Tula oblast overview
Tula oblast (also spelled Tulskaya) is a federal subject of Russia, part of Central Federal District. The capital city and administrative center is Tula.
Tula oblast has the population of 1,553,000 (2009); land area - 25,679 sq. km.
Tula oblast general facts, resources
The climate of Tula oblast is of moderate continental type, with moderate cold winter and warm summer. The average temperature within a year is 5 degs C above zero, in January 10 degs C below zero, in June 20 degs C above zero.
Tula oblast suffered greatly during disaster at Chernobyl nuclear power station, radioactive sediments infected lands which became unfit for agriculture.
About a half of all deposits of Moscow coal basin are located in Tulskaya oblast. They are estimated as 1,500 million tons. Over 20 deposits of strontium ore with the total resources of about 200 million tons have been found.
In the south-west there are deposits of peat. There are considerable deposits of various construction materials, especially limestone which have been prospected since 14th-15th centuries as well as clay, sand and gypsum. There are commercial deposits of iron ore, several mineral water springs are also known.
Tula oblast history
In 1380 in the south-western part of current Tulskaya oblast where the river Nepryadva flows into the Don, the historical Kulikovo battle took place which was the start of liberation of Russian lands from Tatar-Mongol yoke. In 1503 Tula lands were joined to Muscovite principality.
In 16th-17th centuries Tula was an important fortification point on the southern boundary of Muscovite state. The boundary line crossed the Tula lands and cities-fortresses were located there. The industrial development of the region started in 17th century. In 1696 blacksmith Nikita Demidov from Tula constructed the first blast-furnaces and workshops near the river Tulitsa mouth. They became the start of blacksmith handicraft in Tula.
Tula became one of the centers of Russian metallurgy and metal-working. In 1712 Peter I ordered to found the State arms factory in Tula which produced arms for the Russian Army. On March 9, 1777, Tulskaya gubernia was formed. At the same time production of samovars, gingerbread and accordions was developed in Tula.
In 1855 Malevskaya mine was put into action and since that time systematic coal mining in Moscow coal basin began. The basin is the oldest coal mining region in Russia, its deposits were found in 1722. The industrial developed was favored by the construction of railways “Moscow-Kursk” in 1864-1868 and “Syzran-Vyazma” in 1870-1874.
In 1937 Tulskaya oblast was formed, it was a region with developed industry and agriculture. After the World War II machine-building, chemical, metallurgic, coal industries were developed, scientific research institutions were open.
Tula oblast economics
Tula region is an important industrial center. Main industries of the oblast are as follows: chemical; machine-building; food; ferrous metallurgy; power engineering. Tula oblast largest and main industrial cities are Tula (500,000), Novomoskovsk (151,000), Aleksin (66,000).
The transportation net of Tula region differs greatly from the one of neighboring regions in its development except Moskovskaya oblast.
Tulskaya oblast has direct lines to Moscow, to centers of Bryanskaya, Voronezhskaya, Tambovskaya, Orlovskaya, Kurskaya, Kaluzhskaya, Lipetskaya and Ryazanskaya oblasts.
Main railway lines are “Moscow-Kharkov-Simferopol”, “Moscow-Donbas”. A speedy electric train goes back and forth between Moscow and Tula every day, it takes it 2 hours and 20 minutes to reach destination.
About 70% of the total area in Tula region are arable lands. Crops are grown on 54% of them. Agriculture is developed best of all in the southern forest steppe area, crops (barley, wheat), forage, beetroots are grown there, cattle- and pig-breeding are developed. In northern districts cattle-breeding is developed as well as forage and potatoes growing.
Also some historical traditional industries (like firearm and samovar making) are very attractive for Tula oblast visitors.
Tula oblast attractions
The rich history of Tula oblast is reflected in historical monuments and museums. These are sites of ancient settlements, remnants of defense constructions, ancient Russian cities architecture, churches, ancient estates, parks. There are about 30 museums in Tula region of Russia. Tula State Arms Museum, Tula Kremlin, and Tula Samovar Museum should be mentioned especially.
Yasnaya Polyana is the place where worldwide known writer Leo Tolstoy lived. He was born and spent most part of his life there. He was also buried there, in the forest at the edge of the ravine. A lot of his works were written in Yasnaya Polyana. The estate is located about 12 km from Tula city.
About 11 km to the south-west of the town Suvorov, on the left bank of the river Cherepet, there is a balneological resort Krainka (was founded in 1847 and called Likhvinskiye Minearalnye Vody).
Among the popular tourist places there are Kulikovo Field (Kulikovo battle museum), Polenovo (estate-museum of outstanding Russian artist Polenov), Bogoroditsk with the well-known park of 18th century. The system of underground ways in Guryev stone quarries is of great interest.