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Tomsk Oblast (English) Томская область (Russian)
Location of Tomsk Oblast in Russia
Coat of Arms	Flag
Coat of arms of Tomsk Oblast	Flag of Tomsk Oblast
Anthem: none
Country	Russia
Administrative center	Tomsk
Established	August 13, 1944
Political status Federal district Economic region	Oblast Siberian West Siberian
Code	70
Area - Rank within Russia	316,900 km² 16th
Population ( 2002) - Rank within Russia - Density - Urban - Rural	1,046,039 inhabitants 51st 3.3 inhab. / km² 67.7% 32.3%
Official language	Russian
Governor	Viktor Kress
Legislative body	State Duma
Charter	Charter of Tomsk Oblast
Official website	http://www.tomsk.gov.ru/

Oblast administration office in Tomsk

Tomsk Oblast (Russian: То́мская о́бласть, Tomskaya oblast) is a federal subject of Russia (an oblast). It lies in the southeastern West Siberian Plain, in the southwest of the Siberian Federal District. Viktor Kress has been governor of the oblast since 1991.

The development of the territory which now belongs to the oblast began in the early 17th century. Tomsk itself was founded in 1604. Most of the oblast's 316,900 km² territory is inaccessible because it is covered with taiga woods and swamps. The oblast shares borders with Krasnoyarsk Krai, Tyumen, Omsk, Novosibirsk, and Kemerovo Oblasts.

Tomsk Oblast is rich in natural resources, particularly oil, natural gas, ferrous and non-ferrous metals, peat, and underground waters. Forests are also among the most significant assets of the oblast: about 20% of the West Siberian forest resources are located in Tomsk Oblast. Industry makes up about half of the regional GDP, while agriculture contributes 19% and construction 13%. Chemical and oil industries are the most developed in the region, followed by machine construction. The oblast's major export items are: oil (62.1%), methanol (30.2%), and machines and equipment (4.8%). Oil extraction and lumbering are the major business of the region's joint ventures.

The oblast is home to six state higher education institutions and 47 research institutes.

Demography

Major ethnic groups living in the Oblast are Russians (90.8%), Ukrainian-Byelorussian (2.1%), Siberian Tatars (1.9%) & Volga German (1.3%). Slavs, Finns and Germans make up more than 95.2% of the population, while Tatars, Chuvash, Armenes and Khants make up the remaining part.^[1]

After the disastrous situation during the 1990s, the demography of Tomsk Oblast is starting to get stabilized. During the first three months of 2009, there were 3,337 births (2.4% higher than that of 2008) and 3,339 deaths (6.7% less than that of 2008).^[2]

• Births (2008): 13,372 (12.90 per 1000, higher than national average).^[3][1]
• Deaths (2008): 13,403 (13.00 per 1000, lower than national average). [2]

Birth rate for 2008 is 7.97% higher than that of 2007.

Demographics for January-October 2008

Geography

Time zone

Tomsk Oblast is located in the Novosibirsk Time Zone (NOVT/NOVST). UTC offset is +0600 (NOVT)/+0700 (NOVST).

Administrative divisions

Rivers

• Ob
  • Tom
  • Chulym
  • Chaya
  • Ket
  • Parabel
  • Vasyugan
  • Tym

See also

• 2007 Siberian orange snow

References

External links

• Website for Tomsk Oblast Duma

From Wikitravel

A wintry residential street in Tomsk

Tomsk is a region in Western Siberia, which borders Omsk Oblast and Tyumen Oblast to the west, Khantia-Mansia to the north, Krasnoyarsk (region) to the east, Kemerovo Oblast to the southeast, and Novosibirsk Oblast to the south.

• Tomsk — the capital is a 400 year old quintessential Siberian city of historical importance and famed for its "gingerbread" traditional wooden houses and neoclassical University buildings
• Asino — a large town on the rail line to Tomsk from Taiga
• Narym — this swampy village is the oldest settlement in the region (1596) and was home to numerous exiles, from Decembrists to anarchists to everyday Soviet citizens, including some very famous communists (Stalin, Rykov, Sverdlovsk, Ruybyshev).
• Seversk — the second largest city in Tomsk Oblast; a major plutonium producing city that is closed to non-residents and was a secret city under the USSR
• Strezhevoy — a small oil-man city on the Ob River to the northwest of Tomsk

Understand

The Tomsk region was long an important center of Western Siberia, but lost importance after the construction of the Trans-Siberian Railway, which passed the region by to the south. But due to the discovery of oil in the late 20th century, Tomsk Oblast received a vital injection of economic importance and has reclaimed some of its status as an important region of Western Siberia.

Tourists will find that Tomsk Oblast lives up to their Siberian expectations. It is sparsely inhabited, vast, flat, wooded, and yes, it gets quite cold during the winter! Its principal attraction is the city of Tomsk, which is a worthwhile detour off the Trans-Siberian Railway for its historical importance, architecture, and Siberian culture.

Talk

Knowledge of Russian is useful.

Get in

Tomsk's Bogashevo Airport is served by numerous domestic flights from Moscow, Saint Petersburg, Krasnoyarsk, Vladivostok, and others.

It is also possible to arrive via the Taiga-Tomsk-Asino-Bely Yar branch line off the Trans-Siberian Railway from Kemerovo Oblast.