it has its share of old buildings, including wooden ones. Nearby is the Ilanskaya station, where all Trans-Siberian trains stop for a long time to change locomotives.

Lesosibirsk is a natural and inevitable addition to the ancient Yeniseisk. The city, which grew up around timber processing plants, has long surpassed its historical neighbor both in the number of residents and in the existing infrastructure: there are decent hotels and good city cafes, which have never existed in Yeniseisk and most likely never will. In recent years, Lesosibirsk has decided to acquire its own attractions, and although it remains a city “worth visiting if you have time,” two beautiful newly built churches are among the best monuments of this kind in Siberia, and the local museum of contemporary Christian art in Russia is almost not the only one. Not far from the city is the picturesque spit of the Yenisei and Angara.

Minusinsk is a neighbor of Abakan and the oldest city in southern Siberia. Its fate is somewhat similar to Yeniseisk: in the 19th century it was a major center of trade and in fact the capital of the endless Khakassian steppes, but then it found itself away from the railway and fell into oblivion, from which, however, it emerged with the construction of a bridge across the Yenisei and the long-awaited launch of trains. Minusinsk has a well-preserved historical center with all the attributes of a wealthy pre-revolutionary city, including, for example, a theater. No less interesting is the local museum of local lore, the collection of which is not inferior to the one in Krasnoyarsk. The road from Minusinsk leads straight to Tuva, although you can stay longer - for example, in Shushenskoye.

 

Ergaki
Igarka

Uzhur
Zheleznogorsk

 

Other sights

The Yenisei is one of the main Siberian rivers. Stretching for 3.5 thousand km from the Sayan Mountains to the Arctic Ocean, it serves as the only transport corridor in these parts, connecting the vast northern regions with the mainland. In the southern part of the Krasnoyarsk Territory, it is easy to drive up to the Yenisei by car, and north of Krasnoyarsk you can take a “cruise” along the river on a regular ship and see hard-to-reach places, almost untouched by civilization.

Ergaki is a mountain range in the Western Sayan Mountains, conveniently located in the area of the Abakan-Kyzyl highway. At altitudes of 1500-2000 m above sea level, you will encounter a variety of landscapes: taiga, alpine meadows, mountain lakes, rocky tundra and just rocks of a characteristic, unusually sharp shape - one of the calling cards of this area. The Ergaki massif belongs to natural parks; in the valley next to the road there are tourist centers and a visitor center, where tourists will be provided with all the necessary information, but otherwise these are ordinary, wild mountains, where you need to go on a hike for at least a day, taking with you provisions and taking the necessary precautions.

Krasnoyarsk Pillars is a nature reserve on the spurs of the Eastern Sayans in the vicinity of Krasnoyarsk. It is unusual for its huge rocky outcrops, which equally attract experienced rock climbers and ordinary travelers who come here to see magnificent mountain scenery just a stone's throw from a large Siberian city. The pillars are gradually being overgrown with infrastructure, a year-round chairlift has also been built for them, but the traditional (also the most correct) way to visit the pillars still involves a hike from the city, followed by a walk through the mountain taiga and, possibly, rock climbing. This is the main excursion site in the Krasnoyarsk region.

The Sayano-Shushensky Nature Reserve is located in the flood zone of the reservoir of the same name - in the place where the Yenisei crosses the Western Sayan Mountains. Although this is happening in the very south of Siberia, getting here is no easier than somewhere in Taimyr: there are harsh mountains around, and there are no roads and no roads in sight. You need to go to the reserve on a multi-day hike with a difficult entry and exit - the reward will be breathtaking rocky landscapes and the majestic Yenisei.

Shushensky Bor is a national park in the Western Sayan Mountains, a light version of the Sayano-Shushensky Nature Reserve. The flat part of the park (Perovskoye forestry) is located right on the outskirts of the village of Shushenskoye, and you can easily go there for a walk for an hour, which, by the way, was not disdained by the most famous resident of this village, V.I. Lenin. More interesting is the mountain forestry area directly adjacent to the Sayano-Shushenskaya hydroelectric power station, where you will see a reservoir surrounded by rocks and be able to conquer the Borus ridge. All this, however, requires at least a one-day hike in a completely autonomous mode, since there is no infrastructure in the park.

Shushenskoye is a village in the south of the Krasnoyarsk Territory, which has become synonymous with the wilderness, not least due to the fact that it was here that V.I., who was in Siberian exile, spent three years. Lenin. Having gotten rid of the taint of ideology, Shushenskoye has turned into a nice and unique ethnographic museum in the entire Krasnoyarsk region, where you will see a reconstruction of an old Siberian village. Along with the neighboring village of Ermakovskoye, Shushenskoye is the southernmost regional center of the Krasnoyarsk Territory. Then the route goes into the mountains and, having crossed them, leads to Tuva.

 

Putorana Plateau
Sayano-Shushensky nature reserve

 

How to get there

In addition to the obvious route to Krasnoyarsk, you can come to the south of the Krasnoyarsk Territory through Abakan, which has its own airport that receives a couple of Moscow flights. The Trans-Siberian Railway passes through Achinsk, Krasnoyarsk and Kansk. Abakan (and neighboring Minusinsk) has its own railway, which carries direct trains not only from the Trans-Siberian Railway, but also from the Kemerovo region.

There are fewer roads. The Krasnoyarsk region is connected to the rest of Russia by the only thread of the P255 highway, which in the west comes from Mariinsk (where roads from Tomsk and Kemerovo converge), and in the east it goes further to Irkutsk. All other interregional roads, if they exist at all, are considered extreme: you should not drive there without prior preparation.

 

Transport

Trips in the northern and southern parts of the Krasnoyarsk Territory differ radically. If in the south there are roads, intercity buses and even trains, and the journey is not fundamentally different from other Russian regions, then to the north of Yeniseisk and Angara year-round roads disappear, and regular transport even more so, so the journey takes on the character of an expedition that requires serious preparation.

By plane
There is a lot of local aviation in Krasnoyarsk, which is focused on hard-to-reach northern areas. In the south of the Krasnoyarsk Territory, aircraft are in little demand. A couple of times a week there are flights to Kodinsk, Boguchany and Motygino located on the Angara, as well as to the village of Severo-Yeniseisky, lost among the taiga - there are year-round roads there, but often of poor quality and broken by ferry crossings. In places where tourists usually go, there are airports in Yeniseisk and Shushenskoye, but there are no regular flights from Krasnoyarsk, and traveling by land is much more interesting.

By ship
By a large margin, the easiest and most convenient way to travel around the Krasnoyarsk Territory is the passenger ships “A. Sailors" and "V. Chkalov", plying along the Yenisei. They go from Krasnoyarsk to Dudinka and provide the opportunity to take a river cruise, although you won’t have time to explore individual cities and towns along the way, unless you stay there for a few days until the next ship (and they go once every 5 days or even less often ). Motor ships, like all other (small) passenger shipping on the Yenisei, are operated by the PassengerRechTrans company. Previously, it was difficult to buy a ticket from another city, but in 2020 tickets are sold on the website http://prt24.ru. You just need to come to the gate with a printed receipt, and that’s it, you don’t need to get a paper ticket. Departure from Krasnoyarsk is scheduled at 7 am. You can board in Krasnoyarsk in the evening, and upon boarding you can pay extra for an overnight stay in a cabin. The ship arrives in Dudinka in the evening, and you can spend the night on it only if you are sailing from Dudinka.

Cruises along the Yenisei are a ploy from travel agencies that organize an excursion program in Norilsk, and then put tourists on a regular ship to Yeniseisk itself, from where the bus tour begins. You can organize all the same things yourself and for much less money by taking a regular ticket for a ship. There are offers of cruises on a special, non-scheduled ship with an unusual excursion program, but this is a VIP-level event, and such cruises cost more than a week-long tour to the other side of the world.

There is no regular passenger shipping on the tributaries of the Yenisei, and any other has its own specifics, since even large rivers like the Lower Tunguska are navigable only during high water. The main means of transportation here are motor boats.

Land transport
In the south of the Krasnoyarsk Territory there are several asphalt roads, and this is generally sufficient for exploring the cities. There are no roads north of Podkamennaya Tunguska, except for the lonely highway connecting Norilsk with Dudinka and the airport. In the interval, i.e. approximately from the Angara to the Podkamennaya Tunguska, there are several winter roads connected to ice crossings across large rivers. Current information about this road infrastructure is available on the website of the Krasnoyarsk Road Administration.

