Orenburg Oblast's internal borders are with the republics ofBashkortostan andTatarstan to the north,Chelyabinsk Oblast to the north-east, and withSamara andSaratov oblasts to the west. Orenburg Oblast also shares an international border withKazakhstan to the east and south. The oblast is situated on theboundary between Europe and Asia. The majority of its territory lies west of the continental divide in European Russia and smaller sections in the east situated on the Asian side of the divide. The most important river of the oblast is theUral and the largest lakeShalkar-Yega-Kara. Orenburg is traversed by the northeasterly line of equal latitude and longitude. The highest point of the oblast is the 668 m (2,192 ft)-highNakas.[6]
In the first half of the 18th century, the Russian Empire constructed theIrtysh line [ru], a series of 46 forts, including Orenburg,[7] to preventKazakh andDzungar nomads from raiding Russian territory.[8]
Orenburg played a major role inPugachev's Rebellion (1773–1774), the largest peasant revolt in Russian history.
As of a 2012 survey,[17] 40.2% of the population of Orenburg Oblast adheres to theRussian Orthodox Church, 3% declare themselves to be genericnondenominational Christians (excluding the Protestant definition), 2% are Orthodox Christian believers who do not belong to any church or belong to non-RussianOrthodox churches.Muslims constitute 13% of the population. 3% of the population are followers of theSlavic native faith (Rodnovery), 6.8% are followers of other religions or did not give an answer to the survey. In addition, 20% of the population declares to be "spiritual but not religious" and 12% to beatheist.[17]
Orenburg Oblast is one of the major agricultural areas of Russia. Its climate is favorable to farming with a humid spring, dry summer and many sunny days, which make perfect conditions for cultivating hardwheat andrye,sunflowers,potatoes,peas,beans,corn, andgourds.
The range of the oblast's export commodities includes oil and oil products, gas and gas produced products, rolled ferrous and non-ferrous metals,nickel,asbestos,chromium compounds, rough copper, electric engines, and radiators, which are used to make products from the machine-building industry.
^"Russian Colonization and the Genesis of Kazak National Consciousness". S. Sabol (2003). Springer. p.27ISBN0230599427
^"Central Asia, 130 Years of Russian Dominance: A Historical Overview". Edward A. Allworth, Edward Allworth (1994). Duke University Press. p. 10.ISBN0822315211
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