The Orenburg region is a subject of the Russian Federation. It is
part of the Volga Federal District and is part of the Ural Economic
Region.
It was formed on December 7, 1934 by Decree of the
Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR by separating it from the
Middle Volga region. In the period from 1938 to 1957 it was called the
Chkalov region.
Historically, the region was preceded by the
Orenburg province, formed by decree of Empress Elizabeth Petrovna in
1744.
The administrative center is the city of Orenburg.
Buzuluksky Bor National Park
Reserve "Orenburg"
Camel
Mountain
Salt Lake Razval
By plane
Airports are located in two cities in the region:
Orenburg Airport (IATA:REN) accepts flights from Moscow and Orsk.
Orsk Airport (IATA:OSW) serves flights from Moscow and St. Petersburg.
By train
From Moscow from the Kazan station on trains traveling to
populated areas of the region or on transit trains heading to Bishkek
and Tashkent.
The area of the Orenburg region is 123,702 km², according to this
indicator it ranks 29th in Russia. The region is located in the
southwest of the country, in the center of Eurasia, at the junction of
its two parts of the world - Europe and Asia. The region's territory
covers the southeastern edge of the East European Plain, the southern
tip of the Urals and the southern Trans-Urals. The length of the region
from west to east is 760 km, from north to south - 445 km.
The
total length of the borders is 3,700 km. In the west, the Orenburg
region borders with the Samara region, in the north-west - with
Tatarstan, in the north - with Bashkortostan (the northern border from
the Ik River to the Ural River goes around Bashkortostan), in the
north-east the region borders with the Chelyabinsk region, and in the
east and south - with Kazakhstan. It borders the Saratov region at one
point, which is located on the state border with Kazakhstan - the
junction of the borders of the Orenburg, Samara and Saratov regions. The
border with Kazakhstan is 1870 km, and it falls on three regions of
Kazakhstan: Kostanay, Aktobe and West Kazakhstan. One of the largest and
most beautiful rivers in the European part of Russia, the Ural, flows
through the region. The “isthmus” of the region between its central and
eastern parts in the most elevated low-mountain-high-plain part of the
Orenburg region in the middle part of the Ural river basin and its main
tributary, the Sakmara, is occupied by the Kuvandyk region.
The climate of the Orenburg region is characterized by sharp continentality, which is explained by the significant remoteness of the region from the oceans and seas. An indicator of the continental climate is the large amplitude of fluctuations in average air temperatures, which in the Orenburg region reaches 34-38 degrees Celsius. In this regard, there is insufficient atmospheric precipitation, the annual amount of which ranges from 450 mm in the northwest to 350 mm in the south and southeast of the region. About 60-70% of the annual precipitation occurs during the warm period. The duration of snow cover ranges from 135 days in the south to 154 days in the north of the region. The depth of soil freezing varies from 170 cm in the northwest to 200 cm in the east.
The modern relief was formed as a result of long-term erosion of the
Ural Mountains and pre-Ural Syrt plains, as well as as a result of
recent tectonic transformations. The highest point is Mount Nakas (667.6
m) on the Small Nakas ridge. The lowest point is near the Chagan River
(27 m) near the village of Tyoploye, Pervomaisky district. The following
large structures are distinguished in the relief: the plains of the
Urals, the Ural Mountains, the Trans-Ural peneplain, the plains of the
Turgai table country. Almost the entire western part of the region
belongs to the General Syrt. The highest point is Mount Bear's forehead
(405 meters). In the north it is adjacent to the Bugulma-Belebeevskaya
Upland, in the south - the Caspian depression. The Pre-Ural Syrt is
located south of the Urals. To the east of the Bolshoi Ik and Burlya
rivers, the Ural mountainous country begins. Between the Sakmara and
Ural rivers there is a mountainous plain called the Sarin Plateau. Along
the Sakmara River and its tributaries, areas of mountainous relief can
be traced: the Shaitan-Tau ridge, the Zyanchurinsky ridges, the Sakmara
small hills, and along the Ural River the Guberlinsky Mountains. In the
upper reaches of the Urals there is the Irendyk ridge. In the east of
the region is the Ural-Tobolsk plateau.
