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 | |
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![]() 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]