The Rostov region (Rostovskaya oblast) is a federal subject of Russia, which is located in the Southern Federal District. The region has land and water borders with the following regions: Donetsk and Lugansk Regions of Ukraine in the west and northwest (total length of the border is 660 kilometers), Voronezh and Volgograd Regions in the north and northeast, the Republic of Kalmykiya in the east and southeast, and Stavropol and Krasnodar Regions in the south. Rostov Region’s southwest section is washed by the Taganrog Bay of the Azov Sea, having the sea state border with Ukraine. The region stands out among other large territorial units of the Russian Federation due to its high scientific, industrial, resource and financial potential.
Overview
– The Rostov region was established on September 13, 1937.
O Region territory: 100.8 thousand km2
O Population: 4303.5 thousand people.
O Administrative center: Rostov-on-Don, which also became the administrative center of the Southern Federal District in 2002.
O Distance from Rostov-on-Don to Moscow: 1226 km
O Urban population: 66.7%
O Number of historical and architectural monuments: over 5,000
Time zone
The Rostov region is located in the Moscow Time Zone (MSK/MSD). UTC offset is +3:00 (MSK)/+4:00 (MSD).
Climate
TThe region enjoys a pleasant mildly continental climate. The average long-term temperature in January is -7°C, in July +23°C. The amount of sunlight is about 2050-2150 hours per year. The average annual precipitation is 424 mm. High temperatures in summer and a long growing period provide for higher than average harvests of wheat, melons and gourds, horticultural crops and grapes.
Natural resources
Fuel resources. Among the natural resources, the most important place is occupied by fuel resources. Almost the entire central portion of the region is rich in coal; coal resources are concentrated in 11 coal-mining
areas. Due to high quality of the coal, the area’s most famous coal fields are in the Eastern Donbass. About 90% of the coal resources here are anthracites containing the best caloric value in the world.
A considerable part of the region is rich in oil and gas. The prospected gas resources are 36.85 billion cubic meters and the preliminarily estimated resource is 22.48 billion cubic meters. The same parameters for oil are 3.3 million and 2.3 million tons, respectively. There are oil fields in Neklinovsky and Tarasovsky districts. At the same time, the prospected resources of hydrocarbon materials are only 18.8%. Gas is mostly of methane composition, which determines its industrial value.
Chemical minerals. The region contains chemical minerals. The most valuable are phosphorites.
Certain peculiarities of the geological structure demonstrate the possibility of considerable expansion of industrially valuable mineral ore products. These peculiarities are as follows: the existing fields of non-ferrous metals (nickel, zirconium), which are not properly studied yet; indications and direct signs of the presence of noble metals; mercury; and diamonds.
Resources for construction industry. The following resources have a lot of industrial value: refractory clays and flux limestones. The Rostov region possesses unique reserves of non-ore materials used in the construction industry. There is a large field of carbonate strata whose reserve is 12 billion tons. The carbonate strata are the main components in cement production.
The region has 150 fields of different clays used for brick and tile production.
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