Kaliningrad region is unique in many respects. This is the westernmost subject of the Russian Federation and the only exclave in its composition. The population of the Kaliningrad region is ethnically diverse, and its cities have a special architecture with an East Prussian touch.
Kaliningrad region is a unique and interesting region
At the end of World War II, on April 7, 1946, the Koenigsberg region was formed. A few months later, it received its modern name. This is an amazing and very colorful region of Russia, which is unique in many ways.
First of all, the region has no common land borders with the rest of Russia. It borders Poland in the south and Lithuania in the north and east. From the west, its territory is washed by the waters of the cool B altic Sea. The total area of the Kaliningrad region is just over 15,000 square kilometers. This is one of the smallest subjects of the Russian Federation.
The population of the Kaliningrad region is 976 thousand people (as of 2016). This region of Russialocated closest to Europe, not only geographically, but also mentally. The architectural appearance of the region is no less interesting. Old German architecture is combined with massive Soviet-era buildings and modern Russian architecture.
The Kaliningrad region also impresses with its natural we alth. First of all, we are talking, of course, about amber. The Russian region accounts for about 90% of the global production of "fossil resin".
But the natural uniqueness of the region is not limited to amber either. So, on the territory of the Kaliningrad region there is the only ice-free port on the B altic Sea, the longest sand spit in the world (protected by UNESCO), the phenomenal pine grove "Dancing Forest" with intricately twisted tree trunks and much more interesting and unusual.
History of the region
For a long time this territory was an important cultural center of East Prussia. This fact explains the many "German" traces in the towns and villages of the modern Kaliningrad region: brick churches, fortifications, old paving stones on the streets, etc.
For several centuries these lands were divided among themselves by Poles and Lithuanians, Germans and Russians. In the post-war 1945, according to the decisions taken at the Y alta and Potsdam conferences, the Amber Territory was ceded to the USSR. On July 4, 1946, the ancient Koenigsberg was renamed Kaliningrad, and the region became known as Kaliningrad.
The war caused great damage to the region. Half of its industrial complex was destroyed. About 80% of the housing stock of the former Koenigsberg was destroyed. All the hardships of restoring cities and the economy of the region fell on the shoulders of the Soviet government, bled dry by a protracted war.
Population of the Kaliningrad region
The post-war settlement of the Kaliningrad region is called the largest migration process in the history of the Soviet Union. In the late 1940s, people from different parts of the empire came here en masse - from Russia, Belarus, Ukraine, Armenia, Uzbekistan. At the same time, native German residents were deported from the region.
During the first three post-war decades (from 1950 to 1979) the population of the Kaliningrad region doubled exactly. In recent years, the number of inhabitants in this region of the country, although slowly, has been growing. According to demographers, by 2030 the population of the region will overcome the milestone of 1 million people.
Today, representatives of many nations and nationalities live within the Kaliningrad region. The most numerous of them:
- Russians (82%);
- Ukrainians (3.5%);
- Belarusians (3.4%);
- Lithuanians (1%);
- Armenians (1%);
- Germans (less than 1%);
- Tatars (less than 1%).
Modern administrative-territorial division of the region
How many administrative units does the Kaliningrad region consist of? The regions of the westernmost subject of the Russian Federation differ greatly from each other in terms of area and population. There are 15 of them in total. The largest district in the region isSlavsky (with the administrative center of the same name), and the smallest is Svetlogorsky.
The administrative-territorial structure of the region also provides for the division into cities of regional significance (there are 6 in total) and urban-type settlements (one).
Cities of the Kaliningrad region
The level of urbanization in this region is quite high. It is about 77%. In total, there are 22 cities within the region. The administrative center of the region is Kaliningrad, where almost 60% of the total population of the region lives.
The largest cities of the Kaliningrad region are listed in the table (with old names and number of inhabitants):
| City | Former name | Number of inhabitants, in thousands |
| Kaliningrad | Kenigsberg | 459, 6 |
| Sovetsk | Tilsit | 40, 9 |
| Chernyakhovsk | Insterburg | 37, 0 |
| B altiysk | Pillau | 33, 2 |
| Gusev | Gumbinnen | 28, 2 |
| Light | Zimmerbude | 22, 0 |
In terms of tourism, the mostinteresting cities: Kaliningrad, B altiysk, Chernyakhovsk, Pravdinsk, Neman, Zelenogradsk.
Kaliningrad is world famous for its Amber Museum, the tomb of the philosopher Kant, as well as several dozen fortifications. Pravdinsk, Zheleznodorozhny, Chernyakhovsk and Sovetsk attract tourists with dilapidated German architecture, Neman and B altiysk - with their numerous historical monuments. The cities of Svetlogorsk and Zelenogradsk are the main resorts of the Kaliningrad region.
