Map of Nizhegorod

History

The sites of Pustyn I and the settlement of Naumovka I, Krasny Bor 5 and others belong to the Mesolithic era in the Nizhny Novgorod region. Burial grounds of the Fatyanovo culture of the Bronze Age were found in the Chkalovsky, Vetluzhsky and Krasnobakovsky districts.

In the course of the regional reform of Peter I in 1708, Nizhny Novgorod with the surrounding lands was added to the Kazan Governorate. In 1714, the Nizhny Novgorod Governorate was created.

On January 14, 1929, the Nizhny Novgorod Oblast was formed. On July 15 of the same year, it was transformed into the Nizhny Novgorod Territory.

On October 7, 1932, the Nizhny Novgorod Territory was renamed the Gorky Territory (in honor of the writer Maxim Gorky).

Geography

The oblast covers an area of 76,900 square kilometers (29,700 sq mi). Agricultural land occupies 41% of this area; forests, 48%, lakes and rivers, 2%; and other lands, 9%. Nizhny Novgorod Oblast borders Kostroma Oblast (N), Kirov Oblast (NE), the Mari El Republic (E), the Chuvash Republic (E), the Republic of Mordovia (S), Ryazan Oblast (SW), Vladimir Oblast (W), and Ivanovo Oblast (NW).

Nizhny Novgorod Oblast is not rich in natural resources, which are limited to commercial deposits of sand (including titanium-zirconium sands), clay, gypsum, peat, mineral salt, and timber.

Economy

The oblast ranks seventh in Russia in industrial output. Processing industries predominate in the local economy. More than 650 industrial companies employ nearly 700,000 people, or 62% of the workforce involved in material production. Industry generates 83% of the regional GDP and accounts for 89% of all material expenditures. The leading sectors are engineering and metalworking, followed by chemical and petrochemical industries and forestry, woodworking, and paper industries. The first three sectors account for about 75% of all industrial production.

The oblast has traditionally been attractive to investors. In 2002, Moody's rating agency confirmed a Caa1rating based on the region's long-term foreign currency liabilities.

Demographics

According to the 2010 Census, ethnic Russians at 3,109,661 made up 95.1% of the oblast's population. Other ethnic groups included Tatars (44,103, or 1.4%), Mordva (19,138, or 0.6%), Ukrainians (17,657, or 0.5%), and various smaller groups, each accounting for less than 0.5% of the total. Additionally, 42,349 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.

According to the Federal Migration Service, 20,450 foreign citizens were registered in the oblast in 2006. The actual number of foreigners residing in the oblast as of June 1, 2006 was estimated to be over 22,000.