How to explain the fact that the Ural region is urbanized? Summary: Urbanization and population of the territory The level of urbanization in the Urals is high or low.

6. Features of the Ural urbanization

Ural urbanization is characterized by at least three features:

· It develops on the basis of a mountain-fold belt formed in the Paleozoic as a result of the complete Wilson cycle (rifting → spreading → subduction → collision). In the Mesozoic, young mountains were destroyed, their ancient roots were exposed by erosion-denudation leveling surfaces, and destruction products were accumulated on the outskirts of the Russian platform and the West Siberian plate. Urbanization, which began in the Urals about four centuries ago, is now the most powerful modern process that is transforming the Paleozoic mountain-fold belt.

· The Ural urbanization is ethnically typomorphic: in time and in essence it coincides with the Russian colonization of the Urals, which began in the 15th century.

· The late industrial stage of the Ural urbanization is characterized by a paradoxical combination of modern powerful energy and technological potential and a rudimentary orientation towards the extraction of mineral matter, which predetermines the stable geomorphism of the urbanization process of the Urals.

The geological structure of the Urals is asymmetrical. The main Ural Deep Fault serves as a kind of asymmetry surface, dividing the Urals into paleocontinental (western) and paleooceanic (eastern) sectors (Fig. 4).

In general, the cities of the Urals, according to the genetic nature of the lithogenic basis, can be divided into the following groups:

The cities of the Pre-Urals and the Trans-Urals: they develop within the platform outskirts, the structure of which is determined by two structural floors. In the case of the Russian platform, the first structural stage is the Proterozoic, crystalline (metamorphic and magmatic) basement, and the second is the Phanerozoic (Pz + Mz + Kz) cover of horizontally occurring sedimentary rocks. The first structural stage of the West Siberian Plate is composed of dislocated Paleozoic complexes, and the cover is composed of Mesozoic and Cenozoic sedimentary rocks.

The cities of the Paleocontinental sector of the Ural Mountains transform the mineral matter of the ancient basement of the eastern margin of the Russian platform involved in the Ural deformations.

The cities of the Paleo-oceanic sector of the Ural Mountains transform igneous and sedimentary complexes - the legacy of the Ural Paleozoic Ocean. In fact, this is, in the geological sense, the Ural cities.

The difference between the processes of urbanization of these geostructural zones of the Urals is also manifested in degree in the nature of the relationship between surface and groundwater.

The cities of the Mountainous Urals are developing in the conditions of open hydrogeological systems. Here, the connections between surface and groundwater are simple and effective, so the transformation of surface water during urbanization is directly reflected in the underground hydrosphere. The cities of the Cis-Urals and Trans-Urals develop in conditions of closed hydrogeological systems and groundwater resources are better protected from technogenic impact (Fig. 5).

Russian colonization, with which urbanization is associated, was refracted in the fundamental asymmetry of the geological structure of the Urals. Starting in the Northern Cis-Urals, urbanization spread first in the Trans-Urals, and then covered the Mountainous Middle and Southern Urals. Ancient and ancient mining centers, known since the era of copper and iron, determined the geography of Peter's factories and cities. Ural urbanization, originally hydromorphic, due to the mighty impulses of Peter the Great and Stalinist industrialization, acquired geomorphic features: the location of the Ural cities is subject to the symmetry of the geological space, the structure of the Ural mountain-fold belt, and its mineragenic zonality.

Fig.5. Hydrogeological aspects of urbanization

A - open hydrogeological systems (Mountain Urals)

B - closed hydrogeological systems (western margin of the West Siberian Plate).

Aquifers:

B1 - modern alluvium;

B2 – buried alluvium;

B3 - aquifers with recharge area in zone A;

B4 - fresh water protected from degradation;

B5 - mineralized and salty waters.

The sequence of transformation of water resources due to urbanization:

A® A1® B1® B2® B3® B4® B5

Urbanization is the process of increasing the role of cities in the development of society, the growth of cities, the increase in the proportion of the urban population.

The prerequisites for urbanization are:

concentration in cities of industry;

development of cultural and political functions of cities;

deepening the territorial division of labor.

Urbanization is characterized by:

the influx of the rural population into the cities;

concentration of population in large cities;

increasing pendulum migration of the population;

emergence of urban agglomerations and megalopolises.

The development of urbanization goes through the following main stages:

I. Development and growth of cities (growing, as it were, separately). This is a "point" concentration. The city is accumulating potential, complicating its functional and planning structures. Its problems are becoming larger and more acute, but their solution within the city itself is becoming increasingly difficult due to limited territorial resources.

II. Formation of agglomerations. Post-urban stage of settlement development. The emergence of a galaxy of urban settlements on the basis of a large city introduces fundamental changes in the pattern of settlement. Agglomerations are becoming a key form of territorial organization of productive forces and settlement. Agglomeration is selective, but at the same time very common. Agglomerations play a leading role in all developed and in a number of developing countries. A large city finds its complement in them and at the same time acquires new opportunities for solving its problems, including environmental ones. The outstanding potential of a large city is realized more fully.

In social terms, an urban agglomeration is an area in which the weekly cycle of life of a modern city dweller closes. Agglomerations have two fundamental properties: the proximity of the settlements that form them and the complementarity (complementarity) of the latter. A significant economic effect is associated with agglomerations, due to the ability to close a significant part of industrial and other ties within territorially limited agglomeration areas. This is especially important for countries with a large territory. In the conditions of centralized management of the economy, the agglomeration effect was not used enough: departments preferred to organize ties within their own framework, not paying attention to their economic inexpediency.

The positive properties of agglomerations are combined with their disadvantages. This is explained by the fact that the agglomerations, as it were, accumulated disparate, poorly coordinated private solutions. Their development was not regulated in accordance with a predetermined general plan. The formation of agglomerations can be considered as one of the manifestations of the self-development of settlement.

