Geographical Location

 

The Kurgan Oblast occupies a unique geographical and geopolitical position in Eurasia. It is located at the junction of the Ural Mountains and Siberia in the basins of the Tobol and Iset rivers, bordering the Sverdlovsk, Chelyabinsk, Tyumen Oblasts and the Republic of Kazakhstan.

The Kurgan Oblast is a kind of gateway to Siberia. The Trans-Siberian Railway passes through its territory, it connects the region with the most important economic regions of Europe and Asia.

The surface area of the region is 71.5 thousand square kilometers, it extends from west to east for 430 km, from north to south for 290 km.

The population of the Kurgan Oblast is 744.2 thousand people (as of January 1, 2025). The urban population as of January 1, 2025 was 481 thousand people, the rural population was 262 thousand people. 92.5% of the population are Russians, 1.9% are Tatars, 1.4% are Bashkirs, 1.3% are Kazakhs, 0.8% are Ukrainians. The major cities of the oblast are Kurgan (302.4 thousand people), Shadrinsk (68.1 thousand people), Shumikha (16.2 thousand people), Kurtamysh (14.8 thousand people), Kataisk (11.7 thousand people), Dalmatovo (11.4 thousand people).

There are 24 municipal okrugs (okrug is an association of localities with unified local government bodies) and 9 cities in the region, 2 of them are of oblast subordination. The major cities are Kurgan (302.4 thousand people) and Shadrinsk (68.1 thousand people).

 

Administrative Territorial Structure   

There are 26 municipalities in the Kurgan Oblast, including

- 2 urban okrugs (Kurgan, Shadrinsk);

- 24 municipal okrugs (Almenevskii, Belozerskii, Vargashinskii, Dalmatovskii, Zverinogolovskii, Kargapolskii, Katayskii, Ketovskii, Kurtamyshskii, Lebyazhievskii, Makushinskii, Mishkinskii, Mokrousovskii, Petukhovskii, Polovinskii, Pritobolnyi, Safakulevskii, Tselinnyi, Chastoozerskii, Shadrinskii, Shatrovskii, Shumikhinskii, Shchuchanskii, Yurgamyshskii).

The railway, automobile, air and pipeline kinds of transport has been developed in the region. The oblast territory is crossed by the electrified Trans-Siberian railway.

The largest transport company in the region is the Kurgan Territorial Directorate of the South Ural Railway, a branch of OAO Russian Railways (JSC ‘RZhD’) with the main railway tracks 743 km long. The city of Kurgan is a transport hub, with the railways splitting into four directions, i.e. north-west, west, South, and east

 

Climate

The Kurgan Oblast is traditionally called Zauralye (the Trans-Urals), it is located in the basin of the West Siberian Lowland, beyond the Ural Mountains. They are the ones that hold back the warm, humid winds from the west and bring frosts and blizzards from the south and north of the mountains. It is sultry in summer, it is cold in winter. The climate is extremely continental. Besides, there is more sun in summer than anywhere else in the Russian south. As for the winter, it is a real Siberian one!

The climate is extremely continental, characterized by severe winters and relatively hot summers. The average temperature in January is -18°C, the average temperature in July is +19°C. Mean annual rainfall is about 400 mm. The average annual wind speed is 3.2 m/sec, south and south-west wind directions prevail.

 

Major Types of Activities

Manufacturing, wholesale and retail trade, motor vehicle repair, household goods, transport and communications, agriculture, hunting and forestry, construction. The largest industries are machinery and equipment manufacturing, the military-industrial complex, and the electric power industry.

Investment website of the Kurgan Oblast is https://invest45.ru/ .

 

Natural Resources

The Kurgan Oblast has 71.5 thousand square kilometers of surface area, 2 million hectares of forest lands, of which 85% are forested, 414 deposits of mineral resources, including underground fresh and mineral waters, which make up the mineral resource base of the region. Almost the entire territory of the oblast is located in the Tobol River basin, only the eastern regions belong to the Tobol-Ishim interstream area and they are a drainless zone.

On the territory of the Kurgan Oblast, there are 21 state nature reserves of regional significance, 99 natural monuments of regional significance, 2 protected natural complexes of local significance and 1 protected natural site of local significance. The total area of specially protected natural territories, taking into account the partial imposition of borders, is 500,817 hectares or 7.0% of the Kurgan Oblast territory.

