BELGOROD

oblast (province), western Russia. It lies chiefly in the basins of the upper Vorskla, Donets, and Oskol rivers. The oblast, formed in 1954 and centred on Belgorod city, is situated in a forest-steppe with rich soils. The natural vegetation of deciduous forest and steppe has been almost wholly cleared for agriculture since intensive settlement began in the 17th century and now survives only as occasional oak groves along the rivers. Agriculture is highly developed, and the population is mostly rural. Grains-wheat, barley, millet, and corn (maize)-are the main crops, along with sugar beets and sunflowers. There are many orchards. Huge iron deposits of the Kursk Magnetic Anomaly were opened up in the 1950s and are now exploited at Gubkin, Lebedi, and Yakovlevo. Area 10,500 square miles (27,100 square km). Pop. (1995 est.) 1,458,000. city and administrative centre of Belgorod oblast (province), western Russia. Belgorod lies along the upper Donets River where it is crossed by the Moscow-Kharkiv (Ukraine) and Sumy-Donets Basin railways. Archaeological finds indicate the existence of a settlement on the site in the 10th century. First mentioned in 1237, it was founded in 1593 as a fortress, becoming the key stronghold in the elaborate Belgorod defensive line set up in 1635-58 to protect Russia's southern frontier against Tatar attack. It maintained its military and administrative significance until the late 18th century. Modern Belgorod has a range of light-engineering, building-materials (chalk and slate), cement, and food-processing industries, as well as technical and pedagogical institutes. Pop. (1994 est.) 317,900.