III. Formation of the supporting frame of settlement. Dispersed concentration. The supporting frame is a generalized urban portrait of a country or region. It is formed by a combination of nodal (cities, agglomerations) and linear (highways, polyhighways) elements. Where they are close enough and the territory is blocked by zones of their direct influence, urbanized areas are formed.

The formation of the supporting frame indicates the manifestation of two main trends in the development of settlement - centripetal and linear. An example of a clearly manifested linear-rapid trend was the formation of an urbanized strip Moscow - Nizhny Novgorod.

Within the Ural Economic Region (UER), a powerful regional settlement system has developed, the functioning of which is significantly influenced by the demographic situation. The state and structure of the regional system of settlement largely depends on the dynamics of the population in time and space. Under the influence of the current demographic situation, certain rates of socio-economic development of the Urals are largely formed. The demographic situation increasingly determines the development of a network of settlements, the growth rates of urban and rural settlements of various sizes.

In terms of population, the UER ranks second (20,461 thousand people) in the Russian Federation, second only to the Central Economic Region. In the region, there has been an increase in the absolute value of the population, including urban and rural, with a negative balance of natural growth since 1996 (Table 2).

The share of regions and republics in the total population of the UER is not the same. So, in 3 of them (Bashkortostan, Chelyabinsk and Sverdlovsk regions) 60% of the population of the UER live, and by area they make up 50% of the territory of the UER (Table 3).

Table 2. Dynamics of the population of the WER

Year	Thousand people
1863	4000
1913	8750
as of January 1, 1961	18067
as of January 1, 1981	19556
as of January 1, 1996	19981
as of 01.01.2000	20239
as of January 1, 2003	20461
as of January 1, 2004	20421
as of January 1, 2005	20488
as of January 1, 2006	20461

Table 3. Dynamics of the share of regions and republics in the population of WER,%

	as of January 1, 1980	as of 01.01.1990	as of January 1, 2006
Bashkortostan	19,8	19,5	20,4
Udmurtia	7,8	7,9	8,1
Kurgan region	5,6	5,45	5,5
Orenburg region	10,7	10,7	11,1
Perm region including the Komi-Permyatsky Aut. OK.	15,5	15,3	15,7
Sverdlovsk region.	22,9	23,25	23,25
Chelyabinsk region	17,7	17,9	15,8

The level of urbanization in the Urals is higher than in the Russian Federation as a whole. But the share of the urban population in the regions of the EER is not the same, so in Bashkortostan it is 64.7%; in Udmurtia 69.7%; in the Kurgan region 54.8%; in the Orenburg region 63.9%; in the Perm region 76.6%; in the Komi-Permyatsky Aut. approx. 30.6%; in the Sverdlovsk region 87.6%; in the Chelyabinsk region 81.3%.

Table 4. Dynamics of the urban population of the UER,%

Year	%
as of January 1, 1961	60
as of January 1, 1981	72
as of January 1, 1996	74
as of 01.01.2000	74,7
as of January 1, 2003	74,5
as of January 1, 2004	74,4
as of January 1, 2005	74,48
as of January 1, 2006	74,5

About 2/5 of the Ural cities are located near mineral deposits, and their whole life is connected with the mining industry. They usually consist of several settlements, the population of which rarely exceeds 50 thousand people. More than 1/10 of urban settlements owe their development to ferrous and non-ferrous metallurgy. The number of metallurgical centers has decreased compared to the beginning of the century due to the development of local deposits, many of them have been transformed into centers of mechanical engineering and metalworking. As a rule, these are also small cities and towns. Small and rare medium-sized urban settlements arose at the enterprises of the timber and paper industries. On the other hand, the chemical industry leads to larger settlements, which is associated with a high concentration of production.

The centers of regions and republics are multifunctional. They represent large industrial formations and the most important transport hubs. Political, administrative, organizational, economic, supply activities are concentrated in them. About 40% of the UER urban population lives in these centers.

Almost 2/3 of urban settlements are located in the mining zone, mainly along the eastern and western slopes of the ridge, forming chains of settlements in places. There are few of them directly in the axial zone of the mountains. There are noticeably fewer of them outside the mining zone, here they are located mainly along the communication lines.

As in other areas, in the Urals there is a process of formation of urban agglomerations around large cities. There is also a process of pendulum migration - the movement of the population to the areas of large cities from places of housing to places of work and back for labor purposes.

With the growth of the absolute number of the rural population in the Urals, its share in the total population is gradually falling. There are significant differences in the rural settlement of different parts of the UER. The north of the district and the mountainous areas are dominated by small settlements, usually located along rivers, where the non-agricultural population predominates. When moving south, the size of rural settlements increases, and their network becomes more rare; dominated by the agricultural population.

The average population density in the district is about 25 people. / sq. km. Moreover, in the Chelyabinsk region this figure is 42 people. / sq. km, and in the Komi-Permyatsky Aut. env. - 4.8 people / sq. km, which indicates significant distortions in the density of population in various areas of the UER.

Since 1993, an unfavorable situation with the natural movement of the population has been developing in the region: the number of deaths begins to exceed the number of births, and, consequently, a natural population decline occurs in the UER.

Again, in different areas of the UER, the situation with the natural movement of the population is different. So in Bashkortostan in 1996, the natural increase (decrease) of the population per 1000 inhabitants was - 1.2; in Udmurtia - 3.8; in the Kurgan region - 5.5; in the Orenburg region - 3.4; in the Perm region - 5.5; in the Komi-Permyatsky Aut. env. - 4.9; in the Sverdlovsk region - 6.5; in the Chelyabinsk region - 5.1. Thus, a narrowed type of reproduction is currently characteristic of UER.

