This chapter presents all basic political, economic, and demographic data on a territorial unit of the Russian Federation, Belgorod Oblast, which is located in southwestern Russia in the basin of the Vorskla, Severskii Donets, and Oskol rivers. The administrative center, Belgorod city, was founded in 1593 as a fortress against Tatar attacks and is now an important industrial center. The oblast’s economy is based on the huge deposits of iron ore in the Kursk Magnetic Anomaly, which accounts for 40 percent of all iron reserves in Russia. The site, located near Belgorod city, holds approximately 40 billion tons of ore that has more iron content and fewer harmful by-products than any other in Europe or Russia. Savchenko was educated as an agronomist and spent his early career working in Belgorod’s agricultural sector. In 1983, when he was 33, he began working his way up the party ladder, serving both at home and in Moscow, as was typical for party functionaries.