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Irkutsk Oblast (English) Иркутская область (Russian)
Coordinates: 52°17′N 104°16′E / 52.283°N 104.267°E / 52.283; 104.267Coordinates: 52°17′N 104°16′E / 52.283°N 104.267°E / 52.283; 104.267
Coat of Arms	Flag
Coat of arms of Irkutsk Oblast	Flag of Irkutsk Oblast
Anthem: None
Administrative center	Irkutsk
Established	September 26, 1937
Political status	Oblast
Federal District	Siberian[1]
Economic region	East Siberian[2]
Area[3]	767,900 km2 (296,487.8 sq mi)
- Rank within Russia	5th
Code ISO 3166-2:RU	38 RU-IRK
Population (as of the 2002 Census)
Population[4]	2,581,705 inhabitants
- Rank within Russia	20th
- Density	3.4 /km2 (8.8/sq mi)
- Urban[4]	79.3%
- Rural[4]	20.7%
Official language(s)	Russian[5]
Government (as of August 2009)
Governor[6]	Dmitry Mezentsev[7]
Legislative body	Legislative Assembly[8]
Charter	Charter of Irkutsk Oblast
Official website
http://www.govirk.ru/

Irkutsk Oblast (Russian: Ирку́тская о́бласть, Irkutskaya oblast) is a federal subject of Russia (an oblast), located in south-eastern Siberia in the basins of Angara River, Lena, and Nizhnyaya Tunguska Rivers. The administrative center is Irkutsk.

History

Geography

The Circum-Baikal Railway skirts the southwestern tip of Lake Baikal

Irkutsk Oblast borders with the Buryat and Tuva Republics in the south and south-west, with Krasnoyarsk Krai in the west, with the Sakha Republic in the north-east, and with Zabaykalsky Krai in the east.

The unique and world-famous Lake Baikal is located in the southeast of the region. It is drained by the Angara, which flows north across the province; the outflow rate is controlled by the Irkutsk Dam. The two other major dams on the Irkutsk Oblast's section of the Angara are at Bratsk and Ust-Ilimsk; both forming large reservoirs. The Lena has its source in Irkutsk Oblast as well, and flows north-east into the neighboring Sakha Republic.

Irkutsk Oblast consists mostly of the hills and broad valleys of the Central Siberian Plateau and of its eastern extension, the Patom Plateau.

Climate

The climate varies from warm summer continental in the south to continental-subarctic in the northern part (Köppen climate classification: Dwc). For almost half the year, from mid-October until the beginning of April, the average temperature is below 0 °C (32 °F).^[9] Winters are very cold, with average high temperatures in Irkutsk of −14.9 °C (5.2 °F) and average lows of −25.3 °C (−13.5 °F) in January. Summers are warm but short: the average high in July is 24.5 °C (76.1 °F) and the average low is 11.2 °C (52.2 °F). However, by September, the weather cools down significantly to an average daily maximum of 15.3 °C (59.5 °F) and an average daily minimum of 2.5 °C (36.5 °F).^[10][11] More than half of all precipitation falls in the summer months, with the wettest month being July, with 96.2 mm (3.79 in) of rain. January is the driest month, with only 11 mm (0.4 in) of precipitation. Annual precipitation averages 419.8 mm (16.53 in).^[12]

Economy

The Ust-Ilimsk Dam

The main industries of Irkutsk Oblast are metals, energy, logging, oil and fuels, machine-building, chemicals, food industry, and hydroelectricity. The average wages in Irkutsk Oblast are 10% higher than in Russia overall.

Administrative divisions

Demographics

The population of the oblast is 2.77 million, of whom 79.6% live in urban areas, and 20.4% in rural areas. The oblast is very thinly populated, with a population density of 3.5 people per square kilometer, compared to a national average of 8.7. Irkutsk is the administrative center and largest city, with 594,500 residents. Other large cities are Angarsk (267,000 people), Bratsk (253,600 people), Usolye-Sibirskoye (104,300 people), and Ust-Ilimsk (107,200 people).

Most of the population are ethnic Russians. A minority group, the Buryats, have a special Ust-Orda Buryat Okrug inside the oblast. Russians and other Slavic/Germanic groups make up 93.38% of the population, according to the 2002 Census, while Buryats are 3.1%. Tofalars number 837, an increase from 722 in 1989.

One small ethnic group, concentrated in three villages (Pikhtinsk, Sredne-Pikhtinsk, and Dagnik) in Zalarinsky District is the so-called "Bug Hollanders": descendants of Polish-speaking Lutheran farmers who had moved to Siberia from the then Russian Volhynia in 1911-1912 in search of affordable land. Although they had long lost German (or Dutch) language of their ancestors (even in the early 20th century they spoke Ukrainian and read Polish), they were still considered ethnic Germans, and during World War II were usually drafted for work in labor camps, instead of front-line military service.^[13]

Irkutsk Oblast registered natural population growth in 2008, first time after 1993.^[14] But still the future prospects for population growth in Irkutsk seems bleak. In 2007, women in Irkutsk were having an average of 1.602 children each. Fertility rate was extremely low in urban areas, where women were having just 1.477 children each. In Rural areas however, the Fertility rate was slightly above replaceable levels. In rural areas of Irkutsk Oblast, women were having an average of 2.165 children each. (Figures are not available for 2008, although for Russia as a whole Fertility rates for 2008 were approx. 6% higher than that in 2007, and for Irkutsk 9% higher).^[15]

