|
 |
 The Rostov Region is located in the southern part of the East-European Plato and partly in the North Caucasian region, covering a vast territory in the basin of the Don River.
The distance between Moscow and Rostov-on-Don is 1226 km.
The region occupies the area of 100.9 thousand sq. km, that is 0.6% of the territory of Russia. The region stretches for 470 km from the north to the south, and for 455 km from the west to the east. The occupied territory equals to that of Denmark, Belgium and the Netherlands taken together.
The region enjoys a favorable moderately continental climate. In January the average temperature is 7 degrees below zero, and in June it is 23 degrees above zero.
The average amount of rains and snow falls accounts for 424 mm/year.
The nature of the region is extremely various. Steppe areas, forest oasis, flood plains of the Don River, and the cost of the Azov Sea are the home for hundreds of kinds of animals and precious types of fish.
With regard to the administrative and territorial structure, 23 cities and 39 districts constitute the region. The administrative center of the region is Rostov -on- Don, with the population of 1,1 million people. It is the largest city in the south of Russia.
The population of the region is 4.34 Mln people. People of more than 100 nationalities live in the region. They are Russians, Armenians, Belorussians, Tatars, Greeks, Turks, Georgians, Jews, Germans, Koreans, and others, who have been living in peace and harmony during many and many centuries. Peace and order, mutual respect and traditionally strong economic and cultural ties are the main valuables that are being kept in the Don region.
The density of the population is 43.1 persons /sq. km.
The region ranks the 5-th in Russia in terms of number of the population.
The share of the potentially working population accounts for 70 %.
The education level of the population of active working age is substantially high. Above 300 people out of 1000 have special secondary education, 400 people have general secondary education, 87 persons have not finished secondary education, 190 individuals have a higher education, and 12 people do not complete a higher education.
Considered as the Russian Gateways to the Black Sea and the Caspian countries, the Rostov Region has a developed transport infrastructure, which includes waterways, railways, roads and Rostov international airport.
The regional transport infrastructure is a part of the main international transport corridor Crete N9, en route St. Petersburg -Moscow -Rostov -Novorossiisk. The Don highway, with a parallel railway Moscow-Rostov-the Caucasus, a waterway from the center of Russia to the Black and Mediterranean seas and an air corridor of St. Petersburg-Moscow-Caucasus region go via the Rostov Region.
The main domestic and international cargo and passenger carrier is the North Caucasian Railway. Principal railway roads connect the central and western regions of the country and Siberia with the southern regions. The railway junctions ensure delivery, processing, and departure of almost every kind of cargo.
The total railway length is 3.3 thsd. km.
Water transport system includes 5 ports: Rostov, Azov and Taganrog ports, Volgodonsk and Ust-Donetsk river ports, which connect the region with 5 seas. More than 20 enterprises are ship owners. There are many ship-repairing yards and transport-forwarding companies. Among the basic ports of the region of international importance are Taganrog Sea Trade Port, Azov Sea Port and Rostov River Port. Taganrog and Azov seaports work throughout the year. Sea and river ports of the Rostov Region serve to the River-Sea type of vessels with the tonnage up to 5,000 tons, and with the range up to the Gibraltar.
Taganrog Sea Port possesses all necessary facilities for handling dry, general and container cargoes.
Azov Sea Port specializes in handling of mineral and construction materials, packed items, timber, etc.
Rostov River Port has 3 cargo departments, and specializes in processing of mineral and construction materials, packed items, timber, and metal.
Via the Bosphorus the region has the exit to the Mediterranean and Western European countries, and via the Danube and the Rhine it has the exit to the Central European countries.
The total length of federal automobile roads is more than 11500 km. International cargo transportation is carried out by the Sovintransavto Rostov joint stock company, which possesses more than 250 trucks.
The International Airport of Rostov serves to national and international flights, 85 CIS and national flights and 41 international flights to such countries as Finland, Germany, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates, the Check Republic, Slovakia, Yugoslavia, Bulgaria, etc.
The Rostov Region has all traditional means of communication, such as telephone, telegraph, and post offices. Modern means of new types of communication, such as paging, cellular, computer networks are developed by such companies as Electrosvyaz, Beeline, Dontelekom, Global 1, Intersvyaz, etc.
above
The Don region has rich history and culture, full of specific traditions and customs.
The people migrated from east to west, from the south of the Caspian Sea to the Caucasus and the Lower Don territory via the Don region.
In the 7-th century the khazar tribes moved to the region. They founded settlements, built a commercial center, the Sarkel castle, which had connections with Europe and Asia.
By the middle of the 16-th century the first Cossack settlements were built. From that time the Cossacks became the men of the Don land.
By the middle of the 19th century 2 centers were formed: a military and administrative center in the city of Novocherkassk, and an industrial and trading one in the city of Rostov. The year of 1749, when in the estuary of the Temernik River, the customs was established, is considered to be the birthday of Rostov-on-Don. In two decades the fortress named after Dmitry Donskoy was built here. The beneficial geographical position resulted in dynamic economic development of the city.
The construction of Voronezh, Rostov and Vladikavkaz railway roads turned the Rostov City into the main transport center and the largest port close to the Azov Sea.
In 1873 the first joint stock companies with foreign participation were set up in the region. They were the English Coal Company by Bradle and Sturm, and the South-Russian Society of Coal Industry.
In the late 90s a process of mass inflow of foreign capital into the Don economy, especially into the coal sector, started. At the time, plants, engineers and workers from the western countries moved to the region.
The Rostov trade fairs, the second after the famous Nizhny Novgorod ones, positively influenced the regional development.
In order to attract big investors the Russian Government offered them effective concessions, paid out bonus premiums, and ensured a duty free customs clearance, which resulted in stable high returns on the invested capital.
And today, the principles of the investors support and profit security guarantees have a further development in the Rostov Region.
|
|
|