The Orenburg region
presents landscapes of the forest-steppe zone of Russia, the steppes of
the Volga region and Turgai, the wooded low mountains of the Southern
Urals, and the pine-birch forest-steppe of Western Siberia.
The region's land fund is 12,370.2 thousand hectares. Distribution of
land fund by land (thousand hectares): agricultural land - 10840.5, land
under surface water - 112.5, swamps - 14.9, land under forests and trees
and shrubs - 799.8, other land - 602 ,5. Half of the region's territory
is occupied by arable land, 38% by forage lands, 5% by forests, and 7%
by other lands.
Soils are characterized by latitudinal zoning.
From meadow steppes to desert ones, soil types and subtypes successively
change: typical, ordinary and southern chernozems, dark chestnut,
chestnut and light chestnut soils.
In the structure of arable
land in the region, chernozems occupy 79%, the subtype of dark chestnut
soils - 16%, gray forest soils - 4% of the area. Among chernozems, the
largest area is occupied by southern chernozems - 44%, ordinary - 26%,
typical and leached - 9%. In the subzones of southern and ordinary
chernozems, 14 and 7% of the area are occupied by solonetzes,
respectively. In the subzone of dark chestnut soils, the area of
solonetzes is 36%. The issue of preserving soil cover from water and
wind erosion and increasing agricultural productivity is an urgent
issue. At the same time, the creation of protective forest plantations
has sharply decreased.
The surface waters of the region form the river systems of the basins
of the Urals (63% of the territory), Volga (31%), Tobol (2%) and the
drainage zone of the Svetlinsky lakes in the east of the region. The
most significant rivers are the Ural, with a length of 2428 km (of which
1164 km are within the region), Sakmara (798 km), Ilek (623 km), Samara
(594 km).
Lake Shalkar-Ega-Kara is the largest natural reservoir
with an area of 9600 hectares and a coastline length of 96 km. Lake
Zhetykol has an area of more than 5000 hectares. Oxbow lakes in the
floodplains of large rivers have become widespread. An integral part of
the region’s water resources and its water management are artificial
reservoirs. In terms of water reserves, the largest artificial
reservoirs are: Iriklinskoye (3257 million m³), Krasnochabanskoye (54.6
million m³), Chernovskoye (52.7 million m³), Kumakskoye (48.0 million
m³), Elshanskoye (23.6 million m³) and Ushkottinskoe (10.0 million m³)
reservoir.
On the territory of the region there are three specially protected natural areas of federal significance: the Orenburg Nature Reserve, the Shaitan-Tau Nature Reserve and the Buzuluksky Bor National Park. The federal state budgetary institution “United Directorate of State Nature Reserves “Orenburg” and “Shaitan-Tau” (abbreviated as FSBI “Reserves of the Orenburg Region”) manages the state nature reserves “Orenburg” and “Shaitan-Tau”.
The Orenburg region is located in the MSC+2 time zone. The applied time offset relative to UTC is +5:00.
The oldest traces of human habitation on the territory of the modern
Orenburg region date back to the Upper Paleolithic era: the sites of
Labazy I and Labazy II in the lower reaches of the Buzuluk River in the
north of the Kurmanaevsky region, the Idelbaevskaya site in the
Mednogorsk region, the location of flint tools on the outskirts of the
village of Novouzeli and in a ravine near the village of
Internatsionalny in Matveevsky district, “Donguz plate” with an image of
a deer on the Ilek plateau. The Starotokskaya site near the village of
Ivanovka in the Krasnogvardeysky district belongs to the Mesolithic. The
Staroyelshanskaya and Ivanovo sites date back to the Neolithic era. By
the second half of the 5th - beginning of the 4th millennium BC. e.
include monuments of the Khvalynsk-Berezhnovskaya cultural group
(Turganikskaya, Ivanovskaya sites, Ivanovo dune burial ground). The
settlements of sedentary pastoralists of the Srubna and Alakul
archaeological cultures and metallurgists in the Kargaly mines date back
to the Bronze Age.
