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Arkhangelsk Oblast is one of 11 northwest Russian federal districts. It is located along the White Sea and borders the Nenets Autonomous Okrug and the Komi Republic in the east, Vologda Oblast in the south and the Republic of Karelia in the west.
Arkhangelsk Oblast includes Franz Josef Land and Novaya Zemlya. Also Nenets Autonomous Okrug is formally a part of Arkhangelsk, although it at the same time has status as federal subject.
The region covers a territory of more than 589,000 square kilometers, which makes up 35 percent of Northwest Russia and 3,5 percent of all of the Russian Federation.
Population in the region is 1,27 million (2007). About 94 percent of the population is ethnically Russian.
The administrative centre of Arkhangelsk has a population of 348,000 (2007), is the administrative center of the oblast. The second-biggest city, Severodvinsk, has a population of about 200,000.
Arkhangelsk Oblast has a powerful timber and forestry processing industry. It also has several major shipyards, first of all the Sevmash and Zvezdochka yards in Severodvinsk. The food processing industry also plays a key role for the regional economy.
Arkhangelsk may get a synagogue
Arkhangelsk walking street.
Photo: Thomas Nilsen
Governor Ilya Mikhalchuck promise to help resolve the issue regarding a building suitable to be used as a synagogue.
Last week, Arkhangelsk Governor Mikhailchuck met with Chief Rabbi of Russia Berel Lazar. The meeting took place in Moscow.
According to the portal of the Federation of Jewish Communities of the CIS, Rabbi Lazar raised the issue regarding the need for a synagogue in Arkhangelsk.
Rabbir Lazar noted that Arkhangelsk is home to many Jews. The Jewish presence in the Arkhangelsk region dates back nearly 200 years, but the local Jewish community still not have their own synagogue.
Governor Ilya Mikhailchuck ended the meeting by praising the Arkhangelsk Jewish community’s charitable work, especially toward the elderly, disabled and poor of the region.
