Social and natural resources

History

People have been living in the South Urals since ancient times. Numerous dwelling sites of Stone Age man and settlements from Bronze and Iron Ages were discovered here. A paleolithic picture gallery has been established in the world-famous Ignatiev Cave. It has paintings made by primeval man more than 14,000 years ago.
The discovery of the "Land of Cities" – about 20 monuments of proto-urban civilisation – in the Chelyabinsk Oblast has become a world sensation. Scientists believe it to be the remains of one of the most ancient civilisations on our planet. It developed in the 17th-16th centuries B.C. One of the "cities", Arkaim, is the same age as the Pyramids. This reserve museum of nature and landscape, and history and archaeology is currently open to tourists.

The city of Arkaim. Aerial view

In the ancient and early medieval time, the Scythians and Sarmatians roamed here. Within the oblast, there is a lot of burial hills where tribal chieftains were buried. Time and again, archeologists find untouched burial grounds with golden adornments and weapons.
In the 18th century these lands were retained by the Russian Empire. Chelyabinsk, Verkhneuralsk, and Troitsk were the first Russian cities within the present day Oblast. The existing boundaries of the Chelyabinsk Oblast were established by the middle of the 20th century.

Geography, natural resources

The south-eastern part of the Oblast borders on Kazakhstan (the length of the frontier zone is 730 kilometres).The natural landscape of the Oblast is diverse: it has mountains, forests, forest steppes, and steppes. It has many rivers, the Ural and the Miass being the main ones. There are 3,170 lakes within the region. Many of them are saline, rich in organic and mineral muds and alkaline waters. Due to this, the health resort system is well-developed.

The South Urals are famous for their beautiful and diverse nature

The Chelyabinsk Oblast has significant reserves of natural resources. Of utmost significance are the deposits of iron and copper-zinc ores, gold, refractory raw material, talcum, graphite, and quartz. Iron ores are concentrated in 24 proven deposits with a total reserve of 832 million tons. The Oblast is rich in high-quality marble; its proven reserves amount to more than 10 million cubic metres. In several districts, gems and ornamental stones can be found.

Cities and population

In terms of the population (3.5 million), the Chelyabinsk Oblast ranks 9th in Russia. In terms of the population density – 39.7 per square metre – the Oblast ranks 1st amongst the Urals regions. The economically active population is 1,765 thousand people. Over 80% of the population live in cities. The biggest cities are: Chelyabinsk with a population of 1.1 million; Magnitogorsk, 409 thousand; Zlatoust, 191 thousand; and Miass, 167 thousand.

Science

There are 34 higher education establishments in the Chelyabinsk Oblast; the most outstanding ones are the South Urals and Chelyabinsk state universities, agricultural engineering and pedagogical universities, a medical academy, and a physical training academy. 40 entities are involved with R&D, design and engineering activities in the Oblast. The total number of students in the higher educational establishments is 171,000.