De-Stalinization
De-Stalinization consisted of a series of political reforms in the Soviet Union after the death of long-time leader Joseph Stalin in 1953, the ascension of Nikita Khrushchev to power. The reforms consisted of changing or removing key institutions that helped Stalin hold power: the cult of personality that surrounded him, the Stalinist political system, the Gulag labour-camp system, all of, created and dominated by him. Stalin was succeeded by a collective leadership after his death in March 1953, consisting of Georgi Malenkov, Premier of the Soviet Union; the term "de-Stalinization" is one which gained currency in both Russia and the Western world following the collapse of the Soviet Union, was never used during the Khrushchev era. However, de-Stalinization efforts were set forth at this time by Nikita Khrushchev and the Government of the Soviet Union under the guise of the "overcoming/exposure of the cult of personality", with a heavy criticism of Joseph Stalin's "era of the cult of personality".
However, prior to Khrushchev's "Secret Speech" to the 20th Party Congress, no direct association between Stalin as a person and "the cult of personality" was made by Khrushchev or others within the party, although archival documents show that strong criticism of Stalin and his ideology featured in private discussions by Khruschchev at the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet. There were dangers in denouncing Stalin as he was placed on a pedestal both at home and among communists abroad. In the years 1953–1955, a period of "silent de-Stalinization" took place, as the revision of Stalin's policies was done in secret, with no explanation; this period saw a number of non-publicised political rehabilitations, the release of "Article 58ers". However, due to the huge influx of prisoners returning from the camps, this could not continue. In December 1955 Khrushchev proposed a commission to be set up in order to investigate Stalin's activities on behalf of the Presidium. De-Stalinization meant an end to the role of large-scale forced labour in the economy.
The process of freeing Gulag prisoners was started by Lavrentiy Beria. He was soon removed from power, arrested on 26 June 1953, executed on 24 December 1953. Nikita Khrushchev emerged as the most powerful Soviet politician. While de-Stalinization had been underway since Stalin's death, the watershed event was Khrushchev's speech entitled "On the Cult of Personality and Its Consequences", concerning Stalin. On 25 February 1956, he spoke to a closed session of the 20th Party Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, delivering an address laying out some of Stalin's crimes and the "conditions of insecurity and desperation" created by Stalin. Khrushchev shocked his listeners by denouncing Stalin's dictatorial rule and his cult of personality as inconsistent with communist and Party ideology. Among other points, he condemned the treatment of the Old Bolsheviks, people who had supported communism before the revolution, many of whom Stalin had executed as traitors. Khrushchev attacked the crimes committed by associates of Beria.
One reason given for Khrushchev's speech was his moral conscience. This, the Communists believed, would prevent a fatal loss of self-belief and restore unity within the Party. Martin McCauley argues that Khrushchev's purpose was to "liberate Party officials from the fear of repression". Khrushchev argued that if the Party were to be an efficient mechanism, stripped from the brutal abuse of power by any individual, it could transform the Soviet Union as well as the entire world. However, others have suggested that the speech was made in order to deflect blame from the Communist Party or the principles of Marxism–Leninism and place the blame squarely on Stalin's shoulders, thus preventing a more radical debate. However, the publication of this speech caused many party members to resign in protest, both abroad and within the Soviet Union. By attacking Stalin, McCauley argues, he was undermining the credibility of Molotov, Malenkov and other political opponents, within "Stalin's inner circle" during the 1930s more than he had been.
If they did not "come over to Khrushchev", they "risk being banished with Stalin" and associated with his dictatorial control. Khrushchev attempted to make the Gulag labour system less harsh, by allowing prisoners to post letters home to their families, by allowing family members to mail clothes to prisoners, not allowed under Stalin; when Stalin died, the Gulag was "radically reduced in size". On 25 October 1956, a resolution of the CPSU declared that the existence of the Gulag labour system was "inexpedient"; the Gulag institution was closed by the MVD order No 020 of 25 January 1960. Khrushchev renamed or reverted the names of many places bearing Stalin's name, including cities, territories and other facilities; the State Anthem of the Soviet Union was purged of references to Stalin. The Stalin-centric and World War II-era lines in the lyrics were excised when an instrumental version replaced it; the Joseph Stalin Palace of Culture and Science in Warsaw, Poland was renamed in 19
Volga River
The Volga is the longest river in Europe with a catchment area of 1,350,000 square kilometres. It is Europe's largest river in terms of discharge and drainage basin; the river flows through central Russia and into the Caspian Sea, is regarded as the national river of Russia. Eleven of the twenty largest cities of Russia, including the capital, are located in the Volga's drainage basin; some of the largest reservoirs in the world are located along the Volga. The river has a symbolic meaning in Russian culture and is referred to as Волга-матушка Volga-Matushka in Russian literature and folklore; the Russian hydronym Volga derives from Proto-Slavic *vòlga "wetness, moisture", preserved in many Slavic languages, including Ukrainian volóha "moisture", Russian vlaga "moisture", Bulgarian vlaga "moisture", Czech vláha "dampness", Serbian vlaga "moisture", Croatian vlaga "moisture" and Slovene vlaga "moisture" among others. The Slavic name is a loan translation of earlier Scythian Rā "Volga" "wetness", cognate with Avestan Raŋhā "mythical stream" and Vedic Sanskrit rasā́ "dew, juice.
