BELGOROD OBLAST

An administrative region of the Russian Federation. Part of the SouthernFederal Districtand the Central Black EarthEconomic Region, Belgorod bordersVoronezh,Kursk, and northeasternUkraine. It has a population of 1.5 million and an area of 27,100 square kilometers covering part of the Central Russian Highlands.

During the 1990s, the region was a reliable part of Russia’sRed Belt, with strong support for theCommunist Partyas well as theLiberal Democratic PartyofVladimir Zhirinovsky.As a “Black Earth” (chernozem) region,agricultureis highly developed, with grains, sugar beets, and sunflowers being the leading crops.Miningis a key part of theeconomy, and the region has huge iron-ore deposits, forming part of the Kursk Magnetic Anomaly.

In office since 1993, Yevgeny Savchenko is the region’s governor; he is a member of theAgrarian Partyand a strong supporter ofVladimir Putin. He easily defeated his Communist challenger, Vasily Altukhov, in 2003, receiving 61 percent of the vote. Savchenko has led a campaign against delinquency, forbidding swearing in public, imposing a 10:00 p.m. curfew for minors, and limiting the capacity of nightclubs to two persons per square meter. In recent years, he has become embroiled in a conflict over landprivatizationwith the agroconglomerate Inteko. The region’s compact size, fertile soil, well-developed roads, and stable village populations have attracted significant investment from large agrobusinesses.