In the XVII-XVI centuries BC. e. In the
Trans-Urals, a whole network of fortified settlements with mound
necropolises of the Sintashta type was created. The Sarmatian culture
includes mounds near the village of Prokhorovka, Sharlyk district. The
anthropomorphic “stone women” sculptures left on the territory of the
Orenburg region by Turkic-speaking nomads in the 9th-12th centuries date
back to the Middle Ages.
Since the 30s of the 18th century, after
the decision was made on the voluntary entry into the Russian state of
the Bashkir and Kazakh tribes, the territory of modern Orenburg began to
be actively developed by settlers from the central provinces of Russia.
On August 15, 1735, the first Orenburg fortress was solemnly founded
“with cannon fire” near the mouth of the Or River (from which Orenburg
received its name). The city of Orsk is now located on this site. Over
the next few years, Orenburg was moved several times until it was
founded on its current location in 1743. Orenburg became the
administrative center of the Orenburg province, established by a
personal decree of Empress Anna Ioannovna in 1744. At the origins of the
founding of the province stood famous statesmen and researchers of that
era - V.N. Tatishchev, I.K. Kirilov, P.I. Rychkov and I.I. Neplyuev, who
became the first Orenburg governor. The province united in its
composition part of the modern territories of Kazakhstan, Bashkortostan,
Tatarstan, Chelyabinsk and Samara regions. Its southern border ran along
the shores of the Caspian and Aral seas.
On August 26, 1920, the
Soviet government (the All-Russian Central Executive Committee and the
Council of People's Commissars of the RSFSR) issued a decree “On the
formation of the Kyrgyz Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic” as part of
the RSFSR and established that the governing bodies of the KirASSR are
local Councils of Deputies, the Central Executive Committee and the
Council of People's Commissars, and the Kyrgyz Republic was established
to manage the military apparatus Military Commissariat. On October 4,
1920, the Founding Congress of Soviets of the Kirghiz Autonomous Soviet
Socialist Republic took place in Orenburg. In 1920, from the Ural,
Turgai and Semipalatinsk regions, the northern part of the Transcaspian
region, the Bukeevskaya province and the southern part of the Orenburg
province with the city of Orenburg, a new autonomy was formed within the
RSFSR - the Kirghiz ASSR (from April 1925 year - Kazak Autonomous Soviet
Socialist Republic). In February 1925, the capital of the Cossack
Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic was moved from Orenburg to
Ak-Mechet, and the Orenburg province was removed from the Cossack
Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic and transferred to the direct
subordination of the RSFSR.
By decree of the All-Russian Central
Executive Committee of May 14, 1928, as a result of the unification of
the abolished Orenburg, as well as Samara, Ulyanovsk, Penza and part of
the Saratov provinces, the Middle Volga region was formed with the
administrative center in Samara. At the same time, the Orenburg district
was formed, which included the former Orenburg and Orsk districts.
Since October 20, 1929, the Orenburg District was part of the Middle
Volga Region.
On July 30, 1930, the Orenburg district, along with
others, was abolished, and its districts were directly subordinated to
the Middle Volga region.
On December 7, 1934, the Presidium of
the All-Russian Central Executive Committee adopted a resolution on the
formation of the Orenburg region by separating it from the Middle Volga
region. At the same time, the composition of the organizing committee
for the elections of the Council of Deputies of the Orenburg Region was
approved, the chairman of which was appointed K. E. Vasiliev. By a
decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR dated December
26, 1938, the region was renamed the Chkalov region (the city of
Orenburg was renamed the city of Chkalov by the same decree). The region
was called Chkalovskaya until December 4, 1957.
The leading sectors of the economy are the fuel industry, ferrous and
non-ferrous metallurgy, chemical, petrochemical and food industries. The
Orenburg gas condensate field, the largest in Russia, is located in the
Orenburg region. Oil is being extracted in the Cis-Ural region, iron
(Khalilovskoye deposit), copper (Gaiskoye deposit) and nickel ores,
asbestos (Kiembayevskoye deposit), rock salt (Iletskoye deposit). The
largest enterprises in the region are the production associations
Orenburgneft, Gazprom Dobycha Orenburg, Orsknefteorgsintez, Orenburg
Minerals, joint-stock companies Ural Steel (Novotroitsk), Yuzhuralnickel
(Orsk), Orsk Light Metal Structures Plant, Mednogorsk Copper sulfur
plant, Gaisky mining and processing plant.
