Regions of Russia - Tambov 101

Tambov is situated in the Oka-Don plain in central Russia and the capital city is Tambov. According to historians, in the 6th century A.C. the Tambov region’s most ancient population used to be of Mordva-Moksha origin which consisted of local ethnic groups. Around the 17th century, Russians finally settled here and in 1937, the autonomous Tambov region was formed from several territories in the Kuybyshev and Voronezh regions.

Population and Geography

More than 1 million people can be found in this region across 23 districts and it has a total of 8 towns, 13 settlements and 304 villages.Tambov is mostly located in forest grassland and shares borders with the Ryazan, Saratov, Penza, Lipetsk and Voronezh regions. The region’s capital, Tambov is an ancient city in Russia and an important center for industry, culture and arts. Considered to be one of the most attractive cities of Russia, Tambov is also quite close to Russian capital Moscow (nearly 470 km).

Economy

The major industry in the region is machine-building, which includes production of automobile parts & spare items, tractors parts, chemical and textile equipment, refrigerators and other gadgets. The region also has manufacturing plants such as chemicals, light etc. and various food processing units including flour-grinding, meat, sugar, canning and butter-making.

However, agriculture is the major economic contributor and various crops of beetroots, potatoes, sunflower as well as fodder crops are cultivated in the region. Large scale production of fruits also takes place here. By-products such as spirits, treacle and starch are produced from various grains and potato- processing activities. Livestock industry is also well-developed in the region which includes cattle-breeding of both meat and milk-producing variety. Pigs and sheep breeding as well as poultry farming contribute to this economic sector.

Tourism

The Tambov region is infused with many natural and man-made attractions to visit. It has lush forests on the northern side, whereas the outskirts of Tambov city have a varied combination of fauna and flora. The region has picturesque and beautiful landscapes which present unique wild life and delicious food while the forests are famous for wild Tambov wolves.

Aside from natural wonders, architectural monuments are also abound in this region which include the historic Kazan monastery, Transformation church and Ascension convent are worth visiting in Tambov city. Many preserved churches have the privilege of belonging to the national heritage list. These include, Annunciation church in Novotomnikovo village, which has ceramic iconostasis. The Michail-Archangel church of Mordovo attracts tourists for its porcelain iconostasis.