Оренбургский край

The earliest traces of human habitation on the territory of Orenburg date back to the glacial epoch, the Early Stone Age. Over thirty thousand years ago the first humans came to the region from more southern latitudes, constantly pushing northward in search of new hunting lands. Archaeologists have found numerous traces of their presence. Afterwards, the descendants of the Scythians and Sarmatians had lived there for several millennia.

The inhabitants of the Orenburg region territory in the fourth and third millennium B.C. were warriors, cattle breeders, tillers and metal-makers. Rapid development has only started in the 30's of the XVIII century.

The starting point of the Orenburg region investigation and reclamation was the expedition of Ivan Kirillovich Kirilov (I.K. Kirilov). He was the Russian Empire Chief Secretary, a person vested with broad powers. It was a vital necessity for the Russian Empire to strengthen its border with Central Asia and enlarge trade and economic relations with the East. Three large Kazakh state entities - Small, Medium and Senior zhuzhes - entered into allegiance of Russia. The borders of the empire moved far to the East, where there was a lively trade through the Southern Urals steppes. The "Submission" presented to the Senate by I.K. Kirilov for building a fortress on the river Or found support. An expedition, which was later called the "Orenburg Commission", was established. The expedition, along with the military installation added to it, arrived initially in Ufa in 1734, and then headed to the river Or.

The Privilege given by the Empress Anna Ioannovna to the local population and everyone who came to the Orenburg steppes offered significant benefits and vantages that contributed to the rapid settlement of the vast region.

I.K. Kirilov and V.N. Tatishchev, who substituted Chief Secretary after his death, to ensure safe passage to Orenburg established the first small fortresses on the river Yaik for a few years. Those fortresses were: Huberlinskaya (now Huberlya village), Ozernaya (now Verkhneozernoe village), Berdskaya (on the territory of modern Orenburg) and Kamysh-Samarskaya (now Tatischevo village). At the same time fortresses along the Samara river were established: Sorochinskaya on the territory of modern Sorochinsk), Totskaya (now Totskoye village) and Buzulukskaya (on the territory of modern Buzuluk). The road, laid along the fortresses located on the Samara river to the city of Samara and continued further into the center of Russia, was called the Moscow Road.

On March 15, 1744 the Russian Empress Elizaveta Petrovna approved the Nominal Decree, in which she ordered  to  found a province, which should be called  Orenburgskaya... In this document it was also mentioned that all the newly built fortresses and those under construction should refer to the province as well as all the appointed regular and irregular troops and other people who settled out there. The governor, who was appointed to govern the province, was assigned to "be in charge both of the Kirghiz people and local border affairs". I.I. Neplyuev was the first Orenburg governor. This Decree, also known as "Letters Patent", was that very memorable milestone from which the glorious history of Orenburg region is being counted. In the second half of the XVIII century Orenburgskaya province covered a vast territory of the Southern Urals, Cis-Urals region and some parts of Kazakhstan. The borders of this province extended from the Kama river in the north to the Tobol river in the east and from the Caspian Sea in the south to the Volga river in the west. The province occupied the territory of the present Orenburg and Chelyabinsk regions, the eastern part of the Samara region, the Republic of Bashkortostan, some parts of the Republic of Tatarstan and a part of Kazakhstan. The population density was extremely low. The population of the province inhabitants in 1762 counted 472 thousand people, with prevailing state peasants. Over half of them was Russians. Yaik Cossacks (later Orenburg Cossacks) were a distinguishing characteristic of the region. Neplyuev did his best to transform the province from a low-population area of sharp ethnic conflicts into a region that became the most important place of business operations, construction and trading with Central Asia.

The second half of the XVIII century was a time of rapid settlement of the province and the emergence of landownership. That was the period when family estates of some famous people appeared in the Orenburg steppes, among them are Aksakov, Derzhavin, Karamzin, Bulgakov, Kuroyedov, Plemyannikov and Timashev. I.I. Neplyuev and P.I. Rychkov were the most significant figures of the Orenburg region in that period. The rebellion of Yemelyan Pugachev has left an indelible mark in the history of the Orenburg province. The dramatic events of that time have been seared into the memories of the descendants of the rebellions, the defenders of the fortresses and in the immortal works of Alexander Pushkin.

