Murmansk Oblast

Murmansk Oblast
Мурманская область (Russian)
—  Oblast  —
Flag Coat of arms
Coordinates: 68°02′N 34°34′E / 68.033°N 34.567°E / 68.033; 34.567Coordinates: 68°02′N 34°34′E / 68.033°N 34.567°E / 68.033; 34.567
Political status
Country	Russia
Federal district	Northwestern[1]
Economic region	Northern[2]
Established	May 28, 1938[3]
Oblast Day	May 28[4]
Administrative center	Murmansk
Government (as of March 2010)
- Governor[5]	Dmitry Dmitriyenko[6]
- Legislature	Oblast Duma[7]
Statistics
Area (as of the 2002 Census)[8]
- Total	144,900 km2 (55,946.2 sq mi)
Area rank	26th
Population (2010 Census)[9]
- Total	796,117
- Rank	62nd
- Density	5.49 /km2 (14.2 /sq mi)
- Urban	92.8%
- Rural	7.2%
Population (2002 Census)[10]
- Total	892,534
- Rank	61st
- Density	6.16 /km2 (16.0 /sq mi)
- Urban	92.2%
- Rural	7.8%
Time zone(s)	MSD (UTC+04:00)[11]
ISO 3166-2	RU-MUR
License plates	51
Official languages	Russian[12]
http://www.gov-murman.ru/

Murmansk Oblast (Russian: Му́рманская о́бласть, Murmanskaya oblast) is a federal subject of Russia (an oblast), located in the northwestern part of Russia. Its administrative center is the city of Murmansk.

Geography

Main article: Kola Peninsula

Geographically it is located mainly on the Kola Peninsula, and it is a part of the larger Lapland region that spans over four countries. Murmansk Oblast borders Karelia, Finnmark County in Norway and Lapland Province in Finland. Norrbotten County in Sweden is also located nearby (300 km).

History

The oblast was established on May 28, 1938 from Murmansk Okrug of Leningrad Oblast (comprising the city of Murmansk, Kirovsky, Kolsky, Lovozersky, Polyarny, Saamsky, Teribersky, and Tersky Districts) and Kandalakshsky District of the Karelian ASSR.^[3]

Administrative divisions

Main article: Administrative divisions of Murmansk Oblast

Demographics

The indigenous people of the area, the Saami, are only a tiny minority today. As of the 2002 Census, 92.2% of the oblast's population live in urban areas.^[13] The most populous city is the Oblast's administrative center, Murmansk, with 336,137 inhabitants.^[13] Other large cities and towns include Severomorsk, Apatity, Kandalaksha, Monchegorsk, and Kirovsk.

The Polar Alpine Botanical Garden (Полярно-альпийский ботанический сад-институт) in Kirovsk

According to the (2002 Census), the ethnic composition of the oblast was as follows:

• Russians: 85.2%
• Ukrainians: 6.4%
• Belarusians: 2.3%
• Tatars: 0.9%
• Azeris: 0.5%
• Chuvash: 0.3%
• Mordvins: 0.3%
• Karelians: 0.3%
• Komi: 0.2%
• Moldavians: 0.2%
• Armenians: 0.2%
• Saami: 0.2%
• other groups, none of which accounts for more than 0.2% of the population
• did not state ethnicity: 1.2%

Vital statistics in 2007

Main article: Total fertility rates by federal subjects of Russia#Natural Growth by Federal Subjects in 2007

• Birth rate: 10.18 per 1000 (average for Russia is 11.30)
• Death rate: 11.68 per 1000
• Net migration: -5.6 per 1000
• NGR: -0.15% per annum
• PGR: -0.71% per annum

Vital statistics for 2009

In 2009, the urban areas were marked by natural population decline (-0.16% per year) and the rural ares were marked by natural population growth (+0.35% per year).^[14]

Economy

The Murmansk Oblast is very rich in natural resources and has deposits of over 700 minerals.^[15] The main industries of the region are in the sphere of raw material extraction and basic processing.^[16] The largest industries are metallurgy (36,6%), electric power-production (22,9%) and food-industry, including fishing (13,7%).^[17][18] The icefree port of Murmansk plays an important role in marine transportation in Russia, and the oblast has a 41% share of the total Russian marine transport market.^[19][20] The fishing industry is among the most profitable in the region, supplying 16% of Russia's total fish production. Murmansk is a key base for three fishing fleets, including Russia's largest, the Murmansk Trawl Fleet.^[16]