Bridges across the Yenisei exist only in Krasnoyarsk and Divnogorsk. The only bridge across the Angara in the Krasnoyarsk Territory is in Boguchany. There are dozens of ferry crossings; their schedules are on the website of the same road administration and passenger shipping company.

The southern part of the Krasnoyarsk Territory can be explored by car: the roads (if there are any) are in decent condition, and long distances are compensated by the low congestion of the roads and the views from them. There are car rental points in Krasnoyarsk, and you can also rent a car in Abakan and go from there to the very south of the region - to Shushenskoye and Minusinsk.

 

What to do

Routes
The Sayan Ring is a tourist route passing through the cities of the Krasnoyarsk Territory, Khakassia and Tuva.

The Sayan Ring includes five main settlements - Krasnoyarsk, Divnogorsk, Abakan, the village of Shushenskoye and Kyzyl. The rest of the list (Minusinsk, Sayanogorsk, Kyzyl-Mazhalyk, Askiz, etc.) is debatable.

 

History

Prehistoric time

Man populated the territory of the modern Krasnoyarsk region in the Upper Paleolithic approximately 45 thousand years ago, as evidenced by the discovery of the Sopkarginsky mammoth on Taimyr, on whose cheekbone scientists discovered damage from a heavy spear of primitive hunters.

The oldest layers of the Afontova Gora, Kurtak 4, Kashtanka, Ust-Kova, Brazhnoye sites are dated to 28-32 thousand years ago.

The oldest late Paleolithic sites on the shore of the Derbinsky Bay of the Krasnoyarsk Reservoir are dated to the period of the Konoshchel cooling of the Karginsky time (29-30 thousand years ago). On the left bank of the Krasnoyarsk Reservoir, at the spit where the Izhul River flows into the Yenisei, in the eastern part of the Kurtak archaeological region, are the Middle Pleistocene sites of Ust-Izhul 1 and Ust-Izhul 2. A radiocarbon date of 30,010±1470 years was obtained at the Ust-Izhul 2 site. The frontal bone of a Homo sapiens from the Pokrovka II (Maly Log II) site is dated to 27,740±150 years. Over 3,000 artifacts were discovered at the Upper Paleolithic site of Sabanikha-3, which is collapsing near the Krasnoyarsk Reservoir, including two stone pendants similar to those found at the Early Upper Paleolithic site of Malaya Siya in Khakassia, and a fire in situ. At the Ust-Kova site at the mouth of the Kova River in the Kezhemsky District, a mammoth figurine and a seal sculpture made from mammoth tusk more than 20 thousand years ago were found.

The Achinskaya and Tarachikha sites date back to the period 18-24 thousand years ago. At the late Paleolithic Achinskaya site (c. 20 thousand years BC), archaeologists found an ornamented staff, which may be a lunar calendar.

The Y-chromosomal haplogroup Q1a1-F746 was determined for the AG-2 sample (16.7 thousand years BC) from the Afontova Gora II site. The mitochondrial haplogroup R1b was determined for the AG-3 sample (16,930-16,490 years BP). Based on autosomes, the samples from the Afontova Gora II, Afontova Gora III, and Mal'ta I (MA-1) sites had a common origin and were grouped together in the Mal'ta cluster. Phenotypic analysis showed that the Afontova Gora III sample carried the derivative allele rs12821256, which is associated with blond hair in Europeans, making this sample the earliest known human to carry this derivative allele.

The Listvenka site near Divnogorsk is dated to 16.5–10 thousand years ago.

The Kokorevskaya culture in the upper Yenisei River is dated to 15–10 thousand years ago. A bison shoulder blade with a spearhead embedded in it was found at the Kokorevo I site in the upper Yenisei River in Novosyolovsky District.

The sample kra001 (2295-2140 BC) from Krasnoyarsk Krai (LN/EBA) was identified to have the Y-chromosomal haplogroup N1a1a1a1-CTS6967*, ancestral to N1a1a1a1a-L392/L1026, which is basal to both the N1a1a1a1a1-L4339>N1a1a1a1a1a-VL29 line and the N1a1a1a1a2-Z1936 line. On the PCA graph, kra001 (RUS_Krasnoyarsk_BA) is located close to the Nganasans, Yukaghirs, and Evens.

The Andronovo culture (17th-9th centuries BC) was named after the Bronze Age burials near the village of Andronovo.

The Munkh-Khairkhan culture in the Idzhim River valley (Ermakovsky district) includes the Maralskoye 2 and Sayan-Pogranichnoye 6 burial grounds.

A Bronze Age settlement was discovered near Lake Pyasino near Norilsk, where primitive equipment for smelting and casting and raw materials (native copper balls) were found.

 

Early States

The first state in the territory of southern Siberia arose in the 4th-3rd centuries BC. Ancient Chinese chronicles called its creators the "Dingling" people (Chinese: 丁零), and the state - "Dingling-guo" (丁零国).

Around 201 BC, the Dingling state was defeated by the Xiongnu troops.

The Xiongnu (Chinese: 匈奴 Xiongnu) were an ancient Turkic nomadic people who inhabited the steppes north of China from 220 BC to the 2nd century AD. To protect themselves from their raids, Qin Shi Huangdi built the Great Wall. The Xiongnu waged active wars with the Chinese Han Empire, during which they consolidated into a single state that subjugated the tribes of neighboring nomads. According to a widespread opinion, part of the Huns reached Europe and, having mixed with the Ugrians, gave rise to a new people, which in Europe is known as the Huns).

According to the burial mound excavated near the village of Tes, the Tes culture (2nd century BC - 2nd century AD) was identified as a Tagar-Tashtyk transitional stage.

 

Middle Ages

After the defeat of Dingling-go by the Huns, the Turkic-speaking tribe of the Kyrgyz moved to the Minusinsk Basin.

In the 6th-7th centuries, the Kyrgyz with the subordinate taiga peoples formed a peripheral fiefdom of the Central Asian states headed by a viceroy - Elteber.

In the 8th century - a separatist region headed by its own beks and inals, claiming the khan's dignity (see Bars-Khagan).

In the 9th century - a rapidly expanding aggressive steppe empire with a deified Khagan clan.

In 840, this state destroyed the Uyghur Khaganate, spreading its power to Tuva and Mongolia. Pursuing the remnants of the Uyghurs, the Kyrgyz fought their way to the Irtysh and Amur, and invaded the oases of Eastern Turkestan. V.V. Bartold called this period of history "the Kyrgyz great power".

The Kyrgyz provided the state with the highest military and administrative leaders. They were considered to be connected both by dynasty and through marriage with the ruling houses of China and other neighboring countries.

Beginning in the middle of the 1st millennium AD, the ancestors of the Evenks appeared on the territory of Siberia. By the 13th century, the Tungus tribes settled on the Middle Lena, Vilyuy, and Olyokma. The Evenks were formed by mixing the aborigines of Eastern Siberia with the Tungus tribes who had come earlier from the Baikal and Transbaikal regions. The Glazkov culture is considered to be a proto-Tungus community.

There are grounds to consider the Uvan people of Transbaikalia, who, according to Chinese chronicles of the 5th-7th centuries, lived in the mountain taiga northeast of Barguzin and Selenga, as the Evenks' immediate ancestors. The Uvans were not aborigines of Transbaikalia, but were a group of nomadic cattle breeders who had come here from a more southern area. In the process of settling across the vast expanses of Siberia, the Tungus encountered local tribes and, ultimately, assimilated them. The peculiarities of the ethnic formation of the Tungus led to the fact that they are characterized by three anthropological types, as well as three different economic and cultural groups: reindeer herders, cattle breeders and fishermen.

In the 12th-14th centuries, the Evenks were dissected by the advance of the Yakuts to the north. The eastern Evenks formed the Even ethnic group. Before the arrival of the Russians in the 17th century, the Evenks (Tungus) lived along the Yenisei, Angara, Vilyuy, Vitim, Upper Lena, Amur (Orochens), and also on the coast of Lake Baikal.

 

As part of Russia

On July 26, 1628, when the construction of the Krasnoyarsk fort was not yet completed, the local Arinians and Kachins "came to the fort to fight in kuyaks and in armor."

Until 1629, the territory of today's Krasnoyarsk Territory was part of the Tobolsk division with its center in the city of Tobolsk. Since 1629, the Yenisei, Krasnoyarsk, and Kansk forts with adjacent lands were assigned to the Tomsk division, which was separated from the Tobolsk division.

After the reduction of the Krasnoyarsk garrison, the Kyrgyz nomads learned of this, and they began raids, including on Yeniseysk. Raids by the Kyrgyz princes on Krasnoyarsk and surrounding villages were carried out in 1630, 1634, 1636, 1640, 1665, 1667. In 1632, the decision to abolish Krasnoyarsk was cancelled.