The Scythian name survives in modern Mordvin Rav "Volga". The Turkic peoples living along the river referred to it as Itil or Atil "big river". In modern Turkic languages, the Volga is known as İdel in Tatar, Атăл in Chuvash, Idhel in Bashkir, Edil in Kazakh, İdil in Turkish; the Turkic peoples associated the Itil's origin with the Kama. Thus, a left tributary to the Kama was named the Aq Itil "White Itil" which unites with the Kara Itil "Black Itil" at the modern city of Ufa; the name Indyl is used in Adyge language. Among Asians, the river was known by its other Turkic name Sarı-su "yellow water", but the Oirats used their own name, Ijil mörön or "adaptation river". Presently the Mari, another Uralic group, call the river Jul, they called the river Volgydo, a borrowing from Old East Slavic. The Volga is the longest river in Europe, its catchment area is entirely inside Russia, though the longest river in Russia is the Ob–Irtysh river system, it belongs to the closed basin of the Caspian Sea, being the longest river to flow into a closed basin.
Rising in the Valdai Hills 225 meters above sea level northwest of Moscow and about 320 kilometers southeast of Saint Petersburg, the Volga heads east past Lake Sterzh, Dubna, Yaroslavl, Nizhny Novgorod, Kazan. From there it turns south, flows past Ulyanovsk, Samara and Volgograd, discharges into the Caspian Sea below Astrakhan at 28 meters below sea level. At its most strategic point, it bends toward the Don. Volgograd Stalingrad, is located there; the Volga has many tributaries, most the rivers Kama, the Oka, the Vetluga, the Sura. The Volga and its tributaries form the Volga river system, which flows through an area of about 1,350,000 square kilometres in the most populated part of Russia; the Volga Delta has a length of about 160 kilometres and includes as many as 500 channels and smaller rivers. The largest estuary in Europe, it is the only place in Russia where pelicans and lotuses may be found; the Volga freezes for most of its length for three months each year. The Volga drains most of Western Russia.
Its many large reservoirs provide hydroelectric power. The Moscow Canal, the Volga–Don Canal, the Volga–Baltic Waterway form navigable waterways connecting Moscow to the White Sea, the Baltic Sea, the Caspian Sea, the Sea of Azov and the Black Sea. High levels of chemical pollution have adversely affected its habitats; the fertile river valley provides large quantities of wheat, has many mineral riches. A substantial petroleum industry centers on the Volga valley. Other resources include natural gas and potash; the Volga Delta and the nearby Caspian Sea offer superb fishing grounds. Astrakhan, at the delta, is the center of the caviar industry. A number of large hydroelectric reservoirs were constructed on the Volga during the Soviet era, they are: Volgograd Reservoir Saratov Reservoir Kuybyshev Reservoir – the largest in Europe by surface Cheboksary Reservoir Gorky Reservoir Rybinsk Reservoir Uglich Reservoir Ivankovo Reservoir Volgograd Nizhny Novgorod Kazan Samara Saratov Tolyatti Yaroslavl Astrakhan Ulyanovsk Cheboksary Tver The area downstream of the Volga believed to have been a cradle of the Proto-Indo-European civilization, was settled by Slavs and other Turkic peoples in the first millennium AD, replacing the Scythians.
