Chita Oblast
Chita Oblast () (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
Agin-Buryat Autonomous Okrug.
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.
Time zone
Chita Oblast is located in the
Yakutsk Time Zone (YAKT/YAKST).
UTC offset is +0900 (YAKT)/+1000 (YAKST).