The advance to the south was difficult. The Yenisei Kyrgyz burned the first Achinsk fort in 1675, the Abakan fort, and besieged the Krasnoyarsk, Kansk, Kuznetsk and Tomsk forts.

In 1676, the Yenisei fort received the status of a city, to which all settlements along the Yenisei and the right-bank territories extending to Transbaikalia were transferred.

1679 — a siege by the combined forces of the Yenisei Kyrgyz and Dzungars under the command of Irenek. 16 villages were burned, including the Podstolbovsky stanitsas of Bazaikha and Torgashino. The guard perimeter of signal posts and towers was destroyed. Despite their small numbers, the Cossacks made a sortie and entered the battle in the open field. In the battle, Irenek himself almost died, knocked out of the saddle. The Kyrgyz could not withstand the artillery fire, which was led by Vasily Mnogogreshny, and retreated. Under the command of Roman Starov and Ivan Grichaninov. In 1680, the detachment inflicted significant damage on the Kyrgyz. In 1692, an even stronger detachment under the command of Vasily Mnogogreshny finally defeated the Tubinsky ulus of the Kyrgyz. The defeated Kyrgyz asked to stop collecting yasak for several years. When the Russians came to Abakan for yasak in 1703, they did not find any Kyrgyz or most of the Kyshtyms - they went to Dzungaria. In the summer of 1707, about a thousand Cossacks recruited from five forts, under the command of Ilya Tsitsurin and Konon Samsonov built the Abakan fort. In 1708, Peter I carried out territorial and administrative reforms to streamline the governance of the state. The main administrative unit of the Russian Empire was the governorate, which included provinces divided into counties. According to the Decree of December 18, 1708, the entire territory of the empire was divided into eight governorates. Siberia and part of the Urals became part of the Siberian governorate with its center in Tobolsk.

In 1718, the southernmost Sayan fort was built in front of the so-called Lodzhanov rampart, the winter fortress of the last Altyn Khan.

Due to the long distances and the lack of communication routes, the management of the territories of the Siberian governorate was extremely difficult. There was a need to carry out territorial reforms. In 1719, three provinces were established as part of the Siberian Governorate: Vyatka, Solikamsk and Tobolsk, and five years later two more provinces - Irkutsk and Yenisei with the center in the city of Yeniseysk. The Yenisei Province included the following counties: Mangazeya, Yenisei, Krasnoyarsk, Tomsk, Kuznetsk, Narym and Ketsky.

In 1764, by decree of Catherine II, Siberia underwent another administrative-territorial reform: a second province was established - Irkutsk, which included the Yenisei Province. Two decades later, the Yenisei Province was liquidated, its counties were included in three provinces: Tobolsk (Yeniseisk and Achinsk), Irkutsk and Kolyvan (Krasnoyarsk).

In 1797, the entire Yenisei River basin was included in the Tobolsk Governorate (until 1804; then until 1822 they were part of the Tomsk Governorate).

In order to centralize governance, in 1803, the Siberian Governorate-General was created with its center in the city of Irkutsk, which absorbed the territories of the Tobolsk, Irkutsk and Tomsk Governorates.

In 1822, this system of territorial subordination was abolished, and in its place, the West Siberian (center - Tobolsk) and East Siberian (center - Irkutsk) Governorates-General were created.

At the same time, at the suggestion of M. M. Speransky, who was conducting an audit of the Siberian possessions, Emperor Alexander I signed a decree on the formation of the Yenisei Governorate consisting of five districts: Krasnoyarsk, Yenisei (with the Turukhansk Territory), Achinsk, Minusinsk and Kansk. The city of Krasnoyarsk was approved as the administrative center of the newly formed province.

On February 26, 1831, the Senate issued a decree "On the organization of postal administration in the Yenisei province." A provincial post office was established in Krasnoyarsk, postal expeditions were established in Yenisei and Achinsk, and post offices were opened in Kansk, Minusinsk and Turukhansk.

In the 50 years since the creation of the Yenisei province, minor changes took place in the administrative structure of the Russian Empire: in 1879, the districts were renamed into counties. The territory of the Yenisei province was not subject to changes and basically coincided with the borders of modern Krasnoyarsk Krai.

Since 1913, Yenisei Governorate has been part of the Irkutsk Governorate-General. In April 1914, Russia established a protectorate over Tuva, which became part of Yenisei Governorate under the name of Uryankhai Krai.

This administrative-territorial division remained in place until the early 1920s.

 

USSR Period

In mid-1921, Tuvan revolutionaries, supported by the Red Army of the RSFSR, decided to proclaim the national sovereignty of Tuva.

Since 1923, work began on the division of Siberia into districts, which marked the beginning of the administrative reorganization of the territory of the region. With the abolition of volosts, enlarged districts were created.

By the Resolution of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee of May 25, 1925, all provinces and regions in Siberia were abolished, their territories were merged into a single Siberian region with the center in Novosibirsk.

By the Resolution of the Presidium of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee of December 7, 1934, as a result of the disaggregation of the West Siberian and East Siberian regions, Krasnoyarsk Krai was formed (practically within the former borders of the Yenisei province).

The Achinsky, Berezovsky, Birilyussky, Bogotolsky, Ermakovsky, Karatuzsky, Kuraginsky, Minusinsky, Nazarovsky, Usinsky and Uzhursky districts, as well as the Khakass Autonomous Region consisting of 6 districts, were transferred from the West Siberian Territory to the new territory.

The Abansky, Balakhtinsky, Boguchansky, Bolshe-Murtinsky, Dzerzhinsky, Yeniseisky, Ilansky, Irbeysky, Kazachino-Yeniseisky, Kansky, Kezhemsky, Krasnoyarsky, Mansky, Nizhneingashsky, Novosyolovsky, Partizansky, Pirovsky, Rybinsky, Sukhobuzimsky, Taseevsky, Turukhansky, Uyarsky, as well as the Evenki and Taimyr National Okrugs were transferred from the East Siberian Territory to the new territory. In total, 52 districts were included in the territory. Krasnoyarsk, Achinsk, Bogotul, Yeniseisk, Kansk, and Minusinsk became cities of regional subordination.

The administrative-territorial division underwent significant changes in 1935-1936. New districts were formed: Artemovsky, Daursky (from parts of Krasnoyarsky, Balakhtinsky, and Novosyolovsky), Idrinsky, Igarsky, Kozulsky, Krasnoturansky, Udereisky, Severo-Yeniseisky, and Tyukhtetsky (from Bogotulsky), and Krasnoyarsky District was divided into Yemelyanovsky and Sovetsky Districts.

In 1937, the regional capital, the city of Krasnoyarsk, began to be divided into city districts: (Stalinsky and Kirovsky).

In 1938, the Kaganovichsky urban district of Krasnoyarsk was formed.

In 1941, the Yartsevsky district was formed.

In 1942, the Leninsky district separated from the Kirovsky urban district of Krasnoyarsk.

In 1944, Bolsheuluysky, Dolgomostovsky, and Shushensky districts were formed.

In 1947, Sharypovsky District was transferred from the Khakass Autonomous Okrug.

In the summer of 1953, the Norilsk Uprising took place — a revolt by prisoners of the Gorlag.

In 1953, the cities of Norilsk and Uzhur became cities of regional subordination.

In 1954, ZATO Krasnoyarsk-26 was formed.

In 1956, Artemovsky (included in Kuraginsky), Usinsky (included in Ermakovsky), Yartsevsky (included in Yeniseisky) districts were abolished, and Udereysky was renamed Motyginsky. ZATO Krasnoyarsk-45 was formed.

On October 23, 1956, Krasnoyarsk Krai was awarded the Order of Lenin for the development of virgin lands.

In 1957, the Kaganovichsky urban district of Krasnoyarsk was renamed Oktyabrsky.

In 1961, the Stalinsky urban district of Krasnoyarsk was renamed Central. The city of Nazarovo became a city of regional subordination.