 

Industry

Agro-Industrial Complex

The Kurgan Oblast is an industrial and agricultural region. The agro-industrial complex produces up to 13% of the gross regional product, employing 33 thousand people. 36% of the population lives in rural areas.

In 2024, the volume of agricultural production amounted to 62.5 billion rubles at current prices. The share of crop production was 67.9%, livestock production totals to 32.1%. The share of agricultural organizations was 47.9%, of peasant (owner-operated) farms 25.0%, homesteads 27.1%.

210 organizations and 950 peasant (owner-operated) farms, including individual entrepreneurs, operate in agriculture.

The region has 4.5 million hectares of agricultural land, including 2.3 million hectares of arable land and 1.7 million hectares of natural forage land. There are 3.1 hectares of arable land per inhabitant of the region (cf. 0.8 hectares in Russia). Chernozem soils account for 65% of the arable land area. The area of unused arable land suitable for putting into operation is 190 thousand hectares. In most municipal okrugs of the region, the level of soil pollution does not exceed 4%.

 In 2024, the farmers harvested 1,850.0 thousand tons of grain and 282.8 thousand tons of oilseeds in weight after processing, 143.8 thousand tons of potatoes and 76.9 thousand tons of vegetables. Of the 2024 harvest, the Kurgan Oblast's level of self-sufficiency in grain was 180%, potatoes 98%, vegetables and cucurbits 78%. In 2024, in the Kurgan Oblast, the yield of grain and leguminous crops amounted to 18.8 centner per 1 ha in weight after processing.

There are 6 seed farms in the Kurgan Oblast, including 2 plant-breeding centres, which annually sell 30 thousand tons of elite and super elite seeds of grain and leguminous crops in the Kurgan Oblast, in other regions of Russia, and in the Republic of Kazakhstan.

In 2024, agricultural organizations and peasant (owner-operated) farms purchased 2,184 units of agricultural machinery and equipment worth 6.192 billion rubles (in 2023, 2,065 units were purchased totaling to 6 billion rubles).

At the beginning of 2025:

- agricultural organizations and peasant (owner-operated) farms had 5.4 thousand tractors, 2.2 thousand combines, 6.4 thousand seeders, 1.7 thousand cultivators;

- the cattle population was 117.7 thousand heads, including 51,1 thousand cows, 67,6 thousand pigs, 102.3 thousand sheep and goats, 5.1 thousand horses, 1,407.5 thousand birds.

Beef cattle breeding is successfully developing in the Kurgan Oblast. By the end of 2024, the beef cattle population amounted to 47.2 thousand heads.

As of January 1, 2025, 10 agricultural organizations and two institutions of the Kurgan Oblast were registered in the State Register of Breeding Achievements.

In 2024, 56.3 thousand tons of livestock and poultry for slaughter in live weight, 158.4 thousand tons of milk, 78.9 million eggs were produced. In the Kurgan Oblast, the level of self-sufficiency was 79% with milk, 73% with meat, and 36% with eggs.

The area of lakes in the region covers 209 thousand hectares. In 2024, 2.3 thousand tons of aquatic biological resources were extracted.

The Kurgan Oblast has a well-developed food and processing industry. In 2024, food products were sold in the amount of 38.8 billion rubles. The manufacture of sausage products amounted to 14.4 thousand tons, semi-finished meat and meat-and-plant products amounted to 7.64 thousand tons, canned meat amounted to 58.8 million cans, processed fish amounted to 3.89 thousand tons, liquid milk  to 60.1 thousand tons, butter to 598 tons, flour to 266.8 thousand tons, cereals to 7.37 thousand tons, bread and bakery products to 39.6 thousand tons, confectionery to 30.2 thousand tons, pasta to 4.8 thousand tons, mineral and potable water  to 69.8 million half liters, vegetable oil to 22.5 thousand tons, baking yeast to 25.5 thousand tons and beer to 1.55 million decaliters.

In 2023, the existing production facilities were loaded for sausage manufacturing by 60.9%, canned meat 99.9%, butter 35.0%, cheese 21.7%, milk 78.7%, flour 62.9%, bread 77.9%, confectionery 77.8%, beer 80.8%, mineral and potable water 78.4%.

In 2024, the export volume of agricultural products amounted to 47.0 million US dollars.

