Leningrad Oblast

Leningrad Oblast
Ленинградская область (Russian)
—  Oblast  —

Flag
Coat of arms
Anthem: Anthem of Leningrad Oblast
Coordinates: 60°03′N 31°45′E / 60.050°N 31.750°E / 60.050; 31.750
Political status
CountryRussia
Federal districtNorthwestern[1]
Economic regionNorthwestern[2]
EstablishedAugust 1, 1927[3]
Administrative centerGatchina
Government (as of October 2014)
 • Governor[5]Aleksandr Drozdenko[4]
 • LegislatureLegislative Assembly[6]
Statistics
Area (as of the 2002 Census)[7]
 • Total84,500 km2 (32,600 sq mi)
Area rank38th
Population (2010 Census)[8]
 • Total1,716,868
 • Rank26th
 • Density[9]20.32/km2 (52.6/sq mi)
 • Urban65.7%
 • Rural34.3%
Population (January 2014 est.)
 • Total1,763,900[10]
Time zone(s)MSK (UTC+04:00)
ISO 3166-2RU-LEN
License plates47, 147
Official languagesRussian[11]
Official website

Leningrad Oblast (Russian: Ленинградская область, tr. Leningradskaya oblast’, IPA: [lʲɪnʲɪnˈgratskəjə ˈobləsʲtʲ], Veps: Leningradan agj, Finnish: Leningradin alue) is a federal subject of Russia. Specifically, it is an oblast.

It was created on 1 August 1927. It was not until 1946 that the oblast's borders had been mostly put in their current position. The oblast was named after the city of Leningrad. In 1991, the city restored its original name, Saint Petersburg. The oblast keeps the name of Leningrad. The capital and largest city is Gatchina.[12]

The first governor of Leningrad Oblast was Vadim Gustov (in 1996–1998). The current governor, since 2012, is Aleksandr Drozdenko.

The oblast has an area of 84,500 square kilometers (32,600 sq mi) and a population of 1,716,868 (2010 Census);[8] up from 1,669,205 recorded in the 2002 Census.[13] Leningrad Oblast is highly industrialized.

Geography

Borders

The oblast is on the historic region of Ingria. It is bordered by Finland (Kymenlaakso and South Karelia) in the northwest and Estonia (Ida-Viru County) in the west. It also borders five federal subjects of Russia: the Republic of Karelia in the northeast, Vologda Oblast in the east, Novgorod Oblast in the south, Pskov Oblast in the southwest, and the federal city of Saint Petersburg in the west.

Lakes

Leningrad Oblast is around the Gulf of Finland and south of two great freshwater lakes. These are Lake Ladoga and Lake Onega. The oblast includes the Karelian Isthmus and some islands, including Gogland in the Gulf of Finland and Konevets in Lake Ladoga.

Neva

Much of the area is in the drainage basin of the Neva. The Neva is the only outflow of Lake Ladoga. Other major rivers in Leningrad Oblast include the Svir, the Vuoksi, the Syas, the Luga, the Narva, and the Volkhov.

History

Early history

The territory of present-day Leningrad Oblast was populated shortly after the end of the Weichselian glaciation. Several medieval trade routes crossed the area.

In the 12th-15th centuries, the territory was divided between the Kingdom of Sweden and the Novgorod Republic. It was populated by many Baltic Finnic peoples such as Karelians in the northwest, Izhorians and Votians in the west, Vepsians in the east, and Ilmen Slavs in the south. The border moved back and forth across the land during the Russo-Swedish Wars of the 15th-17th centuries.

Most of the present-day territory of Leningrad Oblast was taken by Sweden with the Treaty of Stolbovo in 1617. During the Great Northern War (1700-1721) the territory of what is now Leningrad Oblast was conquered by Russia under Peter the Great. He founded Saint Petersburg in 1703, which later became the capital of the Russian Empire.

20th century

In 1914, Saint Petersburg was renamed Petrograd. The governorate around the area was renamed the Petrograd Governorate. After the Russian Revolution, the capital was changed to Moscow. In 1919, during the Russian Civil War, the Northwestern White Army advancing from Estonia and led by Nikolai Yudenich tried to capture Petrograd and even managed to reach its southern outskirts. However, it ultimately failed and Yudenich retreated.

