Black Earth Area
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As of 1935 the Black Earth Area was an administrative district of the USSR extending roughly from the northwest of the Don Cossack Territory to the southeast of the Tula Province. It was created in 1928. Most of the area consists of large and fairly fertile plains of the peculiar soil which gives the district its name.
As of 1935 Crops include cereals, fruit, potatoes, sugarbeet, and hemp. Sheep, pigs and cattle are raised. About nine tenths of the people are engaged in agriculture. Industries include flour-milling, sugarbeet manufacture, and oil-pressing from seeds. Saw-milling is important, as timber is a staple natural product. Coal has been found, but as of 1935 has not been much worked, and iron and gypsum are known to exist. Transport and electrical power are receiving attention, with a view to the exploitation of the minerals.
As of 1935 the weather was extremely cold, and the conditions of life were on the whole rather poor. The chief towns were Voronezh, the administrative capital, Orel, Kursk, and Lipetsk, which has famous mineral springs.
As of 1935; area 77,000 square miles; population (As of 1927) 11,600,000.
[edit] References
- This article incorporates text from The Modern World Encyclopædia: Illustrated (1935); out of UK copyright as of 2005.
