Geography and Nature
The Sverdlovsk Region is the largest Ural region comprised in the Urals Federal District. The Region covers the middle and northern parts of the Ural Mountains, and western margins of the West Siberian Plain. Its area is 194,307 km²; it extends 600 km from the North to the South, and 560 km from the West to the East.
In terms of administrative structure, the Region comprises 30 districts, 25 cities, and 4 restricted administrative and territorial entities united into 73 municipal entities (68 urban districts and 5 municipal areas). There are 32 cities of regional subordination, 13 cities under the district's jurisdiction, 96 urban settlements and 1,821 rural settlements on its territory.
194.3 thousand sq. km
The area of the land
The highest point — is the Konzhakovskiy Rock Mountain (1,569 m). The Northernmost point is the Yanygkhachechakhl Mountain (1,023.8 m).
Flora: conifer and mixed forests; forest steppes in the extreme south-east area. Forests occupy 82.3% of the territory of the Sverdlovsk Region. In total, 35.2% of the mature forests is birches, 33.8% — pine-trees, 16.3% — fir-trees, 15.5% — aspen, and 5.7% — cedar.

Main rivers:
rivers of the Ob River basin (Iset River, Tavda River, Tura River) and the Kama River basin (Chusovaya River, Ufa River). The largest lakes of the Region are Pelymsky Fog Lake, Vagilsky Fog Lake. The largest water-dividing lakes are Iset Lake and Tavatuy Lake.
Fauna of the Sverdlovsk Region represents a typical forest complex with species of polyzonal areal types. 66 mammalian species, 228 bird species, 6 species of reptile, 9 species of amphibians, and 48 fish species have been registered on the territory of the Region.
Weather
Climate
continental
Temperature
average January temperature from −16 to −20 ° C, average July temperature from +19 to +20 ° C; Precipitation is about 500 mm per year.
Precipitation
The average annual rainfall is 350-400 mm. In the southeast and 500 mm in the north, and in the mountainous regions of the southwest exceeds 500-600 mm.
Social portrait, religion
The population of the region according to Rosstat is 4 325 256 people (2018). The population density is 22.26 people/km2 (2018), which is almost three times higher than the average for the Russian Federation (8.58). Urban population - 84.78% (2018). There are many religious denominations in the region. At the same time, not a single known fact of a conflict on religious grounds has been recorded throughout history. The largest religious denomination in Yekaterinburg is Orthodoxy. In Yekaterinburg is the Yekaterinburg Metropolis of the Russian Orthodox Church.
Population density
22.26 people / km2
Economics, production
Metallurgy
Trends: the main competencies of the metallurgical complex of the Sverdlovsk region were high-tech casting, production of new alloys and materials, new technologies in non-ferrous metallurgy.
Engineering
Trends: in 2018, the key areas of development of the engineering industry in the Sverdlovsk Region were aircraft engineering, oil and gas engineering, high-tech components, road production and construction equipment.
Chemical, light and food industries
According to the results of nine months of 2018, the volume of investments in the production of food and beverages amounted to 1.5 billion rubles, which is 9.8% more than the level of 2017.
Woodworking
Trends: the main areas of development of the woodworking industry in 2018 were the production of new materials and deep processing of wood for the fuel and energy complex.
Agriculture and agribusiness
Trends: the development of livestock, greenhouses, the construction of vegetable stores, the development of agricultural cooperation.

Transport accessibility
The Sverdlovsk Region is an important transportation hub - railway, road and air routes of all-Russian significance pass through it, including the Trans-Siberian Railway. The density of the railway and road network exceeds the national average.
Sverdlovsk Railway is one of the first three largest railways in Russia. The road uninterruptedly ensures the passage of trains from the central and northwestern regions of the European part of Russia to Siberia, Kazakhstan, and the Far East. The management of the railroad is in Yekaterinburg.

