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Magadan Oblast

Magadan Oblast
Магаданская область (Russian)
—  Oblast  —

Flag

Coat of arms
Anthem: None
Coordinates: 62°54′N 153°42′E / 62.900°N 153.700°E / 62.900; 153.700Coordinates: 62°54′N 153°42′E / 62.900°N 153.700°E / 62.900; 153.700
Political status
Country Russia
Federal district Far Eastern
Economic region Far Eastern
Established December 3, 1953
Administrative center Magadan
Government (as of June 2014)
 • Acting Governor Vladimir Pechyony
 • Legislature Oblast Duma
Statistics
Area (as of the 2002 Census)
 • Total 461,400 km2 (178,100 sq mi)
Area rank 11th
Population (2010 Census)
 • Total 156,996
 • Rank 81st
 • Density 0.34/km2 (0.88/sq mi)
 • Urban 95.4%
 • Rural 4.6%
Population (January 2014 est.)
 • Total 150,312
Time zone(s) MAGT (UTC+11:00)
ISO 3166-2 RU-MAG
License plates 49
Official languages Russian
Official website

Magadan Oblast (Russian: Магаданская область, tr. Magadanskaya oblast; IPA: [məgɐˈdanskəjə ˈobləsʲtʲ]) is a federal subject of Russia (an oblast) in the Far Eastern Federal District. It borders Chukotka Autonomous Okrug in the north, Kamchatka Krai in the east, Khabarovsk Krai in the south and the Sakha Republic in the west. Its administrative center is the city of Magadan. Population: 156,996 (2010 Census).

Magadan Oblast was established on December 3, 1953 in what had popularly been known as Kolyma. As a result of considerable raw resources, especially gold, silver, tin, and tungsten deposits, mining activities and road building had been developed during the Stalin era in the 1930s and 1940s under the coordination of Dalstroy and its forced labor camps. Upon Stalin's death, Dalstroy was disbanded and the regional administration took over many of its former responsibilities.

From then on, paid labor replaced most of the convict-based manpower, attracted by the region's rapid economic expansion, especially the gold-mining interests.

The indigenous peoples of the region, including the Evens, Koryaks, Yupiks, Chukchis, Orochs, Chuvans and Itelmens, who had traditionally lived from fishing along the Sea of Okhotsk coast or from reindeer herding in the River Kolyma valley, suffered from the industrialization of the area but were able to rely on institutional support until 1987 when Perestroika started to cause many of the older structures to close. As a result, many of those who can no longer rely on traditional sources of income are now unemployed.


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