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Smolensk Oblast
Oblast
Смоленская область
FlagCoat of arms
Coordinates: 55°00′N 33°00′E / 55.000°N 33.000°E / 55.000; 33.000
Country	Russia
Federal district	Central
Economic region	Central
Administrative center	Smolensk
Government
• Body	Oblast Duma
• Governor	Vasily Anokhin (acting)
Area
• Total	49,779 km (19,220 sq mi)
• Rank	53rd
Population
• Total	888,421
• Estimate	949,348
• Rank	57th
• Density	18/km (46/sq mi)
• Urban	72.6%
• Rural	27.4%
Time zone	UTC+3 (MSK )
ISO 3166 code	RU-SMO
License plates	67
OKTMO ID	66000000
Official languages	Russian
Website	admin-smolensk.ru

Smolensk Oblast (Russian: Смоленская область, romanized: Smolenskaya oblast'), informally also called Smolenshchina (Смоленщина), is a federal subject of Russia (an oblast). Its administrative centre is the city of Smolensk. As of the 2021 Census, its population was 888,421.

Geography

The oblast was founded on 27 September 1937. It borders Pskov Oblast in the north, Tver Oblast in the northeast, Moscow Oblast in the east, Kaluga Oblast in south, Bryansk Oblast in the southwest, and Mogilev and Vitebsk Oblasts of Belarus, in the west and northwest, as part of the Belarus–Russia border.

Hydrography

The main river of the region is the Dnieper River and its tributaries, Desna, Vop, Vyazma. By the rivers of the Volga basin and its tributary Vazuza Gzhat and tributary of the Oka river, Ugra. To the north-west flows a short section of the Western Dvina River and its tributary river Kasplya .

Among the major reservoirs supplying water are Moscow Vazuzssky Yauza and reservoirs in the north-east, as well as cooling power plants, Smolensk reservoir in the north near the village of Lake and Desnogorsk Reservoir in the south area of the city near the Desnogorsk.

Climate

The climate of Smolensk Oblast is humid continental, similar to the climate of Moscow Oblast, but slightly warmer in winter due to being located further west. Summers are short, warm and rainy, while winters are long, cold and snowy. Average temperatures range from −9 °C (16 °F) in January to 17 °C (63 °F) in July (although in the south it ranges from −8 °C (18 °F) in January to 18 °C (64 °F) in July). Annual precipitation varies from 630 to 730 mm (25 to 29 in) per year.

Politics

During the Soviet period, the high authority in the oblast was shared between three persons: The first secretary of the Smolensk CPSU Committee (who in reality had the biggest authority), the chairman of the oblast Soviet (legislative power), and the Chairman of the oblast Executive Committee (executive power). Since 1991, CPSU lost all the power, and the head of the Oblast administration, and eventually the governor was appointed/elected alongside elected regional parliament.

The Charter of Smolensk Oblast is the fundamental law of the region. The Legislative Assembly of Smolensk is the province's standing legislative (representative) body. The Legislative Assembly exercises its authority by passing laws, resolutions, and other legal acts and by supervising the implementation and observance of the laws and other legal acts passed by it. The highest executive body is the Oblast Government, which includes territorial executive bodies such as district administrations, committees, and commissions that facilitate development and run the day to day matters of the province. The Oblast administration supports the activities of the Governor who is the highest official and acts as guarantor of the observance of the oblast Charter in accordance with the Constitution of Russia. From July 1941-September 1943 part of region fell to Germany.

Administrative divisions

Smolensk Oblast is divided into 25 districts (raions) and two cities, which are further divided into 15 towns, 12 urban-type settlements, and 302 rural okrugs.

Demographics

Population: 888,421 (2021 Census); 985,537 (2010 Census); 1,049,574 (2002 Census); 1,158,299 (1989 Soviet census).

Vital statistics for 2022:

• Births: 5,478 (6.1 per 1,000)
• Deaths: 14,825 (16.4 per 1,000)

Total fertility rate (2022):
1.08 children per woman

Life expectancy (2021):
Total — 68.00 years (male — 63.28, female — 72.83)

Ethnic composition (2010):

• Russians: 94.6%
• Ukrainians: 1.3%
• Belarusians: 1.3%
• Armenians: 0.5%
• Others: 2.3%
• 41,457 people were registered from administrative databases, and could not declare an ethnicity. It is estimated that the proportion of ethnicities in this group is the same as that of the declared group.

Religion

According to a 2012 survey 19.5% of the population of Smolensk Oblast adheres to the Russian Orthodox Church, 7% are unaffiliated generic Christians, 3% are Orthodox Christian believers who do not belong to church or belong to other (non-Russian) Orthodox churches, 2% are Old Believers, 1% are adherents of the Slavic native faith (Rodnovery) movement, 0.4% are members of the Catholic Church. In addition, 45% of the population declares to be "spiritual but not religious", 13% is atheist, and 9.1% follows other religions or did not give an answer to the question.

Economy

Smolensk Oblast has a diverse economy, and exports large amounts of ammonium nitrate, fertilizers, wheat, and wood. The top exports in 2021 were fertilizers (19.2%, $284M), wood products (13.2%, $194M), wheat (9.8%, $144M), and machinery (7.6%, $112M).