Sverdlovsk Railway is a powerful transport complex with great technical and intellectual potential. It has its own powerful base of freight cars, providing 9.5% of the volume of network loading and unloading, including such highly profitable goods as oil, coal, fertilizers, ferrous and non-ferrous metals, timber and construction cargo (over 80%). The Sverdlovsk highway serves about 1,500 access roads (in 2006 there were 1,332), more than 12,000 industrial enterprises use its services. The operational length is 7152.2 km, the deployed length is 13 852.5 km.
1500
access roads served by the Sverdlovsk highway
Koltsovo Airport is one of the largest regional air ports in Russia in terms of passenger traffic, and is part of the "Airport of Regions" holding. It has the status of an airport of federal significance. The geography of flights includes 120 destinations, of which 54 are federal and 66 are foreign. Repeatedly became the laureate of the contest “Best Airport of the Year”, in 2000 Koltsovo was awarded the title “Best Airport of the Year in the CIS Countries”. In 2018, the Airport entered the top ten airports in the world with a passenger flow of 5 to 10 million passengers a year. In 2019, 42 airlines operated flights to Koltsovo, and the total passenger traffic amounted to 6 million 363 thousand passengers. Direct flights to world capitals: Paris, Barcelona, Rome, Munich, Prague, Heraklion, Thessaloniki, Rhodes, Burgas, Larnaca, Tel Aviv, Istanbul, Bodrum, Nur Sultan, Yerevan, Dushanbe, Dubai, Beijing, Harbin, Xi'an, Sanya, Monastir, Djerba, Phuket, Bangkok, Utapao, Nha Trang, Fukuok, Goa.
Flight geography includes destinations
120
Basic symbols of the region

Ural Mountains
The Ural Mountains is a unique natural site of our country. 'Ural' in Bashkir means 'a belt'. There is a legend about a giant who wore a belt with deep pockets. He hid all his wealth in them. The belt was huge. Once the giant stretched it, and the belt lay across the earth. From the cold Kara Sea in the north to the sandy shores of the southern Caspian Sea. Thus the Ural Range was formed. The Ural Mountains, crossing Russia from north to south and have a length of more than two thousand kilometers, are the border between the two parts of the world and the two largest parts of the country. The heights of the Polar and Northern Urals are about 1000 m. The Middle Urals, on the territory of which the Sverdlovsk Region is located, are 600 - 800 m on average.

Industry
Sverdlovsk region from the demidov time of the Gornozavod civilization is “the supporting edge of the state, its earner and blacksmith”, the largest industrial center of the country. Today, the industry of the region is a large diversified complex, the structure of which shows a high proportion of the basic industries - ferrous and non-ferrous metallurgy, mechanical engineering. In addition, the region has sufficiently developed the chemical and pharmaceutical industries, as well as the timber industry. The region holds a leading position in the country in the production of freight cars, drilling rigs, and new generation trunk electric locomotives. In the Sverdlovsk region, there are many large companies whose brands are known around the world, such as EVRAZ Group, the largest producer of steel and metal, SUAL group, Ural Mining and Metallurgical Company (UMMC), Uralmashzavod, which is part of the "United Engineering Plants", "Pipe Metallurgical Company" , "Uralvagonzavod", "Ural Optical and Mechanical Plant", "Machine-Building Plant named after M.I. Kalinin", "Uraltransmash", NGOs "Automatiki" and other companies.

Metals and Natural Resources
Sverdlovsk region is one of the largest in Russia in terms of proven reserves and predicted resources of various minerals and belongs to the oldest mining regions of Russia. The natural resources of the region, its "underground storerooms", are truly unique: rich reserves of oil, gas, coal, potassium salts, gypsum. Numerous, often complex ore deposits are concentrated in the region - iron, copper, nickel, gold, silver, etc.

Ural gold
Among many domestic gold-bearing provinces, the Urals occupy a special place - the cradle of Russian gold mining. The beginning of gold mining in Russia is considered to be May 21, June 1, 1745, when Erofei Markov, who found gold in the Urals, announced his opening in the Office of the Main Board of the factories in Yekaterinburg. In recent years, a new type of vein-disseminated gold mineralization has been discovered that is not traditional for the Urals; the exploitation of the Vorontsov deposit has begun; as a result, gold production in the Sverdlovsk region has more than doubled over a short period. In 2018, production amounted to 6,475.6 tons.

Malachite
Malachite as an ornamental stone has been known to people for a long time. Before its commercial developments started in the 18th century, the stone had been considered precious. It was Pavel Petrovich Bazhov who made malachite the Ural brand. Due to his works based on Russian folk tales and fables, malachite got to be associated with Ural craftsmen closely. The writer created a whole collection of stories under the title The Malachite Casket. Even amateurs can distinguish between the Ural malachite and stones of different origin. Its patterns resembles lace and does not have perfectly round shapes or strict parallel lines.

Lizard
Of all the diversity of lizards only three species can be found in Ural. Anguine lizards, sand lizards and common lizards. However, it didn’t stop those agile reptiles from becoming a symbol of Ural. These little creatures have a very important task. They are to guard treasures hidden in rich depths of Ural. According to folk beliefs of Ural, the Mistress of the Copper Mountain herself could turn into a lizard. Depending on her mood, she could appear in front of someone as a small lizard in a crown or an eerie creature combining features of a woman and a lizard. In the Urals lizards can be placed on various souvenir products, such as magnets or caskets.

