Orenburg Oblast
Orenburg Oblast (, "Orenburgskaya oblast") is a federal subject of Russia (an oblast). Its administrative center is the city of Orenburg. From 1938 to 1957, it bore the name "Chkalov Oblast" () in honor of Valery Chkalov. Population: 2,033,072 (2010 Census). Geography. Orenburg Oblast's internal borders are with the republics of Bashkortostan and Tatarstan to the north, Chelyabinsk Oblast to the north-east, and with Samara and Saratov oblasts to the west. Orenburg Oblast also shares an international border with Kazakhstan to the east and south. The oblast is situated on the boundary between Europe and Asia. The majority  of its territory lies west of the continental divide in European Russia and smaller sections in the east situated on the Asian side of the divide. The most important river of the oblast is the Ural. Orenburg is traversed by the northeasterly line of equal latitude and longitude. The highest point of the oblast is high Nakas (mountain). Demographics. Population: Settlements. According to the 2010 Census, the ethnic composition of the oblast was as follows: Religion. As of a 2012 survey, 40.2% of the population of Orenburg Oblast adheres to the Russian Orthodox Church, 3% declare themselves to be generic  nondenominational Christians (excluding the Protestant definition), 2% are Orthodox Christian believers who do not belong to any church or belong to non-Russian Orthodox churches. Muslims constitute 13% of the population. 3% of the population are followers of the Slavic native faith (Rodnovery), 6.8% are followers of other religions or did not give an answer to the survey. In addition, 20% of the population declares to be "spiritual but not religious" and 12% to be atheist. Economy. Orenburg Oblast is one of the major agricultural areas of Russia. Its climate is favorable to farming with a humid spring, dry summer  and many sunny days, which make perfect conditions for cultivating hard wheat and rye, sunflowers, potatoes, peas, beans, corn, and gourds. The range of the oblast's export commodities includes oil and oil products, gas and gas produced products, rolled ferrous and non-ferrous metals, nickel, asbestos, chromium compounds, rough copper, electric engines, and radiators, which are used to make products from the machine-building industry.