MAGADAN

port and administrative centre of Magadan oblast (province), far northeastern Russia. It lies at the head of Nagayevo Bay of the Gulf of Tauysk, on the northern coast of the Sea of Okhotsk. The city was founded in 1933 as the port and supply centre for the Kolyma goldfields. Engineering shops repair ships and transport and mining equipment; there are also some light industries. There are a teacher-training institute and several research institutes. Pop. (1993 est.) 142,000. oblast (province), northeastern Siberia, far eastern Russia. Magadan oblast is bordered by the Sea of Okhotsk to the east and southeast and by the Chukchi autonomous okrug to the north, Khabarovsk kray (region) to the southwest, and Yakut-Sakha republic to the west. Most of the oblast is rugged and mountainous, except for small patches of lowland along the Sea of Okhotsk. There is some poor-quality swampy forest, or taiga, of larch, fir, and birch, but most of the surface is in tundra. The climate is severely arctic. There are a number of indigenous peoplesEvens (Lamuts), Yukaghirs, Yakuts, and others, engaged chiefly in reindeer herding, fishing, and hunting. There is also a sizable Russian population. Gold is mined in the oblast, and there are deposits of silver, tin, and coal. Some timber is cut, and salmon and other fish are caught in the Sea of Okhotsk. Area 178,100 square miles (461,400 square km). Pop. (1993 est.) 326,500.