Table 5. Indicators of the mechanical movement of the population of the regions and republics of the UER in 2005 (persons per 1000 inhabitants)

	Entry	Departure	Balance
Bashkortostan	29,6	23,8	5,8
Udmurtia	24,9	21,6	3,2
Kurgan region	33,7	32,2	1,5
Orenburg region	31,6	25,4	6,2
Perm region	25,1	23,4	1,8
Sverdlovsk region.	28,5	25,0	3,5
Chelyabinsk region	26,9	24,1	2,8

If, on the whole, to characterize the situation with the mechanical movement of the population of the UER in 2005, it should be noted that the number of those who arrived in the region and the republic of the district exceeded the number of those who left them. The positive balance of migration made it possible not only to cover the negative balance of natural movement in the WER, but also due to it in 2005 the population increased by 70 thousand people.

Thus, the Ural region has all the signs of urbanization: there is an influx of population from the village to the city; concentration of population in large cities; pendulum migration; the occurrence of agglomerations. This allows us to conclude that the Ural region is urbanized.

Table 4. Dynamics of the urban population of the UER,%


as of January 1, 1961
as of January 1, 1981
as of January 1, 1996
as of 01.01.2000
as of January 1, 2003
as of January 1, 2004
as of January 1, 2005
as of January 1, 2006

The centers of regions and republics are multifunctional. They represent large industrial formations and the most important transport hubs. Political-administrative, organizational-economic, supply activities are concentrated in them. About 40% of the UER urban population lives in these centers.

Introduction

“ Cities are a great creation of the mind and human hands. They play a decisive role in the territorial organization of society. They serve as a mirror of their countries and regions. The leading cities are called the spiritual workshops of humanity and the engines of progress.” - Georgy Mikhailovich Lappo gave such an admiring description of the city in his book Geography of Cities.

One cannot but agree with him. Indeed, urbanization and population play an important role in the life of every country.

When writing my work, I would like to consider in more detail the following questions (many of which are already indicated in the table of contents):

what types according to the proportion of the urban population are the republics of bl. zar. (near abroad) and er (economic regions) of Russia, and with which countries of the world they are comparable in this indicator.

what are the reasons for regional differences in the level of urbanization;

at what stage of urbanization according to Gibbs were the republics of bl. salary by the time of the collapse of the USSR (91);

what e.r. Russia has the lowest rate of urban population growth and why;

how the crisis of the 1990s affected the processes of urbanization, and what is the reason for the reduction in the proportion of the urban population in the newly independent states;

where millionaire cities are located, and what is the reason for their concentration in the Volga region and in the Urals;

what types of republics exist and e.r. by population density, what are the reasons for the differences in population density.

The ratio of urban and rural population

The development of the social division of labor led to the formation of two main types of settlements: urban and rural. Accordingly, a distinction is made between the urban population (residents of cities and urban-type settlements) and the rural population (residents of settlements employed by less than 85% in production). The quantitative predominance of the rural population over the urban population is observed in five neighboring countries: Moldova (46%), Turkmenistan (45%), Uzbekistan (39%), Kyrgyzstan (36%), Tajikistan (28%). These countries are classified as rural type. The remaining countries of the near abroad have more than 50% of the urban population.

A more interesting situation is with the economic regions of Russia. There are no rural-type economic regions in this country. The minimum indicator of the share of the urban population is in the North Caucasus: 56%. But, despite this, the Russian Federation includes several subjects, the rural population of which prevails. Moreover, this list includes not only subjects of little urbanized areas, for example, the North Caucasus: Dagestan (43% of the urban population), Karachay-Cherkessia (37%), Chechnya and Ingushetia (43%), but also subjects of areas with a fairly high level of urbanization . For example, Eastern Siberia (71% of the urban population) and located on its territory: Ust-Orda Autonomous District (0% of the urban population), Altai (26%), Evenki Autonomous District (27%), Aginsky Buryat Autonomous District (32%), Tuva ( 48%). These low rates are offset by significantly higher rates elsewhere in these areas. For example, in the North Caucasian economic region, the most urbanized subject is North Ossetia (70%), and in Eastern Siberia - Khakassia (72%).

The limit of change in the share of the urban population in the regions of Russia is 56-83% and 28-73% in the countries of the near abroad, although the figure often increases in increments of 1%.

Let's compare the economic regions of Russia and neighboring countries with the countries of the world in terms of the share of the urban population -

Urbanization	e.r. Russia	Country Middle Zarub,	A country in the world that has a comparable percentage of urbanization.
87%	North-West	UK, Qatar, Argentina, Australia
83%	C.e.r.	Sweden, Bahrain, Venezuela
76%	North D.-east.	Japan, Canada
75%	Ural	Czechoslovakia, Iran, Brazil
73%	Povolzh.	Russia	France, SA, USA
72%	Estonia	Italy, Republic of Korea, Puerto Rico
71%	Zap.-Sib. East-Sib	Latvia	Norway, Taiwan, Mexico
70%	Volg.-Vyat.	Jordan, Libya
69%	Lithuania	Peru
68%	Belarus Armenia	Colombia
67%	Ukraine	Bulgaria
61%	C.C.R.	Switzerland, Cyprus, Equatorial Guinea
57%	Kazakhst.	Greece, Mongolia, Nicaragua
56%	North-Kav,	Ireland
55%	Georgia	Austria, Iraq, Ecuador, Tunisia
53%	Azerbaijan	Romania, Panama
46%	Moldova	Yugoslavia, Lebanon, Saint Lucia, Morocco
45%	Turkmen.	Slovenia, Philippines, Costa Rica, Egypt
39%	Uzbekist.	Guatemala, Ivory Coast
36%	Kyrgyz.	Albania, Malaysia, Guyana, Somalia
28%	Tajik.	Portugal, India, Haiti, Namibia

As can be seen from this table, the economic regions of Russia and neighboring countries are compared in terms of the share of the urban population with a wide variety of countries: from Namibia to Great Britain. Why such a difference? What are the reasons for regional differences in the level of urbanization in the republics of the near abroad and regions of Russia?

Answering these questions will require a definition of the term “urbanization”. Urbanization is the process of spreading urban lifestyles; it is a process of concentration, integration and intensification of activities, a global socio-economic process.