Gem-stones of the Urals
Unique gem-stones produced in Ural are considered one of the most precious mineral treasures of the country. Ural is particularly famous for its gem-stones — precious, semi-precious and ornamental stones (emerald, amethyst, aquamarine, imperial jade, red manganese, malachite, etc.) Depths of mountains contain over two hundreds of various minerals.

Motorcycle "Ural"
Soviet and Russian heavy motorcycle manufactured at the Irbitsky motorcycle plant (Sverdlovsk region, Irbit). In the vast majority of cases, it is operated with a sidechair. Motorcycle models are available with or without sidechairs. Currently successfully exported to many countries of the world.
Famous people of the region

Akinfiy Demidov
An iconic figure for the Urals, despite the fact that Akinfiy Demidov was born in Tula. Akinfiy Nikitich Demidov is a Russian businessman from the Demidov dynasty, the founder of the mining industry in the Urals and Siberia. Participated in the construction and management of the Ural factories. Creator of Russia's first reference collection of ores and minerals.

Boris Yeltsin
Boris Yeltsin - the first president of the Russian Federation, was born in the village of Butka, Talitsky district of the Sverdlovsk region. He lived most of his life in Sverdlovsk, before moving to Moscow, he held the post of First Secretary of the Sverdlovsk Regional Committee of the CPSU.

Pavel Bazhov
Russian and Soviet writer, folklorist, publicist, journalist. Born January 27, 1879 in the family of a mining worker. He gained fame as the author of the Ural tales. One of the most famous characters was the Mistress of the Copper Mountain from the tale "Stone Flower", Stepan from the tale "Malachite Box" and some others.

Alexander Popov
Russian physicist and electrical engineer, professor, inventor, state adviser, honorary electrical engineer. Inventor of the radio.

Dmitry Mamin-Sibiryak
Russian writer, playwright. He made a significant contribution to the development of the Russian literary language. He is famous for his tales, essays, novels. The author of such works as: “The Gray Neck”, “From the Urals to Moscow”, “Reception”, “Bread”, “Privalovskiye Millions”.

Konstantin Novoselov
Russian and British physicist. Winner of the 2010 Nobel Prize in Physics, member of the Royal Society of London. As of March 2019, he has more than 160,000 citations of his works, was born in Nizhny Tagil.

Vladislav Krapivin
Vladislav Petrovich Krapivin - Soviet and Russian children's writer. In total, more than 200 editions of the writer’s books in various languages of the world have been published. Since 2006, the annual International Children's Literary Prize named after V.P. Krapivin has been awarded. He was awarded the title “Honorary Citizen of the Sverdlovsk Region”, the Order of the Red Banner of Labor and the Order of Friendship of Peoples.

Nikolay Kolyada
Russian playwright, actor, prose writer, screenwriter, theater director, Honored Artist of the Russian Federation, laureate of the international prize named after K. S. Stanislavsky. The plays of a living classic are performed in theaters of Russia and the world, and each production of Kolyada-Theater is an event in the theatrical life of the country.

Uralskie pelmeni
Russian creative association from Yekaterinburg, working in the comedy genre. Organized in 1993 as a KVN team. One of the most popular KVN teams, the champions of the Major League of KVN 2000.

Vladimir Shakhrin
Soviet and Russian rock musician, singer, guitarist, songwriter, founder and unchallenged leader of the Chayf group, ambassador of the Urals.

Nikolay Karpol
Soviet and Russian volleyball coach. He headed the women's teams of the USSR, CIS, Russia and Belarus. President and head coach of the Uralochka-NTMK club Yekaterinburg. Honored Coach of the USSR. Honored Trainer of the RSFSR. Honored Worker of Physical Culture of the Russian Federation. He was awarded the Order of the Red Banner of Labor, Friendship of Peoples and "For Services to the Fatherland" III degree. Twice awarded the Sports Oscar in the nomination "The best volleyball coach among women's teams." Honorary Citizen of Yekaterinburg, Nizhny Tagil and Sverdlovsk Region.

Kostya Tszyu
Konstantin Borisovich Tszyu (Kostya Tszyu) - Soviet, Russian and Australian boxer. Three-time champion of the USSR (1989-1991), two-time European champion (1989, 1991) and world champion (1991) among amateurs, absolute world champion (according to WBC / WBA / IBF) among professionals. Honored Master of Sports of the USSR.

