ABSTRACT
This chapter provides all basic political, economic, and demographic data on a territorial unit of the Russian Federation, the Yamal-Nenets Autonomous Okrug. The Yamal-Nenets Autonomous Okrug was created in December 1930. The okrug borders Nenets, Khanty-Mansi, Taimyr, and Evenk autonomous okrugs and Komi Republic. The okrug has about 300,000 lakes and 48,000 rivers. The okrug had the largest investment potential growth in the country since 1997—by 26 points—and had ranked 17th among Russia’s 89 regions in terms of investment potential and 75th in terms of investment risk, according to a 1998 Ekspert magazine survey. Yurii Neelov has been focused on developing and expanding the okrug’s energy industries. During the Soviet period, Yamal-Nenets was treated merely as a source of natural resources, and thus lacked other forms of industry.
