The Kirov Region – General Information

The Kirov region is located in the north-east of the European part of Russia and borders on nine regions. The Kirov region is part of the Volga federal district.

A widely spread name of the region the Vyatka Territory or the Land of Vyatka was borrowed from the main river of the region – the Vyatka River.

The total area of the region is 120.4 thousand square kilometers, of which a half is woodland.

The population is 1,426.9 thousand persons (as at January 1, 2007).

The city of Kirov is the regional center. The population of the city is 468.5 thousand persons (as at January 1, 2006).

The administrative and territorial division: 39 areas, 18 cities, of which the largest cities are Kirov, Kirovo-Tchepetsk, Vyatskiye Polyany, Kotelnich, and Slobodskoy.

Twelve old cities and settlements have a status of historical sites: Kirov, Kotelnich, Orlov, Slobodskoy, Urzhum, Yaransk, Malmyzh, Nolinsk, Sovetsk, and the settlement of Lalsk, the Luza area, the village of Velikoretskoye, the Yurya area, and the village of Ryabovo, the Zuyevka area.

All the areas have a regular bus communication with the regional center, and 14 areas have a railway service.

The Trans-Siberian trunk railway and the federal highway St. Petersburg – Yekaterinburg pass through the region. The distance from Kirov to Moscow is 896 kilometers.

Pobedilovo Airport is 18 kilometers from Kirov.

The climate is temperate continental with a long and cold winter and a short, but rather warm summer. The average temperature is from -14C to -16C in January and from +17C to +19C in July.

The region is rich in tourist resources. There are 202 natural monuments on the territory of the Kirov region. Over 800 objects of cultural heritage are protected by the state. 46 museums tell about the history and culture of the region as well as about famous countrymen.