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State / Province · Russia

Map of Chita

Chita is a first-level division of Russia. Its largest mapped city is Chita, with about 308,500 people in the metropolitan area. The interactive map below is centred on Chita, and the tables list its 11 mapped cities along with the lakes, World Heritage Sites nearest to them.

Cities Mapped
11
Largest City
Chita
308,500
Country
Russia
Asia

Interactive Map of Chita

5.4

About Chita

Chita Oblast (Russian: Чити́нская о́бласть, romanized: Čitínskaja óblastj, IPA: [tɕɪˈtʲinskəjə ˈobləsʲtʲ]) was a federal subject of Russia (an oblast) in southeast Siberia, Russia. Its administrative center was the city of Chita. It had extensive international borders with China (998 km) and Mongolia (868 km) and internal borders with Irkutsk and Amur Oblasts, as well as with the republics of Buryatia and Yakutia. Its area was 431,500 square kilometers (166,600 sq mi). Population: 1,155,346 (2002 census); 1,377,975 (1989 Soviet census).

The oblast was established on September 26, 1937. On March 1, 2008, Chita Oblast merged with Agin-Buryat Autonomous Okrug to form Zabaykalsky Krai.

The territory that made up the former Chita Oblast was first explored by Cossacks led by Pyotr Beketov in 1653. People began to move into and develop the area in order to strengthen Russia's border with China and Mongolia, extract mineral resources, and build the Trans-Siberian Railway. In 1920, Chita became the capital of the Far East Republic, which merged with Russia in November 1922, a month before the USSR was constituted.

The oblast was rich in ferrous, non-ferrous, rare, and precious metals, coal, charcoal, and mineral waters. Russia's estimated reserves of ores with a high uranium content are 145,400 tons. Most of these deposits are located in the former Chita Oblast, near Krasnokamensk, site of the Priargunsky Mining and Chemical Combine (PMCC). Forests cover about 60% of its territory. As a result, the oblast's main industries were metallurgy, fuel, and timber. It also had advanced light and food industries. Local agriculture focused on cattle, sheep, and reindeer breeding.

Summary adapted from Wikipedia: Chita Oblast (CC BY-SA 4.0).

Chita, Russia
Image via Wikimedia Commons.

Chita in Depth

Demographics

Birth rate: Quite high at 13.77 (2004), but still there were more deaths than births (2005 official figures).

The population were mostly Russians and Buryats, along with some Ukrainians and a few Evenks. There were 1,000 Jews, who mostly speak Yiddish in the regional capital. According to the 2002 census, Russians made up 89.8% of the population while Buryats were 6.1%. Other significant groups were Tatars (0.71%), Armenians (0.31%), Belarusians (0.26%), Azeri (0.18%), Evenks (0.13%), Nemts (0.11%), Chuvash (0.11%), Bashkirs (0.11%), Moldvins (0.07%), Mordvins (0.06%), Uzbeks (0.06%) and Dargwa (0.05%).

Sections adapted from Wikipedia: Chita Oblast (CC BY-SA 4.0).

Chita: Key Facts

Key facts about Chita
Population1,135,700
Area431,500 km²
CapitalChita
Head of governmentRavil Geniatulin
Established26 September 1937

Facts from Wikidata Q182902 (CC0).

History of Chita: Empires and States

The atlas records 18 polities whose mapped territory included part of Chita, from Xiongnu in 208 BCE to 2024 CE. They are listed in the order they first appear.

Polities that held Chita, in chronological order
PolityPeriod here
Xiongnu208–67 BCE
Xianbei161–223 CE
Rouran Khaganate402–554 CE
Göktürk Khaganate555–586 CE
Eastern Göktürks587–632 CE
The Tang Dynasty633–681 CE
Türgesh692–749 CE
Uyghur Khaganate750–849 CE
The Mongol Empire1206–1293 CE
Yuan Dynasty1294–1374 CE
Northern Yuan1375–1439 CE
Four Oirats1440–1467 CE
Mongol Khanate1468–1546 CE
Golden Horde1547–1690 CE
Tsardom of Russia1670–1720 CE
The Russian Empire1721–1916 CE
Union of Soviet Socialist Republics1922–1991 CE
Russian Federation1992–2024 CE

Historical Maps of Chita

Chita on the world map in each year one of these states held it:

Derived by testing mapped cities against dated territorial polygons. Dates are when the polygons cover this place, not the polity's whole lifespan, and polities absent from the source dataset are not listed.

Largest Cities in Chita

11 cities mapped. Ranked by metropolitan population. A port city's harbour is written up on the page of its sea.

Largest Cities in Chita
#NamePopulation
1Chita308,500
2Krasnokamensk54,316
3Borzya30,421
4Petrovsk Zabaykalskiy20,889
5Nerchinsk15,360
6Shilka14,132
7Mogocha12,647
8Khilok10,627
9Olovyannaya8,247
10Bukachacha3,372
11Sherlovaya Gora411

Largest Lakes in Chita

5 lakes mapped. Ranked by mapped surface area. A lake on a border is listed under each country it lies in, with the area of the whole lake. Assigned by the nearest mapped city, so features near the boundary may belong to a neighbouring division.

Largest Lakes in Chita
#NameSurface Area
1Ozero Arakhley101 km²
2Ozero Bolshoye Yeravnoye95 km²
3Ozero Isinginskoye29 km²
4Ozero Bolshaya Kharga22 km²
5Ozero Irgen22 km²

UNESCO World Heritage Sites in Chita

1 World Heritage Site mapped. Listed by year of inscription, earliest first. Sites shared with another country appear under each. Assigned by the nearest mapped city, so features near the boundary may belong to a neighbouring division.

UNESCO World Heritage Sites in Chita
#NameInscribed
1Landscapes of Dauria2017

Chita: Quick Answers

Where is Chita?
Chita is a first-level division of Russia, in Asia. Its mapped cities centre on 51.5654° N, 115.3124° E.
What is the largest city in Chita?
Chita is the largest city mapped in Chita, with a metropolitan population of about 308,500.
How many cities are in Chita?
YearMaps maps 11 cities and towns in Chita, with a combined metropolitan population of about 478,922. This counts mapped settlements, not every municipality.
What is the largest lake in Chita?
The largest lake mapped in or beside Chita is Ozero Arakhley, at about 101 km².

More Maps in Russia