Presentation of Krasnodar
Krasnodar
The region of Krasnodar (Krasnodar Krai) or “the Kuban”, located 1,500 kilometers south of Moscow and one
of Russia's southernmost regions, is home to over 5 million people, of which 54.2 percent live in urban areas.
Krasnodar city, capital of the region, is located on the Kuban River and was founded in 1793 as a settlement of
Kuban Cossacks.
The region extends to 75,500 square kilometers - a little over 4% of the total
landmass of the Russian Federation - and contains transportation infrastructure vital to Russian and Caspian Basin
energy exports.
The area is above average for European Russian regions and represents over 1.5% of the portion of national landmass
considered most suitable for human habitation.
The neighboring regions are Turkey (across the Black Sea) to the South and Rostov Oblast in the North, Ukraine
(across the Azov Sea) to the West,
Stavropol Krai to the East and Georgia to the Southeast.
Except the capital Krasnodar, other well-known cities are
Novorossiysk,
Sochi and
Anapa.
Political Structure
The highest executive body is the Administration of Krasnodar Krai
(the russian word "krai" can be translated into "region" in english).
The Administration of Krasnodar Krai is formed to support the Governor as the highest official and to
exercise the state powers he entrusts to it.
The Legislative Assembly is the highest legislative body,
and adopts the Laws of Krasnodar Region obligatory for execution in the territory.
The Administration of Krasnodar Krai and the Legislative Assembly is elected for the term of 5 years.
The governor of Krasnodar krai is for the present Alexander Nikolayevich Tkachev, elected on March 14 2004.
The Mayor of Krasnodar Town is Vladimir Lazarevich Yevlanov.
Economy
The economic base has been founded on agriculture and transport. It remains the
“breadbasket” of the nation and is a southern gateway to the world, based on its ice-free ports.
Transportation routes crossing the region connect Russia and Central Asia to the Mediterranean Sea,
Western and Central Europe, the Middle East and Africa.
Taman Peninsula is a promising area for
oil and gas
extraction and the region also has several natural mineral springs and enjoys a near- Mediterranean climate, which make the area interesting in terms
of tourism industri.
Other minerals produced here include salt, manganese ores, hard coking
coal, tin, nickel, copper ores, volcanic muds, cement marl and refractory clays.
Population
The population of Krasnodar region are Russians (85.1%), Armenians (5%), and some other groups are Ukrainians, Greeks,
Meskhetian Turks,
Crimean Tatars, Germans.
A sizeable group of people in Krasnodar region are the Adyges, one
of the oldest inhabitants of the Northwest Caucasus.
Cossacks make up an estimated one-fifth of the population and live mainly in Bryukhovetsky, Slavyansky and Kushchevsky,
districts and in the vicinity of Novorossiysk and Krasnodar.
In terms of population the Krasnodar region is the fourth largest region in the Russian Federation, after Moscow city, Moscow Oblast and St. Petersburg.
History
The first settlement appeared here early, Krasnodar lands has been knowned for centuries and these lands were always of great interest.
The Scythians, the Taman dolmens, the
petroglyphs of Makhoshkhush, the catacomb culture of the Caucasian hills, have roots in this region.
The ancient Greeks and Sinds built the Bosporus kingdom
here during the 6th and 5th centuries B.C.
The Bosporus state was later followed by the old Russian principality of
Tmutarakan and the
Khazar Kaganate.
In the Middle Ages the
Republic of Genoa established colonies in Krasnodar region and during the Mongol-Tatar era the territory was invaded by the
Golden Horde.
In 1735 the construction of the Caucasian fortification line began. The relations between the people of the Kuban and the
Ottoman Empire
became
strained, leading to
war between Russia and Turkey for control of the Black Sea regions.
Field Marshal Aleksandr Suvorov arrived
in the Kuban on January 1778, and under his leadership
5 large fortresses and 20 redoubts were built on the bank of the Kuban River.
A Cossack delegation led by Anton Golovaty went to St. Petersburg on February 1792 to request permission to resettle in the Kuban (Krasnodar Region). After obtaining a
charter, Head Ataman (Cossack commander) Zachar Chepiga sent a Black Sea detachment of 3847 men from Bug to Taman.
In the year of 1793, began the construction of the city of Ekaterinodar
as the administrative center of the Black Sea Cossack forces near the fortification.
Climate
The northern two-thirds of Krasnodar region lies in Russia's fertile Black
Earth zone with continental climate
patterns and is well known for its agricultural production.
The southern, seaward third is the western extremity of the Caucasus
range, lying within the European-Mediterranean Montane Mixed Forests ecoregion. The climate is Mediterranean or, in the south-east,
subtropical.
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