The ancient scholar Ptolemy of Alexandria mentions the lower Volga in his Geography. He calls it the Rha, the Scythian name for the river. Ptolemy believed the Don and the Volga shared the same upper branch, which flowed from the Hyperborean Mountains; the Russian ethnicity in Western Russia and around the Volga river evolved among other tribes, out of the East Slavic tribe of the Buzhans. Several localities in Russia are connected to the Buzhans, like for example Sredniy Buzhan in the Orenburg Oblast and the Buzan river in the Astrakhan Oblast. Buzhan is a village in Nishapur, Iran. Subsequently, the river basin played an important role in the movements of peoples from Asia to Europe. A powerful polity of Volga Bulgaria once flourished where the Kama jo
Freight transport
Freight transport is the physical process of transporting commodities and merchandise goods and cargo. The term shipping referred to transport by sea but in American English, it has been extended to refer to transport by land or air as well. "Logistics", a term borrowed from the military environment, is used in the same sense. Land or "ground" shipping can be made by truck. In air and sea shipments, ground transport is required to take the cargo from its place of origin to the airport or seaport and to its destination because it is not always possible to establish a production facility near ports due to the limited coastlines of countries. Ground transport is more affordable than air, but more expensive than sea in developing countries, where inland infrastructure may not be efficient. Shipment of cargo by trucks, directly from the shipper's place to the destination, is known as a door-to-door shipment, or more formally as multimodal transport. Trucks and trains make deliveries to sea and airports.
Much freight transport is done by ships. An individual nation's fleet and the people that crew it are referred to as its merchant navy or merchant marine. Merchant shipping is the lifeblood of the world economy, carrying 90% of international trade with 102,194 commercial ships worldwide. On rivers and canals, barges are used to carry bulk cargo. Cargo is transported by air in specialized cargo aircraft and in the luggage compartments of passenger aircraft. Air freight is the fastest mode for long-distance freight transport, but it is the most expensive. Intermodal freight transport refers to shipments. More it refers to the use of intermodal shipping containers that are transferred between ship, rail and truck. For example, a shipper works together with both ground and air transportation to ship an item overseas. Intermodal freight transport is used to plan the route and carry out the shipping service from the manufacturer to the door of the recipient. Common trading terms used in shipping goods internationally include: Free on board –the exporter delivers the goods at the specified location.
Costs paid by the exporter include load, lash and stow the cargo, including securing cargo not to move in the ships hold, protecting the cargo from contact with the double bottom to prevent slipping, protection against damage from condensation. For example, "FOB JNPT" means that the exporter delivers the goods to the Jawahar lal Nehru Port and pays for the cargo to be loaded and secured on the ship; this term declares where the responsibility of shipper ends and that of buyer starts. The exporter is bound to deliver the goods at his expense. In this case, the freight and other expenses for outbound traffic are borne by the importer. Carriage and freight: Insurance is payable by the importer, the exporter pays all expenses incurred in transporting the cargo from its place of origin to the port/airport and ocean freight/air freight to the port/airport of destination. For example, C&F Los Angeles. Most of the governments ask their exporters to trade on these terms to promote their exports worldwide such as India and China.
Many of the shipping carriers offer guarantees on their delivery times. These are known as GSR guarantees or "guaranteed service refunds". Carriage and freight: Insurance and freight are all paid by the exporter to the specified location. For example, at CIF Los Angeles, the exporter pays the ocean shipping/air freight costs to Los Angeles including the insurance of cargo; this states that responsibility of the shipper ends at the Los Angeles port. The term "best way" implies that the shipper will choose the carrier who offers the lowest rate for the shipment. In some cases, other factors, such as better insurance or faster transit time will cause the shipper to choose an option other than the lowest bidder. Door-to-door shipping is a service provided by many international shipping companies; the quoted price of this service includes all shipping, handling and customs duties, making it a hassle-free option for customers to import goods from one jurisdiction to another. This is compared to standard shipping, the price of which includes only the expenses incurred by the shipping company in transferring the object from one place to another.
Customs fees, import taxes and other tariffs may contribute to this base price before the item arrives. Affreightment Automatic Identification System Mid-stream operation Outline of transport Ship transport Rail transport Transshipment Greek shipping Chinese shipping Environmental issues with shipping Right of way Shipping markets Full container load Less than container load "Review of Maritime Transport 2014". United Nations Conference on Trade and Development. 2014. "Special Chapter: Asia". Review Maritime Transport 2010 Flyer. United Nations Conference on Trade and Development. 2010. Retrieved 9 December 2011. Schreiber, Zvi 2016: The Year Freight Goes Online. December 2015 Humplik, Carmen Winds of change in freight transportation supply chain: Platooning technology. July 2017 Bloomberg.com First freight deal takes Russian wheat to Turkey. January 2018
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, was a socialist state in Eurasia that existed from 1922 to 1991. Nominally a union of multiple national Soviet republics, its government and economy were centralized; the country was a one-party state, governed by the Communist Party with Moscow as its capital in its largest republic, the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic. Other major urban centres were Leningrad, Minsk, Alma-Ata, Novosibirsk, it spanned over 10,000 kilometres east to west across 11 time zones, over 7,200 kilometres north to south. It had five climate zones: tundra, steppes and mountains; the Soviet Union had its roots in the 1917 October Revolution, when the Bolsheviks, led by Vladimir Lenin, overthrew the Russian Provisional Government which had replaced Tsar Nicholas II during World War I. In 1922, the Soviet Union was formed by a treaty which legalized the unification of the Russian, Transcaucasian and Byelorussian republics that had occurred from 1918. Following Lenin's death in 1924 and a brief power struggle, Joseph Stalin came to power in the mid-1920s.
