The Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug – Yugra is situated in the central part of the West Siberian Plain. The territory of the okrug is 534.8 thousand km2, its extent from north to south is 900 km, from west to east is 1 400 km. The North part of the region is situated in a permafrost zone.
Two great Siberian rivers – Ob and Irtysh flow through the Autonomous Okrug.
The territory of Yugra numbers 13 urban okrugs, 9 metropolitan regions, 26 urban settlements, 58 rural settlements. The administrative center of the okrug is the city of Khanty-Mansiysk.
The total number of resident population makes up more than 1.5 million people. People of 123 nationalities live in the territory of the okrug, among which those of Slavic, Turkic, Finno-Ugric groups.
The native population of the Autonomous Okrug is represented by three ethnic groups – Khanty, Mansi and Forest Nenets. Their total number is 1.12% of the number of the whole population.
The region ranges among urbanized territories of Russia. Townspeople’s share in the total number of population is more than 91%.
The Autonomous Okrug’s resources ensure the country’s energy security, create a necessary base for further development of the economic complex, form the basis of its export potential.
Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug – Yugra is to the fore among other regions of the Russian Federation:
- by industrial output
- by power generation
- by oil production
- by gas production
- by volume of permanent investments
- by tax revenue
The okrug is the main oil and gas area in the Russian Federation and provides around 7.7% of the world and 57 % of the Russian oil production. The extent of gas production in the okrug is 4.5 % of that extracted in Russia. From the beginning of the mining development in Yugra over 9 billion tons of oil have been produced.
On the territory of the Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug – Yugra deposits of main solid commercial minerals have been developed (brown coal, quartz, gold deposits, zeolites).
Electrical power engineering is the major industry of Yugra’s economic complex. In 2008 the power plants of the Autonomous Okrug generated 75.2 billion kWh of electricity.
The presence in the okrug of a well-equipped network of up-to-date highways, rails, waterways, intensive flight connection between Russian and foreign cities is one of determinating factors of effective interregional integration, strengthening of various economic ties.
An up-to-date world level telecommunications system is formed in the okrug. A wide national and international roaming with 170 countries of the world is open for users of a mobile cellular network.
The Autonomous Okrug’s advances in economics became a reliable basis for Yugra’s social development. The okrug’s budget has been socially oriented for several years. Human capital asset’s development is one the priorities of the Yugra authorities, directed toward creation of necessary conditions for birth, upbringing and education of children, teenagers and youth. The health system built in the okrug allows solving the most difficult tasks on delivery of health care and health maintenance of the region’s citizens.
Yugra is a territory of active international cooperation. Every year a great number of international events take place in the okrug: a festival of cinematographic dйbuts “Spirit of Fire”; ecologic action “Save and Protect”; music festival “Yugra”; television program and film festival “Golden Tambourine”; investment forum, Biathlon World Cup Stage and a number of others.
In the coming years the Autonomous Okrug will become a site of biggest sporting competitions. In 2010 the World Chess Olympics will take place in Yugra. In 2011 the World biathlon championship will be held in the okrug already for the second time.
The normative legal base in the field of population’s labor and social defense formed in the Autonomous Okrug makes it possible to begin formation and implementation of a brand-new social policy – policy of “social development”.
In the Autonomous Okrug unique social laws and programs are functioning – “On quality of life of the population”, “On support of family, maternity, paternity and childhood”, “On social support of certain categories of citizens”, “On state social support”, Programs of demographic development, disabled persons support, “Children of Yugra” etc.
The total amount of social guarantees granted to citizens in the Autonomous Okrug in 2008-2009 is 76 kinds, including:
- measures of social support from federal budget resources are 18 kinds, those from the Autonomous Okrug’s budget resources are 29 kinds;
- benefits to citizens having children from federal budget resources are 6 kinds, those from the Autonomous Okrug’s budget resources are 23 kinds;
In 2008 and 2009 a package of measures for social support of the Autonomous Okrug’s citizens has been maintained, stable granting and payment of social allowances ensured in accordance with the Law of the Russian Federation and that of the Autonomous Okrug.
New kinds of benefits from the Autonomous Okrug’s budget resources were introduced:
- one-time dowries at the birth of the first child within two years after registration of marriage in a registry office at the rate of 5,000 roubles.
- one-time dowries to members of small ethnic communities of the North, having a status of a legal subject of traditional nature management, at birth of a child (children) at the rate of 20,000 roubles.
The system of social defense of the population is formed by of the Department of labor and social defense of the population of the Autonomous Okrug, 19 territorial subdivisions of the Department, 68 state social service organizations.
Alongside with conventional organizations – complex centers of social population services, general and special types of boarding houses, young persons asylums, rehabilitation centers, unique organizations have been also created – social-and-health centers of disabled persons and local wars veterans “Vozrozhdenie” (Renaissance) in the city of Nizhnevartovsk, a complex social center of rendering assistance to persons with no fixed abode “Alternative” in the city of Surgut, a center of social adaptation for chemically dependent persons “Phoenix” in the city of Nizhnevartovsk.
In the Autonomous Okrug there is an institution “Yugra’s social register”, within framework of which the cooperation and information exchange formats such as “Electronic government” are being implemented. This institution has created an infrastructure of the system “Social payment card “Yugra” that performs information service of social payment cards “Yugra”.
For the purpose of social service technological advancement on the territory of the Autonomous Okrug new forms of outreach work are being introduced. Since 2008 divisional social services have been functioning, mobile social service has been is dynamically developing.