Pavel Datsyuk
Russian hockey player, center forward. Olympic champion 2018, world champion 2012, two-time winner of the Stanley Cup 2002, 2008, winner of the Gagarin Cup 2017, champion of Russia 2005, bronze medalist of the Olympic Games 2002. Honored Master of Sports of Russia. The only hockey player in the world to win the Olympics, World Cup, Stanley Cup and Gagarin Cup. Honorary Citizen of Yekaterinburg. In January 2017, Datsyuk was included in the list of 100 greatest hockey players in the history of the NHL.

Alexander Popov
Soviet and Russian swimmer, four-time Olympic champion, six-time world champion, 21-time European champion, multiple world and European record holder, Honored Master of Sports of the USSR (1992), cavalier and honorary member of the International Olympic Committee, one of the dominant world-class swimmers in 1990 s.

Anton Shipulin
Russian biathlete, 2014 Olympic relay champion, bronze medalist of the 2010 Olympic relay race, 2017 world relay champion, six-time medalist of the world championships. Winner of the small World Cup in the classification of mass starts (2014-2015). Absolute champion of Europe among juniors 2008. Two-time winner of the Champions Race in mixed relay, two-time winner of the Champions Race in mass start. Honored Master of Sports of Russia.

Sergey Karjakin
Russian race car driver, winner of the Dakar-2017 rally in the classification of ATVs. 2nd place in the rally-raid "Dakar 2020" in the classification of all-terrain vehicles.
Main events
The international industrial exhibition INNOPROM is the largest industrial exhibition in Russia, held in Yekaterinburg annually since 2010. Since 2011, it has been held at the Yekaterinburg-Expo exhibition complex. In 2012, the Russian Government awarded the Innoprom exhibition federal status. https://www.innoprom.com/

The Big Ural Tourism Forum is the largest event in the field of tourism, the purpose of which is the development of domestic and inbound tourism, the study of experience in the development and promotion of brands of territories. https://www.greatural.info/

WorldSkills Hi-Tech National Championship of Pass-through Workers of High-Tech Industries is the largest Russian professional skill competition among young professionals aged 18 to 28 years of the largest domestic industrial enterprises, which have been held in Yekaterinburg since 2014. https://www.ws-ekb.ru/

International Forum of high-rise and unique construction "100+ ForumRussia" - an international congress and exhibition of a professional orientation, dedicated to the design, construction, financing and operation of high-rise and unique structures for any purpose.

The Russian-Chinese Expo has been held annually since 2014 by the alternation of the host countries: Russia (Ekaterinburg) and China (Harbin). In 2018, the exhibition became the largest platform for bilateral communication between Russia and China. The key topics of the forum are interregional cooperation between Russia and China, as well as bilateral partnerships in the financial, agricultural, scientific, technical, technological spheres, in mechanical engineering and high technology.

XXXII World Summer Universiade of 2023 in Yekaterinburg
Yekaterinburg received the right to host the World Summer Universiade in 2023. World Summer Universiade 2023 - international and national student sports competitions held by the International University Sports Federation (FISU).
On July 2, 2019 in Naples (Italy), a contract was signed for the right to host the Universiade between the organizers - FISU, the Russian Student Sports Union, ANO Universiade-2023, the Administration of the city of Yekaterinburg, and the Government of the Sverdlovsk Region.

The World Summer Universiade will be held in Yekaterinburg from August 8 to 19, 2023. The competition program involves competitions in 18 sports. 246 sets of medals will be played. Competitive and training events will be held at 33 sports facilities (24 existing and 9 new sports facilities) located in Yekaterinburg, the city of Verkhnyaya Pyshma and the Sysert city district.
A number of adopted legal acts: Decree of the President of the Russian Federation dated 02.01.2020 No. 4 “On the preparations for the XXXII World Summer Universiade of 2023 in Yekaterinburg.
Fairs, festivals, etc.
The Irbit Fair is one of the largest Russian fairs, which every year highlights a new topic related to the cultural and historical heritage of the city.
Irbit, historical complex (square named after V.I. Lenin)

UralMusicNight is a large-scale festival that has been held annually since 2015 with the participation of more than 1,500 musicians. In 2019, 300,000 people attended the Ural Music Night.< br> https://uralmusicnight.ru/en/

Stenograffia is an international street art festival held annually in Yekaterinburg on the first weekend of July. Truly international. Turns walls and street spaces into works of art, fuel for a regional identity, an occasion to see the familiar is unusual, like the first time.

The Ural Industrial Biennale of Contemporary Art is one of Russia's largest international projects in this field. A constant theme of the project is the industrial specifics of the Urals. The opening of the fifth Ural Industrial Biennale took place in 2019 in Yekaterinburg at the current Optical and Mechanical Plant. The theme of the project was "Immortality."