Stalin committed the state's ideology to Marxism–Leninism and constructed a command economy which led to a period of rapid industrialization and collectivization. During his rule, political paranoia fermented and the Great Purge removed Stalin's opponents within and outside of the party via arbitrary arrests and persecutions of many people, resulting in at least 600,000 deaths. In 1933, a major famine struck the country. Before the start of World War II in 1939, the Soviets signed the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact, agreeing to non-aggression with Nazi Germany, after which the USSR invaded Poland on 17 September 1939. In June 1941, Germany broke the pact and invaded the Soviet Union, opening the largest and bloodiest theatre of war in history. Soviet war casualties accounted for the highest proportion of the conflict in the effort of acquiring the upper hand over Axis forces at intense battles such as Stalingrad and Kursk; the territories overtaken by the Red Army became satellite states of the Soviet Union.
The post-war division of Europe into capitalist and communist halves would lead to increased tensions with the United States-led Western Bloc, known as the Cold War. Stalin died in 1953 and was succeeded by Nikita Khrushchev, who in 1956 denounced Stalin and began the de-Stalinization; the Cuban Missile Crisis occurred during Khrushchev's rule, among the many factors that led to his downfall in 1964. In the early 1970s, there was a brief détente of relations with the United States, but tensions resumed with the Soviet–Afghan War in 1979. In 1985, the last Soviet premier, Mikhail Gorbachev, sought to reform and liberalize the economy through his policies of glasnost and perestroika, which caused political instability. In 1989, Soviet satellite states in Eastern Europe overthrew their respective communist governments; as part of an attempt to prevent the country's dissolution due to rising nationalist and separatist movements, a referendum was held in March 1991, boycotted by some republics, that resulted in a majority of participating citizens voting in favor of preserving the union as a renewed federation.
Gorbachev's power was diminished after Russian President Boris Yeltsin's high-profile role in facing down a coup d'état attempted by Communist Party hardliners. In late 1991, Gorbachev resigned and the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union met and formally dissolved the Soviet Union; the remaining 12 constituent republics emerged as independent post-Soviet states, with the Russian Federation—formerly the Russian SFSR—assuming the Soviet Union's rights and obligations and being recognized as the successor state. The Soviet Union was a powerhouse of many significant technological achievements and innovations of the 20th century, including the world's first human-made satellite, the first humans in space and the first probe to land on another planet, Venus; the country had the largest standing military in the world. The Soviet Union was recognized as one of the five nuclear weapons states and possessed the largest stockpile of weapons of mass destruction, it was a founding permanent member of the United Nations Security Council as well as a member of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, the World Federation of Trade Unions and the leading member of the Council for Mutual Economic Assistance and the Warsaw Pact.
The word "Soviet" is derived from a Russian word сове́т meaning council, advice, harmony and all deriving from the proto-Slavic verbal stem of vět-iti, related to Slavic věst, English "wise", the root in "ad-vis-or", or the Dutch weten. The word sovietnik means "councillor". A number of organizations in Russian history were called "council". For example, in the Russian Empire the State Council, which functioned from 1810 to 1917, was referred to as a Council of Ministers after the revolt of 1905. During the Georgian Affair, Vladimir Lenin envisioned an expression of Great Russian ethnic chauvinism by Joseph Stalin and his supporters, calling for these nation-states to join Russia as semi-independent parts of a greater union, which he named as the Union of Soviet Republics of Europe and Asia. Stalin resisted the proposal, but accepted it, although with Lenin's agreement changed the name of the newly proposed sta
Vehicle registration plates of Russia
Vehicle registration plates are the mandatory number plates used to display the registration mark of a vehicle, have existed in Russia for many decades. Most motor vehicles which are used on public roads are required by law to display them. Having them covered by snow or mud constitutes an administrative offense, that leads to a fine. So does covering them with a piece of paper, or any other tool that makes any of the digits and letters illegible; the current format uses a letter followed by two more letters. To improve legibility of the numbers for Russian cars abroad, only a small subset of Cyrillic characters that look like Latin characters are used; the region number and the international code RUS are included, as well as the national flag. There is a different format for trailers. Motorcycles and scooters plates are made of square reflective plates and its format is 4 digits at the top and two letters at the bottom; these plates lack national flag. The standard size for the license plate is 400 mm by 85÷120 mm.