On December 27, 1962, a decision was made to form 4 industrial and 35 rural districts in Krasnoyarsk Krai instead of 60 districts, so in 1963, the Motyginsky and Nizhneingashsky industrial districts were formed; Berezovsky (incorporated into Nazarovsky), Bolshe-Uluysky (incorporated into Achinsky), Daursky (incorporated into Balakhtinsky), Dzerzhinsky (incorporated into Kansky), Dolgomostovsky (incorporated into Abansky), Ermakovsky (incorporated into Shushensky), Kozulsky (incorporated into Achinsky), Krasnoturansky (incorporated into Kuraginsky), Mansky (incorporated into Uyarsky), Motyginsky (incorporated into Motyginsky industrial), Nizhneingashsky (incorporated into Nizhneingashsky industrial), Novosyolovsky (incorporated into Balakhtinsky), Partizansky (incorporated into Uyarsky), Sayansky (incorporated into Irbeysky), Severo-Yeniseisky (incorporated into Motyginsky industrial), Sovetsky (incorporated into Yemelyanovsky), Sukhobuzimsky (incorporated into Bolshe-Murtinsky), Tyukhtetsky (incorporated into Bogotolsky), Sharypovsky were abolished (included in Uzhursky) districts. The city of Divnogorsk received the status of a city of regional subordination in connection with the construction of the Krasnoyarsk hydroelectric power station.

In 1965, the closed administrative-territorial entity Krasnoyarsk-66 was formed.

In 1966, the Motyginsky and Nizhneingashsky industrial districts were again abolished and the Bolsheuluysky, Dzerzhinsky, Ermakovsky, Krasnoturansky, Mansky, Motyginsky, Nizhneingashsky, Novosyolovsky, Partizansky, Sayansky, Severo-Yeniseisky, Sukhobuzimsky, Tyukhtetsky, Sharypovsky districts were formed.

In 1969, the Sovietsky district separated from the Central city district of Krasnoyarsk.

On December 2, 1970, Krasnoyarsk Krai was awarded the second Order of Lenin for achievements in the field of industry, as well as for development in the field of agriculture, development of culture during the 8th Five-Year Plan (1966-1970), which turned out to be the most productive during the entire period of the region's existence.

In 1972, Kozulsky District was re-established (separated from Achinsky).

In 1975, the city of Lesosibirsk received the status of a city of regional subordination.

In 1977, Sverdlovsky District separated from Kirovsky Urban District of Krasnoyarsk.

In 1979, Zheleznodorozhny District separated from Oktyabrsky Urban District of Krasnoyarsk.

In 1981, the village councils of the Nazarovsky district, Berezovsky and Novoaltatsky, were transferred to the Sharypovsky district. The cities of Sharypovo and Borodino received the status of cities of regional subordination.

In 1983, the Berezovsky district was separated from the Yemelyanovsky district.

On December 5, 1984, Krasnoyarsk Krai was awarded the Order of the October Revolution for the great services of the workers of the region in the revolutionary movement, in the fight against the Nazi invaders in the Great Patriotic War, their contribution to the development of natural resources and the development of the productive forces of Siberia.

In 1985, the city of Sosnovoborsk received the status of a city of regional subordination.

In 1988, the center of the Kezhemsky district was moved to Kodinsk in connection with the construction of the Boguchanskaya hydroelectric power station.

In 1989, the village of Novoeniseisk was annexed to the administration of the city of Lesosibirsk.

In 1991, the Khakass Autonomous Region left the Krai and was transformed into the Republic of Khakassia.

 

Russian Federation

In 2005, Igarka became a city of district subordination (Turukhansky District). The settlement of ZATO Solnechny acquired the status of an urban district.

Since January 1, 2007, Krasnoyarsk Krai, Taimyr (Dolgano-Nenets) Autonomous Okrug, and Evenki Autonomous Okrug united into a new subject of the Russian Federation — Krasnoyarsk Krai within the borders of the three previously existing subjects; the autonomous districts became part of the Krai as Taimyr Dolgano-Nenets and Evenki Districts. Since January 1, 2007, ZATO Kedrovy was abolished.

In 2013, in Staro-Turukhansk, at the site of the Staro-Turukhansk settlement of Novaya Mangazeya, among the ruins of a traditional Russian-type residential building from the end of the 18th century, the first birch bark letter in Siberia was found, on which the Cyrillic alphabet is written from the letter i to the end. In 2016, in Yeniseisk, archaeologists during excavations in the cellar of the voivode's court from the mid-17th century discovered the second birch bark letter in the Krasnoyarsk Territory, on which, according to preliminary data, a curse was written. Near the wall of the prison, archaeologists found a jug made in Western Europe 300 years ago with an image of, possibly, the god of wine Bacchus.

On May 29, 2020, when a tank with diesel fuel was depressurized at CHPP-3 in Kayerkan (Norilsk region), one of the largest oil leaks in the history of Russia occurred - an environmental disaster that poses a threat to the ecosystem of the Arctic Ocean. By June 3, according to Rosprirodnadzor, the maximum permissible concentration of harmful substances in the water of the Ambarnaya River exceeded the norm by tens of thousands of times.

 

Physical and geographical characteristics

Geography

Krasnoyarsk Krai is located in Central and Eastern Siberia. It occupies 13.86% of the territory of Russia. It stretches almost 3000 km from north to south (located between 78° and 52° N, which makes the subject the longest administrative-territorial unit in the world from north to south), and the maximum width from west to east is 1250 km.

The region is located in the basin of the Yenisei and Ob rivers. In the north, the region is washed by the waters of two seas of the Arctic Ocean - the Kara Sea and the Laptev Sea.

 

Mineral resources

The region contains over 95% of Russia's nickel and platinum group metal reserves, over 20% of gold, significant reserves of cobalt, nepheline ores, magnesites, Iceland spar, fine quartz sands, refractory clays, graphite, antimony, titanium ore, nephrite, jadeite, brown coal and 58 more types of minerals.

The largest Russian coal reserves are concentrated in the Krasnoyarsk region. Large-scale coal mining is carried out in the Kansk-Achinsk basin, the largest Tunguska coal basin, oil and gas deposits of the Yurubchensky block, and the large Vankor oil and gas field are widely known. 25 oil and gas fields have been discovered in the region.

One of the world's largest lead deposits is Gorevskoye (42% of Russian reserves). The Abagas iron ore deposit and the Kureiskoye graphite deposit are being developed. The Maimecha-Kotuy apatite province contains 21% of Russia's apatite raw materials. The country's largest Chuktukon deposit of rare earths is promising, the Porozhynskoye manganese ore deposit, aluminum (Chadobetskaya group of bauxite deposits) and uranium ore deposits (Kuraginskoye and Karatuzskoye deposits) are ready for development, and gas and gas condensate deposits of the Vankor block have recently been discovered.

In total, more than 10 thousand deposits and ore occurrences of various minerals have been discovered in Krasnoyarsk Krai.

 

Time zone

Krasnoyarsk Krai is located in the MSK+4 time zone. The offset of the applied time relative to UTC is +7:00.

 

Climate

The climate of the Krasnoyarsk Territory ranges from sharply continental to moderately continental; strong fluctuations in air temperature are typical throughout the year. Due to the large extent of the region in the meridional direction, the climate is very heterogeneous.

There are three climatic zones in the territory of the region: arctic, subarctic and temperate. Within each of them, changes in climatic features are noticeable not only from north to south, but also from west to east. Therefore, western and eastern climatic regions are distinguished, the border of which runs along the Yenisei valley. The duration of the period with a temperature of more than +10 °C in the north of the region is less than forty days, in the south 110-120 days.

Cities: Igarka, Dudinka and Norilsk; districts: Severo-Yeniseisky, Taimyrsky Dolgano-Nenets, Turukhansky, Evenkiysky — belong to the regions of the Far North.
Cities of Yeniseisk and Lesosibirsk; districts: Boguchansky, Yeniseysky, Kezhemsky, Motyginsky — are equated to the districts of the Far North.

The northern districts of the region, where an insignificant mass of the population lives, are characterized by a continental climate with a long winter and a short, cool summer. The absolute minimum temperature in Taimyr reached -62° in Imangda, and in Evenkia it is unofficially -65° in Tembenchi, where in March 2021 the temperature dropped to -55.7°, and to -37.5° in October 2012, further south in Kerbo in January 2006 On January 20, the temperature dropped to -58.5°, which became one of the lowest temperatures for this weather station. The absolute minimum temperature in the region is almost everywhere below -50°, already in November frosts can reach -55°, and in early March -57°, -58°. In Taimyr, the period without thaw often begins in mid-late October.

The central part of the region, mainly flat, with island forest-steppes and fertile soils, is characterized by a relatively short hot summer, a long cold winter, and rapid temperature changes. In the center of the region, at the Strelka weather station, with a latitude of 59.05° and a longitude of 93°, in 1996 July reached as much as +22.5° on average July, and became one of the hottest summer months in the central part of the region. At the same time, in one of the poles of cold as the coldest points - Tembenchi, in December the average temperature can fall below -47° (2000) and in January below -48° (1979).

