The Kursk region is located in the Central Chernozem region. The
Kursk Region borders the Bryansk Region in the northwest, the Orel
Region in the north, the Lipetsk Region in the northeast, the Voronezh
Region in production, and the Belgorod Region in the south. In the
south-west and west, the Kursk region has a federal price with the Sumy
region of Ukraine.
There is an interesting phenomenon in the
region — the Kursk magnetic anomaly.
Kursk is the administrative center of the
region.
Dmitriev
eleznogorsk is the second largest and most
populous city in the region, the center of the famous Kursk magnetic
anomaly.
Kurchatov
Lgov
Oboyan
Rylsk
is an ancient merchant town in the west of the region, 20 km from which
is located the majestic palace and park complex of the Maryino estate of
the early 19th century.
Sudzha
Fatezh is a city in the north-west
of the region, where the house-museum of the composer G.V. Sviridov and
a number of pre-revolutionary buildings of the XIX century. In the
north-eastern outskirts of the city there are military memorials of the
Northern face of the Kursk Bulge.
Shchigry
Tsentralno-Chernozemny Biosphere
Reserve
Zheleznogorsk
Triumphal arch and memorial complex on Victory Avenue - Kursk.
Red Square and Znamensky Cathedral in Kursk
Sanatorium Maryino in
the Rylsky district
Monument to Pushkin A.S. in Kursk
Monument
to A. Nevsky in Kursk
Monastery "Root Hermitage" in m. Svoboda
Monastery Prigorodnaya Slobidka near Rylsk
Worship cross in Rylsk
Vvedenskaya Church in the village of Kapystichi
The Kursk region is located between 50°54' and 52°26' north latitude
and 34°05' 38°31' east longitude. The extreme northern point of the
region is located in Zheleznogorsk, the southern in Belovsky, the
western - in Rylsky, the eastern in Kastorensky districts.
The
area of the region is 29.8 thousand km². The length from north to south
is 171 km, and from west to east 305 km.
The territory of the Kursk region is located on the southwestern
slopes of the Central Russian Upland. It is characterized by the
presence of ancient and modern forms of linear erosion - a dense network
of complexly branched river valleys, ravines and gullies that dissected
watershed surfaces, which determines a gently undulating, slightly hilly
flat relief. The relief has a complex character of vertical and
horizontal dissection, characterized by the presence of various
altitudinal tiers. The density of the valley-gully network in most of
the territory ranges from 0.7 to 1.3 km/km2, while that of the ravine
network varies from 0.1 to 0.4 km/km2.
The height of the surface
above sea level is mainly 175–225 m. The central part of the region is
the most elevated.
The absolute height of the territory in the
floodplains of modern rivers rarely rises above 140-170 m (in the
floodplain of the Seim River, the lowest mark is 130 m). Above the
floodplain, in the interfluves, heights of 200-220 m prevail. The
highest point is 274 m, near the village of Olkhovatka, Ponyrovsky
district. (According to another version, 288 m in the upper reaches of
the Rat River.) The general slope of the terrain goes from the northeast
to the southwest. The depth of incision of river valleys is up to 80-100
m.
There are three main watershed ridges in the region -
Dmitrovsko-Rylskaya, Fatezhsko-Lgovskaya and Timsko-Shchigrovskaya. They
intersect, forming a triangle, decreasing to the west-southwest.
Of the relief-forming processes in the region, the leading role was
played by tectonic movements of the earth's crust. In modern conditions,
the main role in the creation of relief belongs to the activity of
flowing waters that create an erosive relief. There are practically no
glacial landforms in the region.
The climate of the Kursk region is temperate continental, with
moderately cold winters and warm summers. Continentality intensifies
from west to east.
The territory of the region for a year
receives 89 kcal of solar energy per 1 cm² of surface, and taking into
account reflection - 36 kcal / cm². The duration of sunshine per year is
about 1780 hours (45% in summer and about 55% in winter). The region is
characterized by cloudy weather, the total number of cloudy days per
year is about 60%, cloudy and clear - 20% each. The development of large
clouds is facilitated by relatively high air humidity and frequent
cyclones.
The average annual air temperature in the region ranges
from +5.9°С (in the north) to +7.1°С (in the southwest). The period with
an average daily air temperature above 0°C lasts 230–245 days, with a
temperature above + 5°C - 185-200 days, above + 10°C - 140-150 days,
above + 15°C - 100-115 days. The duration of the frost-free period is
145-165 days. In summer, the average daily air temperature, as a rule,
is kept within + 20°С, in winter - from 0°С to minus 5°С. The absolute
maximum air temperature reaches + 41°C, the absolute minimum - minus
40°C.
