Chita Oblast
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Chita Oblast (Russian: ) (431,500 km², pop. 1,155,346 as of 2002 All-Russian Population Census) is a federal subject of Russia (an oblast) in south-east Siberia. Its administrative center is the city of Chita. Its governor is Ravil Geniatullin. It has extensive international borders with China (998 km) and Mongolia (868 km) and internal borders with Irkutsk and Amur oblasts, and the republics of Buryatia and Sakha (Yakutia). It contains the autonomous district of Aga Buryatia.
The territory that makes up today's Chita Oblast was first explored by Cossacks led by Pyotr Beketov in 1653. People began to move into and develop the area in order to strengthen Russia's border with China and Mongolia, extract mineral resources, and build the Trans-Siberian railway. In 1920, Chita became the capital of the Far East Republic, which merged with the Russian Federation in November 1922, a month before the Soviet Union was constituted.
The oblast is rich in ferrous, non-ferrous, rare, and precious metals, coal, charcoal, and mineral waters. Forests cover about 60% of its territory. As a result, the oblast's main industries are metallurgy, fuel, and timber. It also has advanced light and food industries. Local agriculture focuses on cattle, sheep, and reindeer breeding.
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