Notable people

• Isaac Asimov (1920–1992), an American writer and professor of biochemistry, born in Petrovichi
• Yuri Gagarin (1934–1968) a Soviet pilot and cosmonaut, born in Klushino
• Shmuel Schneersohn (1834–1882) an Orthodox rabbi, born in Lyubavichi
• Ivan Sidorenko (1919–1994) a Red Army officer and sniper, born in Glinkovsky District
• Andrey Nikolayevich Tikhonov (1906–1993) a Russian mathematician and geophysicist, born in Gagarin
• Mikhail Tukhachevsky (1893–1937) nicknamed the Red Napoleon by foreign newspapers, a Soviet general

See also

• 2010 Polish presidential airplane crash
• Katyn massacre
• List of Chairmen of the Smolensk Oblast Duma

References

Citations

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", No. 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. Charter of Smolensk Oblast, Article 17
4. Charter of Smolensk Oblast, Article 23
5. "Putin dismissed the governor of the Smolensk region". Novaya Gazeta Europe (in Russian). March 17, 2023. Retrieved March 18, 2023.
6. Charter of Smolensk Oblast, Article 33
7. "Сведения о наличии и распределении земель в Российской Федерации на 01.01.2019 (в разрезе субъектов Российской Федерации)". Federal Service for State Registration, Cadastre and Cartography. Archived from the original on February 9, 2022. Retrieved August 29, 2023.
8. "Оценка численности постоянного населения по субъектам Российской Федерации". Federal State Statistics Service. Retrieved September 1, 2022.
9. "26. Численность постоянного населения Российской Федерации по муниципальным образованиям на 1 января 2018 года". Federal State Statistics Service. Retrieved January 23, 2019.
10. "Об исчислении времени". Официальный интернет-портал правовой информации (in Russian). June 3, 2011. Retrieved January 19, 2019.
11. Official throughout the Russian Federation according to Article 68.1 of the Constitution of Russia.
12. ^ Исполнительный комитет Смоленского областного совета народных депутатов. Государственный архив Смоленской области. "Административно-территориальное устройство Смоленской области. Справочник", изд. "Московский рабочий", Москва 1981. Стр. 8
13. Смоленская область – Детальная интерактивная карта Смоленской области. Центральный ФО, Россия – регионы Есоседи. ru.esosedi.org (in Russian). Retrieved June 3, 2017.
14. ^ Russian Federal State Statistics Service. Всероссийская перепись населения 2020 года. Том 1 [2020 All-Russian Population Census, vol. 1] (XLS) (in Russian). Federal State Statistics Service.
15. ^ Russian Federal State Statistics Service (2011). Всероссийская перепись населения 2010 года. Том 1 [2010 All-Russian Population Census, vol. 1]. Всероссийская перепись населения 2010 года (in Russian). Federal State Statistics Service.
16. Federal State Statistics Service (May 21, 2004). 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] (XLS). Всероссийская перепись населения 2002 года (in Russian).
17. 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 (in Russian). Институт демографии Национального исследовательского университета: Высшая школа экономики . 1989 – via Demoscope Weekly.
18. "Information on the number of registered births, deaths, marriages and divorces for January to December 2022". ROSSTAT. Archived from the original on March 2, 2023. Retrieved February 21, 2023.
19. "Birth rate, mortality rate, natural increase, marriage rate, divorce rate for January to December 2022". ROSSTAT. Archived from the original on March 2, 2023. Retrieved February 21, 2023.
20. Суммарный коэффициент рождаемости [Total fertility rate]. Russian Federal State Statistics Service (in Russian). Archived from the original (XLSX) on August 10, 2023. Retrieved August 10, 2023.
21. "Демографический ежегодник России" [The Demographic Yearbook of Russia] (in Russian). Federal State Statistics Service of Russia (Rosstat). Retrieved June 1, 2022.
22. "ВПН-2010". www.perepis-2010.ru. Archived from the original on January 18, 2012. Retrieved December 22, 2011.
23. ^ "Arena: Atlas of Religions and Nationalities in Russia". Sreda, 2012.
24. 2012 Arena Atlas Religion Maps. "Ogonek", № 34 (5243), 27/08/2012. Retrieved 21/04/2017. Archived.

General sources

• Смоленская областная Дума. Областной закон №37-з от 15 мая 2001 г. «Устав Смоленской области», в ред. Областного закона №162-з от 26 ноября 2015 г. «О поправке к уставу Смоленской области». Вступил в силу со дня официального опубликования. Опубликован: "Рабочий путь", №116–117, 24 мая 2001 г. (Smolensk Oblast Duma. Oblast Law #37-z of May 15, 2001 Charter of Smolensk Oblast, as amended by the Oblast Law #162-z of November 26, 2015 On the Amendment to the Charter of Smolensk Oblast. Effective as of the day of the official publication.).

External links

• Kropotkin, Peter Alexeivitch; Bealby, John Thomas (1911). "Smolensk (government)" . Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 25 (11th ed.). pp. 277–278.
• Official website of Smolensk Oblast
• (In Russian) Official website of Smolensk Oblast
• (In Russian) News of Smolensk Oblast

• Smolensk Oblast
• States and territories established in 1937