Astrakhan Oblast

Astrakhan Oblast
Oblast
Астраханская область
Flag Coat of arms
Anthem: Anthem of Astrakhan Oblast[3]
Coordinates: 47°14′N 47°14′E / 47.233°N 47.233°E / 47.233; 47.233
Country	Russia
Federal district	Southern[1]
Economic region	Volga[2]
Administrative center	Astrakhan[4]
Government
• Body	Oblast Duma[5]
• Governor[7]	Igor Babushkin[6]
Area [8]
• Total	49,024 km2 (18,928 sq mi)
• Rank	55th
Population  (2021 census)[9]
• Total	960,142 57% Russians 14.7% Kazakhs 5% Tatars 1.46% Dagestanis 0.97% Nogai 0.72% Chechens 0.64% Azerbaijanis 0.55% Kalmyk 3.61% other 15 % not stated
• Estimate  (2018)[10]	1,017,514
• Rank	78th
• Urban	64.4%
• Rural	35.6%
Time zone	UTC+4 (MSK+1 [11])
ISO 3166 code	RU-AST
License plates	30
OKTMO ID	12000000
Official languages	Russian[12]
Website	http://www.astrobl.ru/

Astrakhan Oblast (Russian: Астраха́нская о́бласть, romanized: Astrakhanskaya oblastʹ; Kazakh: Астрахан облысы, romanized: Astrahan oblysy) is a federal subject of Russia (an oblast) located in southern Russia. Its administrative center is the city of Astrakhan. As of the 2010 Census, its population was 1,010,073.^[14]

Astrakhan is traversed by the northeasterly line of equal latitude and longitude. Its southern border is the Caspian Sea, eastern is Kazakhstan (Atyrau Region and West Kazakhstan Region), northern is Volgograd Oblast, and western is Kalmykia.

It is within the Russian Southern Federal District.

• 
  Semi-desert in Narimanovsky District
• 
  Bogdo-Baskunchak Nature Reserve

Since the Middle Ages, the territory was ruled by Khazars, Cumania, the Mongol-Tatar Golden Horde, the Tatar Astrakhan Khanate and Russia.

Astrakhan region is the homeland of the Buzhans, one of several Slavic tribes from which modern Russians evolved;^[15] they lived in Southern Russia and inhabited the area around the Buzan river.

In the 16th century, Indians began moving to the region, bringing Indian influence.^[16][17]

From August - December 1942, the German invaders reached the border of Astrakhansky Oblast, crossing into the region: the Abwehr from 1942 to 1943, Nazi Army stragglers 1941–44.^{[citation needed]} Buzan oblast was created on 27 December 1943, on parts of the territories of the abolished Kalmyk ASSR and Astrakhan Okrug of Stalingrad Oblast.^[13]

From 8 October 1980 to 27 October 1984, and under the leadership of Nikolai Baibakov,^[a] the USSR held fifteen deep underground nuclear tests for Nuclear Explosions for the National Economy at the site Vega in the Ryn Desert in the east of the oblast less than 50 km from downtown Astrakhan to create reservoirs for natural gas storage.^[18][19] Because of the detonation depth (975 to 1,100 meters) and relatively low yield (3.2 to 13.5 kilotons), no radiation was released to the environment.^[18] These blasts had lower yields than the Project Sapphire blasts, which were 40 km south-southwest of Orenburg, to reduce any possible seismic destruction to nearby towns in the Volga delta including Astrakhan.^[19][20] At that time, the natural gas fields near Astrakhan, which are at a depth of 3900 to 4,100 meters, could contain as much as 6 trillion cubic meters, which is an amount similar to Urengoy. In 2017, the Astrakhanskoye field, which is an area of 100 km by 40 km in the middle of the Astrakhan arch and is 60 km northeast of Astrakhan, is the ninth largest in Russia and the largest in European Russia with an estimated gas in place of 102 trillion cubic feet (2.9 trillion cubic metres). The deposit is operated by Gazprom Dobycha Astrakhan which is a wholly owned subsidiary of Gazprom.^[21] The field produces large amounts of sulfur, too.^{[21][22][23][24][25][26]}

On 30 October 1997, Astrakhan, alongside Kirov, Murmansk, Ulyanovsk, and Yaroslavl signed a power-sharing agreement with the government of Russia, granting it autonomy.^[27] The agreement would be abolished on 21 December 2001.^[28]

During the Soviet period, the high authority in the oblast was shared between three persons: The first secretary of the Astrakhan 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 Astrakhan Oblast is the fundamental law of the region. The Legislative Assembly of Astrakhan Oblast 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 Administration, 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.

The representative authority of the Astrakhan Oblast is the Duma of Astrakhan Oblast. Between 1994–2001, it was called the Astrakhan Regional Representative Assembly.

The Duma of Astrakhan Oblast has the following structure:

• Chairman of the Duma of Astrakhan Oblast;
• First Deputy Chairman of the Duma of Astrakhan Oblast;
• Deputy Chairman of the Duma of Astrakhan Oblast;
• Office of the Duma of Astrakhan Oblast;
• Committees and political factions.

