Yaroslavl Oblast

Yaroslavl Oblast is a federal subject of Russia (an oblast), which is located in the Central Federal District, surrounded by the Tver, Moscow, Ivanovo, Vladimir, Kostroma, and Vologda oblasts.

This geographic location gives the oblast the advantages of proximity to Moscow and Saint Petersburg. Additionally, the city of Yaroslavl, the administrative center of the oblast, is served by major highways, railroads, and waterways. The population of the oblast was 1,272,468 as of the 2010 Census.

The climate of Yaroslavl Oblast is temperate continental; there are four clearly established seasons and most of the precipitation falls as showers during the warm half of the year. Winters are cold and snowy winters, and summers are quite warm. The coldest month is January, when the average temperature is about −8.2 °C (17.2 °F), while the warmest is July when the average temperature is +18.9 °C (66.0 °F).

Formerly almost all territory was covered with thick conifer forest (fir, pine). After much of this was harvested, now a large portion of territory has been replaced by second-growth birch-and-aspen forests and crop fields. Swamps also take up considerable areas.

Large animals have been much reduced in numbers, but there are still some bears, wolves, foxes, moose, and wild boars. A great number of wild birds live and nest in the oblast. In cities, the most common birds are pigeons, jackdaws, hooded crows, rooks, house sparrows, and great tits.

The oblast is bordered by Vologda Oblast to the north, Kostroma Oblast and Ivanovo Oblast to the east, Vladimir Oblast to the south and Moscow Oblast and Tver Oblast to the west.

The Volga River flows through Yaroslavl Oblast; major dams and hydroelectric stations were built at Uglich and Rybinsk. The Rybinsk Reservoir, filled between 1941 and 1947, is one of the largest in Europe. As it was filled the former town of Mologa and several hundreds of villages were flooded. Some 150,000 people in Yaroslavl, Vologda, and Kalinin (now Tver) oblasts had to be relocated in connection with this project.

Mineral resources are limited to construction materials (such as sand, gravel, clay) and peat. There are also mineral water springs and wells.