Voronezh Oblast

Lore & Background

The oblast was established on 13 June 1934. On 21 May 1998 Voronezh alongside Amur, Ivanovo, Kostroma Oblast, and the Mari El Republic signed a power-sharing agreement with the federal government, granting it autonomy. This agreement would be abolished on 22 February 2002. Kostyonki, which is located within the Voronezh Oblast, is known for high concentration of cultural remains of anatomically modern humans from the beginning of the Upper Paleolithic era. The first and oldest camp rights in Europe. A layer of Campanian volcanic ash from about 40,000 years ago has been found above some of the finds, showing that 'unknown humans' inhabited the site before this. The earliest directly dated human remains from this site are dated to 32,600 ± 1,100 14C years and consist of tibia and fibula, with traits classifying the bones to European early modern humans. In 2009, DNA was extracted from the remains of a male hunter-gatherer who lived 40,000 years BP and died aged 20–25. His maternal lineage was found to be U2. He was buried in an oval pit in a crouched position and covered with red ochre.

Reader's Guide

Voronezh Oblast borders internally with Belgorod Oblast, Kursk Oblast, Lipetsk Oblast, Tambov Oblast, Saratov Oblast, Volgograd Oblast and Rostov Oblast and internationally with Luhansk Oblast in Ukraine. The area of the region is 52,400 km2. The main river is the Don. The climate is temperate continental, with average January temperatures of -4.5 °C, and average July temperatures of +25 to +30 °C. Average annual temperature varies from +5 °C in the north to +6.5 °C in the south. Precipitation varies from 600 mm in the northwest to 450 mm in the southeast. The structure of Voronezh Oblast is industrial-agrarian. Industry specialization is the food industry (27%), engineering and metalworking (23%), and power (18%). Agriculture includes sunflowers, grain crops, dairy and beef cattle, pigs, and sugar beets.

Did You Know?

• The oblast has 738 lakes and ponds.
• Voronezh Oblast ranked first in Russia in 2014 for gross harvest of potatoes.
• The largest companies include Sozvezdie, Molvest, Voronezhsintezkauchuk, and the Russian branch of COFCO Group.
• According to a 2012 survey, 62% of the population adheres to the Russian Orthodox Church.