Since 2006, the chairman of the regional legislative body has been the head of the regional branch of the United Russia party, Alexander Klykanov, whose candidacy was considered in 2009 for the post of governor of the Oblast.^[29] In 2016, Igor Martynov was elected Chairman of the Duma of Astrakhan Oblast of the sixth convocation.^[30]

The governor is the highest official of the Astrakhan Oblast and heads the executive branch.^[31]

Governors of Astrakhan Oblast:

• Anatoly Guzhvin — 1991–2004;
• Alexander Zhilkin — 2004–2018;
• Sergey Morozov — acting, 26 September 2018 — 5 June 2019;
• Igor Babushkin — 5 June 2019 — present.

From 1991 to 2004, Anatoly Guzhvin, who won elections in 1996 and 2000, was the governor of the Oblast. After Guzhvin's death in August 2004, the early elections of the head of the Astrakhan Oblast on 5 December 2004 was won by the acting head of the region Alexander Zhilkin, enjoying the support of United Russia. The Governor supervises the work of the executive authorities of the region and the Government of the Astrakhan Oblast. From 2004 to 2017, Konstantin Markelov was the Chairman of the Government of the Astrakhan Oblast. Since 2017, Rasul Sultanov has been the Chairman of the Government of the Astrakhan Oblast.^[32]

960,142 (2021 Census);^[35] 1,010,073 (2010 Census);^[14] 1,005,276 (2002 Census);^[36] 998,114 (1989 Soviet census).^[37]

Vital statistics for 2022:^[38][39]

• Births: 9,718 (9.8 per 1,000)
• Deaths: 12,200 (12.3 per 1,000)

Total fertility rate (2022):^[40]
1.63 children per woman

Life expectancy (2021):^[33]
Total — 69.90 years (male — 65.86, female — 73.87)

Largest cities or towns in Astrakhan Oblast 2010 Russian Census
	Rank		Administrative Division	Pop.
Astrakhan Akhtubinsk	1	Astrakhan	City of oblast significance of Astrakhan	520,339	Znamensk Kharabali
	2	Akhtubinsk	Akhtubinsky District	41,853
	3	Znamensk	Closed administrative-territorial formation of Znamensk	29,401
	4	Kharabali	Kharabalinsky District	18,117
	5	Kamyzyak	Kamyzyaksky District	16,314
	6	Krasny Yar	Krasnoyarsky District	11,824
	7	Narimanov	Narimanovsky District	11,521
	8	Ikryanoye	Ikryaninsky District	10,036
	9	Volodarsky	Volodarsky District	10,005
	10	Liman	Limansky District	9,024

According to the 2021 Census, the ethnic composition was:^[41]

(shown are the ethnic groups with a population of more than 5,000 people)

• 144,459 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.^[43]

The local group of Russian varieties is known as Astrakhan Russian and refers to several dialects spoken in and around the Astrakhan Oblast.

According to a 2012 survey which interviewed 56,900 people^[44] 46% of the population of Astrakhan Oblast adheres to the Russian Orthodox Church, 4% are Orthodox Christian believers who do not belong to any church or are members of other (non-Russian) Orthodox churches, 2% are unaffiliated generic Christians, 14% are Muslims, and 2% of the population adheres to the Slavic native faith (Rodnovery) or other folk religions of the region. In addition, 16% of the population declares to be spiritual but not religious, 6% is atheist, and 10% follows other religions or did not give an answer to the question.^[44]

Smaller religious communities not represented in the poll cited above but present in the region include Hindus, Jews and Buddhists, each having one temple in Astrakhan Oblast.

• Astrakhan Khanate
• Music of Astrakhan
• Elections in Astrakhan Oblast
• List of Chairmen of the Astrakhan Oblast Duma
• Hinduism in Russia

• Государственная Дума Астраханской области. №21/2007-ОЗ 9 апреля 2007 г. «Устав Астраханской области», в ред. Закона №49/2017-ОЗ от 25 сентября 2017 г. «О внесении изменения в статью 17 Устава Астраханской области». Вступил в силу 30 апреля 2007 г. (за исключением отдельных положений). Опубликован: "Сборник законов и нормативных правовых актов Астраханской области", №18, 19 апреля 2007 г. (State Duma of Astrakhan Oblast. #21/2007-OZ April 9, 2007 Charter of Astrakhan Oblast, as amended by the Law #49/2017-OZ of September 25, 2017 On Amending Article 17 of the Charter of Astrakhan Oblast. Effective as of April 30, 2007 (with the exception of several clauses).).
• Президиум Верховного Совета СССР. Указ от 27 декабря 1943 г. «О ликвидации Калмыцкой АССР и образовании Астраханской области в составе РСФСР». (Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR. Decree of December 27, 1943 On Abolishing the Kalmyk ASSR and Establishing Astrakhan Oblast Within the RSFSR. ).

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Astrakhan Oblast.

• (in Russian) Official website of Astrakhan Oblast Archived June 25, 2014, at the Wayback Machine
• "Astrakhan, a government of S.E. Russia" . Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 2 (11th ed.). 1911. p. 794.