Tomsk Oblast

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Overview

Status: Constituent entity of the Russian Federation, part of the Siberian Federal District

Date of foundation: 1944

Governor of Tomsk Oblast: Victor Kress (since 1991)

Chairman of the Legislative Duma of Tomsk Oblast: Oksana Kozlovskaya (since 2011)

Oblast center: Tomsk (founded in 1604) – 56º30'N 84º58'E; population over 500,000 people; distance to Moscow by rail 3,500 km

Head of Tomsk City Administration (Mayor): Nikolay Nikolaychuk (since 2007)

Chairman of the Tomsk City Duma: Sergey Ilyinykh (since 2010)

Administrative division: Tomsk Oblast consists of 4 urban districts (Tomsk, Strezhevoy, Kedrovy, Seversk) 16 municipal entities (districts) including 3 urban and 117 rural settlements, 580 villages

Geography and nature
Geographical position: Tomsk Oblast is situated in the geographical center of Siberia – in the south-east of the West Siberian Plain. It borders Kemerovo and Novosibirsk Oblasts in the south, Omsk Oblast in the southwest, Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug in the west, northwest, and north, and Krasnoyarsk Krai in the northeast and east.

Area: 314,400 km²

Climate: Tomsk Oblast almost entirely lies within the taiga zone. It has moderately continental cyclic climate with large diurnal and annual temperature ranges and a longer winter season. Mean annual temperature is +1.75°C, average temperature in July is +19.4°C, average temperature in January is -15.9°C. The frost-free season lasts 100-105 days. Mean annual precipitation is 435 mm.

There are significant differences in the weather conditions between the north and the south of Tomsk Oblast due to a significant distance between its northern and southern boundaries – 600 km. The climate in the north of Tomsk Oblast is more severe with longer winters.

The highest point is 274 m above sea level

The lowest point is 34 m above sea level

The land is mainly swamps. The Ob River flows from southeast to northwest and divides Tomsk Oblast into two almost equal parts. The highlands on the right bank are less wet and more densely populated. River valleys occupy 20% of the territory of Tomsk Oblast. The three main biomes are middle taiga, southern taiga, and forest steppe.

Forest estate land accounts for 85% of the land of Tomsk Oblast. The total woodland area is 26,722,000 hectares. Softwood species cover the area of 10,105,600 hectares. The total standing volume is 2,602.8 million m3. Forests cover 60% of the territory of Tomsk Oblast. Commercial forests occupy most of the forested area of the region. Valuable softwood species such as Siberian pine (Pinus sibirica), Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris), spruce, fir, and larch account for a half of the commercial forest stand.

Tomsk Oblast is rich in mineral deposits and raw materials. About half of the oil and gas reserves are proven. Tomsk Oblast has the second largest peat reserves in Russia. There are 12 discovered deposits of metallic ore: iron, titanium, zirconium, scandium, kaolin, copper, bauxite, zinc, etc. The probable reserves of the Bakcharskoye iron ore deposit are 110 billion tons. Potential hydrocarbons in place are 5.47 billion tons, peat – 28.7 billion tons. There are deposits of high-melting clay, glass sand, ilmenite and zircon sand, fresh groundwater, thermal water, and mineral water. There are occurrences of gold, platinum, titanium, and zirconium.

Population: Population as of January 1, 2011 is 1,046,700 people (0,7% of the population of Russia). Urban population accounts for 69%. There are over 80 nationalities, including ethnic minorities of Chulyms and Kets which number less than 100 people.

Tomsk Oblast’s population density is 3 people per 1 km².

Transport

Freight transportation within the region is facilitated by road, air, rail, and water networks.

Air transportation services in Tomsk Oblast are provided by local air carriers (OOO Tomsk Avia Airlines) and the national airlines. In spring 2010, the Russian Government issued an order to open the Tomsk airport for international flights and establish there an air cargo and passenger multi-way cross border check point for the period of functioning of the Tomsk SEZ. After the rebuild and modernization, the Tomsk airport will meet the highest global standards of quality, safety and flight navigation (the first phase of the project will be completed in 2013, the second in 2020).

Tomsk Oblast has almost 5,000 km of navigable inland waterways (the Ob River and its feeders). Water transport serves over a half of 700 settlements in Tomsk Oblast. Freight is mainly delivered by water to the north of the region. Water transport is used to barge timber, minerals, and construction materials.

The region has 4,204 km of paved public roads and a road density of 20 km per 1000 km2. There is a plan to build a number of new international and interregional road routes, including the Northern Highway (Perm – Ivdel – Khanty-Mansiysk – Tomsk) in 2010-2030. New routes will be included in the federal road network in 2016-2030 to integrate the road networks of individual regions into a single North-West – Siberia transport system of Russia (St. Petersburg – Kotlas – Syktyvkar – Perm    – Khanty-Mansiysk – Tomsk).

Today, the total length of the railways in Tomsk Oblast is 346 km. The main trunk line is Bely Yar – Tomsk – Taiga. Trains leave Tomsk in six directions. There are direct rail links to five end stations – from Adler to Vladivostok. In 2015, the North Siberian Railway routing from Nizhnevartovsk to Bely Yar and from Bely Yar to Lesosibirsk will be designed under the federal target program.

From November till March ice (winter) roads are used to deliver cargos to the north of the region.

Time zone: Moscow +3 hrs, UTC/GMT +6 hrs

Dialing code: +7 382 2 (** ** **).

Telecommunications

The public switched telephone network in Tomsk Oblast is 95% digital. All cities and district centers are connected to a network of modern fiber optic lines, and Strezhevoy is connected with the Aleksandrovo village via a digital radio relay line.
There are over 200 communication service providers in Tomsk Oblast, including five mobile network operators: Megafon, Vympelkom, MTS, Kemerovo Mobile Communications (TELE2) (GSM), and Rostelekom (IMT-MC-450).

Mains voltage: 220 V, 50 Hz.

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