There are several reasons for regional differences in the level of urbanization by e. R. neighboring countries and e. R. Russia. First, it is the economic and geographical position. The northern republics of the Near Abroad (Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Belarus gravitates towards them), as well as the northeastern e.r. Russia (Northern, Northwestern, West Siberian, East Siberian, Far Eastern) are highly urbanized, because natural conditions do not allow the development of agriculture. In these regions, an economic structure based on industry is taking shape. Accordingly, cities are developing - centers of labor activity. The same picture is typical for mountainous regions (Urals, Armenia).

On the other hand, such e.r. as Ts.Ch.e.r. and the North Caucasus are in the most favorable conditions for the development of agriculture. These are the granaries of our country. Most of the population of these e.r. busy in agriculture. This is also the reason for the predominance of the rural population in the Central Asian republics, except for Kazakhstan, and in Moldova.

The group of moderately urbanized countries includes Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Georgia and Azerbaijan. The combination of favorable natural conditions and high availability of resources gave rise to the simultaneous development of both agriculture and industry in these countries. In Ukraine and Kazakhstan, as coal and iron ore deposits were developed, cities were formed and grew. Some agglomerations are also concentrated here: Karaganda, Donetsk, etc. A similar situation has developed in Russia in the Urals and Western Siberia. Georgia and Azerbaijan differ less from rural-type republics than Ukraine and Kazakhstan (only by 4-6%). The inclination towards the republics of the rural type is due to the presence of fertile valleys among the mountain ranges. These valleys are the only lands of the former USSR where tropical fruits are grown.

Not only the EGP played a role in the level of urbanization.

An equally important reason is the course of the historical process of folding cities. In the Central and Northwestern e.r. historically, urbanization began to develop earlier; The centers of these regions have been capitals at different times and now form huge agglomerations concentrating millions of people. The process of urbanization also began earlier in the Volga region. This e.r. stretched along the largest river. From time immemorial, trade routes passed here, cities were centers of trade and crafts, and the population was concentrated in them.

Urban and rural population growth rates

1. Stages of urbanization according to Gibbs.

Over time, in each country there are some changes in the field of settlement. This is due to a change in the type of population reproduction and a change in the type of economy. The American geographer Gibbs identified 5 main stages of settlement, which all countries of the world have passed or will pass to a certain stage of development. The main criterion for distinguishing the five stages of urbanization is the ratio of the dynamics of the urban and rural population. Based on data on the dynamics of urban and rural population since 1979. to 1991 let us determine at what stage of urbanization each of the republics of Bl. salary..

Population dynamics salary

(1991 to 1979 at the beginning of the year in%)

The country	All population	Urban	rural
Ukraine	104	115	88
Belarus	107	131	79
Moldova	111	134	96
Georgia	109	118	99
Armenia	111	115	104
Azerbaijan	118	119	117
Kazakhstan	114	122	105
Uzbekistan	135	131	137
Kyrgyzstan	125	123	127
Tajikistan	141	127	149
Turkmenistan	135	128	141
Lithuania	110	124	87
Latvia	106	110	97
Estonia	108	111	101

According to Gibbs, the first stage of urbanization has the following characteristics: a pre-industrial way of life, a traditional type of reproduction, a dense and relatively uniform network of rural settlements. At this stage of development of urbanization, the urban population grows slowly, and therefore the proportion of city dwellers may even decrease, with the absolute predominance of the rural population. At this stage of urbanization by 1991. were: Tajikistan and Turkmenistan. Dynamics of urban and rural population since 1979 by 91 testifies to this. Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan were in the transition to the second stage of urbanization.

The second stage of the urbanization of society is manifested during the process of industrialization. At this stage of urbanization, the rural population migrates to the cities in mass flows, but due to natural growth, the share of rural residents in the entire population of the country is still slightly growing.

The urban population is increasing more rapidly. By 91 at this stage of urbanization were the republics: Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Armenia. Moldova and Georgia were in the transition from the second stage to the third.

The third stage of the urbanization of society is characterized by the following features: the demographic transition has already been completed; migration outflow and natural decline leads to a decrease in the rural population. The growth in the share of the urban population causes a predominance over the share of the rural population.

At the fourth stage of urbanization, the urban population continues to grow slowly, and the rural population also slightly decreases. By 91, Russia was in the third or fourth stages of urbanization, as well as Ukraine, Belarus, and Lithuania. Estonia and Latvia carried out the transition to the fifth stage.

The fifth stage of urbanization is characteristic of post-industrial countries, when social differences between the city and the countryside disappear. All the advantages of the city appear in the countryside. The value of the environmental factor in the minds of the population is increasing. The growth of the psychological factor makes the townspeople move to the countryside. The urban population is decreasing and the rural population is growing. The settlement system again comes to a state of equilibrium. By 1991, none of the republics of Bl. was in this stage of urbanization. salary

Urban population growth rates for the period 1979-1991.

The lowest growth rates of the urban population in Russia for the period 1979-1991. were observed in the Northwestern e.r. (by 11%), in the Urals (by 11%), in the Central (by 12%). This is due to the specifics of the population and economy of these areas.

In the Northwestern economic region, the proportion of the urban population increased quite a bit. This area has an extraordinary structure: in the center - the city of St. Petersburg, 5 million people live, while in the entire area - 8 million. Including the Leningrad region. accounts for 1.7 million, Novgorod and Pskov combined - 1.5 million. Human. In the Northwest, urbanization began earlier than in some other regions of Russia. Industry is highly developed here, agriculture is less developed. All these features influenced the process of urbanization. By the 1980s, the entire potential of the rural population, able to move to the cities, was exhausted in this region; with a small population in rural areas, the maximum influx of population into cities is also small.

