Gomel region is an administrative unit in the southeast of the Republic of Belarus. It was formed in 1938. Its administrative center is the city of Gomel.
Geographic features
The area of the considered unit is 40.4 thousand square kilometers. As the map of the Gomel region notes, the border regions are Mogilev, Minsk, Brest regions of the Republic of Belarus, Bryansk of the Russian Federation, as well as Zhytomyr, Chernihiv, Kyiv and Rovno Ukraine.
The region has a temperate continental climate. Winters are mild, summers are usually warm. In January, on average, five to six degrees of frost, and in July - eighteen to nineteen degrees of heat. In the cold season, there is a predominance of southerly winds, and in the warm season, western and northwestern winds prevail. The average wind speed is three meters per second. Between 550 and 650 millimeters of precipitation falls throughout the year.
On the territory of the Gomel region, one of the longest vegetation periods in the republic. It is 191-209 days. The favorable climate makes it possible to grow sugar beets, early ripening grape varieties, corn, potatoes and other crops.
Among the mostmajor navigable rivers in the region are the following: Sozh, Berezina, Dnieper and Pripyat. There are many lakes in the region, and the largest of them is Chervonoe. Its area is 43.6 square kilometers. Forests cover more than forty percent of the territory.
Gomel region has favorable natural conditions for the development of most areas of people's life. Due to the flat nature of the relief, there are no difficulties with the formation of settlements, agricultural land development, the functioning of industrial enterprises and the construction of roads.
In 2013, 1,427,200 people lived in the area under consideration.
Features of administrative division
Let's list the districts of the Gomel region. There are 21 of them: Chechersky, Braginsky, Khoiniksky, Buda-Koshelevsky, Vetkovsky, Gomelsky, Svetlogorsky, Rogachevsky, Dobrushsky, Yelsky, Rechitsky, Petrikovsky, Zhitkovichsky, Oktyabrsky, Zhlobinsky, Narovlyansky, Kalinkovichsky, Mozyrsky, Lelchitsky, Kormyansky and Loevsky.
Population
The cities of the Gomel region are mostly populated by Belarusians. In addition, on their territory you can meet Russians, Ukrainians, Gypsies, Jews, Poles, Armenians, Moldovans, Tatars, Azerbaijanis, Germans, Turkmens, Georgians and Uzbeks, Lithuanians, Kazakhs, Chuvashs. The smallest ethnic group is the Arabs. According to the 2009 census, there are only 138 people.
What else is remarkable about the Gomel region? Villages, of which there are 133, cannot be called empty. They live up tothirty percent of the population.
Mineral resources
The Gomel region has an area of forest land equal to 1653 thousand hectares. At the same time, 1472.9 thousand hectares are covered with forest.
Fuel and energy raw materials are of particular importance for the national economy of the country. Currently, there is information about one and a half thousand explored peat deposits. In 1964, the first industrial oil was produced near Rechitsa. Since then, more than a hundred million tons of valuable product have been raised to the surface. A chemical plant and an oil refinery operate in Mozyr.
In the south-eastern territories of the Pripyat depression, deposits of coal were found, and in the Zhitkovichi region - oil shale. According to experts, there are 100 million tons of brown coal deposits in the Brinevskoye and Zhitkovichi deposits.
Currently, 22 billion tons of rock s alt reserves have already been explored. Careful preparations are being made for the development of such new types of raw materials as gypsum, mineral sorbents, bas alt fibers, iodine-bromine brines.
Industrial
Gomel region has a wide industrial potential. It is considered one of the most developed industrial regions of the Republic of Belarus. More than three hundred medium and large industrial enterprises operate on the territory of this administrative unit. The leading industries are the fuel and chemical industries, ferrous metallurgy, and mechanical engineering. An equally important role is played by the oil, timber, food,pulp and paper and woodworking industry. All these areas bring significant profit to the Republic of Belarus.
