Kemerovo Region
Founded: 1943
Governor: Aman-geldy Moldagazyevich Tuleyev
Federation Council representatives: Sergei Shatyrov (2001 to 2015) and Svetlana Orlova (2001 to 2013)
Population: 2,820,636 (2010 census)
Capital: Kemerovo (population 520,600), 3,482 km from Moscow
Other major cities: Novokuznetsk (567,700), Prokopievsk (211,000)
Federal district: Siberian
Economic region: West Siberia
Time zone: Moscow +4, GMT +7, EST +12
Geography: Kemerovo, also known as the Kuzbass is located in Western Siberia. The region shares a border with the Tomsk and Novosibirsk regions, Altai and Krasnoyarsk territories, the Altai Republic, and the Republic of Khakassia. The largest river system in this basin is the Tom River and its tributaries. The region is also ringed by mountains, including the Salair Ridge, the Abakan Range and the Kuznetsky Alatau Mountains.
Kemerovo Region is the best studied area of Siberia in the geological sense. The names "Kemerovo Region" and "Kuzbass" are identified with the Kuznetsk Coal Basin, one of the largest in the world. Hard coal predominates in the basin; coking coal accounts for half of its explored reserves. The western part of the Kansk-Achinsk brown coal basin is located in the northeastern part of the region. Gornaya Shoriya, Kuznetsky Alatau, and Salair have rich deposits of iron, copper, and polymetal ores, urtite-nepheline, bauxite, and phosphorite. The mountainous surroundings of the Kuzbass also contain gold placers. Deposits of siderite ores that can be strip-mined have been discovered in the northeastern part of the region. A native zeolite deposit is being developed in the Saltymakov Range.
The region also has abundant reserves of non-ore economic minerals such as sand-gravel mix, building sand, clay shale for making expanded clay aggregate, building stone, diabase for stone casting, raw materials for rock wool, marble, refractory clay, foundry sand, vermiculite, asbestos, talc, tremolite, and basalt.
Urban population: 87%, Rural population: 13%
Ethnic make-up: more than 117 different nationalities including Russians, Tatars, Chuvash, Teleuts and Shors
Economy: Although the region has black earth soil, only 5% of the population is engaged in agriculture due to the difficulties of the climate. The region is highly industrialized and produces a large amount of coal. The region's Kuznetsk Coal Basin is one of the largest in the world. Kemerovo is a major industrial region with well-developed engineering and chemical industries. Prokopevsk, Kiselevsk, and Andzhero-Sudzhensk are coal-producing centers, and Novokuznetsk is the center of the engineering industry. Products manufactured in the region are exported to more than 30 countries. Coal is delivered to Slovakia, Turkey, Greece, Germany, and other foreign countries. AO Azot exports ammonia to England, the United States, Germany, and Romania; catalysts and chemicals for rubber to the Czech Republic, Egypt, and Algeria; caprolactam [a synthetic crystalline compound used in manufacturing nylon] to Romania and countries of the former Yugoslavia; and carbamide to Southeast Asia. AO Tokem, Russia's main producer of phenolic plastics, has extensive ties with the CIS countries and also supplies its products to Japan, Italy, Belgium, Hungary, Germany, and other foreign countries. Companies in Europe, Asia, Africa, and America use aniline dyes manufactured in Kemerovo Region.
Official website: www.ako.ru