For the Ural e. R. characterized by a high level of urbanization, the concentration of a large number of people in large cities. This is largely due to the predominance of large enterprises in the industry of the Urals. Back in the 1960s, the world was going through a crisis associated with the decline of such industries as ferrous metallurgy and metal-intensive engineering. In our country, this crisis was artificially “postponed” with the help of state subsidies and excessive metal consumption of the national economy. Therefore, by the beginning of the 1990s, when it was no longer possible to contain the crisis (deterioration of the ecological system, depletion of the main deposits), many enterprises fell into decay, and the number of jobs decreased. Therefore, the influx of people from rural areas to cities gradually decreased.

The process of urbanization in the Central e.r. began, as well as in the North-West earlier than in other parts of Russia. In addition, the countryside of the Central eq. The area is notable for the sparsely populated villages and villages, since podzolic soils are an unfavorable natural condition for the development of agriculture. This determined the initial preference for the city over the countryside by the inhabitants of this region. Therefore, with a small population of rural areas, the natural increase in the rural population is also low, which in turn causes a small influx of rural residents into the cities of this eq. district.

In the e. R. there is a low growth rate of the urban population, due to a small influx of the rural population.

Another reason for the low growth rate of the urban population is the deterioration of the demographic situation in Russia. The decrease in the birth rate has affected with a slight increase in the death rate, which is caused by the unfavorable age structure of the population in large centers and cities. Recall that in the past decades, large cities accounted for the predominant part of the total growth of the country. This is evidenced by the statistics of the following table.

Natural increase per 1000 inhabitants in 1980-1992 in some cities of the Russian Federation.

The table shows that in the largest cities of the Russian Federation by 1991. there was a natural decrease in the population, although in general a small increase remained in urban settlements.

Crisis of the 90s. years. Reducing the share of the urban population.

The crisis of the 1990s was reflected in a decrease in the proportion of the urban population of Russia and many republics of the Near Abroad. In this case, what is happening is not at all explained by the fifth stage of urbanization, as has been happening in recent years, for example, in the United States. During the years of crisis, the population is particularly acutely confronted with material problems. Residents of the southern regions, previously employed in industry, find it easier to maintain a certain standard of living in rural areas, because in the southern regions, agriculture is highly developed and brings a certain income. Most of all, the process of deurbanization affected Tajikistan (3%) and Kyrgyzstan (2%). Of the countries of the Near Abroad, today, these are the republics where the share of agriculture is especially large. Geographically, these are the southernmost republics of Central Asia. With the collapse of industry in the cities, the return of workers to the cultivated lands for centuries is natural.

The decline in the urban population in Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Georgia is also explained by the geographical location of these republics and the possibility of improving life through employment in rural areas.

In Russia, a similar situation has developed precisely in the southern regions, hence in recent years there has been a small increase in the rural population in comparison with the above-mentioned republics.

Largest cities

Cities-millionaires of Russia and bl. salary

The country	Economy District Rep.bl. salary	Millionaire City	Number of thousand of us. for 1994.
Russia	Ural	Yekaterinburg	1371
Chelyabinsk	1143
Ufa	1092
Permian	1086
Volga region	Samara	1255
Kazan	1092
Volgograd	1000
Western Siberia	Novosibirsk	1418
Omsk	1161
Central	Moscow	8793
Nizhny Novgorod	1428
North - West	St. Petersburg	4883
Sev-Kavk	Rostov-on-Don	1023
Ukraine	Kyiv	2637
Kharkov	1618
Dnepropetrovsk	1187
Odessa	1106
Donetsk	1117
Belarus	Minsk	1613
Georgia	Tbilisi	1264
Armenia	Yerevan	1202
Kazakhstan	Alma-Ata	1147
Uzbekistan	Tashkent	2694

Let us consider in more detail how million-plus cities are located on the territory of Russia.

First, we note that most of them are concentrated in the European part of Russia. Only Novosibirsk and Omsk are located beyond the Urals. This is due to the small number of people living here, therefore, with all the maximum influx of residents to various cities, only Omsk and Novosibirsk became millionaires. Not to a small extent, this location of the leading cities is determined by a more developed network of roads in the European part of Russia. After all, many millionaire cities are at the intersection of railways and rivers. These are all the millionaire cities of the Volga region (the Volga river), Siberia (the Irtysh and the Ob rivers) and Rostov-on-Don (the Don river), smaller rivers flow through the rest of the millionaire cities of Russia, but nevertheless they pass one of the main branches of the railway network. (For the countries of the Western Europe, such a tendency of the location of millionaire cities at the intersection of rivers and railways is observed only in Ukraine: Kyiv and Dnepropetrovsk on the Dnieper River.)

Secondly, let's pay attention to the fact that most of the millionaire cities are located in groups, in neighboring areas of the same er. . Moscow, St. Petersburg, Rostov-on-Don stand apart. What is it connected with? This is due to the fact that Moscow and St. Petersburg significantly outnumber the nearby cities in terms of population. They have no competitors that could attract an impressive population: the largest city near St. Petersburg (5 million people) - Novgorod - inhabits 233 thousand people, and the largest city near Moscow (8 million people) - Yaroslavl - 635 thousand people (Nizhny Novgorod, located in the Central E.R., is separated from Moscow by the Vladimir region.) As for Rostov-on-Don, this leading city is alone in its region due to the predominance of the rural population there, i.e. in the North-Kav. e.r. and above lying Ts.Ch.E.R., with the maximum shares of the rural population in Russia, there is no inclination to resettlement in cities. The inhabitants of these regions are employed in agriculture.

What is the reason for the concentration of millionaire cities in the Volga region and the Urals?

In the territorial structure of Russia, the Volga region and the Urals are the most important transit territories through which the main West-East ties pass. These areas formed the core of the supporting "framework" of settlement and the territorial structure of the national economy in the form of large centers of various types and highways connecting them. This played a huge role in the development of millionaire cities. Let's consider each region separately.