The potential of agricultural production is 2.7 million tons of grain and oilseeds, 260 thousand tons of potatoes and vegetables, 600 thousand tons of milk, 200 thousand tons of meat in live weight.

 

Culture

The Kurgan Regional Theatre and Concert Association, the regional Museum Association, the regional House of Folk Art, 2 secondary vocational educational schools, 460 libraries, 536 municipal cultural and recreational institutions, an educational and methodological centre for art education, 37 children art schools, and 16 municipal museums operate in the Kurgan Oblast.

All of them are centres for implementing creative abilities of the Kurgan Oblast residents, promoting civic and patriotic education, a healthy lifestyle.  They also preserve and develop the cultural potential and heritage of the region.

The golden fund of Zauralye culture includes Honorary citizens of the Kurgan Oblast such as Honored Artist of the RSFSR V.S. Bryzgalin, Honored Worker of Culture of the RSFSR V.F. Potanin, Honored Workers of Culture G.S. Dushkina, O.L. Zhuravleva, Yu.S. Knyazkov, People's Artist of the Russian Federation G.A. Travnikov – a world famous master of watercolor.

 International and all-Russian cultural projects are implemented in the region, which contribute to Kurgan Oblast image strengthening. The landmark events of the cultural life of the region are the All-Russian Watercolor Exhibition, the Chamber Music Festival ‘Eliso Virsaladze presents...’, the International Competition and Festival of Bayan Players, Accordionists and Concertina Players ‘Friend Bayan’ named after V.S. Bryzgalin, the Open Regional Festival of Slavic and Cossack Culture ‘The Russian Field’, the International Music Festival ‘From East to West’, and others. 

 

Healthcare

Preservation of public health and creation of conditions for improving the quality and accessibility of medical care to citizens, taking into account the demographic situation are priority areas of state policy in the field of healthcare in the Kurgan Oblast.

The Kurgan Oblast State Programme ‘Development of Healthcare’ and the regional components of the federal projects for the national projects ‘Healthcare’ and ‘Demography’ are being implemented, aimed at stabilizing the demographic situation in the Kurgan Oblast (increasing birth rate and reducing mortality), further modernizing regional healthcare, ensuring accessibility to medical care and improving the effectiveness of medical services.

The work on organizing a three-level system of medical care for patients has been completed.

In the region, there are medical care centres, supplied with modern medical equipment and with highly qualified specialists working there.

10 medical organizations of the Kurgan Oblast (of the 3rd level) have licenses to provide high-tech medical care.

The world-famous Federal State Budgetary Institution ‘National Ilizarov Medical Research Centre for Traumatology and Orthopedics’ of the Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation is also among the organizations of the 3rd level – providing mainly specialized, including high-tech, medical care. (By Order No. 25 as of January 20, 2020 of the Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation, the Federal State Budgetary Institution ‘The Russian Ilizarov Scientific Centre for Restorative Traumatology and Orthopedics was renamed into Federal State Budgetary Institution ‘National Ilizarov Medical Research Centre for Traumatology and Orthopedics’ of the Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation) (hereinafter — the Ilizarov Centre).

Kurgan is the capital of orthopedics. The Ilizarov Centre was opened here, which today is rightfully considered a symbol of the Kurgan Oblast and the only world-renowned medical brand.

The centre is named after the brilliant surgeon and inventor, Academician Gavriil Abramovich Ilizarov. The history of the clinic's formation goes from the idea of a fracture treatment device in 1951 to the creation of the country's leading centre for traumatology and orthopedics and the largest institution in Russia in terms of bed capacity (800 beds).  

The Federal State Budgetary Institution ‘National Ilizarov Medical Research Centre for Traumatology and Orthopedics’ of the Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation is part of the National Medical Research Centre network as the ‘head’ organization in the field of traumatology and orthopedics and oversees the three largest Federal Districts – Ural, Far Eastern and Siberian, which comprises 27 regions of Russia.

The powerful team of the Ilizarov Centre consists of almost 1,500 highly qualified specialists: 10 professors, 28 Doctors of Sciences and 86 Candidates of Sciences, 163 doctors (including 67 ones of the highest qualification category, 6 of the first, 1 of the second), 460 nurses (including 105 of the highest qualification category, 14 of the first, 6 of the second).

The Centre annually treats over 18,000 patients with different pathologies. 

