ABSTRACT
This chapter provides all basic political, economic, and demographic data on a territorial unit of the Russian Federation, Kurgan Oblast. Kurgan Oblast is located in the southern part of the West Siberian plain in the Tobol River basin, bordering Chelyabinsk, Sverdlovsk, and Tyumen oblasts, and Kazakhstan. Despite the agricultural focus, most of today’s regional output comes from industry—mining, machine building, chemical and petrochemical industries, and production of construction materials, mostly concentrated in the cities of Kurgan and Shadrinsk. Oleg Bogomolov was elected governor of Kurgan Oblast in December 1996. He ran unopposed in the second round since second-place finisher Anatolii Koltashev withdrew from the race. Kurgan is an economically depressed region. The drought of 1998 destroyed 60 percent of the region’s crops. Most local industry is starved for investment. Furthermore, parts of the oblast have been ecologically damaged by radioactive contamination caused by nuclear accidents in neighboring Chelyabinsk.