The Volga region is not only a transit territory, but also a redistributor of cargo flows between regions of Russia. A powerful economic axis is the Volga River - a historical path between the forested North and the grainy South. The crossing of the Volga by railways is extremely important for the development of the leading cities of the Volga region. An equally important role was played by the choice of location, natural conditions, and the geometry of natural landscapes. Millionaire cities occupied the characteristic places of the Volga valley: Kazan - where the Volga abruptly changes the direction of the flow, from east to south, strictly 90, Samara - at the extreme eastward ledge of the Volga - Samarskaya Luka, Volgograd - at the extreme ledge of the Volga channel to the west (this city also radiates three railway lines - towards the Center, Donbass and the Black Sea region.

But the cities of the Volga differ not only in their characteristic position on the Volga. It was very important for their economic rise as transport and industrial centers that where they were located, the Volga crossed the border of natural landscape zones and provinces. The position on the border of territories with different natural prerequisites for the development of the economy, on the mighty river, at the points of its characteristic bends, created a powerful foundation for the economic and geographical position of the Volga millionaire cities.

The Urals is a set of nodes of different sizes in mountain nests, most of which are “strung” on two main meridional axes - Cis-Ural (Ufa and Perm are located here) and Trans-Ural (Ekaterinburg and Chelyabinsk are located here). Million-strong cities are based in the centers of rapidly developing industrial areas, on the axes of inter-areal ties, at the points of contact between different zones, differences in economic potentials. In the Urals, the following are especially developed: the military-industrial complex, mechanical engineering, and non-ferrous metallurgy. The largest cities carry the functions of city-factories. The combination of transit territory and its oversaturation with industry led to the formation of 4 cities of millionaires (the maximum for Russia).

Population of the territory

Types of republics and e.r. by population density.

e.r. Russia	Population density h/km	Country Bl. salary	Population density h/km
(Russia)	(9)
Central	63	Moldova	130
North Caucasus	48	Armenia	113
C.Ch.er.	46	Ukraine	86
Northwest	42	Azerbaijan	82
Volga-Vyatka	32	Georgia	78
Volga region	31	Lithuania	57
Ural	25	Uzbekistan	50
West Sib.	6	Belarus	49
Northern	4	Latvia	42
East Sib.	2	Tajikistan	40
Far Eastern	1	Estonia	35
Kyrgyzstan	22
Turkmenistan	9
Kazakhstan	6

There are three different types of countries and e.r. by population density: densely populated, with an average population density, sparsely populated.

The first type of countries include those republics bl. salary in which the population density is 100–75% of the maximum for this region: Moldova, Ukraine, Azerbaijan and Georgia. To densely populated e.r. Russia can be attributed to the Central e.r. and North Caucasian (distribution according to the above principle)

The second type of countries include those republics bl. salary in which the population density is 75–25% of the maximum for this region: Lithuania, Uzbekistan, Belarus, Latvia, Tajikistan and Estonia. To the type e.r. with an average population density can be attributed to the C.Ch.er., North-West, Volga-Vyatka, Volga, Ural.

The third type includes Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan, in which the population density is 25–0% of the maximum in bl. salary The type of sparsely populated includes the North-Western er., Northern, East Siberian, Far Eastern.

Natural and economic features of territories and their population.

The population of territories depends on their natural and economic features. Based on these differences, geographers divide the territory of the countries of Bl. salary and Russia into five zones.

The zone of continuous settlement, or the main strip of settlement, is characterized by a developed network of settlements, a variety and maturity of settlement forms, and concentrates the vast majority of large cities and large urban agglomerations, industrial centers. Hence the high population density of the main strip, covering the European part of Russia without the North and the sparsely populated areas of the Caspian lowland, passing through the south of Siberia and the Far East.

Here we also include the European republics of Bl. salary

From the north and south, the main strip of settlement is bordered by zones that differ sharply in natural conditions.

The zone of the Far North is characterized by focality of settlement. There is a low population density, which is explained by the severity of the climate, the scattered settlements, a rare network of railways, and a small number of large industrial enterprises.

The arid zone of focal forms of settlement includes vast desert and semi-desert territories to the south of the main zone of settlement, also sparsely populated and also with extreme, although different in nature, conditions. It covers the Northern Caspian, Western Kazakhstan and most of Central Kazakhstan, Northern Turkmenistan, Karakalpakstan. These territories are characterized by a production type of agriculture (transhumance-livestock), a developed fuel industry, and a sparseness of large base settlements located near permanent sources of water supply.

The zone of oases and industrial areas was formed at the junction of the mountainous and plain parts of Central Asia and Kazakhstan. It includes areas with the highest in the republics bl. salary density of the rural population, all major Central Asian cities. The national economic basis is characterized by a combination of developed agriculture on irrigated lands and the leading branches of the processing industry, supplemented by the extractive industry. It represents, therefore, the main strip of settlement of the southeastern macroregion (discontinuous in places).

The mountain zone in the extreme south of Bl. salary differs in very peculiar forms of settlement: here the outflow of the agricultural population is combined with some influx of the population in connection with the following main types of development: industrial, hydropower, recreational.

Conclusion

Coming to the conclusion of my work, I would like to say that the e.r. of Russia and bl. zar., are very different from each other. These or those features of these territories attract the population. Everyone chooses the place where he will live according to his taste, but nevertheless “... the improvement of cities as a living environment and places of concentration of various activities, the rational organization of urban networks in accordance with the geographical, cultural, historical, socio-economic characteristics of the territory is an important task in Russia and in other countries of the world.” (G.M. Lappo)

Bibliography

Alekseev A.I. Socio-economic geography of Russia. M. 1995

Alekseev A.I., Nikolina V.V. Population and economy of Russia. M.1995

Geography: encyclopedia. M.1994

Cities of Russia: encyclopedia. M. 1994

The demographic situation of Russia “Free Thought” No. 2-3, 1993

Zayonchkovskaya Zh.A. Demographic situation and settlement. M. 1991

Kovalev S.A., Kovalskaya N.Ya., Geography of the population of the USSR. M. 1980

Lappo G.M. Geography of cities. M. 1997

Ozerova G.N., Pokshishevsky V.V. Geography of the world process of urbanization. M.1981

Pertsik E.P. Geography of cities (geo-urban studies). M.1985

Pertsik E.P. Human environment: foreseeable future. M.1990

countries and peoples. M.1983

Countries of the world. Brief political and economic reference book. M. 1996

Economic and social geography of Russia. Edited by Professor A.T., Khrushchev.M.1997

Tasks.

