Stary Oskol: the population. Population of Stary Oskol

In the Belgorod region there is a city of an unusual fate - Stary Oskol. He is interested in his economic stability and demographic indicators. We will talk about the size of the urban population of Stary Oskol, the conditions in which people live and the secret of the stability of the development of this settlement.

Geographical position

In the south of the Central Russian Upland, on the banks of the Oskol River and several of its tributaries, is located the ancient city of Stary Oskol. The population lives here for a long time, which is favored by fertile black earth soils. The city is on a large hill near the confluence of the Oskol and Oskolets rivers. The territory of the settlement has an uneven terrain with a lot of hills and small rivers flowing into the main water artery of the city. The area of Stary Oskol is 134 square meters. Km, height above sea level - 150 m. The city's agglomeration includes 17 rural settlements, from the capital of the region, Belgorod, it is separated by 153 km.

Climate

The city is in a zone of temperate continental climate with a fairly mild and snowy winter and hot, dry summers. It has long been adapted to the weather conditions of its region and has learned to productively farm on chernozem soils in conditions of frequent droughts and dry winds local population. G. Stary Oskol as a whole has favorable conditions for life. The sun here shines almost 2 thousand hours a year, the average amount of precipitation a year is from 400 to 600 mm. Winter in the city comes in late November, although the first snow may fall in October. The winter season ends in March. The average temperature in January keeps in the region minus 5-8 degrees. The summer in Stary Oskol begins in late May and lasts until mid-September. The hottest month is July, when the thermometer rises to an average of 22 degrees of heat. The driest month of the year is August. Spring and autumn in the city are short and fleeting with quite a lot of precipitation.

History of settlement

Already in ancient times, before the formation of Kievan Rus, many tribes of different ethnic composition lived and wandered on the lands of the Central Russian Upland. Stary Oskol, whose population we are considering, was first mentioned in the annals of the turn of the 13th and 14th centuries. Then there was the settlement of Ugly, which today is one of the districts of the city. These lands at that time belonged to the Lithuanian principality and were a frontier point on the borders of the Golden Horde. Later, Ivan the Terrible annexed these lands to the Russian kingdom and ordered in this place to erect a prison for protection against Mongolian raids. In 1593 a settlement appeared there, named after the local Oskol river. Here settle the Cossacks, who defend the southern borders of the Fatherland. The city grows rather quickly, especially in the 17th century, when the country is shaken by the Time of Troubles, and here peace and grace reign. In 1655, the city received its modern name, since the region was New Oskol. After a while he gets the status of a county town. Stary Oskol has a long heroic history, in the years of all the wars of the country, he did not stand aside and rightfully earned the title of City of military glory. Since the 60s, rapid economic growth of the region and the city begins. Several large industrial enterprises are being built here, which will become the guarantor of the stability and viability of the city.

Population dynamics

Observation of the number of residents of the city begins in 1737. Then there lived 9 thousand people. In subsequent years, Stary Oskol, whose population periodically grows and falls, is experiencing different times. In less than 40 years, the number of residents has increased 2.5 times, and then begins to decline. All this leads to the fact that in 1889 Stary Oskol, whose population shows sharp fluctuations, again returns to the number of inhabitants of 9 thousand people. Then followed another period of multidirectional fluctuations, which ended in 1959. Then in the city lived 27.4 thousand people. Over the next 10 years, the population of Stary Oskol has doubled. In 1975 there were already 82 thousand inhabitants. By the beginning of perestroika, 173,000 people were registered in the city. Unlike many other regions of the country, Stary Oskol shows steady changes in the population in the years of change. Only in 2012 and 2014 there was a slight decrease in the number of citizens. In 2016, positive dynamics recovered, and today there are 222 thousand people living here. More than 400 thousand people live in the whole agglomeration of Stary Oskol.

Demographic indicators

Stary Oskol, whose population is growing steadily, is among those cities in the country where birth rate is consistently outperforming mortality, although not much. During the crisis, the birth rate decreased slightly, but the natural increase in the population continues to show positive dynamics. The average life expectancy of a townspeople differs little from the general figures for the country and is 70 years with a tendency to increase. However, a low birth rate and an increase in life expectancy give rise to a problem such as the aging of the population. In recent years, the situation is slightly leveled, school children are getting bigger, but the demographic burden on the able-bodied population is still high. Stary Oskol is a compact city with a rather high population density - 111 people per square meter. Km. There is a tendency to expand the boundaries of the city, it grows due to the absorption of nearby villages.

Economics and employment of the population

The city has a good production base, laid back in the 60s of the 20th century. There are such large enterprises as the Electrometallurgical Combine, where more than 20 thousand people work, Stoilensky Ore Mining and Processing Enterprise (6 thousand workers), a plant for metallurgical engineering, a cement plant, an automobile plant and about 30 large companies. Also, the sphere of service and trade is growing and developing in the city, light and food industry enterprises are working. Stary Oskol is one of the region's leaders in terms of production level. The settlement has a good infrastructure for life, a transport network and a network of socially significant enterprises are developed. The working population of Stary Oskol has the opportunity to find a job with a good salary. The unemployment rate in the city is not only the lowest in the region, but also one of the lowest in the country (0.9%).