West Siberian economic region

West Siberian economic region (Russian: За́падно-Сиби́рский экономи́ческий райо́н; tr.: Zapadno-Sibirsky ekonomichesky rayon) is one of twelve economic regions of Russia.

West Siberian economic region
economic region
West Siberian economic region on the map of Russia

This vast plain—marshy and thinly populated in the north, hilly in the south—is of growing economic importance, mostly due to the abundance of natural resources: oil, coal, wood, water. There are vast oilfields in the West Siberian petroleum basin, and Russia's largest oil refinery is in Omsk. The Kuznetsk Basin around Kemerovo and Novokuznetsk is a center of coal mining, and the production of iron, steel, machinery, and chemicals. Logging is a significant industry throughout the region. Hydroelectric stations dam the Ob near Novosibirsk and Kamen-na-Obi. The navigable Ob-Irtysh watershed covers most of this area, and the southern part is also criss-crossed by the Trans-Siberian, South Siberian and Turkestan-Siberian rail lines. Agricultural products include wheat, rice, oats, and sugar beets, and livestock is raised.[1]