To form knowledge about the population of the Ural economic region.
Expand your understanding of the cities of the Urals.
Show the relationship between the city-millionaire-border of natural areas (principal diagram VI).
To form an idea of the configuration of the exclamation mark on the example of the formation of the cities of Orenburg and Orsk.

Teaching aids: presentation “Population of the Ural economic people”, wall political and administrative map of Russia, wall map “Peoples of Russia”.

During the classes

I. Organizational moment.

II. Learning new.

Teacher:

1. Reporting the topic and objectives of the lesson. Today we have gathered for a conference of journalists on the topic “Population and cities of the Ural economic region”. The objectives of the conference: to form knowledge about the population of the Ural economic region, to expand the understanding of the culture of the Urals, to find out the reasons for the formation of cities.

2. Introductory speech of the teacher. Culturally, the Urals is a unique territory in which the traditional culture of different peoples has coexisted for centuries, has undergone various ethnic, confessional and civilizational influences. As a result, an environment unique in its cultural diversity has developed, which is of interest to a wide range of specialists - folklorists, ethnographers, historians, art critics and cultural practitioners.

So, the people of the Urals… what did our journalists learn about them?

3. Speech by "journalists".

(All speeches by young journalists are accompanied by a presentation.)

1st journalist: In the Urals, it was customary to live with large families. Women worked at home, raised children, processed flax, grew and harvested crops, spun, weaved, embroidered wonderful Ural patterns on towels and tablecloths on winter evenings, sewed clothes, prepared a dowry.

2nd journalist: The favorite dishes of the Urals were pies, buckwheat pancakes, pancakes, dumplings, cabbage and radish dumplings, various cereals and cabbage soup.

3rd journalist: The Ural culture is original with its calendar holidays and family traditions.

4th journalist: Construction in Russia, with the exception of the last hundred years, was entirely of wood. Masters cut down royal mansions and palaces from wood. The huts of peasants and artisans were cut from the same tree.

4. Working with the map.

Determine the size and population density of the area. Assess the degree of settlement of the territory of the UER.
Analyze the dynamics of the population of the area. Draw your own conclusions.
Assess the level of urbanization of the area. List the millionaire cities of the Urals.

Approximate student answer:

Not only the natural resources of the Urals determine its market specialization and location of production. The population and labor resources are also of great importance. The population of the Ural region is 20.4 million people (second place after the Central region). The Urals is one of the highly urbanized economic regions of the country. About 3/4 of its population live in cities and urban-type settlements. The proportion of city dwellers is especially high in the Sverdlovsk, Chelyabinsk and Perm regions. The urban settlement system includes 150 cities and 256 urban-type settlements. Yekaterinburg, Chelyabinsk, Ufa and Perm are millionaire cities. They make up 1/3 of the cities of this rank in the country, i.е. there are more of them than in any other economic region. These and other large cities - Izhevsk, Orenburg and Kurgan - concentrate 40% of the entire urban population of the Urals, urban agglomerations have arisen around them, occupying 10% of its territory. With an average population density of 24.7 people per 1 km? The Chelyabinsk region (41.8) and Udmurtia (38.8) will stand out with the highest indicators of the population of the territory, the lowest - the Perm region (18.6), the northern part of which is still little developed, and the poorly urbanized Kurgan region (15.6 people per km 2). There is a natural population decline in the region. In general, population growth in the region is unstable and is mainly due to migration processes. The mortality rate is high, especially in working age. In industrial regions, life expectancy is lower than in regions with a higher proportion of the rural population. The labor resources of the Urals are highly qualified, especially industrial personnel. The Urals is a multinational region of the Russian Federation, in the first place in terms of numbers are Russians, in the second place are Tatars and Bashkirs.

1-journalist: Traveling through the Middle Urals, I visited the young small town of Novouralsk. 60 nationalities live there . The Central Public Library also makes its contribution to the strengthening of interethnic, interethnic and interfaith dialogue, which held the “Dance of Cultures” campaign dedicated to the day of the peoples of the Middle Urals. The library staff asked the residents of the city to bring objects of national culture and life, and it turned out to be an unusual and very interesting international exhibition.

Continuing the tradition of celebrating the Day of the Peoples of the Middle Urals, in April of this year they organized the holiday “Tree of Friendship”. The name was chosen in honor of a tree that really exists in the city of Sochi. It is a kind of symbol of peace, friendship and brotherhood between peoples, a unique monument of scientific achievements. The branches of this tree have grown from buds grafted by the hands of people from different countries and nationalities. There were Azerbaijanis, Armenians, Tatars, Udmurts, etc. at the celebration. The holiday program began with a poetic composition, the guests read poems by national poets in their native languages. Georgy Abulyan, a Novouralsk poet, director of the poetic theater “Sonnet”, turned out to be in the center of attention. He read his poems, shared his reflections on his work. A surprise was his gift to the library - several books by poets of different nationalities. The conversation and electronic presentation “Traditions and customs of the peoples of the Middle Urals” aroused interest. Those present commented on what they saw, complemented each other. That is how the dialogue began.

cultures. The resonance was caused by the story of the fifth grader Anya Kleshneva about the combination of Russian and Udmurt traditions in her family. The decoration of her performance was a folk song in the Udmurt language.

