- published: 22 Nov 2015
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Rostov Oblast (Russian: Росто́вская о́бласть, tr. Rostovskaya oblast; IPA: [rɐˈstofskəjə ˈobləsʲtʲ]) is a federal subject of Russia (an oblast), located in the Southern Federal District. Rostov Oblast has an area of 100,800 square kilometers (38,900 sq mi) and a population of 4,277,976 (2010 Census), making it the sixth most populous federal subject in Russia. Its administrative center is the city of Rostov-on-Don, which also became the administrative center of the Southern Federal District in 2002.
Rostov Oblast borders Ukraine and also Volgograd and Voronezh Oblasts in the north, Krasnodar and Stavropol Krais in the south, and the Republic of Kalmykia in the east.
The Don River, one of Europe's largest flows through the oblast for part of its course. Lakes cover only 0.4% of the oblast's area.
Population: 4,277,976 (2010 Census); 4,404,013 (2002 Census); 4,308,654 (1989 Census).
Ethnic groups: Residents identified themselves as belonging to 157 different ethnic groups, including twenty-seven of more than two thousand persons each. The most important ethnicities are the 3,795,607 ethnic Russians:(90.3%); the 77,802 ethnic Ukrainians:(1.9%); the 110,727 ethnic Armenians:(2.6%). Other important groups are the 35,902 Turks:(0.9%); 16,493 Belarusians:(0.4%)); 13,948 Tatars:(0.3%); 17,961 Azeris:(0.4%); 11,449 Chechens:(0.3%); 16,657 Roma:(0.4%); 11,597 Koreans:(0.3%); and 8,296 Georgians:(0.2%). There were also 76,498 people (1.8%) belonging to other ethno-cultural groupings. 76,735 people were registered from administrative databases, and 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.
Rostov (Russian: Росто́в; Old Norse: Rostofa) is a town in Yaroslavl Oblast, Russia, one of the oldest in the country and a tourist center of the Golden Ring. It is located on the shores of Lake Nero, 202 kilometers (126 mi) northeast of Moscow. Population: 31,791 (2010 Census preliminary results); 34,141 (2002 Census); 35,707 (1989 Census).
While the official name of the town is Rostov, it is better known to Russians as Rostov Veliky, i. e. Rostov the Great. This name is used to distinguish it from Rostov-on-Don, which is now a much larger city. Rostov Yaroslavsky is the official name of its railway station (due to its position in Yaroslavl Oblast); the town itself is hardly ever called by that name.
Rostov was predated by Sarskoye Gorodishche, which some scholars interpret as the capital of the Merya tribe, while others believe it was an important Viking trade enclave and fortress guarding the Volga trade route. First mentioned in the year 862 as an already important settlement, by the 13th century, Rostov became capital city of one of the most prominent Russian principalities. It was incorporated into Muscovy in 1474.