The Gomel region is the only one in the country where gas and oil are extracted, the production of linoleum and window glass, forage harvesters has been established. In addition, 24% of paper, 25% of plywood, 93% of automotive fuel, 85% of steel, 31% of chipboard and 46% of cardboard are produced on its territory.
Cultural and scientific life
There are 789 clubs in the region. There are 23 museums, four theatres, one philharmonic and 782 libraries. Of particular interest to specialists is 1040 archaeological sites, including burial grounds, settlements, the remains of ancient settlements and parking lots. The Gomel region has a serious scientific and technical potential. Currently, it ranks second in the country in terms of the number of organizations involved in scientific development and research.
Yelsky district
This territorial unit is located in the southwestern part of the Gomel region. Its total area is 1.36 thousand square kilometers. In the south it borders on Ukraine, in the north - on Mozyrsky district, in the west - on Lelchitsky, in the east - on Narovlyansky.
The cultural, economic and administrative center of the region is the city of Yelsk (Gomel region). It is first mentioned in written sources of the sixteenth century. At first it was a small town, then an urban settlement, and in 1971 Yelsk was given the honorary status of a city. Todaya furniture factory, fruit and vegetable and butter factories operate on its territory.
The origin of the name of the city is traditionally associated with the word "spruce", but this opinion is erroneous. The area of \u200b\u200bdistribution of this tree is the northern outskirts of Polissya. In addition, it is unusual for the suffix –sk to form geographical names from the designations of representatives of the flora. As a rule, settlements with a similar ending were named by analogy with nearby rivers and lakes. From this we can conclude that the toponym "Yelsk" is formed from the name of the pre-existing river Ela, Elka.
October District
As for this territorial unit, it is located in the northwestern part of the Gomel region and covers an area of 1386.19 square kilometers.
October district was formed in 1939. Initially, it was part of the Polissya region. In 1962 it was reduced, and in 1966 it was restored as an independent territorial unit.
The center of the district is the urban settlement of Oktyabrsky (Gomel region). Date of formation - August 31, 1954. More than a third of the territory is occupied by agricultural land. According to the 2009 census, 7,800 people live in the village. The specialization of the local industrial complex is the processing of agricultural raw materials. After the infamous events of 1986 at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, Oktyabrsky became a place for the resettlement of a large number of people from contaminated territories.
Svetlogorsk, Gomel region
This city of district subordination acquired its modern name in1961. It was previously known as Shatilki. Svetlogorsk is located on the territory of Gomel Polissya. The regional center is 113 kilometers away.
History of the settlement
As archaeological excavations have shown, there was a settlement on the site of the modern city in the sixth or seventh century. The name Shatilka has a patronymic origin from the surname Shatilo.
In 1569, Svetlogorsk became part of the Commonwe alth as a result of the merger of the Kingdom of Poland and ON. And in 1793 it became part of the Russian Empire. In 1915, a railway was laid near Shatilok and a station was formed.
The manufacturing sector is represented by enterprises of the food, chemical and pulp and paper industries - this is what Svetlogorsk (Gomel region) is famous for. Among the city-forming enterprises are the Pulp and Cardboard Plant and RUE SPO Khimvolokno.
The city has three stadiums, a swimming pool, a tennis court and a sports complex.
Land of oilmen
Rechitsa (Gomel region) is an old Polissya town. It stands on the right bank of the Dnieper, a river that unites three Slavic states. The first settlements appeared here in the Mesolithic era (9-5 millennium BC). The Dregovichi are considered the direct ancestors of the Rechichans.
According to the first Novgorod Chronicle, in 1213 the city was part of the Chernigov Principality. From the fourteenth century it was under the rule of the ON. From 1392 to 1430 the territory was in the possession of Vitovt. By his order, a castle was erected in the city,located on the steep bank of the Dnieper. It was surrounded by a deep earthen ditch. In 1561, Rechitsa received Magdeburg rights, but only partially.