The beneficial geographical location of the new region, the granted "privileges" and economic activity of enterprising merchants of that time contributed to the rapid development of trade, economic and cultural relations of the province with Central Asia and the countries of the East. This fact has determined the historical role of the Orenburg region as a connecting link between Christian and Muslim civilizations.

XVIII century was a time of rapid development of manufactory and the mining industry in the Orenburg region. There were 21 copper factories and 17 ironworks built. The manufacturing salt industry began in 1760. Simultaneously, the down-knitting craft appeared, the development of which was promoted by P.I. Rychkov's spouse. Initially functioning as a fortified point protecting Russian territories from the south, Orenburg eventually became a major trade agent between Russia and Central Asia. Numerous trains of camels carrying traditional Central Asian goods and thousands droves of cattle were brought here from Samarkand, Khiva and Bukhara. Meanwhile, Orenburg offered the manufactory and the mining industry products in return.

Orenburg became a huge trade-fair center only in the middle of the XVIII century. The successes in cross-border trade exceeded all the expectations. According to contemporaries, the amount of precious metals brought in Russia was so huge that the Russian side could not provide the required quantity of goods for its part. Gostiny Dvor (a shopping arcade) of the provincial center had over 300 stores, while the annual customs charges estimated up to 85 thousand rubles of that time. The uniqueness of Orenburg city is in its site development, which was carried out according to the regular design on a completely empty area. In fact, it was the second city, after St. Petersburg, where at the time of its laying the accuracy of geometric forms was observed. The city has preserved its strict street layout to the present day. Satellite video clearly shows the core of Orenburg - a regular polygon with a central axis.

The Orenburg region truly flourished in the middle of the 20th century: new cities were established on the regional map, virgin lands were developed, and gas and petroleum deposits were discovered. Years passed. The socio-political system of the government was changing, the borders of the region were expanding and narrowing. But the one thing that remained unchanged was the policy of developing and reclaiming the region. Where once ancient people melted down the first copper and bronze, modern mining and processing companies are now operating.

Over the period of two and a half centuries, the boundaries of the province have changed a number of times. On December 23, 1781, the Orenburg province was abolished and became part of the vicegerency of Ufa, which lasted until December 12, 1796. However, Ufa was the leading city, while Orenburg remained the military centre of the region. Within the period 1744 and 1865 the position of the centre of the province alternated between the cities of Orenburg (1744-1781, 1797-1802) and Ufa (1782-1796, 1802-1865).

The final division of the Ufa and Orenburg provinces happened in 1865. In the early years of Soviet regime, from 1920 to 1925, Orenburg was the capital of the Kirghiz ASSR (later Kazakh SSR). The modern boundaries of the Orenburg region were defined by the Decree of the Presidium of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee of the USSR of 7 December 1934, when the region was separated from the Middle Volga region (from 1938 to 1957 it was called Chkalovskiy). This was caused by the creation of new industrial support bases on the eastern side of the country.

The Origin of the Orenburg Region. 1934.

The Orenburg region was established by the decree of the Soviet Government Presidium of 7 of December 1934 and it contained Boklisky, Abdulinsky, Buguruslansky, Ponomarevsky, Buzuluksky, Andreevsky, Sorochinsky, Pokrovsky, Orenburgsky, Ilecksky, Sol-Ilecksky, Kashirinsky, Sharlyksky, Saraktashsky, Burtinsky, Orsky, Kvarkensky, Dombarovsky and Novo-Pokrovsky districts of the Middle Volga region, the northern part of Adamovsky district (including Adamovsky village), Ak-Bulaksky, Stepny, (including villages: Novo-Petrovskoe, Vasilievskoe, Yaysan, Voznesenskoye, Andreevskoye, Studencheskoye)  According to the same decree Orsk district was annuled. The Orenburg region included 52 districts and 5 cities and towns: Orenburg, Orsk, Buzuluk, Buguruslan, Abdulino, and two urban-type settlements: Sorochinsk and Sol-Iletsk.