A Norilsk Nickel plant (formerly, Severonikel) in Monchegorsk

The economy of the region is export-oriented. Main export items are nickel products, apatite concentrate, copper and copper products, aluminium and ferrous metals.^[19] The Murmansk Region produces almost 100 percent of Russia's apatite concentrate (3.7 million tons in 1998), 43 percent of nickel, 15 percent of copper, 12 percent of iron ore and iron ore concentrate (17.7 million and 6.4 million tons in 1998), and 40 percent of cobalt.^[15][17]

The largest companies of the region - constituting 90% of the oblast's production - are Pechenganickel, Olcon, the Kola Nuclear Power Plant, Sevrybkholodflot, Murmanrybprom, Murmansk Trawl Fleet and Murmansk Shipping Company.^[15]

Large oil and gas resources have been discovered on the shelf of the Barents sea, including the massive Shtokman field - one of the world's largest gas fields with estimated reserves of 3.8 trillion cubic meters.^[15][20][21] Prospective oil fields could potentially yield up to 40 million tons in the next 10–15 years.^[15] However, the development of the oil and gas resources will require considerable investment.^[15]

In 2006, the Murmansk Oblast's gross regional product was 141.9 billion rubles, which amounts to about 0.4% of the Russian GDP.^[19] Unemployment in 2006 was 3,4%.^[19] GRP pro capita in 2007 was 225 044 rubles.^[22] Regional automobile code is 51.

Transport

• Airports in Murmansk (international), Kirovsk, Kandalaksha, Severomorsk (military), Lovozero, Ponoy, and Krasnoshchelye (small planes and choppers)
• Strategic Oktyabrskaya Railway which connects Murmansk with central Russia. Main stations are Murmansk, Olenegorsk, Kandalaksha. There is also important shoulder to Nikel.
• Local one-way railways
• Sea routes to small military towns and naval bases on Murman Coast (Ostrovnoy, Svyatoy Nos).
• Automobile roads

Governors of Murmansk Oblast

Name	Period
Yury Yevdokimov	Decemnber 1997 – March 21, 2009
Dmitry Dmitriyenko	March 21, 2009 – Incumbent

Chairmen of the Murmansk Oblast Duma

Name	Period
Pavel Sazhinov	December 19, 1994 – 2007
Yevgeny Nikora	March 26, 2007 – Incumbent

Source:^[23]