In the south of the region there are hot summers and moderately severe winters with little snow. Dry clean air, plenty of sunny days in summer, healing waters of springs and numerous lakes create favorable conditions for the construction of resorts, sanatoriums and recreation centers.

The warmest cities of the region are Minusinsk, Bogotol, Krasnoyarsk, Zheleznogorsk, Uyar, Achinsk and Zelenogorsk.

The average January temperature is -36 °C in the north and -18 °C in the south, in July respectively +10 °C and +20 °C. On average, 316 mm of precipitation falls per year, the main part in the summer, in the foothills of the Sayan Mountains 600-1000 mm. Snow cover is established in early November and melts by the end of March. In the mountains of the Eastern and Western Sayan Mountains, snow in some years remains all year round. Here the snow lies at an altitude of 2400-2600 m, in the Putorana Mountains - at an altitude of 1000-1300 m.

 

Hydrography

Krasnoyarsk Krai is one of the regions with good water resources. One of the largest rivers in the world, the Yenisei, flows from south to north.

Lakes
There are 323 thousand lakes with a surface area of ​​over ten hectares in Krasnoyarsk Krai. In addition, a large number of lakes appear once every few years — during intensive snowmelt.

About 86% of the lakes in the region are located beyond the Arctic Circle. The largest of them is Lake Taymyr. Its surface area is 4,560 km². Other large lakes: Khantayskoye, Pyasino, Keta, Lama.

There are about sixteen thousand lakes in the central part of the region. There are more than four thousand lakes in the south of the region.

The waters of some lakes are used for medicinal purposes. These are the lakes: Ladeinoe, Uchum, Tagarskoe, Ingol, Bolshoy Kyzykul, Plakhino-Borovoe and others.

 

Soils

Permafrost-taiga and mountain-taiga soils, as well as podzolic taiga and mountain-tundra soils predominate. In the forest-steppe parts of Krasnoyarsk Krai (Achinsko-Bogotolskaya, Krasnoyarsk, Kanskaya and Yuzhnaya forest-steppe), the soils are represented by chernozems (mainly leached and podzolized), gray forest soils. Chernozem soils are distinguished by high humus content. Permafrost predominates over most of the territory of the region, with the exception of the Minusinsk Basin, the Yenisei River Valley (except for the territories north of the mouth of the Podkamennaya Tunguska River), the Atamanovskiy and Torgashinsky ridges, as well as almost the entire southwestern part of the region, except for the highland areas.

 

Vegetation

The forest fund area of ​​Krasnoyarsk Krai is 168.1 million hectares. Forests cover 71.02% of the territory of the region. Industrial timber reserves are estimated at 14.4 billion m³, which is 18% of the total Russian timber reserves. More than half of the forests of the region are larch, about 17% are spruce and fir, 12% are Scots pine and more than 9% are Siberian cedar. The forests of the region are 88% coniferous.

The region contains 10% of Russia's timber reserves.

The development of trade relations with China after the collapse of the USSR led to changes in forestry and the environmental situation in Krasnoyarsk Krai. A study of a similar process in Primorye by the World Wildlife Fund allows us to conclude that the volume of logging is many times greater than permitted and declared. Sawmills and timber yards owned by the Chinese play a key role in the spread of illegal logging (p. 17). A ban on the export of unprocessed timber could lead to the creation of jobs and an influx of investment, the introduction of new technologies, and an improvement in the socio-economic situation.

In the Uyarsky District, the construction of furnaces for the production of charcoal using a technology banned in China was discovered (it is ecologically very dangerous, the work is carried out illegally in the Russian Federation, trees dry up near such production and people get sick due to air pollution with phenols, etc.); protests by local residents forced the work to be suspended.

 

Animal World

Of commercial importance are: sable, squirrel, arctic fox, fox, ermine, and also wild reindeer. The population of wild reindeer is estimated at 600 thousand heads. In total, 342 species of birds and 89 species of mammals live in the region.

About thirty species of commercial fish live in the rivers of the region: sturgeon, sterlet, taimen, grayling, whitefish, bream and others. About sixty species of fish live in the northern regions of the region.

Invertebrates are the most numerous part of the animal world in terms of species. Several thousand species of insects, arachnids and other invertebrates live in the region, including rare ones. Eighteen species of insects were included in the Red Book of Krasnoyarsk Krai as amended in 2012, including one mollusk and four species of insects listed in the Red Book of the Russian Federation.

Amphibians and reptiles. The fauna of amphibians and reptiles in the region is small and is represented by eleven species. Among them are two species of newts, a gray (common) toad, two species of frogs, as well as two species of lizards and four species of snakes, two of which (the common adder and the common copperhead) are poisonous. The small number of species and the high vulnerability of their populations are determined by the harsh climatic conditions in most of the territory of the region.

Birds. More than three hundred and seventy species of birds live in the territory of the region, of which several dozen species of representatives of the orders of Galliformes, Anseriformes, Charadriiformes and some other orders are of commercial importance.

Ichthyofauna. In the territory of Krasnoyarsk Krai, the ichthyofauna is represented by fifty species and subspecies of fish and lampreys belonging to thirteen families. Of these, twenty-two species of fish are of commercial importance. In addition, one species of invertebrates (long-clawed crayfish) is of commercial importance.

 

Environmental status

Large-scale industry makes the main contribution to environmental pollution. Seventeen cities in the region produce 76.6% of harmful emissions. The main emissions are produced by Norilsk, Krasnoyarsk, and Achinsk.

Up to twelve million tons of pollutants are generated in the region annually as part of industrial aerosols and gases.

By 2008, 79% of the generated mass of pollutants was captured at gas cleaning plants.

Up to three hundred and fifty million tons of waste are generated in the Krasnoyarsk region per year. The main volume of waste is generated during the extraction of minerals, which amounted to 87.7% of the total amount of waste generated in 2013. In the extraction of minerals, the main share of waste falls on the 5th hazard class (mainly overburden) - 99.99%. The second place in waste generation is occupied by the manufacturing industries (metallurgical, pulp and paper, chemical production, wood processing, etc.) - 10.8%. The third place in waste generation is occupied by enterprises producing and distributing electricity, gas and water, the volume of waste from which is 0.3% of the total amount of waste generated.

Industrial waste is stored in seventy-three storage facilities. The share of waste recycling does not exceed 26%. Housing and communal services annually produce about 1.6 million tons of solid waste. There are nine hundred and thirty-five authorized landfills in the region and only ten landfills meet regulatory requirements. More than two hundred and ninety unauthorized landfills have been registered.

Four hundred and eighty million cubic meters of liquid waste are discharged into water bodies of the region.

The National Operator for Radioactive Waste Management is building a radioactive waste storage facility (of Russian and foreign origin) in Krasnoyarsk Krai near Zheleznogorsk. This has raised concerns among specialists due to the lack of adequate attention to visitor safety issues.

Nature Reserves and Other Specially Protected Natural Areas
Seven nature reserves have been created in Krasnoyarsk Krai:
Great Arctic Nature Reserve
Putoransky Nature Reserve
Sayano-Shushensky Nature Reserve
Stolby National Park
Taimyr Nature Reserve
Tungussky Nature Reserve
Central Siberian Nature Reserve

As well as Shushensky Bor National Park and Ergaki Nature Park.

As of May 1, 2007, three federal state nature reserves and 27 regional state nature reserves have been created in the Krai. It is planned to create another 39 state nature reserves. There are 51 objects in Krasnoyarsk Krai that have the status of a natural monument of regional significance.

 

Economy

The budget in 2021 amounted to revenues +306.6 billion rubles, expenses -313.5 billion rubles, deficit ~7 billion rubles.

Type of economy and level of development
Krasnoyarsk Krai ranks first in Siberia in terms of socio-economic development (2019). It is the only region in Siberia where the standard of living is higher than in St. Petersburg. In Russia, it ranks 11th, ahead of most regions of Russia in terms of development (2019).

The economy of the region has an industrial specialization. Thanks to significant reserves of metal ores, the availability of energy resources, and heavy industry inherited from Soviet times, the region is one of the country's leaders in the production of industrial products per capita, the region accounts for 3.2% of the total volume of industrial products produced in Russia.

 

Gross regional product

The gross regional product (hereinafter GRP) in 2018 was 2.3 trillion rubles (+20% compared to the previous year). In 2007, industry (manufacturing and mining) produced 60.4% of the GRP, transport and communications — 8.1% of the GRP, trade and services — 6.7%, construction — 6.1%, agriculture — 4.9%.