Vehicles used by certain organisations or categories of persons carry special plates: Special plates in the above categories never carry the Russian flag, except for trailers. There are special series reserved for government officials; the license plates for federal government officials had a larger flag instead of the regional code but this type has now been withdrawn as well. Rich businessmen, prominent politicians and crime lords use para-legally acquired special licence plates to get preferential treatment from the transport police and as a status symbol; this is used in conjunction with a flashing siren. The Society of Blue Buckets is a protest movement; as of 2014, there are new codes for Russian plates. The Russian Federation officially annexed Crimea from Ukraine and now administers it as two federal subjects: the Republic of Crimea and the federal city of Sevastopol. Ukraine, backed by most of the international community, refuses to accept the annexation and continues to assert its right over the peninsula.
As per GOST provision, only 1,726,272 combinations may be issued within one administration unit. In certain regions, the number of vehicles exceeds that number, the combination may not be reused after a vehicle was taken off the registration. All this creates an issue of running out of numbers. A short-term solution was introducing more codes for those regions. Thus, some regions have two codes issued to them, Republic of Tatarstan has three, the city of St. Petersburg have four, Moscow Oblast has five, the federal city of Moscow has eight codes, but this does not solve the problem, as the authorities may run out of three-numeral regional codes, a fourth digit will not fit without changing the standardized layout of the plate. Since October 2013, when vehicle is registered to a new owner, the registration plate could remain on the vehicle and new registration number is not required if vehicle is registered in another region. Introduction of new style license plate is being considered as a future solution.
The license plate regional codes from 01 to 89 matched the numerical order of the federal subjects of Russia as listed in the Article 65 of the Constitution of Russia at the moment of the creation of the standard. In the following years some codes were discontinued; as the populous regions started running out of license plate combinations, new codes past code 89 were assigned to them as well. Additional triple-digit codes were created by adding a "7" to the existing regional code; the most recent new number to be issued was code 761 for Rostov Oblast after code 161 ran out of all possible combinations on January 19, 2019. Those regions with an asterisk beside them were involved in mergers with other regions and have their codes listed with an asterisk with the region they are now a part of. Code 82 was put back into registration in June 2014 for the Republic of Crimea; the reason for the decision to use code 82 was because, between the beginning of this plate format and the merging of the district, Koryak AO only registered 1,548 civilian car license plates and far less of other types.
According to the Ministry of Internal Affairs Order 282 from March 28, 2002. Vehicle registration plate European vehicle registration plates
Russian Census (2010)
The Russian Census of 2010 is the first census of the Russian Federation population since 2002 and the second after the dissolution of the Soviet Union. Preparations for the census began in 2007 and it took place between October 14 and October 25; the census was scheduled for October 2010, before being rescheduled for late 2013, citing financial reasons, although it was speculated that political motives were influential in the decision. However, in late 2009, Prime Minister Putin announced that the Government of Russia allocated 10.5 billion rubles in order to conduct the census as scheduled. Results showed the population to stand at 142.9 million. Since the previous 2002 census, population had decreased by 2.3 million. According to the 2010 census, urban population is 105.3 million, rural population is 37.5 million. The urbanisation rate is 73.7%. The median age is 38 years; the ethnic composition is dominated by Russians. Demographics of Russia Russian Census 2010 final results Results of 2010 All-Russia population census Official website of the 2010 Census
Astrakhan Oblast
Astrakhan Oblast is a federal subject of Russia located in southern Russia. Its administrative center is the city of Astrakhan; as of the 2010 Census, its population was 1,010,073. Astrakhan is traversed by the northeasterly line of equal longitude, its southern border is the Caspian Sea, eastern is Kazakhstan, northern is Volgograd Oblast, western is Kalmykia. It is within the Russian Southern Federal District. Astrakhan region is the homeland of the Buzhans, one of several Slavic tribes from which modern Russians evolved, they inhabited the area around the Buzan river. Buzan oblast was created on December 27, 1943, on parts of the territories of the abolished Kalmyk ASSR and Astrakhan Okrug of Stalingrad Oblast. From October 8, 1980 to October 27, 1984, under the leadership of Nikolai Baibakov, the USSR held fifteen deep underground nuclear tests for Nuclear Explosions for the National Economy at the site Vega in the Ryn Desert in the east of the oblast less than 50 km from downtown Astrakhan to create reservoirs for natural gas storage.
