Murmansk Oblast ( , Murmanskaya oblast) is a federal subject of Russia (an oblast), located in the north-western part of Russia. Its administrative center is the city of Murmansk.

Geography

Geographically it is located mainly on the Kola Peninsula, and it is a part of the larger Lapland region that spans over four countries. Murmansk Oblast borders Karelia, Finnmark County in Norway and Lapland Province in Finland. Norrbotten County in Sweden is also located nearby(300 km).

Time zone

Murmansk Oblast is located in the Moscow Time Zone (MSK/MSD). UTC offset is +0300 (MSK)/+0400 (MSD).

Administrative divisions

Demographics

As of the 2002 Census, 92.2% of the oblast's population live in urban areas. The most populous city is the Oblast's administrative center, Murmansk, with 336,137 inhabitants. Other large cities and towns include Severomorsk, Apatity, Kandalaksha, Monchegorsk, and Kirovsk.

According to the (2002 Census), the ethnic composition of the oblast was as follows:

• Russians: 85.2%
• Ukrainians: 6.4%
• Belarusians: 2.3%
• Tatars: 0.9%
• Azeris: 0.5%
• Chuvash: 0.3%
• Mordvins: 0.3%
• Karelians: 0.3%
• Komi: 0.2%
• Moldavians: 0.2%
• Armenians: 0.2%
• Saami: 0.2%
• other groups, none of which accounts for more than 0.2% of the population
• did not state ethnicity: 1.2%

Vital statistics in 2007

• Birth rate: 10.18 per 1000 (average for Russia is 11.30)
• Death rate: 11.68 per 1000
• Net migration: -5.6 per 1000
• NGR: -0.15% per annum
• PGR: -0.71% per annum

Vital statistics for 2008

• Births: 9,136
• Deaths: 10,173

Economy

The Murmansk Oblast is very rich in natural resources and has deposits of over 700 minerals. The main industries of the region are in the sphere of raw material extraction and basic processing. The largest industries are metallurgy (36,6%), electric power-production (22,9%) and food-industry, including fishing (13,7%). The icefree port of Murmansk plays an important role in marine transportation in Russia, and the oblast has a 41% share of the total Russian marine transport market. The fishing industry is among the most profitable in the region, supplying 16% of Russia's total fish production. Murmansk is key base for three fishing fleets, including Russia's largest, Murmansk Trawl Fleet.

The economy of the region is export-oriented. Main export items are nickel products, apatite concentrate, copper and copper products, aluminium and ferrous metals. The Murmansk Region produces almost 100 percent of Russia's apatite concentrate (3.7 million tons in 1998), 43 percent of nickel, 15 percent of copper, 12 percent of iron ore and iron ore concentrate (17.7 million and 6.4 million tons in 1998), and 40 percent of cobalt.

The largest companies of the region - constituting 90% of the oblast's production - are Pechenganickel, Olcon, the Kola Nuclear Power Plant, Sevrybkholodflot, Murmanrybprom, Murmansk Trawl Fleet and Murmansk Shipping Company.

Large oil and gas resources have been discovered on the shelf of the Barents sea, including the massive Shtokman field - one of the world's largest gas fields with estimated reserves of 3.8 trillion cubic meters. Prospective oil fields could potentially yield up to 40 million tons in the next 10-15 years. However, the development of the oil and gas resources will require considerable investment.

In 2006, the Murmansk Oblast's gross regional product was 141.9 billion rubles, which amounts to about 0.4% of the Russian GDP. Unemployment in 2006 was 3,4%. GRP pro capita in 2007 was 225 044 rubles.

Law and Government

See also

• Barents Region

References

External links

• Info server of Murmansk region
• News Site of Murmansk Oblast