Leningrad Oblast was created on 1 August 1927.[3] It was created by merging the Cherepovets, Leningrad, Murmansk, Novgorod, and Pskov Governorates. The total area of the oblast was 360,400 square kilometres (139,200 sq mi);[14] more than four times larger than the modern Leningrad Oblast. Administratively, he oblast was divided into nine okrugs (Borovichi, Cherepovets, Leningrad, Lodeynoye Pole, Luga, Murmansk, Novgorod, Pskov, and Velikiye Luki), each of which was divided into districts.[15]

In 1929, Velikiye Luki Okrug was given to the newly formed Western Oblast. Leningrad was separated from Leningrad Oblast in December 1931. In 1935 five southernmost districts were made part of Kalinin Oblast. In 1936 some parts of the territory of Leningrad Suburban District of Leningrad was returned to Leningrad Oblast and divided into Vsevolozhsky District, Krasnoselsky District, Pargolovsky District and Slutsky District (renamed Pavlovsky District in 1944). Vologda Oblast was created out of Leningrad Oblast in 1937. Murmansk Oblast was split from Leningrad Oblast in 1938.

On 30 November 1939, the Soviet Union waged the Winter War against Finland. With the Moscow Peace Treaty in 1940, the Soviet Union gained some territories, including the Karelian Isthmus. Their Karelian population was quickly evacuated to inner Finland and later replaced with people from other parts of the Soviet Union. A small part of the territory (the municipalities of Kanneljärvi, Koivisto and Rautu) was put into Leningrad Oblast. The rest was given to the Karelo-Finnish Soviet Socialist Republic.

Demographics

Life expectancy at birth in Leningrad Oblast

Population: 1,716,868 (2010 Census);[8] 1,669,205 (2002 Census);[16] 1,661,173 (1989 Census).[17]

Ethnic groups

According to the 2010 Census, the ethnic composition was:[18]

Twin regions

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. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Administrative-Territorial Division of Murmansk Oblast, pp. 33–34
  4. ↑ Official website of Leningrad Oblast. Alexander Yuryevich Drozdenko Archived September 10, 2017, at the Wayback Machine, Governor of Leningrad Oblast (in Russian)
  5. ↑ Charter of Leningrad Oblast, Article 18
  6. ↑ Charter of Leningrad Oblast, Article 25
  7. ↑ 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)". Всероссийская перепись населения 2002 года (All-Russia Population Census of 2002) (in Russian). Federal State Statistics Service. Retrieved 2011-11-01.
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 Всероссийская перепись населения 2010 года. Том 1 [2010 All-Russian Population Census, vol. 1]. Всероссийская перепись населения 2010 года (2010 All-Russia Population Census) (in Russian). Federal State Statistics Service. 2011. Retrieved June 29, 2012.
  9. ↑ The density value was calculated by dividing the population reported by the 2010 Census by the area shown in the "Area" field. Please note that this value may not be accurate as the area specified in the infobox is not necessarily reported for the same year as the population.
  10. ↑ Saint Petersburg and Leningrad Oblast Territorial Branch of the Federal State Statistics Service. Население [dead link] (in Russian)
  11. ↑ Official throughout the Russian Federation according to Article 68.1 of the Constitution of Russia.
  12. ↑ "Gatchina officially became the capital of the Leningrad region". RIA (in Russian). 24 March 2021. Retrieved 27 March 2021.
  13. ↑ 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]. Всероссийская перепись населения 2002 года (All-Russia Population Census of 2002) (in Russian). Federal State Statistics Service. May 21, 2004. Retrieved 9 Feb 2012.
  14. ↑ Administrative-Territorial Division of Leningrad Oblast, p. 10
  15. ↑ Administrative-Territorial Division of Leningrad Oblast, p. 10
  16. ↑ 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]. Всероссийская перепись населения 2002 года (All-Russia Population Census of 2002) (in Russian). Federal State Statistics Service. May 21, 2004. Retrieved 9 Feb 2012.
  17. ↑ Demoscope Weekly (1989). Всесоюзная перепись населения 1989 г. Численность наличного населения союзных и автономных республик, автономных областей и округов, краёв, областей, районов, городских поселений и сёл-райцентров. [All Union Population Census of 1989. Present population of union and autonomous republics, autonomous oblasts and okrugs, krais, oblasts, districts, urban settlements, and villages serving as district administrative centers]. Всесоюзная перепись населения 1989 года (All-Union Population Census of 1989) (in Russian). Institute of Demographics of the State University—Higher School of Economics. Retrieved 9 Feb 2012.
  18. ↑ Всероссийская перепись населения 2010 года. Том 1 [2010 All-Russian Population Census, vol. 1]. Всероссийская перепись населения 2010 года (2010 All-Russia Population Census) (in Russian). Federal State Statistics Service. 2011. Retrieved June 29, 2012.

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