Agriculture in the
field of grain and livestock production. The products of the Orenburg
Down Shawl Factory are widely known throughout the world. Resort
destinations include Salt Lake in Sol-Iletsk and Balneotherapeutic Mud
Resort in Gay, etc.
Industry employs 25% of the economically active population and produces 55% of the gross regional product.
The region ranks fourth in the list of oil-producing regions of
Russia. The share of production in the country is 4.5% (2011). The fuel
industry is the leading industry in the Orenburg region. About 60% of
oil is produced in the Kurmanaevsky, Pervomaisky, and Sorochinsky
districts.
192 oil and gas fields have been discovered in the
territory. Seismic exploration has prepared 165 structures for deep
exploratory drilling with total promising oil resources of 222 million
tons, free gas - 646 billion m³, condensate - 81 million tons. 524
structures with potential for oil and gas have been identified.
On the southeastern outskirts of Buguruslan, a memorial sign was erected
in honor of the labor feat of Orenburg oil workers. At this place, in a
settlement behind the Tarhanka River, at the end of Pionerskaya Street,
on July 26, 1937, well No. 1 produced the first commercial oil in the
Orenburg region.
The first oil wells appeared in the Orenburg
region in the mid-thirties in the area of the city of Buguruslan.
In the post-war years, new oil and gas fields and deposits were
discovered, including the Sultangulovsko-Zaglyadinsky,
Tarkhansko-Tverdilovsky, Ashirovsky, Efremo-Zykovsky, Mogutovsky,
Pilyuginsky and other areas. Currently, oil and gas exploration is
carried out in the region over a vast territory covering Buguruslansky,
Abdulinsky, Buzuluksky, Sharlyksky, Oktyabrsky, Pervomaisky,
Sorochinsky, Novosergievsky, Orenburg and other areas.
The
Orenburg gas condensate field is located near Orenburg (Volga-Ural oil
and gas province). Opened in 1966. Deposits at a depth of 1.5-2.3 km.
Initial reserves are 1780 billion m³. Methane gas. Condensate content 76
g/m³.
Agricultural, transport engineering and machine tool manufacturing
are developed. The main industry is heavy industry. The share of
mechanical engineering products in industrial production is about 8.3%.
There are more than 70 large machine-building enterprises in the
region, the main ones among which are OJSC MK ORMETO-YUMZ, Orsk
Machine-Building Plant, Uralelectro, PA Strela, Orenburg Radiator, OJSC
Buguruslan Radiator Plant, Buzuluktyazhmash, Construction Machinery and
Non-Standard Plant equipment.
About 30% of the region's industrial output comes from metallurgy.
Ferrous and non-ferrous metallurgy enterprises are city-forming
enterprises. Steel from the Orsko-Khalilovsky Metallurgical Plant is
used in the construction of gas pipelines, bridges, electric motors and
cars, and agricultural machinery.
The main enterprise of ferrous
metallurgy is OJSC Ural Steel; large enterprises also include:
LLC "Ural Scrap Metal Company"
LLC "Yuzhnouralsk Mining Processing
Company"
LLC "Orenburg Vtorchermet"
Non-ferrous metallurgy
enterprises account for about 8% of the region's industrial production
volumes. There are 8 non-ferrous industry enterprises in the region:
Yuzhuralnickel, Gai Mining and Processing Plant, Mednogorsk
Copper-Sulfur Plant, Gai Non-Ferrous Metals Processing Plant,
Yuzhnouralsk Cryolite Plant, Ormet, Orenburg Mining and Metallurgical
Company and Buruktal Nickel Plant, Orsk Metal Structures Plant.
As of 2020, in the Orenburg region, more than 770 thousand people
(39.3% of the population) live in rural areas.