On the basis of the Centre, the divisions have been formed that carry the honorary status of expert centres in Russia for spinal pathology and orphan diseases, for osteoarticular infection treatment and neuro-orthopedics. The competence centres actively participate in the development of clinical recommendations, the regulation of state standards for treating pathologies and injuries of the musculoskeletal system using exclusive techniques.

The Ilizarov Centre has accomodated the expert centres of national importance - on spinal pathology and rare diseases, osteoarticular infection, neuro-orthopedics and systemic diseases, hand surgery, reconstructive surgery of limb and pelvic injuries, reconstructive and plastic surgery of major joints.

The Ilizarov Centre successfully applies a comprehensive medical rehabilitation system, the model of which is carefully thought out from the standpoint of safety. At all stages, experienced doctors of physical medical rehabilitation are involved in restoring the patient's movement functions and their adaptation to life after treatment.

The Centre's resources are designed to treat patients of all ages. An important feature is ensuring continuity of treatment during the transition from one age group to another.

We create a friendly environment for our patients and caregivers, guided by the motto ‘Minimum pain and fear, maximum partnership’.

The key guideline of the Centre's development strategy is the safety of medical activities and internal quality control. The guarantee of this competence is the quality certificate of the Federal Service for Surveillance in Healthcare.  

The medical care and service of the Ilizarov Centre are recognized as one of the best not only in Russia, but also in the world, which is confirmed by the international quality certificate ISO 9001:2015.

 

Education

2 special professional institutions;

3 higher education organizations;

There are 3 branches of universities from other regions, of which 1 is a non-governmental branch.

In higher education institutions:

- the student body numbers 12,756 people,

- the number of employees is 1,037, including 509 teaching staff, of which 482 are faculty members.

 

Tourism

The Kurgan Oblast has unique places for recreation, magnificent nature with its recreational opportunities. The region is famous for its unique health resorts, which are on par with the best natural resorts in Russia. Numerous springs of mineral waters and therapeutic mud are known for their qualities not only in our country but also abroad. Lake Medvezhye is especially famous for its healing properties, it is compared to the Dead Sea in Israel.

The Federal State Budgetary Institution ‘National Ilizarov Medical Research Centre for Traumatology and Orthopedics’ of the Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation is a unique medical institution operating in the city of Kurgan, which today is rightfully considered a symbol of the Kurgan Oblast. The unique discoveries of its researchers allow it to be considered the ‘flagship’ of Russian traumatology and orthopedics.

The Kurgan Oblast is a truly unique area, tourists visit the region because of its famous tourist attractions here, including archaeological sites - the Savin sanctuary (‘Zauralye Stonehenge’ - this ancient observatory allowed people of the Eneolithic Era to measure time and predict seasonal changes in nature), architectural objects, religious attractions such as the complex of the Holy Assumption Dalmatian Monastery, which played an important role as a stronghold for the development of the Zauralye area by the Russians in the XVII century.

The Kurgan Oblast is attractive for educational tourism featuring entire streets of historic mansions in the cities of Kurgan, Shadrinsk and Kurtamysh, preserving the spirit of pre-revolutionary Russia. In the Kurgan Oblast, one can catch all the subtleties of Zauralye classicism, eclecticism, Art Nouveau and ‘brick style’. In the city of Kurgan, one should definitely visit the mansion of the Berezins, the merchants, an architectural monument of the XIX century – this is the only urban-type stone manor in Zauralye. The brewery of the Austrian national V.A. Gampl is a vivid example of an industrial building of the early XX century. The merchant spirit of the Kurgan Oblast is the city of Shadrinsk, it is one of the colorful ‘merchant republics’ of the Ural region and Siberia. A masterpiece of the ‘Siberian Baroque’ with a characteristic flaming silhouette of the XVIII century – the Cathedral of the Transfiguration of the Saviour.  ‘Zauralye Kizhi’ is the name given to Trinity Chapel-Temple in the Borovskoi Convent of the Eulogy of the Most Holy Theotokos in the Kataisk district. The chapel is built in the Old Russian style - seven of its domes are covered with wood shingle that is why they resemble the famous temple in Kizhi.

