Rostov Oblast


Rostov Oblast is a federal subject of Russia, located in the Southern Federal District. The oblast has an area of and a population of 4,277,976, making it the sixth most populous federal subject in Russia. Its administrative center is the city of Rostov-on-Don, which also became the administrative center of the Southern Federal District in 2002.

Geography

Rostov Oblast borders Ukraine and also Volgograd and Voronezh Oblasts in the north, Krasnodar and Stavropol Krais in the south, and the Republic of Kalmykia in the east. The Rostov oblast is located in the Pontic-Caspian steppe.
It is within the Russian Southern Federal District.

Rivers and lakes

The Don River, one of Europe's largest rivers, flows through the oblast for part of its course. Lakes cover only 0.4% of the oblast's area.

Administrative divisions

It was formed in 1937 out of the Azov-Black Sea Krai.

Demographics

Population:
;Vital statistics for 2012
2009 - 1.38 | 2010 - 1.38 | 2011 - 1.39 | 2012 - 1.51 | 2013 - 1.52 | 2014 - 1.61 | 2015 - 1.63 | 2016 - 1.60
Ethnic groups: Residents identified themselves as belonging to 157 different ethnic groups, including twenty-seven of more than two thousand persons each. The most important ethnicities are the 3,795,607 Russians ; the 77,802 Ukrainians ; the 110,727 Armenians. Other important groups are the 35,902 Turks ; 16,493 Belarusians ); 13,948 Tatars ; 17,961 Azerbaijanis ; 11,449 Chechens ; 16,657 Romani ; 11,597 Koreans ; 8,296 Georgians, and 2,040 Assyrians. There were also 76,498 people belonging to other ethno-cultural groupings. 76,735 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.

Religion

According to a 2012 survey 49.5% of the population of Rostov Oblast adheres to the Russian Orthodox Church, 6% are unaffiliated generic Christians, 1% are either Orthodox Christian believers who don't belong to church or are members of other Orthodox bodies, 1% are Muslims, and 1% are adherents of the Slavic native faith movement. In addition, 26% of the population declares to be "spiritual but not religious", 12% is atheist, and 3.5% follows other religions or did not give an answer to the question.
The Ascension Cathedral is the largest Russian Orthodox church in Novocherkassk, Rostov Oblast, Russia. It used to be one of the largest churches of the Russian Empire and the main church of the Don Host Province.
The five-domed building, which stands 75 meters tall, is a notable example of the Russian Neo-Byzantine architecture. It was erected between 1891 and 1904 on the site of an earlier church. The first church on the site was built to Luigi Rusca's designs. It collapsed in 1846. A replacement church collapsed 17 years later.
Church of the Intercession of the Holy Virgin ― one of the oldest churches in Rostov-on-Don. For a considerable period of time Intercession Church served as the principal church not only for the fortress of St. Dimitry of Rostov, but also for people of local settlements. Since the end of the 18th century Church of Intercession had been considered to be a cathedral. The status changed in 1822, when Church of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary on the decree of the Holy Synod was declared cathedral.

Attractions

The region is 8057 of objects of archaeological heritage of Federal importance. These include lower-Gnilovskaya a settlement and a necropolis, fragments of the walls of the Genoese fortress of the 14th century, the archaeological Museum-reserve "Tanais", many burial Mounds and necropolises.
Since 2002, in the Rostov region are the country's only racing on tractors "bison-Track-Show". In a unique competition brings together machine operators of agricultural enterprises of Russia and abroad. In the past the race on tractors have become a real sports holiday of workers of agriculture.

Theatres

The theater has two stages as well as a music and entertainment center, and hosts about 300 performances and concerts annually, as well as various forums and festivals. Its repertoire encompasses both musical traditions, as well as experiments in the field of contemporary art.

In Rostov-on-Don

Major industries of Rostov Oblast are agriculture, agricultural industry, food processing, heavy industry, coal and automobile manufacture.
The largest companies in the region include Novoshakhtinsk Petrochemical Plant, Gloria Jeans Corp., Rostvertol, Oil-extracting factory "Yug Rusi", North Caucasian Railway.

Culture