Regional flags and emblems
PROFILE
Established 26 September 1937
Capital Ryazan
The Ryazan Region is part
of the Central Federal District
Area 39,600 sq km
Population 1,083,800 (2022)
Ethnic groups
(2010 National Census, %)
Russian – 95.11
Other – 4.89
Administrative divisions (2022)
Municipal districts – 25
City districts – 4
Rural towns – 29
Rural districts – 232
Geography and climate
The Ryazan Region is located
in the central part of the East European Plain. It borders
on the Republic of Mordovia, as well
as the regions of Penza, Tambov, Lipetsk, Tula, Moscow, Vladimir
and Nizhny Novgorod.
The main rivers flowing through
the region are the Oka with its confluxes, Vozha, Moksha, Tsna, Para,
Pronya, Ranova, Pra, Gus and other confluxes of the Don.
There are the Novomichurinsk
Reservoir on the Pronya River and over 2,800 lakes, with Lake
Velikoye being the largest. There are several karst lakes such
as Beloye.
The local climate is moderate
continental. The average temperature in January is –10°С and in July 20°С. The average annual precipitation
is 500 mm, including 25% to 30% snow. The agroclimatic conditions are
irregular and change from the north to the south. They are
also affected by terrain, landscape, soil type and other natural
and local specifics.
The region has the Oka Natural
Reserve, Meshchyora National Park.
Government
The legislative
branch is represented
by the Ryazan Region Duma, which is the permanent, supreme
and only body of legislative authority in the region.
The Ryazan Region Duma has 40 deputies, with 20 of them running
in single-mandate constituencies and the other 20
in the single electoral district, where winners are identified
in proportion to the number of votes cast for lists
of candidates nominated by electoral associations.
The current Ryazan Region Duma was
elected in September 2020. The term expires in September 2025.
The executive
branch is the Government
of the Ryazan Region headed by the Governor and other
executive bodies.
The Governor of the Ryazan Region is the region’s
highest-ranking official and head of the Government. The Governor is elected for five years by Russian citizens who permanently reside
in the region. The term
of office of the current incumbent expires in September 2022.
The Government
of the Ryazan Region is
the top permanent executive authority and a collective body
heading the system of state authorities in the region.
Economy and natural resources
The Ryazan Region is
the center of European Russia, with a developed transport,
energy and telecommunications infrastructure. The region has
a great production and workforce potential. Locally produced goods
are in steady demand on both domestic and foreign markets.
Industrial production is the main
economic sector in the Ryazan Region, accounting for about one
third of the regional GDP. Oil refining, machinery, metal processing,
electricity, chemicals, construction as well as food
and the manufacturing of consumer goods and ferrous
and non-ferrous metals are developing in the region.
The region is home to some
of Russia’s major electronics producers, including radio equipment
and machinery. Many local companies have modern technology to produce
key industrial products, including electricity, oil products, cement, soft roofing
and insulation material, equipment for oil drilling
and extraction, geological survey, forging and electric welding,
metal-cutting machines, vacuum tube devices, industrial lighting, computing
and medical equipment, car components and mechanisms, trailers
and semi-trailers for lorries, street and public services
machinery, non-ferrous metals, limestones and bricks, chrome-tanned
leather goods, textiles, clothes and shoes, food, chemicals
and pharmaceuticals.
The Ryazan Region’s energy
potential allows the annual production of three times more
electricity than the region actually consumes.
Transport is a big aspect
of the local socioeconomic development. Roads are the most
important part of the regional transport system. The region’s
roads stretch to a total of 11,000 km. The railway
and road network consists of four main railways (Moscow,
Southeastern, Gorky and Kuibyshev) and three federal motorways (M5
Urals from Moscow to Chelyabinsk, M6 Caspian from Moscow to Astrakhan
and 1Р-132
connecting Kaluga, Tula, Mikhailov and Ryazan). The main water
artery, the Oka, connects the Ryazan Region with the Moscow,
Vladimir and Nizhny Novgorod regions. It also flows into the Volga
River basin and, via channels, reaches the White, Baltic, Black and Caspian
seas. There is a river terminal in Ryazan
and an interregional transit terminal based at warehouse
facilities.
Agriculture accounts for over 8%
of the regional GDP. The sector specialises in livestock
breeding and produces milk, meat, wool and eggs. There are also large
vegetable, potato and grain suppliers. The agriculture sector almost
covers the demands of the region’s population for the main
agricultural products except meat.
As of today,
the agro-industrial sector accounts for almost a quarter
of the total investment in the region’s economy.
The bulk of investment goes to dairy stock and pig farming,
in particular, the region continues to implement major projects
to build livestock farming complexes in the districts
of Rybnoye, Zakharovo and Alexandro-Nevsky.
Culture and tourism
The Ryazan Kremlin is the main
Ryazan landmark. The Kremlin, built between the 15th and19th centuries,
includes a complex of 17th-century civil
buildings. The landmarks in the Kremlin have been under
renovation for the last 20 years, and now many of them have
been restored back to how they originally looked. The Ryazan Kremlin
includes 18 architectural, historical and cultural landmarks built between
the 11th and 19th centuries,
where the Singers’ Building of the Episcopal Chamber (1658),
the Cathedral of the Assumption (1693−1699)
and the Cathedral of the Nativity (15th−19th centuries)
should be singled out.
The Ground Walls of the Old
Ryazan (dating back to the 12th and 13th centuries) is another grand ancient landmark
that has survived until today as is the Solotchinsky Monastery
founded by Prince Oleg in 1390.
John the Evangelist’s Monastery
in Poshchupovo, on the right bank of the Oka River,
founded by missionary monks between the 12th and 13th centuries
is another famous monastery of the region with its main relic, John
the Evangelist’s miracle-working icon brought from Constantinople.
For many people, the Ryazan Region is connected with a great
Russian poet, Sergei Yesenin. There is the Yesenin State Museum Reserve
in Konstantinovo, where the poet was born.
Other landmarks include academician Ivan
Pavlov’s museum estate, the Old Ryazan historical and archeological
reserve, the Museum of Airborne Troops, Konstantin Tsiolkovsky
Museum, a museum of wooden architecture in the Lunkino
village, a narrow-gauge railway, and the famous Ryazan crafts,
such as Mikhailovo lace, Skopin ceramics as well as Kadom Venise
embroidery.
The Oka Nature Reserve located 120
kilometres away from Ryazan is a good place to see the nature
of southeastern Meshchyora. There is a crane nursery: the only
place in Russia where all species of Russian cranes can be seen at the same
time. The Meshchyora National Park was established in 1993
in order to protect and restore unique natural complexes.
In total, the park has eight natural landmarks, eight sanctuaries
together with over 100 archeological landmarks.
It is possible to hunt
and fish in the region for almost entire year. All
the conditions for amateur and recreational fishing has been
created on the Oka, Pronya, Ranova and Pra rivers as well
as at numerous reservoirs and lakes. There are special highly
popular hunting tours; “Russian hunting” with hounds.