“Pokrovsky Frontier” is an annual military-historical festival, in the framework of which the largest reconstruction of the battles of the Civil and Great Patriotic War takes place in the Sverdlovsk Region. The regional military-historical festival, held to preserve historical memory among the population of the Ural Federal District, patriotic education of youth, the development of folk crafts, cultural and gaming areas and crafts, as well as the strengthening of interregional and international relations.

Kolyada-Plays is a traditional international theater festival of contemporary drama. In 2018, the festival was held for the 12th time.

Vienna Music Film Festival. The festival has been held since 2010 with the support of the Honorary Consulate of Austria in Yekaterinburg.

The "Crazy Days" festival is the Russian version of the LaFolleJournee festival, coined by Rene Marten more than 20 years ago. The birthplace of the festival is the French city of Nantes. The festival brings together hundreds of performers and tens of thousands of listeners: concerts lasting up to an hour, affordable ticket prices, concert halls in the very center of Yekaterinburg and open-air festival events.

Builder's Day in Yekaterinburg. In 2019, more than 60 thousand guests came to the ECSKiO them. V.V. Mayakovsky on the Day of the builder to see a show of equipment and learn the secrets of construction specialties.

Tsarist days - days of celebrating the solemn events of the reigning imperial family in the Russian Empire, established in memory of events from the life of the reigning house.

Ratings and awards
1) On April 19, 2019, the Fitch Ratings international rating agency changed the outlook on the ratings of the Sverdlovsk Region from“ Stable ”to“ Positive ”and affirmed the long-term issuer default ratings of the region in foreign and national currencies at“ BB +. ”Rating of outstanding issue bonds (priority unsecured debt of the region) is also affirmed at 'BB +'.
2) The Expert RA Rating Agency assigned a credit rating of Sverdlovsk Region according to the Russian national scale at ruAA-, the outlook is Stable, and bond issue ratings at ruAA-. This rating is assigned to the Sverdlovsk region for the first time and is long-term. ”; A credit rating of this level shows a high level of creditworthiness / financial reliability / financial stability of the region in comparison with other rating objects in the Russian Federation.
3) A study by the PWC and Calvert22 fund showed that Yekaterinburg ranks 4th in Russia after Moscow, St. Petersburg and Kazan in terms of creative capital. The rating is based on five basic blocks - city, people, business, government and brands. Yekaterinburg took first place in the country in terms of "openness of power" and "media representation", the second - in terms of the availability of creative resources.
4) 3rd place in the National Infrastructure Award “ROSINFRA” in the nomination “The best PPP project in the municipal system” with the project “Reconstruction of heat supply facilities and a centralized hot water supply system in the city of Berezovsky, Sverdlovsk Region”
5) In 2019, the Sverdlovsk region was marked as an “Event Locomotive” as part of the RussianBusinessTravel & MICE Award. Special nomination for the best MICE region, first established by the National Congress Bureau of Russia in 2019.
6) In the field of development of small and medium-sized enterprises, according to the research conducted by the Ministry of Economic Development of the Russian Federation together with RBC-TV, the Sverdlovsk Region took the 9th place in terms of regional effectiveness in informing entrepreneurs about business development opportunities and available government support measures
7) The Sverdlovsk Region took 7th place in the National Tourism Rating conducted by the Rating Information Center for Communications and the Rest in Russia magazine.
8) According to the results of the VIII National Event Tourism Prize RussianEventAwards 2019, more than 200 projects from 51 regions of Russia, and 2 foreign projects from Belarus and Latvia were presented in Samara. Sverdlovsk region took 1st place and scored 406 points, confidently breaking away from the closest pursuer of the Republic of Tatarstan, gaining 289 points.
9) In 2019, according to the version of the R&C exhibition research center, the Sverdlovsk Region took the 2nd place in the ranking of the event potential of the regions of Russia, second only to St. Petersburg and the Leningrad Region.
Awards

In 2018, the Sverdlovsk region received the FIJET international award in the tourism industry “Golden Apple”, as a leading region in the field of business and event tourism.

In 2017, the Governor of the Sverdlovsk Region E.V. Kuyvashev became the winner of the main award of international ecologists - the Global Eco Brand Award - for conducting large-scale educational projects in the field of environmental protection and rational nature management.

According to the results of the contest of the national award in the field of entrepreneurship “Golden Mercury”, the Sverdlovsk region was recognized as the leader in the nomination “Region with the most favorable conditions for the development of entrepreneurship”.