Chernozems occupy
79% of arable land in the Orenburg region (in the chernozem zone there
are 12% solonetzes), and dark chestnut soils occupy 16%, where the area
of solonetzes is 36%. The issue of preserving soil cover from water and
wind erosion and increasing agricultural productivity is an urgent
issue. Therefore, the modern farming system, the so-called, is important
for the Orenburg region. no-till system, also known as No-Till.
The highest effect on reclamation of solonetzic soils is achieved by
combining gypsum with the application of organic and mineral
fertilizers, cultivating phytomeliorative crops (clover), and carrying
out measures to accumulate moisture. The efficiency of gypsum increases
sharply when the gypsum is finely ground.
Mainly grain crops are
grown, as well as sunflowers and fodder crops; potatoes and vegetables.
There is meat and dairy cattle breeding and poultry farming. Downy goats
and pigs are bred.
About 40% of the total melon harvest in Russia is provided by the
Orenburg region.
The Orenburg region is one of six Russian
regions that provide 80% of the gross durum wheat harvest (Altai
Territory, Chelyabinsk, Omsk, Saratov, Samara and Volgograd regions are
also on the list). In 2022, it is planned to sow 308.1 thousand hectares
of durum wheat. In 2021, the sown area amounted to 305.6 thousand
hectares (with an average yield of 6.6 c/ha). In 2020 - 263.9 thousand
hectares (10.4 c/ha). Durum wheat grown in the eastern zone of the
region has increased quality indicators.
In 2022, the plantings
of vegetable crops, potatoes and alternative crops have been increased.
Thus, flax, safflower, sorghum, and mustard were sown on 224.9 thousand
hectares (110 thousand hectares in 2021). The potato planting area was
increased to 1339.4 hectares (+180.5 hectares).
In 2021, the
gross harvest of grains and legumes (including corn for grain) amounted
to 1 million 571.3 thousand tons, with an average yield of 8.1 c/ha.
Without corn, the harvest was 1 million 499.1 thousand tons, the average
yield was 7.9 c/ha. 784.4 thousand tons of winter crops were threshed
with an average yield of 12 c/ha, and spring grains - 714.7 thousand
tons with an average yield of 5.7 c/ha. Sunflower was harvested from an
area of 797.5 thousand hectares, the threshing amounted to 735.1
thousand tons with a yield of 9.2 c/ha.
One of the main
directions for increasing grain production in the region is to expand
the area sown with winter crops. In 2020, out of 3.6 million tons of
threshed grain, more than 2 million are winter bread. The area of winter
crops in 2020 increased by more than 100 thousand hectares and reached
800 thousand hectares, and for the 2021 harvest it is planned to
increase to 904.8 thousand hectares. The spring sowing area remains at
3.232 million hectares.
In 2020, the gross harvest of grains and
legumes amounted to 3,702.0 thousand tons (1,975.8 thousand tons in
2019). The average yield is 14.2 c/ha. Of these, winter crops - 2034.7
thousand tons with an average yield of 27.9 c/ha. The harvesting area
for grains and leguminous crops is 2646.5 thousand hectares, including
winter grain crops - 728.4 thousand hectares, spring grain crops and
leguminous crops - 1918.1 thousand hectares.
The gross harvest of
corn for grain amounted to 105.6 thousand tons, with an average yield of
21.2 c/ha.
As of July 1, 2020, farms of all categories in the region had 561.3
thousand heads of cattle, including 290.3 thousand heads on farms of
agricultural producers. There were 239.2 thousand heads of cows in farms
of all categories in the region, including 116.7 thousand heads in farms
of agricultural producers. The number of pigs amounted to 282 thousand
heads, sheep and goats 332 thousand heads.
The average milk yield
per dairy cow for 2020 in the region was 3953 kg (+233 kg 6.3%) (the
Russian average milk yield is 6486 kg per year). The productivity of
cows in the farms of Krasnogvardeisky (8128 kg), Severny (7065 kg),
Asekeevsky (4766 kg), Tashlinsky (4727 kg), Buguruslansky (4366 kg),
Ponomarevsky (4332 kg), Ileksky (4159 kg), Oktyabrsky is higher than the
regional average. (4085 kg) and Akbulak (4066 kg) regions.