Because of the detonation depth and low yield, no radiation was released to the environment. These blasts had lower yields than the Project Sapphire blasts, which were 40 km south-southwest of Orenburg, to reduce any possible seismic destruction to nearby towns in the Volga delta including Astrakhan. At that time, the natural gas fields near Astrakhan, which are at a deplth of 3900 to 4,100 meters, could contain as much as 6 trillion cubic meters, an amount similar to Urengoy. In 2017, the Astrakhanskoye field, an area of 100 km by 40 km in the middle of the Astrakhan arch and is 60 km northeast of Astrakhan, is the ninth largest in Russia and the largest in European Russia with an estimated gas in place of 102 trillion cubic feet; the deposit is operated by Gazprom Dobycha Astrakhan, a wholly owned subsidiary of Gazprom. The field produces large amounts of sulfur, too. During the Soviet period, the high authority in the oblast was shared between three persons: The first secretary of the Astrakhan CPSU Committee, the chairman of the oblast Soviet, the Chairman of the oblast Executive Committee.
Since 1991, CPSU lost all the power, the head of the Oblast administration, the governor was appointed/elected alongside elected regional parliament. The Charter of Astrakhan Oblast is the fundamental law of the region; the Legislative Assembly of Astrakhan Oblast is the province's standing legislative body. The Legislative Assembly exercises its authority by passing laws and other legal acts and by supervising the implementation and observance of the laws and other legal acts passed by it; the highest executive body is the Oblast Administration, which includes territorial executive bodies such as district administrations and commissions that facilitate development and run the day to day matters of the province. The Oblast administration supports the activities of the Governor, the highest official and acts as guarantor of the observance of the oblast Charter in accordance with the Constitution of Russia. Population: 1,010,073 . Ethnic groups According to the 2010 Census, the ethnic composition was: Russian 67.6% Kazakh 16.3% Tatar 6.6% Ukrainian 0.9% Nogay 0.8% Chechen 0.8% Azeri 0.9% Kalmyk 0.7% Armenian 0.6% Roma 0.6% Avar 0.5% Lezgin 0.5% Dargin 0.5% Belarusians 0.3% Others 2.4% 95,217 people were registered from administrative databases, could not declare an ethnicity.
It is estimated that the proportion of ethnicities in this group is the same as that of the declared group. Births: 14,200 Deaths: 13,660 Vital statistics for 2012Births: 15 304 Deaths: 12 783 Total fertility rate:2009 - 1.77 | 2010 - 1.76 | 2011 - 1.78 | 2012 - 1.93 | 2013 - 1.91 | 2014 - 1.97 | 2015 - 1.97 | 2016 - 1.93 According to a 2012 survey which interviewed 56,900 people 46% of the population of Astrakhan Oblast adheres to the Russian Orthodox Church, 4% are Orthodox Christian believers who do not belong to any church or are members of other Orthodox churches, 2% are unaffiliated generic Christians, 14% are Muslims, 2% of the population adheres to the Slavic native faith or other folk religions of the region. In addition, 16% of the population declares to be spiritual but not religious, 6% is atheist, 10% follows other religions or did not give an answer to the question. Astrakhan Khanate Music of Astrakhan Elections in Astrakhan Oblast List of Chairmen of the Astrakhan Oblast Duma Государственная Дума Астраханской области.
№21/2007-ОЗ 9 апреля 2007 г. «Устав Астраханской области», в ред. Закона №49/2017-ОЗ от 25 сентября 2017 г. «О внесении изменения в статью 17 Устава Астраханской области». Вступил в силу 30 апреля 2007 г.. Опубликован: "Сборник законов и нормативных правовых актов Астраханской области", №18, 19 апреля 2007 г.. Президиум Верховного Совета СССР. Указ от 27 декабря 1943 г. «О ликвидации Калмыцкой АССР и образовании Астраханской области в составе РСФСР». (Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR. Decree of December 27, 1943 On Abolishing the Kalmyk ASSR and
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