The average duration of individual seasons of the year:
winter lasts about 125, spring - 60, summer - 115, autumn - 65 days.
The region is characterized by heterogeneity in the distribution of
precipitation. In the northwestern regions, from 550 to 640 mm of
precipitation falls annually, in the rest of the territory - from 475 to
550 mm per year. The warm period (April-October) accounts for 65-70% of
the annual precipitation.
Permanent snow cover is established in
the second decade of December, and snowmelt begins in early March,
lasting about 20 days (Kabanova et al., 1997). The height of the snow
cover ranges from 15 to 30 cm (maximum 50 cm), and the cover itself lies
on average 2-2.5 months.
The Kursk region does not have significant water resources, although
it has a dense river network (0.17 km/km2), with an annual flow of 3.38
km3. The rivers of the western and central parts of the region (79% of
the territory) belong to the Dnieper basin, and the eastern (21% of the
territory) belong to the Don basin. The number of all rivers in the
region with a length of more than 10 km is 188, and their total length
is almost 5160 km.
Within the region, most of the watercourses
are very small, there are only four rivers more than 100 km long: Seim,
Psyol, Svapa and Tuskar. The river network is better developed in the
north, east and in the center of the region, where its average density
is 0.25–0.35 km/km2, decreasing to the southwest to 0.15–0.20 km/km2.
The valleys of large rivers are usually wide and deep. The valleys
of small tributaries of the main rivers of the region resemble large
beams in their shape. They have only a floodplain, less often a low
first terrace above the floodplain, composed of loams.
The rivers
feed mainly on snowmelt water (50-55% of the annual runoff) and less on
groundwater (30-35%) and rainwater (10-20%). A feature of the regime of
the rivers is the high spring flood lasting 20-30 days, and the low
level in summer and winter. Usually the rivers of the region break up in
late March - early April. The lowest, so-called low water level occurs
in August-September.
There are 870 large and small lakes in the
region, with a total area of up to 200 km². Natural lakes in the region
are found only in the floodplains of the rivers, their largest number is
confined to the ancient, well-developed river valleys. Almost all lakes
are oxbow lakes in origin and usually have the form of narrow and
elongated strips ranging in length from several tens of meters to
several kilometers. The highest level in such lakes is observed in
spring, and the lowest level is observed at the end of summer.
Out-of-floodplain lakes in the Kursk region are very rare.
On the
territory of the region there are 785 artificial reservoirs - ponds and
small reservoirs, with a total area of 242 km² (that is, 0.8% of the
territory), on average, about 30 reservoirs per 1000 km² of the
territory. The area of the ponds is on average small - 0.002 km²), their
average depth is 0.8-2 m, the maximum is up to 3-4 m. There are four
large reservoirs in the region - Kursk, Kurchatovskoye, Starooskolskoye
and Mikhailovskoye, with a filling volume of more than 40 million m3.
There are also 147 relatively large artificial reservoirs, with a volume
of 1000-10000 thousand m3, 363 reservoirs with a size of 100-1000
thousand m3 and 275 small reservoirs with a volume of up to 100 thousand
m3. Most natural and artificial reservoirs belong to the Dnieper basin.
The elevated and complexly dissected relief of the region is determined by the Voronezh anteclise - the location of the Central Russian Upland above the uplift of the crystalline basement of the Russian Platform, where the thickness of the sedimentary cover is small. The geological basement is represented by relatively shallow Archean and Proterozoic crystalline rocks, on which the sedimentary rocks of the Devonian, Jurassic, Cretaceous, Paleogene, Neogene and Quaternary periods are based. There are manifestations of iron ores, gold and non-ferrous metals in the foundation. The rocks of the sedimentary cover are represented by various deposits of later periods, which are associated with small resources of brown coal, phosphorites, chalk, marl, tripoli, flask, sands, clays and peat.
Soils are diverse, but the main type is various chernozems (leached,
slightly leached, typical, podzolized, and others). They occupy about
2/3 of the territory. A significant part of the soil cover (1/5 of the
area) is represented by gray forest soils (dark gray, gray, light gray,
and others), which are typical of the northwestern regions. Sandy,
meadow-chernozem, bog, and some other types of soils are interspersed in
spots in the general array of chernozem and gray forest soils.