2-journalist: In the family of peoples inhabiting Russia, the Bashkirs occupy by no means the last place, both in terms of their numbers and ethnographic features. Once upon a time, this entire region, the entire Southern Urals and part of the Middle Urals belonged to the Bashkirs. They settled here in the 9th century, displacing the Chud who lived here, which completely disappeared in the Urals. Very little information has been preserved about the distant past of the Bashkirs, since they lived quietly in their places, did not touch neighboring lands, only defended their own. Few European travelers who visited the Bashkirs in the Middle Ages speak of them as a brave, lively and hospitable people.

5. The relationship of a city-millionaire - the border of natural zones (the scheme of boundary nodes according to S.V. Rogachev)

Teacher:

What cities with millionaires are located on the territory of the WER?

Answer: Ufa, Chelyabinsk, Yekaterinburg.

Teacher: Many researchers note that most of the millionaire cities of Russia were formed on the borders of the main natural zones. Ufa, Chelyabinsk, Omsk lie at the boundary of the mixed forest and steppe. Perm and Yekaterinburg developed near the boundary of the mixed forest and taiga. The emergence of a city on landscape borders is associated with the ability to use the benefits of different landscapes, the ability to serve, control, and organize economic ties.

On the map of natural areas, trace the location of the listed cities.

Remember what the forest, the steppe can give the population?

Try to make a diagram in your notebooks.

6. Journalists continue their speech with stories about millionaire cities.

Ufa is the capital of the Republic of Bashkortostan. A large industrial, transport, cultural and religious center of the country. Population (as of November 1, 2010) - 1,064,000 people.

According to one version, originally, the ancient city, located on the territory of modern Ufa, was named Bashkort.

By 1557, the voluntary entry of the main part of Bashkiria into the Russian state was actually completed. In those days, Bashkiria was controlled from Kazan. Due to the vast distances, this was extremely inconvenient. That is why in 1573 the Bashkirs turned to Ivan the Terrible with a petition about building a fortress on their land.

In May 1574, a detachment of Moscow archers landed. Right on the shore on Mount Turatau (“mountain-fortress”), a church called Troitskaya was erected, a little further - the first huts and outbuildings. The place for the construction of the fortress was chosen very well. The Sutoloka River flowed from north to south, protecting the settlement from the east, on the contrary, a steep rise rose, and the Belaya River represented a formidable barrier for the steppe dwellers. The fortified fortress became the center of the settlement.

Chelyabinsk is a large city in Russia, the administrative center of the Chelyabinsk region. “Tankograd” during the Great Patriotic War. There are several versions about the origin of the toponym “Chelyabinsk”. The oldest explanation, which existed among the descendants of the first settlers and old-timers, says that the name of the fortress “Chelyaba” goes back to the Bashkir word “Silbe”, that is, “hollow; big, shallow hole." Until the end of the 19th century, Chelyabinsk was a small town. In 1892, the Trans-Siberian Railway passed through Chelyabinsk, in 1896. The railroad to Yekaterinburg was put into operation. Chelyabinsk has become a kind of gateway to Siberia. In just a few years, he took a leading position in the trade in bread, butter, meat and tea.

7. To form an idea about the configuration of the exclamation mark (according to S.V. Rogachev) on the example of the formation of the cities of Orenburg and Orsk.

Teacher:

In which part of the Urals are millionaire cities located? (On the territory of the Middle Urals)

What are the heights? (600-800 m)

Let's take a closer look at the map of the Urals. Why do you think Orenburg and Orsk were formed in these places?

(If the teacher finds it difficult to answer, then the teacher asks a leading question)

At what altitudes are Orenburg and Orsk located? (200 m above sea level)

Mountains are a natural barrier to the development of economic relations. The ancient city of Orenburg arose at the place where the obstacle was bypassed. It is convenient to control trade flows from its point. Since the south of the Ural economic region is very wide, Omsk helps Orenburg.

If we imagine that the Ural Mountains are a “stick”, then the city of Orenburg is a point.

What do you think this reminds you of? (Exclamation point)

Try to sketch this in your notebooks. We were visited by journalists from Orenburg and Orsk, who will talk about the population and culture of these cities.

8. The stories of the “journalists” about Orenburg and Orsk are accompanied by a presentation.

It was founded on April 19, 1743. It was based three times in three different places. The first fortress was founded on August 31, 1735 on the site of the present Orsk . The origin of the name of the city has several versions. One of them: Orenburg was founded on the Or River, and it got its name “Orenburg” - that is, “the city on the Ori” .

It was built as a city-fortress, as a stronghold of the lines of fortresses that guarded the southeastern border of Russia. At the same time, the city was supposed to serve as a center of economic and economic communication with the peoples of the East, which, first of all, involved trade. Therefore, the city was both military and commercial in nature: there were barracks, and an artillery yard, and powder magazines, and military institutions, a living room and an exchange yard, and customs.

Orenburg arose as a warrior city guarding the southeastern borders of the Russian Empire. Soon it became a merchant city and the largest intermediary between Russia and Central Asia. After some time, Orenburg became the capital city, the center of a huge province, stretching from the Volga to Siberia, from the Kama to the Caspian Sea. Orenburg is located simultaneously in two parts of the world: Europe and Asia. On the footbridge across the Ural River there is a symbolic sign of the border between Europe and Asia.

Orsk was founded during the development of the Southern Urals. It was founded in 1735 under the guidance of the famous geographer of the 18th century. Ivan Kirillovich Kirilov as a fortress near Mount Preobrazhenskaya on the left bank of the Ural River at the confluence of the Or River.

III. Summary of the lesson.

Teacher:

So our conference has come to an end. Today we learned a lot of interesting things about the population of the Urals, about its culture, about the reason for the formation of the cities of Orenburg, Orsk, millionaire cities.

Did you like the conference? Who thinks it was interesting, raise a yellow card. Who thinks that it was not interesting, raise the blue card.

IV. Homework.

Paragraph 44 (according to the textbook by V.P. Dronov). Make up a story about the peoples living in the Urals.

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How to explain the fact that the Ural region is urbanized? Summary: Urbanization and population of the territory The level of urbanization in the Urals is high or low.

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