Vital Statistics for 2008

• Population: 2,505,577
• Urban Pop: 1,976,459
• Rural Pop: 529,118
• Births: 37,548(2008)
• Birth rate: 14.99 (2008)
• Urban Birth Rate: 14.06 (2008)
• Rural Birth Rate: 18.43 (2008)
• Deaths: 35,359 (2008)
• Death rate: 14.11 (2008)
• Urban Death Rate: 13.82 (2008)
• Rural Death Rate: 15.21 (2008)
• TFR: 1.734 children per women. (2008)
• Urban TFR: 1.585 children per women. (2008)
• Rural TFR: 2.392 children per women. (2008) ^[16]
• Natural Growth Rate: +0.08% per year (+0.02% in Urban areas & +0.32% in Rural areas).

Health

Despite its remoteness, Irkutsk was reported in 2004 to have the highest HIV infection rate in Russia.^[18] Tens of thousands of drug addicts, mostly ethnic Russians in their mid to late teens are infected. Experts usually say that the entire generation born during the 80s were "wasted". The number of reported AIDS cases increased by more than 10,000% during the 1999-2000 period. Although the epidemic, which started in 1999, is reported to have slowed down, Irkutsk will lose tens of thousands of its working age population from 2010 onwards. This is one of the reasons Irkutsk's male life expectancy, at 53 years, is one of the lowest in all of Russia. Preventive measures are in place to prevent the spread of the epidemic to the generation which was born after the breakup of the USSR.^{[19][20][21][22][23][24]}

See also

• Music of Irkutsk

References

Sources

• 17 апреля 2009 г. «Устав Иркутской области». Вступил в силу по истечении десяти дней после дня официального опубликования. Опубликован: "Областная", №45, 24 апреля 2009 г. (April 17, 2009 Charter of Irkutsk Oblast. Effective as of the date which is ten days after the official publication date).

External links

• Kommersant.com. Information about Irkutsk Oblast.

From Wikitravel

An old wooden house in Listvyanka on the shores of Lake Baikal

Irkutsk Oblast (Ирку́тская о́бласть) is a region in Eastern Siberia, which borders Krasnoyarsk (region) to the west, Evenkia to the northwest, Yakutia to the north, Chita Oblast to the northeast, Buryatia to the southeast, and Tuva to the southwest.

• Irkutsk — the attractive capital and largest city; one of the principal stops on the Trans-Siberian Railway and the gateway to Lake Baikal
• Angarsk — the second largest regional city is home to the Museum of Clocks
• Bratsk — a relatively large city on the Baikal-Amur Mainline
• Listvyanka — located on the shores of Lake Baikal
• Nizhneudinsk — a small city on the Trans-Siberian with a pretty church; located near some interesting caves and a waterfall along the Uda River
• Tayshet — nothing much to see, but many stop at this important rail junction to begin the Baikal-Amur Mainline
• Usolye-Sibirskoye — a medium sized city on the Trans-Siberian with a mudbath spa and many archaeological sites
• Ust-Orda — the center of the Ust-Orda region contains a museum of regional history featuring the indigenous Buryat culture

• Baikalo-Lensky Nature Reserve
• Lake Baikal. Located between Buryatia and Irkutsk Oblast, is the the deepest and oldest lake in the world and also the planet's largest body of freshwater.
• Olkhon. The largest island in lake Baikal is a real jewel, and worthy of the effort it takes to reach it.
• Pribaikalsky National Park
• Vitimsky Nature Reserve

Understand

Irkutsk Oblast, in particular the capital Irkutsk and the shores of Lake Baikal, is likely Siberia's top travel destination.

Talk

Russian is understood and spoken by all; some members of ethnic minorities (especially the Buryat) are bilingual and speak their native languages with one another.

Get in

Irkutsk Airport is one of Russia's most important and receives international flights from Mongolia, China, South Korea, Thailand, and Uzbekistan. Domestic flights are available from most major Russian airports, including: Saint Petersburg, Moscow, Khabarovsk, Yekaterinburg, Vladivostok, and many others.

Despite the importance of Irkutsk Airport, most travellers still arrive via the Trans-Siberian Railway, which stops at (from west to east): Taishet (junction with the Baikal-Amur Mainline), Nizhneudinsk, Usolye-Sibirskoe, Angarsk, Irkutsk, among other less frequented settlements.

Get around

Bratsk and Ust-Orda are accessible via the Baikal-Amur Mainline from the Trans-Siberian Railway junction at Taishet.

• Camping out on one of Lake Baikal's islands
• Fishing galore

Get out

Irkutsk Airport is a useful hub to jump off to different parts of the country.

For closer destinations, most will travel by the Trans-Siberian Railway, which leads to Kansk and further Krasnoyarsk in the west and to Ulan Ude in the east.

The Baikal-Amur Mainline, which runs on a parallel track to north of the Trans-Siberian, begins at Taishet in western Irkutsk Oblast and on to Severobaikalsk.