The transport potential of the region includes railway, road, air and
pipeline transport enterprises.
Railway transport
Two branches
of Russian Railways OJSC are successfully operating in the Orenburg
region: the Orenburg branch of the South Ural Railway and the Samara
branch of the Kuibyshev Railway. The operational length of the South
Ural Railway tracks is 1,643.3 km, including electrified lines - 511.7
km, and the operational length of the Kuibyshev Railway tracks is 115
km.
Also located in the Orenburg region is the enterprise OJSC
Orenburg Track Repair Plant "Remputmash", which is part of the RPM
Group, which carries out major repairs, modernization of track machines,
manufacturing of mechanical engineering products and spare parts and
production of a wide range of spare parts for track machines.
Automobile transport
The Orenburg region ranks fourth in the Volga
Federal District in terms of road length and seventh in Russia. As of
01/01/2020, the total length of highways in the Orenburg region is
26,529.11 km, of which:
federal roads - 1263.51 kilometers are
100% asphalt concrete paved;
regional and intermunicipal roads -
11,897 kilometers, of which 41% are asphalt concrete, 56% are gravel and
3% are dirt.
The geographic location of the region determines its
natural competitive advantage for the development of transport
infrastructure. The Orenburg region has historically connected the
European part of Russia with the countries of Central and Southeast Asia
and currently provides transit of freight and passenger flows in the
“Central-Central Asia” and “West-East” directions. In 2007, a protocol
of interaction on the construction of the Western Europe - Western China
transport corridor was signed in Orenburg. It is assumed that the
transportation of goods will be carried out along the route: China -
Kazakhstan - Russia - Ukraine with further distribution of goods to
Poland, Germany, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Slovakia and subsequent
transit to Italy and Portugal.
Aviation transport
Air
transport in the Orenburg region is represented by the airline OJSC
Orenburg Airlines, the state unitary enterprise (SUE) Orenburg
International Airport and the state unitary enterprise (SUE) Orsk
Airport. Orenburg International Airport (Central named after Yu. A.
Gagarin) is not only the largest air terminal complex designed for
receiving and maintaining aircraft, but also a center for intraregional
air transportation with an aircraft fleet that includes AN-2, TU
aircraft -154M and helicopters. The airport serves sectors of the
regional economy: performs aeronautical chemical work in agriculture;
carries out search and rescue operations, and performs air ambulance
flights. In order to ensure the development of the airport network, the
reception of modern aircraft and compliance with modern passenger
service requirements, and increasing the level of safety of air
transportation, measures for the reconstruction of the airports of
Orenburg and Orsk are included in the federal target program
“Development of the transport system of Russia (2010-2015)”.
Pipeline transport
The gas and oil pipeline systems of the Orenburg
region are complex structures consisting of multi-line pipeline
corridors, receiving and launching units, surface, underwater, beam
crossings through roads and railways. The following pipelines have been
laid in the region:
“Orenburg is the western border of Russia.”
The gas pipeline stretches 2,750 km from the southern foothills of the
Urals through the Kazakh and southern Russian steppes, across all of
Ukraine, the Carpathians - to the borders of the Czech Republic and
Slovakia.
"Bukhara - Ural" with a branch to Orsk. The Orenburg
section of the Bukhara-Ural gas pipeline is about 400 kilometers long
and is served by the Dombarovsk Linear Gas Pipeline Production
Department of Orenburggazprom LLC.
Also, about 5 thousand kilometers
of process pipelines are serviced by the Directorate for Operation of
Connecting Pipelines of Gazprom Dobycha Orenburg LLC. Another largest
organization, which owns more than 9,680 km of various underground
pipelines (oil, gas, condensate, process water), is OJSC Orenburgneft.
Two supply oil pipelines pass through the territory of the Orenburg
region, through which oil is supplied to OJSC Orsknefteorgsintez,
including: Emba - Orsk and Ishimbay - Orsk.