 

Non-ferrous metallurgy

The region's large energy resources made it possible to create a large metallurgical complex: Krasnoyarsk Hydroelectric Power Station — Krasnoyarsk Aluminum Plant — Achinsk Alumina Refinery — Krasnoyarsk Metallurgical Plant (KrAMZ).

Krasnoyarsk Territory enterprises produce about 27% of Russian primary aluminum; Norilsk Nickel produces more than 70% of Russian copper, 80% of nickel, 75% of cobalt, and more than 90% of platinum group metals.

In 2007, the region's metallurgy (ferrous and non-ferrous) produced goods worth 399.1 billion rubles, in 2008 - 293 billion rubles with a physical production index of 102%.

Large metallurgical enterprises:
Gorevsky Mining and Processing Plant (lead-zinc ores)
Krasnoyarsk Non-Ferrous Metals Plant named after Gulidova (gold, platinum)
Norilsk Combine (copper, nickel, PGM)

Enterprises under design and construction:
Yenisei Ferroalloy Plant

 

Energy

The region's energy system is the largest in terms of installed power plant capacity in Russia - as of the end of 2020, 23 power plants with a total capacity of 18,193.8 MW were operating in the Krasnoyarsk Territory (excluding the decentralized energy supply zone), including 18 thermal power plants and 5 hydroelectric power plants. In 2019, they produced 67,420 million kWh of electricity. The specificity of the energy sector of the Krasnoyarsk Territory is the presence of the Norilsk-Taimyr energy region, isolated from the unified energy system of Russia, as well as a decentralized energy supply zone.

The following hydroelectric power plants have been built in the region:
Krasnoyarsk (20 billion kWh per year);
Boguchanskaya (18 billion kWh per year);
Kureyskaya (2.6 billion kWh per year);
Ust-Khantayskaya (2 billion kWh per year).

There are projects for the Evenkiyskaya hydroelectric power plant, Nizhneangarsk hydroelectric power plants and the Kulyumbinsky cascade of hydroelectric power plants. The construction of the Nizhnekureyskaya hydroelectric power plant has been mothballed.

The following power plants operate on coal from the Kansk-Achinsk coal basin: Berezovskaya (7 billion kWh per year), Nazarovskaya, Krasnoyarsk State District Power Plant-2 and Krasnoyarsk Thermal Power Plants (TPP-1, TPP-2, TPP-3).

 

Mechanical engineering and metalworking

Mechanical engineering ranks second in Krasnoyarsk Krai in terms of the number of jobs created.

Mechanical engineering enterprises of Krasnoyarsk Krai produce products for both civilian and defense purposes:
agricultural machinery — Nazarovsky Plant of Agricultural Engineering;
household refrigerators — Biryusa;
quarry excavators — Krastyazhmash;
overhead cranes up to 200 tons — Sibtyazhmash; On July 8, 2013, the Krasnoyarsk Regional Court declared the enterprise bankrupt
rocket and space technology — Krasnoyarsk Machine-Building Plant, JSC ISS named after Academician M.F. Reshetnev;
river vessels — Krasnoyarsk Shipyard;
radio-electronic equipment;
and others.

In 2007, the region's mechanical engineering enterprises produced products worth 27.1 billion rubles, in 2008 — worth 29.9 billion rubles.

 

Woodworking and pulp and paper industry

Krasnoyarsk Krai ranks second in Russia in terms of forest resources. The forest fund area of ​​the region is 158.7 million hectares, or 42.6% of the forest fund area of ​​the Siberian Federal District. More than 450 plant species grow on the territory of the region, including industrially valuable species. More than 50% of the forests of the region are larch, about 17% are spruce and fir, 12% are pine and more than 9% are cedar. 88% of the forests consist of coniferous species, including 30% of all cedar forests in the country.

The forest industry ranks fifth in the region in terms of the number of jobs created. About 1,500 enterprises work in logging and wood processing. The largest of them are: Lesosibirsky LDK OJSC, Novoyeniseysky LHK CJSC, Yenisei DOK LLC, Kraslesinvest JSC, Ksilotek-Sibir LLC, Priangarsky LPK LLC, ForTrade LLC, Krasfon LLC and others. They produce: fiberboard, chipboard, MDF, sawn timber, planed sawn timber, plywood, fuel briquettes and fuel pellets, moldings, and frame-panel housing kits. In 2021, the volume of shipped products from enterprises in wood processing and wood product manufacturing amounted to 48.5 billion rubles.

In terms of sawn timber production, Krasnoyarsk Krai ranks second among all subjects of the Russian Federation, and third in pellet production.

The region plans to build two pulp and paper mills.

 

Chemical industry

The chemical industry of the region produces:
gasoline and oil products - Achinsk Oil Refinery;
rubbers - Krasnoyarsk Synthetic Rubber Plant;
medicines - Kraspharma

The production of synthetic fibers has been discontinued. The work of the Federal State Unitary Enterprise "Production Association Krasnoyarsk Chemical Plant "Yenisei" has been discontinued.

 

Nuclear Industry

In the 1950s, the city of Krasnoyarsk-26 and the Mining and Chemical Plant (Zheleznogorsk), the city of Krasnoyarsk-45 and the Electrochemical Plant were built in the region.

 

Oil production industry

On August 21, 2009, the Vankor oil and gas field began commercial exploitation. The field's oil reserves exceed 260 million tons, and natural gas reserves are about 90 billion m³. The design capacity is 14 million tons of oil per year. In terms of oil and gas production, Krasnoyarsk Krai currently occupies a leading position in the Siberian Federal District.

 

Other industry

The largest financial and industrial groups operate in the region:
Basic Element (RUSAL Krasnoyarsk Aluminum Plant, Achinsk Alumina Refinery, Krasnoyarsk Pulp and Paper Mill)
Interros (Norilsk Nickel)
Evraz (Krasnokamensk and Irbinsk iron ore mines, forestry complex)
MDM Group — SUEK (coal mining, energy)
Russian Railways
Rosneft

In addition, the following enterprises are significant:
Krasnoyarsk Cement Plant
Severo-Angarsk Mining and Metallurgical Plant (magnesite ores)

 

Transport infrastructure

Krasnoyarsk Krai is a major transport distribution and transit hub of the Siberian Federal District. The transport complex of the region is represented by all types of transport, including pipelines.

Railway transport
Trans-Siberian Railway with branches "Achinsk - Lesosibirsk" and "Reshoty - Karabula"; "Achinsk - Abakan" (previously called the Achinsk-Minusinsk railway "AchMinDor");
South Siberian Railway (section "Abakan - Taishet" - "Road of Courage");
Norilsk Railway
North-Siberian Railway and Transpolar Railway are being designed on the site of the abandoned section "Igarka - Dolgy"

Automobile transport The main highways of the region:
M53 "Baikal" (Kemerovo - Krasnoyarsk - Irkutsk)
R-257 "Yenisei" (Krasnoyarsk - Kyzyl - Mongolia)
R409 "Yenisei tract" (Krasnoyarsk - Yeniseisk)
R408 "Achinsk-Uzhur-Troitskoye" (Achinsk - Troitskoye)

Water transport The Northern Sea Route and shipping on the Yenisei (Yenisei River Shipping Company) River ports:
Krasnoyarsk river port,
Lesosibirsk port,
Yenisei port,
seaport in Igarka;
seaport in Dudinka
The Ob-Yenisei Canal waterway has not been in operation since 1942.

Air transport
Air transport is well developed: twenty-six airports, including the largest international airport, Yemelyanovo in Krasnoyarsk.

Pipeline transport
The region is crossed by two lines of the Irkutsk-Anzhero-Sudzhensk oil pipeline.

Main power lines
Main power lines: "Bratskaya HPP - Krasnoyarsk HPP - Novosibirsk", "Krasnoyarsk HPP - Sayano-Shushenskaya HPP".

 

Transport companies

The largest transport companies in Krasnoyarsk Krai:
Krasnoyarsk Railway
Yenisei River Shipping Company
Vostoksibpromtrans
NordStar Airline
Pegas Fly Airline
KrasAvia Airline

The main mode of transport remains the railway. 74.3% of freight in 2008 was transported by rail. Freight turnover of transport enterprises in 2008 amounted to 71.9 billion ton-km. In 2008, transport enterprises transported 459.5 million people and 84.3 million tons of freight.

The turnover of transport enterprises in 2008 amounted to 61.2 billion rubles.

 

Communications

There are 220 communication operators in the region. In 2008, they provided services worth 28.1 billion rubles. The level of telephony was 167 landline phones per 1,000 people.

