Kursk oblast is situated on southwest slopes of Mid Russian high ground
and has area of 29,800 sq.km. It spreads from west to east for 305 and from
north to south for 171 km. After the USSR broke up, the geographical station of
the oblast got new status ö status of a boundary oblast. On southeast and east
it has 245km. of Russian Federation State Boundary with Sumi oblast (Ukraine).
On northeast Kursk oblast has a boundary of 120km. with Briansk oblast, on north
- with Orel oblast (325 km), on northeast - with Lipetsk oblast (65 km), on east ö with Voroneg
oblast (145 km), on south ö with Belgorod oblast (335 km).
Mineral resources.
Supplies of iron ore of Kursk Magnetic Anomalism (KMA) do not have equal itself anywhere else in the World. On its territory, there have been discovered almost all the kinds of iron ore that include iron of 35-66%. Raw materials for building: sand, clay, loam, chalk. Our oblast has plenty of lake silt and peat. Full area of black earth (chernozem) is 1,290.7 thousand hectares (69.5% of the territory of the oblast).
Agriculture.
Ground cultivating was one of the ancient kinds of employ on the
territory of Kursk region. Islands of cultivation area existed on the territory
of the oblast in the 5-6th century. The
active developing of lands began from the 16th century, when Moscow
State was getting stronger. That process got the quickest development from the
17th to the beginning of the 19th century. To 1851 Kursk gubernija got the
leading status in Russia in the land cultivation (61.3% of its territory) and
held it until 1990 when that level raised 89%. Land cultivation was the
essential deal for the population of Kursk, and Kursk region became the main
supplier of corn to the central regions of Russia. Such situation was not
surprising, because the chernozem area in Kursk oblast, now, is 1,290.7 thousand
hectares (69.5% of the total area). In the beginning of the 19th century, on
Kursk fields appeared sugar beet, and sugar rush spread over the whole Kursk
region. The first factory proceeding sugar was built in 1811-1812 in Ivanovskoe
village, near Rilsk. In 1845, in Kursk gubernija there were 22 similar
factories. Until the 20th century there was no large-scale industry.
Industry.
Contemporary structure of Kursk oblast industry took its rise after the World War II, in 70-80s mechanical engineering held the leading place in industry, and in 90s - electric power. The oblast economy has been developing as a part of KMA trading estate, where a nuclear station in Kurchatov plays the main role. In 1996, the nuclear station produced 18,980mln. kvt. h. that was 94.5% of all energy produced in Kursk oblast (20,092). KMA industry is based on mineral resources. Its development goes by two ways: ãore-metal-industryä and ãmineral resources - building materialsä. The basic technology is complemented by the odd ones. At present time, the technology at the territory of Kursk oblast is presented by the early stage - extraction of ore, and the very last one ö mechanical engineering. Mikchailovsky GOK is one of the biggest metal raw material producers in Russia. Mikchailovsky GOK proceeds about 78% of the total production, exporting by Kursk oblast abroad. The key oblast industries are electricity (Accumulator, Electroapparatniy etc.), instrumentation (Schetmash, APZ 20, Geomash etc.) and agriculture.