Magadan Oblast

Magadan Oblast was established on December 3, 1953[4] in what had popularly been known as Kolyma. As a result of considerable raw resources, especially gold, silver, tin, and tungsten deposits, mining activities and road building had been developed during the Stalin era in the 1930s and 1940s under the coordination of Dalstroy and its forced labor camps. Upon Stalin's death, Dalstroy was disbanded and the regional administration took over many of its former responsibilities.

From then on, paid labor replaced most of the convict-based manpower, attracted by the region's rapid economic expansion, especially the gold-mining interests.

The indigenous peoples of the region, including the Evens, Koryaks, Yupiks, Chukchis, Orochs, Chuvans and Itelmens, who had traditionally lived from fishing along the Sea of Okhotsk coast or from reindeer herding in the River Kolyma valley, suffered from the industrialization of the area but were able to rely on institutional support until 1987 when Perestroika started to cause many of the older structures to close. As a result, many of those who can no longer rely on traditional sources of income are now unemployed.[14]

Chukotka Autonomous Okrug was formerly administratively subordinated to Magadan Oblast, but declared its separation in 1991.

On 4 July 1997, Magadan, alongside Bryansk, Chelyabinsk, Saratov, and Vologda signed a power-sharing agreement with the government of Russia, granting it autonomy.[15] The agreement would be abolished on 30 January 2002.[16]

Jack London Lake

Burkhalinsky Pass as seen from the Susuman side

Gertner Bay, Magadan

Magadan Oblast consists principally of mountainous desert, tundra, and taiga. The southern part of the region is partly forested with birch, willow, mountain ash, larch and alder.

There are a number of peninsulas along the oblast's coast, the chief ones being (north to south) the Taygonos Peninsula, Pyagina Peninsula, Koni Peninsula, Staritskogo Peninsula, Onatsevicha Peninsula, Khmitevskogo Peninsula and the Onara Peninsula.

The main islands of Magadan Oblast are (north to south) Telan Island, the Yam Islands, Zavyalov Island, Nedorazumeniya Island and the Spafaryev Islands.

The animal species in the south include snow sheep, reindeer, moose and brown bears. There are also many varieties of birds, including ducks and seabirds. Coastal waters of the Sea of Okhotsk host notable biodiversity where large vertebrates such as bowhead whales[17] may appear, and have rich fishing grounds for pollock, herring, cod, flounder and salmon, as well as crabs and shellfish.

The economy is centered on mining interests for gold, silver and other non-ferrous metals. The city of Magadan is the only large industrial center. Agriculture is not well developed in the region. In April 2014 the Russian government has endorsed bills for extending the operations of the Special Economic Zone (SEZ) in Magadan Oblast through to December 31, 2025.[18]

Despite rich natural resources, the economy has not prospered as much as might have been expected in recent years. The severe climate and poorly developed infrastructure are partly to blame, but the difficult transition from Soviet times has led to the collapse of a number of companies with the result that many inhabitants have left the region. Recently, there does seem to have been renewed efforts to encourage foreign investment which could lead to improvements in the economy. Indeed, on a visit to Magadan in November 2005, President Vladimir Putin supported the extension of special tax advantages for the region in order to encourage gold exploitation.[20]

While official unemployment in Magadan Region is around 12%, it is higher in remote areas where a large segment of the population is indigenous (16–18%). The actual unemployment figures must be much higher, because many people who live in remote areas have no opportunity to register as unemployed. In some places unemployment is probably almost 20%, although this is not officially recognized. While reindeer herding is ruined in many places, and fishing quotas are nearly impossible to get, the fraction of indigenous workers in industry and mining is almost invisible.

Population: 156,996 (2010 Census);[10] 182,726 (2002 Census);[21] 542,868 (1989 Census).[22]

• Total Fertility Rate: 1.344 children per women (2008)
• Urban TFR: 1.300 children per women (2008)
• Rural TFR: 5.879 children per women (2008)
• Infant Mortality Rate: 14.2 per 1000 births (2007)
• Urban Infant Mortality Rate: 12.9 per 1000 births (2007)
• Rural Infant Mortality Rate: 34.8 per 1000 births (2007) (highest in all of Russia).

Vital statistics for 2012

• Births: 1 917 (12.4 per 1000)
• Deaths: 1 943 (12.6 per 1000) [23]

Total fertility rate:[24]
2009 - 1.54 | 2010 - 1.44 | 2011 - 1.48 | 2012 - 1.65 | 2013 - 1.69 | 2014 - 1.66 | 2015 - 1.66 | 2016 - 1.59(e)

Ethnic groups: According to the 2010 Census, the ethnic composition was:[10]

• 127,936 Russians (84.1%);
• 9,857 Ukrainians (6.5%);
• 2,635 Evens (1.7%);
• 1,415 Tatars (0.9%);
• 1,121 Belarusians (0.8%);
• 4,930 people were registered from administrative databases, and could not declare an ethnicity. It is estimated that the proportion of ethnicities in this group is the same as that of the declared group.[25]

Demographics for 2006 and later

Magadan

Magadan is a federal subject that has the highest rate of depopulation in the Russian Federation. Its population, which stood at 384,525 in 1991, stood at 165,820 on January 1, 2008 (according to the State Committee of the Russian Federation on Statistics), falling at a rate of around 2% per year. The rural population, which had stood at 59,151, was just 8,833 in 2008 and decreasing at a rate of around 10% per year. Entire villages are being emptied out and the population of the rural areas of the districts is simply disappearing. The rural population of Yagodninsky District was reduced from 13,843 (1991) to 445 (2007). The Omsukchansky District saw its rural population plummet from 1,301 to 79. Especially extreme is the example of Susumansky District, where the rural population almost disappeared: from 9,764 in 1991 to just 116 in 2007. Emigration is evident from the fact that for the 20-24 age group, there were only 66 females living in rural areas, compared to 202 males. Male life expectancy for rural areas rose to 53.73 years in 2006 from 51.88 in 2005.[26] In 2021 the depopulation continues with approximately the same rate, as the population is about 139,000 people.

Although Magadan Oblast is a part of the program of resettlement of ethnic Russian families,[27] not a single such family from the near abroad has so far settled in the Oblast.

District	Population	Urban	Rural	Births	BR	Deaths	DR	NGR
Magadan Oblast	171,569	161,937	9,632	1820	10.70	2242	13.20	-0.25%
Magadan	107,265	107,265	0	1171	10.90	1292	12.10	-0.12%
Olsky District	11,463	7,917	3,546	124	10.90	192	16.90	-0.60%
Omsukchansky District	5,993	5,887	106	51	8.60	61	10.30	-0.17%
Severo-Evensky District	3,129	1,797	1,332	29	9.50	55	18.10	-0.86%
Srednekansky District	4,193	2,984	1,209	35	8.70	74	18.40	-0.97%
Susumansky District	11,166	10,952	214	101	9.30	132	12.20	-0.29%
Tenkinsky District	6,523	4,433	2,090	74	11.60	96	15.00	-0.34%
Khasynsky District	9,147	8,587	560	108	12.00	140	15.50	-0.35%
Yagodninsky District	12,690	12,115	575	127	10.40	200	16.30	-0.59%

After 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami, Vladimir Zhirinovsky, the leader of Russia's LDPR party, has called on Japanese to leave “the dangerous islands” and move to the Magadan Oblast.[28][29][30]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Magadan Oblast.

• (in Russian) Official website of Magadan Oblast
• Kommersant newspaper: Overview of Magadan Oblast
• Documentary: GOLD -lost in Siberia (1994) by Theo Uittenbogaard and Gerard Jacobs