There were 13 Decembrists in the exile settlement in Kurgan.  The houses of the exiled Decembrists, namely, of Kuchelbecker, Naryshkin, and Rozen, who had lived in Kurgan for almost a quarter of a century, have survived to our time. Currently, there are two museums in Kurgan that have preserved the atmosphere of their stay, such as the House Museum of the Decembrists and the House Museum of V.K. Kuchelbecker.

The residents of the Kurgan Oblast carefully preserve the history and traditions of Russian culture. On the banks of the Tobol River, in Tsarevo Gorodishche Park, you will be acquainted with the life of the first settlers of our region. The ‘Lad’ Centre for Russian Folk Culture (Shadrinsk) will host a workshop on traditional crafts: carpet weaving, embroidery, pottery and birch bark products manufacture.

The popular objects of ecological tourism are the ecological trail ‘the Rowan Valley’ and the ‘Borovskaya’ eco trail in the Belozerskii okrug, the ecopark ‘Birch Grove’ in the Dalmatovskii municipal okrug, the ‘Health Trail’ in the Zverinogolovskii municipal okrug, the ‘Prosvet Arboretum’ in the Ketovskii okrug. It is possible to join rural tourism by visiting the museums ‘Russian Log House’ in the village of Tagilskoye, Kargapolskii okrug. In 2022, the Ethnographic complex ‘Cossack Farmstead’ was created. The complex presents the ‘owner's homestead’, which recreates the way of rural life and gives the maximum effect of immersion in the antiquity and traditions of Cossack culture. The life of the Cossacks of the late XIX - early XX century has been restored inside the house. There is an ‘Open-air Museum of the Zauralye Village’ on the territory of the complex.

The number of major tourist events in the region is growing year by year. The ancient traditions of calendar holidays and wide fair festivities are being revived - the Trinity Festivities, the Krestovsko-Ivanovskaya Fair, the Mikhailovskii Torzhok Fair, the festival ‘Going to Savin’, the Fabulous Festival of Elena the Beautiful, the festival of Slavic and Cossack culture ‘the Russian Field’, the symphonic music festival ‘Sinfoniada’, the gastronomic festival ‘Peled Day’, Mud Festival, ethnocultural festival ‘Kupala’, etc. There are major holidays of the Orthodox tradition such as the festival ‘Baturino Relic’, as well as many international and regional sports events on the territory of the Kurgan Oblast such as the final of the World Team Championship in motorcycle racing on ice, equestrian competitions and many other sports.

The tourist infrastructure is actively developing, grant support for public and entrepreneurial initiatives aimed at the development of domestic and inbound tourism is being implemented, the work is underway to install direction signs to tourist attractions and tourist infrastructure facilities, besides, intraregional tourist trips are subsidized. The information presence of the region in the federal and local mass media and tourist websites is being expended.

The Kurgan Oblast has a unique combination of medical industries, clinics, educational institutions, laboratories located on a common territory, it is due to the mutually beneficial and rational use of the total organizational, personnel, transport and technical potential, which is the basis for the development, testing and production of medical devices and equipment, postgraduate training of medical personnel, training of technical personnel for medical care areas covering the entire range of medical services.

The Kurgan Oblast was selected and became one of the 30 participating regions of the All-Russian Industrial Tourism Accelerator. In 2021, the Accelerator was attended by the following companies: Kurganmashzavod, JSC NPO Kurganpribor, Kurgan Bus Plant, Vargashi Plant of Fire-Fighting and Special Equipment, Temper, Plant of Road Equipment ‘Region 45’, ‘Zauralskiye Beverages’, Veles. In 2024, the number of team members in the region increased, and educational institutions joined the project: Temper, Kurganselmash, Kurgan State University, Kurganstalmost, KAVZ (Kurgan Bus Plant), Kurgan Technical School of Service and Technology, Velfarm, Burlak All-Terrain Vehicles, MobiDik, ‘KMZKO’, ‘Zauralskiye beverages’, ‘Vargashi Plant of Fire-Fighting and Special Equipment ".

All the information about tourist sites, tourist products, routes and planned events, as well as locations in the Kurgan Oblast can be obtained from the Department for Tourism Development of the Kurgan Oblast Directorate of Culture or at the Kurgan Oblast Tourism Centre, the tourist information centres of the city of Kurgan and the municipal districts of the Kurgan Oblast, as well as through the tourist information website ‘Kurgan Oblast: tourism and recreation’ – www.tourism-kurgan.ru .

 

Sport

 

As of April 2025