The Volga Federal District (VFD) is an administrative-territorial formation established by decree of the President of the Russian Federation on 13 May 2000. It comprises 14 constituent entities of the Russian Federation, situated on the Volga or closely tied to its basin historically and economically.
Within the Volga Federal District three groups of regions can be distinguished: the Volga-Vyatka group, the Middle Volga group, and the Western Urals group.
The Plenipotentiary Representative of the President of the Russian Federation is the broad-profile administrator Mikhail Babich.
The essence of the phenomenon
The main integrating factor uniting all the regions of the Volga area is the Volga, the largest in Europe.
The settlement of the area, its development, and the growth of its economy were directly tied to the use of this waterway (which, already in the Soviet period, gained outlets to the Sea of Azov, the Black Sea, the Baltic and the White Sea, in addition to its earlier route to the Caspian). Until recently, during the summer navigation season, the Volga carried 40% of all freight traffic in the European part of the USSR.
Today the Volga Federal District serves as a fine career springboard for a Systematic Approach administrator: the share of completely empty settlements in the VFD is 8%, and the share of settlements with a population of 0 to 10 people is 24%. [1]
Main characteristics of the district
- The Volga Federal District comprises 6 republics, 8 oblasts, and one autonomous okrug.
- The area of the VFD is 1,038 thousand sq. km. The district accounts for 6.08 % of the territory of the Russian Federation.
- The population of the VFD is 32 million people, about 21.3 % of Russia's population.
- Urban dwellers form the bulk of the population. In Samara Oblast this figure exceeds 80 %, somewhat higher than the national average (roughly 73 %).
- The VFD's share of industrial production in Russia's economy is 23.9 % — the highest figure of any district (the Central Federal District ranks second).
- The Volga Federal District's share of the total output of agricultural production among all Russian producers in the second quarter of 2005 was 24.7 %.
- Investment in the Volga Federal District accounts for 15.3 % of all investment in Russia.
Background
From the late 19th century the water barrier began to be crossed by railways and roads. The waterway "vertical" (which is paralleled by routes along the riverbank) was supplemented by "horizontals" linking the central regions of Russia, the Caucasus, and Ukraine with the Urals and Siberia.
The Volga is the main irrigation system for the lands beyond the Volga, or Trans-Volga (the region harvests 35% of Russia's grain). The river's waters are home to 40 species of commercial fish.
Another integrating factor is the region's rich hydrocarbon resources. The district lies within the Volga-Urals oil-and-gas province (and in 1947 Moscow received its first gas from Saratov). The Volga Federal District has been called the "second Baku." The region has a clearly defined oil specialization. Besides its vast oil and gas reserves, it holds unique deposits of potash salts (about 96% of all explored Russian reserves), large phosphorite resources (60%), as well as zinc, copper, cement raw materials, silver, gold, and mineral waters.
Today the region is a monopolist in the production and processing of potash salts. This output is in enormous demand on the international market. Today about 80% of Russian fertilizers go to export.
The Volga region hosts the country's largest complex of machine-building enterprises, partly tied to the defense industry. It is home to well-known, powerful production associations in the automotive and aerospace industries. Chemical and petrochemical industries developed here on the basis of local raw materials.
Interesting facts
- The Volga Federal District is often confused with Volga Region), but the two are different concepts: part of the Lower Volga belongs to the Southern Federal District, the Upper Volga to the Central Federal District, while the Volga Federal District itself includes constituent entities located geographically in the Urals (Bashkortostan, Perm Krai, Orenburg Oblast) and in Central Russia (Mordovia, Penza Oblast).
- Third place in the Russian Federation by number of "dead" villages (2012) [2] (archive) . In total the VFD has 34,042 settlements; 2,706 of them have no residents at all, 3,375 have up to six residents, and 2,021 have between six and ten. Thus the share of completely empty settlements in the VFD is 8%, and the share of settlements with a population of 0 to 10 people is 24%. In Nizhny Novgorod Region, 37% of settlements have from 0 to 10 residents.