According to the mechanical composition, chernozems are classified as
heavy loamy or clayey, and gray soils are classified as light loamy and
medium loamy coarse silt varieties. Most of the land fund - 82% is used
for agricultural land (arable land, gardens, hayfields, pastures). Slope
lands are subject to planar and linear forms of erosion. Natural
vegetation has been preserved on 18% of the area.
According to natural conditions, the region is divided into the
North-Western (Svapsky), South-Western (Sudzhansky), East (Timsky) and
South-Eastern (Oskol-Donetsky) natural-geographical regions.
The
northwestern region is located north of the Seim river valley and from
the Svapa and Tuskar river valleys to the western border. Sandy-marl
deposits of the Upper Cretaceous age and loess-like loams are widespread
here; the maximum amount of precipitation falls; the largest forest
cover in the region - 13-14%. Various subtypes of gray soils are common
- from light gray to dark gray. The typical vegetation cover reflects
the features of the northern forest-steppe, alternating broad-leaved
forests with meadow steppes. The boundaries of the region are within the
Central Russian coniferous-broad-leaved and Central Russian broad-leaved
sub-provinces.
The southwestern natural-geographical region
occupies the left bank of the river. Seim and the right bank of the
river. Psyol. Here, under Quaternary loess-like loams,
sandy-argillaceous deposits of the Paleogene and Neogene occur; chalk
and marl are exposed. Most of the territory is occupied by chernozems
(75%), the rest by gray and dark gray forest soils. Forest cover about
10%; oak forests predominate, there are pine plantations. Forb-meadow
vegetation is mainly preserved only within the Central Chernozem
Reserve. The area is located within the Central Russian forest-steppe
subprovince. The eastern region is located in the central part of the
Central Russian forest-steppe subprovince. In the west, the river is
limited. Tuskar, in the south - the right bank of the river. Seim, and
in the south-eastern part and in the east its border runs along the
watershed between Tim, Ksheny and Olym on the one hand and the Oskol
basin on the other. Sands and clays, marls and writing chalk are
widespread on the territory of the region; Upper Devonian limestones and
Jurassic clays are exposed. Soils are highly eroded; leached and
podzolized chernozems predominate in the western part, while typical
chernozems prevail in the eastern part. The steppe areas in the region
are plowed up, and the forest cover (oak forests and artificial forest
belts) ranges from 7% to 1%.
The southeastern region is a
natural-geographical region bounded by the river basin. Oskol; is part
of the Central Russian forest-steppe subprovince. On the slopes of
gullies and river valleys, writing chalk, marls and sands of the
Cretaceous period are exposed here; watersheds are composed of
Quaternary loess-like loams; Sands and loams of alluvial origin are
widespread. In addition to chernozems, there are humus-calcareous soils;
soils are eroded. The vegetation is typical of the forest-steppe, but
heavily modified by man; there are many relict and rare plants; forest
cover is the lowest in the region - less than 3%.
The fauna in
all natural and geographical regions of the region reflects a typical
combination of representatives of forest and steppe faunistic forms.
There are 59 species of mammals. There are elk, roe deer, red deer, wild
boar, among predators - fox, wolf, polecat, marten. Of the typical
steppe species, rodents are characteristic - spotted ground squirrel,
hamster, mole rat, large jerboa. There are about 200 bird species in the
region, including 162 nesting ones. Among sedentary species, the great
tit, jay, great spotted woodpecker are common, among migratory species -
garden bunting, field lark, oriole.
In 1708, when Russia was divided into 8 provinces, the territory of
the modern Kursk region became part of the Kyiv province. In 1719, the
Kiev province was divided into 4 provinces: Kyiv, Belgorod, Sevskaya and
Oryol. The territory of the modern Kursk region was divided between the
Belgorod and Sevsk provinces.
In 1727, the Belgorod governorship
was created as part of the Belgorod, Sevskaya and Oryol provinces. In
1749 it was transformed into the Belgorod province.
In 1779, the
Kursk governorship was formed, consisting of 15 counties (Belgorod,
Bogatensky, Dmitrievsky, Korochansky, Kursk, Lgovsky, Novooskolsky,
Oboyansky, Putivl, Rylsky, Starooskolsky, Sudzhansky, Timsky, Fatezhsky,
Shchigrovsky). District towns were formed: Bogaty (now the village of
Bogatoye in the Ivnyansky district of the Belgorod region), Dmitriev
(from the village of Dmitrievskoye, now Dmitriev-Lgovsky), Lgov (from
the settlement of Lgov, which arose on the site of the ancient city of
Olgov, destroyed by the Tatars), Tim (from the village of Vygornoe ),
Fatezh (from the village of Fatezh), Shchigry (from the village of
Troitskoye).