See also

In Krasnoshchelye, a village on the Ponoy River

• Barents Region

References

1. ^ Президент Российской Федерации. Указ №849 от 13 мая 2000 г. «О полномочном представителе Президента Российской Федерации в федеральном округе». Вступил в силу 13 мая 2000 г. Опубликован: "Собрание законодательства РФ", №20, ст. 2112, 15 мая 2000 г. (President of the Russian Federation. Decree #849 of May 13, 2000 On the Plenipotentiary Representative of the President of the Russian Federation in a Federal District. Effective as of May 13, 2000).
2. ^ Госстандарт Российской Федерации. №ОК 024-95 27 декабря 1995 г. «Общероссийский классификатор экономических регионов. 2. Экономические районы», в ред. Изменения №5/2001 ОКЭР. (Gosstandart of the Russian Federation. #OK 024-95 December 27, 1995 Russian Classification of Economic Regions. 2. Economic Regions, as amended by the Amendment #5/2001 OKER. ).
3. ^ ^{a b} Президиум Верховного Совета СССР. Указ от 28 мая 1938 г. «Об образовании Мурманской области». Опубликован: "Ведомости Верховного Совета СССР", №7, 1938. (Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR. Decree of May 28, 1938 On Establishing Murmansk Oblast. ).
4. ^ Charter of Murmansk Oblast, Article 3.3
5. ^ Charter of Murmansk Oblast, Article 14.1
6. ^ Official website of the Governor of Murmansk Oblast. Dmitry Dmitriyenko, Governor of Murmansk Oblast (Russian)
7. ^ Charter of Murmansk Oblast, Article 13
8. ^ Федеральная служба государственной статистики (Federal State Statistics Service) (2004-05-21). "Территория, число районов, населённых пунктов и сельских администраций по субъектам Российской Федерации (Territory, Number of Districts, Inhabited Localities, and Rural Administration by Federal Subjects of the Russian Federation)" (in Russian). Всероссийская перепись населения 2002 года (All-Russia Population Census of 2002). Federal State Statistics Service. http://perepis2002.ru/ct/html/TOM_01_03.htm. Retrieved 2011-11-01. 
9. ^ Федеральная служба государственной статистики (Federal State Statistics Service) (2011). "Предварительные итоги Всероссийской переписи населения 2010 года (Preliminary results of the 2010 All-Russian Population Census)" (in Russian). Всероссийская перепись населения 2010 года (All-Russia Population Census of 2010). Federal State Statistics Service. http://www.perepis-2010.ru/results_of_the_census/results-inform.php. Retrieved 2011-04-25. 
10. ^ Федеральная служба государственной статистики (Federal State Statistics Service) (2004-05-21). "Численность населения России, субъектов Российской Федерации в составе федеральных округов, районов, городских поселений, сельских населённых пунктов – районных центров и сельских населённых пунктов с населением 3 тысячи и более человек (Population of Russia, its federal districts, federal subjects, districts, urban localities, rural localities—administrative centers, and rural localities with population of over 3,000)" (in Russian). Всероссийская перепись населения 2002 года (All-Russia Population Census of 2002). Federal State Statistics Service. http://www.perepis2002.ru/ct/doc/1_TOM_01_04.xls. Retrieved 2010-03-23. 
11. ^ Правительство Российской Федерации. Постановление №725 от 31 августа 2011 г. «О составе территорий, образующих каждую часовую зону, и порядке исчисления времени в часовых зонах, а также о признании утратившими силу отдельных Постановлений Правительства Российской Федерации». Вступил в силу по истечении 7 дней после дня официального опубликования. Опубликован: "Российская Газета", №197, 6 сентября 2011 г. (Government of the Russian Federation. Resolution #725 of August 31, 2011 On the Composition of the Territories Included into Each Time Zone and on the Procedures of Timekeeping in the Time Zones, as Well as on Abrogation of Several Resolutions of the Government of the Russian Federation. Effective as of after 7 days following the day of the official publication).
12. ^ Official the whole territory of Russia according to Article 68.1 of the Constitution of Russia.
13. ^ ^{a b} Федеральная служба государственной статистики (Federal State Statistics Service) (2004-05-21). "Численность населения России, субъектов Российской Федерации в составе федеральных округов, районов, городских поселений, сельских населённых пунктов – районных центров и сельских населённых пунктов с населением 3 тысячи и более человек (Population of Russia, its federal districts, federal subjects, districts, urban localities, rural localities—administrative centers, and rural localities with population of over 3,000)" (in Russian). Всероссийская перепись населения 2002 года (All-Russia Population Census of 2002). Federal State Statistics Service. http://perepis2002.ru/ct/html/TOM_01_04_1.htm. Retrieved 2009-04-17. 
14. ^ http://murmanskstat.gks.ru/moinfigures/population/demography/basicindicators/06.htm
15. ^ ^{a b c d e f} "Overview of Murmansk Region". Federation of American Scientists. http://www.fas.org/nuke/guide/russia/industry/docs/mark0241.htm. Retrieved 2009-06-05. 
16. ^ ^{a b} Murmansk Oblast Globalsecurity.org
17. ^ ^{a b} "Murmansk region". Häme Polytechnic. https://www.amk.fi/bin/get/id/5aBm9Nrfx. Retrieved 2009-06-05. 
18. ^ "Murmansk Region". http://www.rustradeuk.org/cooperation/rusregion/about_regions/files/Murmansk_region.ppt. Retrieved 2009-06-05. 
19. ^ ^{a b c d} Positive economic development in Murmansk
20. ^ ^{a b} Economic Development in the Murmansk Region in 2007
21. ^ UPDATE 1-Russia's Gazprom ups Shtokman reserves to 3.8 tcm
22. ^ Валовой региональный продукт на душу населения Федеральная служба государственной статистики
23. ^ Official website

Sources

• Мурманская областная Дума. Закон от 26 ноября 1997 г. «Устав Мурманской области», в ред. Закона №1114-01-ЗМО от 25 июня 2009 г «О внесении изменения в статью 58 Устава Мурманской области». Вступил в силу на двенадцатый день со дня официального опубликования в газете "Мурманский Вестник". Опубликован: "Мурманский Вестник", №235, стр. 6-7, 6 декабря 1997 г. (Murmansk Oblast Duma. Law of November 26, 1997 Charter of Murmansk Oblast, as amended by the Law #1114-01-ZMO of June 25, 2009 On Amending Article 58 of the Charter of Murmansk Oblast. Effective as of the day twelve days after the official publication in the Murmansky Vestnik newspaper).

External links

• Media related to Murmansk Oblast at Wikimedia Commons
• Info server of Murmansk Oblast
• News Site of Murmansk Oblast