 

Construction

The intensive development of large-scale industry has made it possible to create a powerful construction sector in Krasnoyarsk Krai.

More than 70 thousand people are employed in the construction industry of the region. The composition of organizations participating in construction in the region includes about 7 thousand companies (11.5% of the total number of organizations in the region, including contracting organizations).

Largest enterprises:
Bamtonnelstroy
ZAO Firma „Kultbytstroy“
Krasnoyarsk and Achinsk cement plants
OAO Zhelezobeton
OAO Uyarzhelezobeton
OAO Krasnoyarsk ZhBI-1 Plant

In 2021, 5707 buildings (2127.7 thousand m²) were commissioned in Krasnoyarsk Krai. Of these, 5204 buildings are residential, 503 buildings are non-residential, including: industrial - 104, agricultural - 15, commercial - 76, administrative - 43, educational - 7, healthcare - 4, others - 254. The volume of work performed in the type of economic activity "Construction" in 2021 amounted to 229.6 billion rubles (116.4% of 2020).

 

Agriculture

The coat of arms of the Krasnoyarsk Territory depicts a lion with a sickle and a shovel. The sickle and shovel reflected the main occupation of the inhabitants - agriculture and mining, primarily gold.

The climate of the Minusinsk Basin is considered the best in Siberia - the best vegetables and fruits in Siberia are grown here. More than 50% of the regional agricultural production volume falls on the districts located in the central and southwestern parts of the region: Nazarovsky, Yemelyanovsky, Uzhursky, Berezovsky, Shushensky, Mansky, Balakhtinsky, Sharypovsky, Minusinsky, Krasnoturansky.

At a meeting of the Government of the Krasnoyarsk Territory, amendments were adopted to the state program of the region "Development of agriculture and regulation of markets for agricultural products, raw materials and food" for 2022-2024. In 2022, funding will amount to 8.4 billion rubles, primarily for the programs "Staffing of the Territory's Agro-Industrial Complex", "Support for Gardening and Vegetable Gardening", and "Development of Agricultural Land Reclamation". The salaries of workers in agriculture will increase by 27%. The program for the development of production and processing of agricultural products for 2022-2024 includes the construction of six dairy complexes in the Ermakovsky, Kuraginsky, Minusinsky and Krasnoturansky districts (Milk production in the region will increase by 95 thousand tons per year). In crop production - the construction of a selection and seed center in the Uzhursky district. The planned seed storage capacity will be 60 thousand tons per year. In the food and processing industry — construction in the Sharypovsky district of a plant for deep processing of wheat with a capacity of 250 thousand tons per year, for the production of gluten, lysine chloride, feed protein concentrates and biodegradable polymer.

At the same time, funds allocated to support agriculture are not always used for their intended purpose, adequately and effectively, and the ill-considered policies of district and rural administrations prevent residents from maintaining their personal farmsteads normally.

 

Crop production

In the 2022 season, it is planned to sow 1.3 million hectares with spring crops (an increase of 50 thousand hectares). Including 933 thousand hectares will be sown with grain and leguminous crops, 220 thousand hectares with industrial crops. Subsidies are in effect in the region to stimulate the production of potatoes and vegetables; it is planned to allocate 5.8 thousand hectares for potatoes, 1.2 thousand hectares for vegetable crops: compared to last year, the area under them will increase. In 2022, a record harvest of grain and leguminous crops of 3.2 million tons in bunker weight was collected, a historical record for yield - 34 c/ha. A record rapeseed harvest of 509 thousand tons was collected, the most in the country for the fourth year in a row. Farms of all categories harvested 523.5 thousand tons of potatoes (+4.1%) and 137 thousand tons of open and closed ground vegetables (-2%). The yield of potatoes is 169.6 c/ha (162.4 c/ha in 2021), open-ground vegetables 264.8 c/ha (254.2 c/ha). The bulk of potatoes and vegetables are grown in households - 79.1% and 80.4%, respectively. In 2020, the yield of grain and leguminous crops amounted to 2.971 million tons in bunker weight (2.392 million tons in 2019), with an average yield of 32.1 c/ha (3 c/ha higher than the average grain yield in Russia) from an area of ​​873.5 thousand hectares. (This year, the yield in Krasnoyarsk is 20% higher than in Stavropol, this has never happened before, and it was difficult to imagine that this was possible!). This is the best result in the entire eastern part of the country, the highest yield since 1994, when the crop area was 1.5 million hectares, and the yield was only 15 centners per hectare.

In 2022, Altai breeders created varieties of spring soft wheat - "Gonets" and "Union". New intensive varieties are recommended for cultivation in the Krasnoyarsk Territory, are more productive in comparison with standards and are resistant to diseases and pests. In 2021, the yield of Union wheat in the Krasnoyarsk Territory is 98.0 c / ha, the average yield is 53.3 c / ha.

New varieties of buckwheat are recommended for cultivation in the Krasnoyarsk Territory. In 2020, the yield of Diana buckwheat in the Krasnoyarsk Territory is 43.3 c / ha, the average yield is 23.4 c / ha. In 2021, the yield of buckwheat "Zhdanka" in the Krasnoyarsk Territory is 40.3 c/ha, the average yield is 20.3 c/ha.

The total sown area of ​​agricultural crops in the farms of the region in 2007 was 1,493 thousand hectares. The volume of grain production in 2008 was 2.155 million tons in weight after processing. The sown area of ​​grain crops increased by 2.9%. The average grain yield in the region is 22.4 c/ha. The maximum yield of grain crops in 2008 was achieved in the farms of the Uzhursky (36.7 c/ha), Nazarovsky (33.3 c/ha), Sharypovsky (29.9 c/ha) districts.

 

Livestock

The cattle population in 2007 was 412.1 thousand heads, the pig population was 363.4 thousand heads. In 2008, the cattle population continued to decline. As of January 1, 2009, it decreased in farms of all categories by 2.9% compared to the same period of the previous year, including cows - by 2.5%.

Milk production in 2008 amounted to 676.3 thousand tons. Milk yield per cow is 3866 kilograms. In 2007, 683.1 million eggs were produced.

As of July 1, 2021, the cattle population in farms of all categories was 337.5 thousand heads (4.0% less), of which cows - 130.8 thousand heads (4.0% less). The number of pigs is 526.9 thousand heads (up 1.4%), sheep and goats — 73.0 (down 7.4%), poultry — 5449.5 thousand heads (down 6.2%). In the structure of the livestock population, households accounted for 30.1% of cattle, 28.5% of pigs, 80.1% of sheep and goats (as of July 1, 2020, respectively — 31.6%, 30.6, 80.0%).

Krasnoyarsk Krai ranks 15th in Russia in milk production, with 656.0 thousand tons milked in 2020 (+2.3%). Milk yield per cow in 2020: Farms of all categories 5,353 kg (+310 kg), Agricultural organizations 6,185 kg (+371 kg), Peasant farms 5,466 kg (+868 kg), Household farms 4,189 kg (+36 kg). The average daily milk yield in 2020 in the region from a dairy cow was 16.4 liters (the Russian average is 16.9 liters, in the Siberian Federal District 13.8 liters). The number of dairy cows is 69,042 heads.

In 2019, 129.5 thousand tons of cattle and poultry were produced for slaughter (in slaughter weight), which is 3.7 percent less than the previous year. Cattle production decreased by 10.9 percent and amounted to 27.9 thousand tons, pork - by 3.7 percent (78.7 thousand tons). Poultry production increased by 8.5 percent and amounted to 20.5 thousand tons in 2019.

Milk and egg production in the region increased by 2.5 percent and 6 percent, respectively, in 2019. Milk production was 641.3 thousand tons, and eggs — 854.2 million pieces. There was an increase in milk yield per cow — from 4,796 kilograms in 2018 to 5,043 kilograms in 2019 (the average for Russia is 6,486 kg).

Breeding farms breed dairy cattle: Simmental, Red-and-White, Holstein and Black-and-White, beef cattle: Hereford and Aberdeen Angus, the Nazarovskoye breeding farm breeds pigs of the following breeds: Yorkshire, Landrace and Duroc.

 

Reindeer herding

The region had a huge reindeer population back in the Soviet period — in 1990, there were 108.1 thousand reindeer in the region. Then the population decreased to 45.5 thousand heads (2000), but then began to grow and in 2010, there were 73.1 thousand reindeer in the region. As of January 1, 2011, reindeer herding was of an exclusively economic nature, and 93.2% of the reindeer belonged to agricultural enterprises.