In 1797, the Kursk governorate was transformed into
the Kursk province, which existed until 1928.
In 1928, the
transition to the regional, district and district administrative
division took place. On the territory of the former Voronezh, Kursk,
Oryol and Tambov provinces, the Central Black Earth Region (TsChO) was
created. On the territory of the former Kursk province, the districts
were formed: Kursk (14 districts, 527 village councils), Belgorod (14
districts, 482 village councils) and Lgovsky (11 districts, 384 village
councils). The eastern part of the province was included in the Voronezh
and Ostrogozhsk districts.
In 1929, the Starooskolsky Okrug was
created from 13 districts that were ceded from the Voronezh (8
districts), Ostrogozhsky (3 districts), Kursk (1 district) and Belgorod
(1 district) districts. In 1930, a resolution was passed on the
liquidation of the districts. The districts became directly subordinate
to the regional center.
On June 13, 1934, the Central Black Earth
Region was divided into two regions: Voronezh (as part of the former
Voronezh and Tambov provinces) and Kursk (as part of the former Kursk
and Oryol provinces). This date is considered the day of the formation
of the Kursk region.
On September 27, 1937, the region was
divided into 2 regions: Kursk and Orel (in accordance with the Decree of
the Central Executive Committee of the USSR of September 27, 1937 "On
the division of the Western and Kursk regions into Smolensk, Oryol and
Kursk regions")
During the Great Patriotic War on the territory
of the Kursk region from 1942 to 1943 there were fierce hostilities that
caused enormous material damage. The German occupation brought no less
damage. 3,000 industrial enterprises were completely destroyed, all the
rest were significantly damaged and required major repairs. Not a single
tractor remained in agriculture in the liberated regions, and the
collective farm accounted for an average of 4 horses. In railway
transport, all production facilities were destroyed without exception,
and railway tracks - more than half. The final liberation of the
territory of the Kursk region was completed on September 2, 1943.
In 1944, 5 districts were transferred from the Kursk region to the
Oryol region.
January 6, 1954 in connection with the formation of
the Belgorod and Lipetsk regions from the Kursk region was transferred:
the first - 23 districts, the second - 3 districts. 36 districts
remained in the Kursk region. As of January 1, 1960, the Kursk region
had 33 districts.
On January 1, 1964, the administrative rural
districts were enlarged: instead of 33, they became 12. On March 3,
1964, the number of districts was increased to 14. On January 12, 1965,
19 districts became part of the Kursk region. On December 30, 1966, 3
new districts were formed: Korenevsky, Khomutovsky and Cheremisinovsky.
The total number of districts became 22.
Order of Lenin (December 7, 1957) - for the successes achieved in
increasing the production and delivery of sugar beets to the state;
Order of Lenin (August 5, 1968) - for the courage and steadfastness
shown by the working people of the Kursk region in the defense of the
Motherland during the Great Patriotic War, and for the successes
achieved in the restoration and development of the national economy.
The region's economy is based on the use of two main types of natural resources: fertile agricultural land and iron ore from the Kursk magnetic anomaly mined in the Mikhailovsky quarry. In the Russian Federation, the Kursk region is distinguished by agricultural products, iron ore mining, sugar production and electricity generation (see Kursk NPP), and light industry products.
Main industries:
mining and enrichment of ore; mechanical
engineering (production of electrical products, counting machines, mill
and elevator equipment, bearings, drilling rigs, forging and pressing
equipment);
chemical and petrochemical (production of chemical
fibers, rubber products), food (sugar production),
light (knitwear,
hemp) industry; production of building materials.
As of the end of 2020, 12 power plants with a total capacity of 4,326 MW were operating in the Kursk Region, including one nuclear power plant and 11 thermal power plants. In 2019, they produced 25,046 million kWh of electricity. A feature of the region's energy sector is the sharp dominance of one power plant, the Kursk NPP, which accounts for more than 90% of all electricity generation.
Agricultural land in farms of all categories is 2146 thousand hectares, or 72% of all land in the region, arable land - 1628 thousand hectares, or 54%. Cereals, technical and fodder crops are grown in the region.
Cattle for meat and dairy, pigs, poultry are bred.
