Samara Oblast

Samara Oblast (Russian: Сама́рская о́бласть, tr. Samarskaya oblast; IPA: [sɐˈmarskəjə ˈobləsʲtʲ]) is a federal subject of Russia (an oblast). Its administrative center is the city of Samara. Population: 3,215,532 (2010 Census).

In 1936â€"1990, it was known as Kuybyshev Oblast (Russian: Ку́йбышевская о́бласть, tr. Kuybyshevskaya Oblast; IPA: [ˈkujbɨʂɨfskÉ™jÉ™ ˈoblÉ™stʲ]), after the Soviet name of Samara (Kuybyshev).

Administrative divisions

Demographics

Population: 3,215,532 (2010 Census); 3,239,737 (2002 Census); 3,265,586 (1989 Census).

Ethnic groups: According to the 2010 Census, the ethnic makeup of the region was:

• 2,645,124 Russians (85.6%)
• 126,124 Tatars (4.1%)
• 84,105 Chuvash (2.7%)
• 65,447 Mordvins (2.1%)
• 42,169 Ukrainians (1.4%)
• 22,981 Armenians (0.7%)
• 123,691 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.

• Births (2008): 36,439 (11.5 per 1000)
• Deaths (2008): 48,593 (15.3 per 1000)

Vital statistics for 2012

• Births: 38 952 (12.1 per 1000)
• Deaths: 44 593 (13.9 per 1000)

• Total fertility rate:

2009 - 1.42 | 2010 - 1.44 | 2011 - 1.44 | 2012 - 1.54 | 2013 - 1.59 | 2014 - 1.65(e)

Economy

In 1997, Samara Oblast became one of the few regions to receive the approval of the President of Russia to implement external bonded loans (Presidential decree № 1212, dated 12.10.1997 “On Creating Conditions to Conduct Loans Operations on the Internal and External Capital Markets”).

Politics

During the Soviet period, the high authority in the oblast was shared between three persons: The first secretary of the Samara CPSU Committee (who in reality had the biggest authority), the chairman of the oblast Soviet (legislative power), and the Chairman of the oblast Executive Committee (executive power). Since 1991, CPSU lost all the power, and the head of the Oblast administration, and eventually the governor was appointed/elected alongside elected regional parliament.

The Charter of Samara Oblast is the fundamental law of the region. The Legislative Assembly of Samara Oblast is the province's standing legislative (representative) body. The Legislative Assembly exercises its authority by passing laws, resolutions, and other legal acts and by supervising the implementation and observance of the laws and other legal acts passed by it. The highest executive body is the Oblast Government, which includes territorial executive bodies such as district administrations, committees, and commissions that facilitate development and run the day to day matters of the province. The Oblast administration supports the activities of the Governor who is the highest official and acts as guarantor of the observance of the oblast Charter in accordance with the Constitution of Russia.

Governors:

• Konstantin Titov (1991â€"2007)
• Vladimir Artyakov (2007-2012)
• Nikolay Merkushkin (Acting) (since 2012)

Religion

According to a 2012 official survey 35% of the population of Samara Oblast adheres to the Russian Orthodox Church, 7% are unaffiliated generic Christians, 1% adheres to other Orthodox Churches, 3% are Muslims, and 1% of the population adheres to Rodnovery (Slavic Neopaganism). In addition, 30% of the population deems itself to be "spiritual but not religious", 13% is atheist, and a further 10% follows other religions or did not give an answer to the question.

Sister relations

• GyÅ'r-Moson-Sopron County, Hungary

References

External links

• Media related to Samara Oblast at Wikimedia Commons
• (English) Official website of Samara Oblast
• PolitSamara - newspaper
• (English) Central Eurasian Information Resource: Images of Samara Oblast - University of Washington Digital Collection