People. By January 1, 1935 the total population of the region was nearly 1,5 million, including 267,2 thousand urban people.

Agriculture. Agriculture was the main branch of the regional national economy. The collectivization process in the region had been mostly completed by that moment: 89,5% of all peasants farmings were colletivized. The collective farms sowed 98.2% of the crop acre of both collective farms and peasant sectors in 1935. The land area of the region amounted 12 million hectares, 7 million hectares could be classified as arable land (58.0% of the whole territory), 0.6 million hectares  functioned as hayfields (5.0%), 0.5 million hectares formed forests and bushes (4.0%). On the territory of the region there were 98 machine and tractor stations (9 of which were set up in Spring 1935), 81 state farms including 17 grain farms, 32 dairy and meat products farms, 10 breeding sheep farms and 7 pigs and 15 state farms of the People's Commissariat for Agriculture.

Industry. Gross output of all industrial enterprises of the region was 147937.8 thousand rubles (according to the plan of 1935) at constant prices of 1932. The regional functioning enterprises in 1935 provided 25686 workplaces for laboring man and co-operative organizations craftsmen. The average value of gross output per enterprise of the union subordination was 515.1 thousand rubles, of regional subordination - 716.8 thousand rubles, of small-scale industry and craft industry - 63.4 thousand rubles. Besides there were the repair plant of locomotives and wagons and garment factory, the planned income of which estimated 22801.1 thousand rubles. The share of the Orenburg region (including Orenburg itself) in the whole amount of the regional industry is 91014 thousand rubles (61,5%) of gross output, and 9080 employees (39,9%). Thus Orenburg was the primary center of a region industry.

Transport. Within the territory there were the Orenburg and Samaro-Zlatoustovsky railways. The Orenburg railway crossed 22 agricultural districts of the western and southern parts of the region and its total track length was 920 kilometers. The Samaro-Zlatoustovsky railway occupied the northern and northwest parts of the region, its total track length was 114 kilometers. Both ways were the transit connects for the goods turnover which loads were to be delivered to the Central Asia and Ural and from these areas to the central parts of the USSR.  

Enlightenment. As of 1January 1935 there were 1870 primary schools (171859 pupils), 253 seven-years secondary schools and 28 2-years high schools in the Orenburg region. The whole count of students was 211911. There worked 6054 teachers in the region. There were 19 houses of socialist culture, 61 culture areas "Kultbaza", 143 libraries, 489 educational institutes which named "Izba-chitalnya" and 337 cinemas in the region.

Healthcare. As of 1 January 1935 there were 78 stationary hospitals with 2,891 beds, 151 medical dispensaries, 138  primary care centres, 3 tuberculosis dispensaries, 1 psychiatric dispensary, 4 venereal dispensaries , 1 pediatric ambulatory, 20 infantile consultations, 16 traumatic surgery centers, 2 first-aid stations, 6 bacteriological laboratory stations, 4 malaria caring stations, 5 centers of disinfection, 30 permanent nurseries on state farms for 742 places, 29 permanent nurseries of industrial enterprises for 1232 places, 6 dairy kitchens (institutions of public catering for children), 4 orphanages for 280 children, 2 health resorts for 65 children at a time, there also were 254 doctors in the region and nursing staff counted 970 people. The network of Railway healthcare services was consisted of 5 hospitals for 285 places, 12 outpatient clinics, two of which had a specialisation, a health center, 3 nurseries for 180 children, a malaria caring stations, 2 bacteriological laboratory stations, a pediatric ambulatory, 3 child health clinics. There worked 96 doctors and 179 nurses.

Public utilities. There were 13 power plants in the region with the total capacity 4044,8 kW. The power plants had totally worn out equipment with low operational indexes. Most of the primary engines and generators had exceeded their amortization period, indicating the need for reconstruction and overhaul of most power plants. There were 9 public baths in the region, the capacity and technical condition of which could not meet the people's needs. The system of running water functioned in 3 cities and towns, the wastewater sewerage was only in Orenburg. There were 6 municipal hotels in the region. It should be pointed that in Orenburg there was public transport consisted of 7 buses.