As of
January 1, 2021, the number of cattle in farms of all categories is
167.5 thousand heads, pigs 2259.2 thousand heads, sheep and goats 137.5
thousand heads, horses 6550 heads.
In 2020, 334.5 thousand tons
of milk were produced (+10.2% compared to 2019) . The region is in the
TOP-30 largest milk producers in Russia.
The Kursk region is
among the TOP-20 in the country in terms of milk yield - in agricultural
enterprises of the region, the average daily milk yield is 20.2 kg of
milk. In 2020, the average milk yield per cow is 5989 kg (+456 kg per
year), of which agricultural organizations 7326 kg (+864 kg), peasant
farms 3420 kg (+12 kg), household households 4772 kg (-3 kg).
The Kursk region is one of the leaders in terms of corn yield (in
2019 - 84.4 c/ha and sunflower (in 2019 - 31.36 c/ha, in 2020 - 29.33
c/ha).
In 2020, grain harvest amounted to 6 million 60 thousand
tons with an average yield of more than 58 centners per hectare. 1
million 400 thousand tons of corn grain were harvested, the average
yield exceeded 80 c/ha. In the modified weight in 2020, 5761.3 thousand
tons of grain and leguminous crops were harvested, the average yield is
56.1 q/ha. The harvest of oilseeds amounted to 1065.0 thousand tons
(-108.6 thousand tons by 2019), of which soybeans - 53.3%, sunflower for
grain - 36.3%, winter and spring rapeseed - 8.9%, oilseed yield 23.3
c/ha. In 2021, grain harvest amounted to 4 million tons with an average
yield of more than 45.5 centners per hectare. 1 million 400 thousand
tons of corn grain, the average yield exceeds 66 q/ha.
In 2021,
grain harvested amounted to 4 million tons with an average yield of 45.5
c/ha. Corn grain received 1 million 400 thousand tons, the average yield
is 66 centners per hectare. The yield of sugar beet is 393 kg/ha. 430
thousand hectares were sown with winter cereals and 33 thousand hectares
with winter rapeseed.
For cultivation in the Kursk region, the
Triada spring durum wheat variety is recommended, in 2019 it showed a
yield of 89.4 centners per hectare, an average yield of 65.2 centners /
ha
The Kursk region is characterized by a developed transport
infrastructure. As of 2015, there are 10.7 thousand kilometers of
hard-surface public roads in the region[46]. Highways M2, M3, A144,
A142, P189 P190, P199, P200 Kursk-Sumy run within the region. All
districts and cities of the region are connected with the regional
center by paved roads.
Road transport in the structure of freight
traffic accounts for 13.9%, in the structure of passenger traffic -
66.7%. 97% of passenger transportation by public transport is carried
out by buses and urban electric transport (trams and trolleybuses).
Railway transport
As of 2010, the operational length of the
railway lines of the Kursk region is 850.6 km, 84.14 km of sidings. The
length of electrified lines is 299.4 km.
The Moscow-Sevastopol,
Kiev-Voronezh and other railway lines pass through the territory of the
region, there are three major railway junctions: Kursk, Lgov, Kastornoye
and 65 railway stations. In terms of the density of railways, the Kursk
region occupies one of the first places in Russia.
The main purposes of trips to the region are business, religious
(pilgrimage), event, health-improving, cultural and educational tourism.
According to statistics, the largest share in the structure of the
total inbound tourist flow of the Kursk region falls on business tourism
(33%) and medical and health tourism (20%). The vast majority of
tourists (70.6%) visit the Kursk region for 1-3 days, a smaller part -
for 15 or more days (24.7%).
The most popular among the guests
and residents of the region is the tourist-excursion route "The Fiery
Heights of the Great Victory" (along the northern face of the Kursk
Bulge), 185 km long. There are more than 30 objects of tourist display
on the route: military-historical objects, museums, monuments dedicated
to the Battle of Kursk, located on the territory of Ponyrovsky,
Zolotukhinsky, Fatezhsky districts.
The brands of the Kursk
region are “The Nightingale Territory of Russia” and “1000 Years of
Russian History and Culture”.
On the territory of the region
there are a large number of objects of tourist display.
The Kursk region is one of the regions in which the subject of the Fundamentals of Orthodox Culture (OPC) was introduced as a regional component of education. Teaching in schools has been going on since 1996.
As of October 8, 2019, 1649 non-profit organizations of various organizational and legal forms were registered in the Kursk region. A register of socially oriented non-profit organizations receiving support is posted on the website of the Kursk Region Administration.