As a result of the Cossack-peasant war of 1648-1651. The city was practically razed to the ground. As a result of the conclusion of the Andrusovo truce, Rechitsa remained part of the Commonwe alth. In 1793, it was annexed to the Russian lands and received the status of the county center of the Minsk province. After that, Rechitsa embarked on the path of economic and cultural development. Since 1882, steamboat traffic along the river began to be carried out. Dnieper, and four years later a railway was laid through the city. The first industrial enterprises appeared here in 1897.
Features of local architecture
During the nineteenth century, virtually all of the city's regular project plans were implemented. So, in Rechitsa, not only buildings of the administrative apparatus appeared, but also shopping arcades, and residential buildings, and the Assumption Church, and the church.
A park was laid out on the territory that was previously occupied by the Dominican monastery. It forms the most picturesque part of the city in a complex with a landscaped castle and a central square.
Modernity
Today Rechitsa is a well-known city throughout Belarus, where the so-called black gold is mined on an industrial scale. Twelve of the eighteen divisions of the Belorusneft enterprise are located there. In addition, a gas processing plant operates near the city.
Gomel
Even a brief description of the settlements of the region cannot get aroundside of the center of the administrative unit. Gomel is located in the southeastern part of the country. It is located on the picturesque bank of the Sozh River, three hundred kilometers from the capital. As of early 2011, the area of the city was 135 square kilometers. The population of Gomel is 522,549 people (as of April 1, 2014).
Physical features
Gomel occupies the central part of the Dnieper lowland. It is an integral part of the Polessky subprovince. The northwestern territories of the city are located near the Checherskaya Plain, a physical and geographical region belonging to the Predpolesskaya province.
Topography of the city
The relief map of the Gomel region includes information about the flatness of the city. This is due to the location of the regional center in the zone of the underhead water-glacial plain and the Sozh terrace above the floodplain. The slope of the relief in the direction from north to south was revealed.
Mineral resources
The southwestern territories of Gomel are known for the Osovtsovskoye sand deposit. In addition, large reserves of mineralized sulfate-chloride-sodium and fresh hydrocarbonate water were found in the city.
Climate features
Gomel is located in the temperate continental climate zone. Warm sea air masses from the Atlantic cause mild winters. The average annual air temperature in the city is 7.4 degrees Celsius. Approximately 70% of precipitation falls between April and October.
Inland water information
Rivers, ponds and lakes represent surface water. One of the largestof the country's rivers - Sozh - flows through Gomel. Within the city, the Iput flows into it, and in the suburban areas - Uza, Ut and Teryukha. In the quarries used for the extraction of building materials, ponds formed over time. Local residents actively use the opportunity to swim in such reservoirs. The oldest pond in the city is Swan Lake. It appeared on the site of the Gomeyuk stream, which once flowed into the Sozh.
Soil
The natural soil composition has undergone significant changes. Urbozems with sand, gravel and parent rocks have replaced natural soils. In flower beds, in squares and parks, the soil is constantly cultivated. Podzolic, soddy-podzolic, sandy-silty sandy loam, soddy-calcareous, peat-bog and alluvial soils are distinguished among the most undisturbed soils in the city.
Flora
In the streets, parks, gardens and squares of the city you can see pedunculate oaks, pines, European spruces, horse chestnuts, willows, white aspens, common ash trees, black poplars, small-leaved lindens and common mountain ash. Cork trees, ginkgo and some other exotic species grow in Central Park.
Fauna
On the outskirts of the city there are wild boars, roe deer, European hedgehogs. Squirrels, moles and hares are very common in forest plantations and parks. Of the birds, you can see the house sparrow, jackdaw, crow, titmouse, storks (in the suburbs). In total, 188 species of birds, 66 species of mammals, 11 species of amphibians, 6 species of reptiles live in the regional center and its environs.25 - fish.
Conclusion
Gomel region, photos and information about which are presented in the article, plays a big role in the cultural and political life of the country. In addition, it is the most important industrial region of the Republic of Belarus.