The Taimyr Municipal District is the center of domestic reindeer herding in the Krasnoyarsk Territory. The number of domestic reindeer in the district reaches 130 thousand. Reindeer herding is mainly concentrated in the west of the territory; in most of the eastern territories of the peninsula, this type of activity has been lost. Norilsk Nickel intends to assess the condition of pastures in the north of the Krasnoyarsk Territory in 2021 to understand the prospects for the development of domestic reindeer herding.

 

Prospects for economic development

The main medium-term prospects for the economic development of the region are associated with the plans for the development of the Lower Angara region. The Administration of the Krasnoyarsk region has developed the project "Integrated Development of the Lower Angara region". The Development Corporation of the Krasnoyarsk region has been created.

At the first stage, it is planned to build: the Boguchanskaya hydroelectric power station, the Karabula-Yarki railway, a bridge across the Angara near the village of Yarki, and reconstruct the Kansk-Aban, Boguchany-Kodinsk highways. An aluminum plant with a capacity of 600 thousand tons in the Boguchansky district, a timber processing complex with a capacity of 900 thousand tons of cellulose in the Kezhemsky district.

At the second stage: the Tagarsky metallurgical association, the Gorevsky metallurgical association, a gas processing plant in the Kezhemsky district,

construction of the Karabula-Tagara-Kodinsk-Nedokura-Ust-Ilimsk railway, a cement plant based on the Chadobetsky alumina refinery.

Total cost of the project: 354.072 billion rubles.

It is possible to include the northern regions of the region in the project for the development of the Arctic regions of China.

 

Education

Since April 1, 2010, Krasnoyarsk Krai has been participating in an experiment to teach the course "Fundamentals of Religious Cultures and Secular Ethics" (including "Fundamentals of Orthodox Culture", "Fundamentals of Islamic Culture", "Fundamentals of Buddhist Culture", "Fundamentals of Jewish Culture", "Fundamentals of World Religious Cultures", and "Fundamentals of Secular Ethics").

 

Culture

In Krasnoyarsk Krai, there are:
12 professional theaters and the Krasnoyarsk Regional Philharmonic;
124 children's music, art, choreography schools and art schools;
49 museums;
148 cinemas and film installations;
Krasnoyarsk State Circus.

Krasnoyarsk Krai ranks fourth (along with Moscow) in the number of winners at the annual Youth Delphic Games of Russia.

 

Libraries

There are 1,146 public libraries in Krasnoyarsk Krai, including 4 state and 1,142 municipal libraries. The total library stock of the libraries of the region in 2019 amounted to more than 19.5 million items. In 2019, public libraries of the region served over 1 million 354 thousand users, or 47.2% of the region's residents, which exceeds the average for Russia (31.3%) and the Siberian Federal District (28.2%). About 31.5 million documents were issued to users. 94.9% of libraries are connected to the Internet (in Russia - 81.4%, Siberian Federal District - 81.9%). Since 2015, the Krasnoyarsk Territory has been implementing the regional project to modernize libraries "Libraries of the Future". During this time, 27 libraries have been modernized within the framework of the project at the expense of the regional budget, including 26 municipal libraries (Borodino, Divnogorsk, Kansk, Krasnoyarsk, Minusinsk, Sharypovo, Dudinka, Sosnovoborsk, Zheleznogorsk, Lesosibirsk, Nazarovo), as well as the Krasnoyarsk Regional Youth Library (2 structural divisions) (data as of October 2020).

 

Theaters

The following theaters are located in the Krasnoyarsk Territory:
Krasnoyarsk Drama Theater named after A. S. Pushkin
Krasnoyarsk State Opera and Ballet Theater
Krasnoyarsk Musical Theater
Krasnoyarsk State Theater for Young Spectators
Krasnoyarsk Regional Puppet Theater
Norilsk Polar Drama Theater named after Vl. Mayakovsky
Lesosibirsk City Theater "Poisk"
Minusinsk City Drama Theater
Achinsk City Drama Theater
Kansk City Drama Theater
Zheleznogorsk Operetta Theater
Sharypovsky Drama Theater
Motyginsky District Drama Theater

 

Museums

Krasnoyarsk Territory, along with Irkutsk and Omsk Regions, is among the leaders in the number of museums in Siberia.

In 1877, Nikolai Mikhailovich Martyanov created one of the first local history museums in Siberia in Minusinsk - the Minusinsk Museum of Local History. In 1883, the Yeniseisk Museum of Local History was opened. The museum was created by L. I. Kytmanov and N. V. Skornyakov. One of the largest local history museums in Russia, the Krasnoyarsk Museum of Local History, was opened on February 12 (24), 1889.

The Shushenskoye Museum-Reserve, the only open-air museum in the Krasnoyarsk Territory, is located on the territory of the region. By the Law of the Krasnoyarsk Territory dated October 11, 2012, N-3-580, the Shushenskoye Museum-Reserve is classified as one of the most valuable cultural heritage sites of the region.

 

Sports

There are 5,299 sports facilities in the Krasnoyarsk Territory. In 2007, Krasnoyarsk athletes won 116 medals at all-Russian and international competitions. In 2007, 360 regional sports and mass events and more than 20 all-Russian and international competitions were held in the region.

 

Tourism

Since 2015, the largest network of marked hiking trails in Russia, "Krasnoyarsk Hiking", has been developed in Krasnoyarsk. The trails are more than 400 km long. Many of them start within the city limits and are now accessible to all residents and visitors of the city. The largest in terms of the number of excursion offers, tourist clubs, children's and teenage tourist camps in the Krasnoyarsk region is the Municipal Youth Autonomous Institution of the City of Krasnoyarsk "Travelers' Center", founded in 1994.

In 1978, the four-deck cruise ship "Anton Chekhov" was built in Austria. Tourist cruises began to be carried out along the Yenisei from Krasnoyarsk to Igarka, but due to, among other things, the high risk of passing through the Kazachinsky rapids, in the 21st century it was transferred to the Northern Sea Route for use on the Volga.

A large number of tourists visit Shushenskoye and the international ethnic music festival "Sayan Ring". The "Absolute Drag Battle in the Middle of Russia" also gained fame - a famous drag racing competition, where most of the country's records in this discipline were set.

Yeniseisk, one of the best district towns in Russia in the 19th century, has great tourist potential.

 

Religion

Before the October Revolution of 1917
According to the 1897 census (%):
Orthodoxy — 93.8
Old Believers — 2.1
Jews — 1.1
Catholics — 1.1
Muslims — 0.9
Lutherans — 0.3

During the Soviet period
At the beginning of 1924, 379 communities were registered in the Yenisei province:
Orthodoxy — 314
Old Believers — 15
Evangelical Christians — 12
Judaism — 11
Islam — 11
Baptism — 9
Lutheranism — 4
Catholicism — 3

After the collapse of the USSR
As of January 1, 2008, 273 religious organizations (including 5 centralized ones) of more than three dozen religious denominations were registered:
Russian Orthodox Church — 109
Evangelical Christians and Christians of the Evangelical Faith (Pentecostals) — 55
Evangelical Christians-Baptists — 29
Jehovah's Witnesses — 17
Islam — 15
Roman Catholic Church — 14
Seventh-day Adventists — 9
Judaism — 6
Lutherans — 6
Buddhism — 3
True Orthodox Church — 3
Armenian Apostolic Church — 1
Old Believers — 1
Others — 4

 

Mass Media

Newspapers and magazines
Newspaper "Krasnoyarsky Rabochy" (published since 1905)
Newspaper "Gardens of Siberia"
Newspaper "Nash Krasnoyarsky Krai" - the official publication body of regulatory legal acts of state bodies of the region
Magazine "Renome-review"
Newspaper "Krasnoyarsk region" (unites 58 territories of Krasnoyarsk Krai)

 

Television

GTRK "Krasnoyarsk" (broadcasts jointly with TV channels Russia-1 and Russia-24)
Yenisei (broadcasts jointly with OTR in digital air)
Channel Eight - Krasnoyarsk Krai (Channel Eight-Krasnoyarsk) (broadcasts jointly with Channel Eight)

 

Additional facts

The Taimyr Dolgano-Nenets and Evenki districts located on the territory of Krasnoyarsk Krai have an area of ​​879,929 km² and 763 197 km² respectively, and are the largest municipal and administrative districts in Russia in terms of territory. In the Krasnoyarsk Territory, they are administrative-territorial units with a special status, since they were originally independent subjects of the federation. Both occupy more than half of the total territory of the region, and also exceed in territory all European states (except for Denmark and Kazakhstan, which are partially located in Europe) and subjects of the European part of Russia. But their population is not very large: 31,697 and 15,733 residents respectively, which is due to their geographical location.