Kemerovo Oblast (Russian:Ке́меровская о́бласть) (pop. 2,899,142 as of 2002 All-Russia Population Census), often called Kuzbas (Кузбасс) after the Kuznetsk Basin, is located in southwestern Siberia, Russia, where the West-Siberian Plain meets the South Siberian mountains. The oblast, which covers an area of 95,700 km&sup2, shares a border with Tomsk Oblast in the north, Krasnoyarsk Krai and Khakassia in the east, Altai Krai in the south, and Novosibirsk Oblast and Altai Republic in the west. Its population is predominately ethnic Russian, but Ukrainians, Tatars and Chuvash also live in the region.

The oblast was established on January 26 1943, but it has considerably older antecedants. The oldest city in Kemerovo Oblast is Kuznetsk (after 1961, Novokuznetsk), founded in 1618, soon after Cossack ataman Yermak's push into Siberia. Kuznetsk is also the largest city in the oblast, exceeding even the regional capital, Kemerovo, in terms of size. Kemerovo Oblast is one of Russia's most urbanized regions, with over 70% of the population living in its nine principal cities.

Kemerovo Oblast is one of Russia's most important industrial regions, with some of the world's biggest deposits of coal. The south of the region is dominated by metallurgy and the mining industry, as well as mechanical engineering and chemical production. The north is more agricultural. The region has a dense railway network, including the Trans-Siberian Railway, which passes through the oblast.

The current governor of Kemerovo Oblast is Aman Tuleev.

Administrative Division

Districts

Kemerovo Oblast consists of the following districts (Russian: районы):

• Belovsky (Беловский)
• Chebulinsky (Чебулинский)
• Guryevsky (Гурьевский)
• Izhmorsky (Ижморский)
• Kemerovsky (Кемеровский)
• Krapivinsky (Крапивинский)
• Leninsk-Kuznetsky (Ленинск-Кузнецкий)
• Mariinsky (Мариинский)
• Mezhdurechensky (Междуреченский)
• Novokuznetsky (Новокузнецкий)
• Prokopyevsky (Прокопьевский)
• Promyshlennovsky (Промышленновский)
• Tashtagolsky (Таштагольский)
• Tisulsky (Тисульский)
• Topkinsky (Топкинский)
• Tyazhinsky (Тяжинский)
• Yashkinsky (Яшкинский)
• Yaysky (Яйский)
• Yurginsky (Юргинский)

External links

• Official website of Kemerovo Oblast government (in Russian)