// Workers AI · dad joke modeWhat did Irkutsk Oblast say to its neighbor? "You're always obliging me.

Irkutsk Oblast Иркутская область (Russian)
Oblast
Flag Coat of arms
Coordinates: 57°22′N 106°00′E
Country	Russia
Federal district	Siberian
Economic region	East Siberian
Established	September 26, 1937
Administrative center	Irkutsk
Government
• Body	Legislative Assembly
• Governor	Igor Kobzev
Area
• Total	774,846 km2 (299,170 sq mi)
• Rank	4th
Population  (2021 census)
• Total	2,370,102
• Estimate  (2018)	2,404,195
• Rank	20th
• Density	3.05880/km2 (7.92227/sq mi)
• Urban	77.6%
• Rural	22.4%
GDP (nominal, 2024)
• Total	₽2.54 trillion (US$34.47 billion)
• Per capita	₽1.09 million (US$14,750.74)
Time zone	UTC+8 (MSK+5 )
ISO 3166 code	RU-IRK
License plates	38, 85, 138
OKTMO ID	25000000
Official languages	Russian
Website	http://www.irkobl.ru

Irkutsk Oblast is a federal subject of Russia (an oblast), located in southeastern Siberia in the basins of the Angara, Lena, and Nizhnyaya Tunguska Rivers. The administrative center is the city of Irkutsk. It had a population of 2,370,102 at the 2021 Census.

Geography

Spring at the Irkutsk Botanic Garden. The pink blooming bushes in the middle are a relic plant, Prunus pedunculata. Picea pungens trees are in the backdrop.

Irkutsk Oblast borders the Republic of Buryatia and the Tuva Republic in the south and southwest, which separate it from Khövsgöl Province, Mongolia; Krasnoyarsk Krai in the west; the Sakha Republic in the northeast; and Zabaykalsky Krai in the east.

Lake Baikal, the oldest and deepest lake in the world (containing over a fifth of Earth's fresh liquid surface water), is located in the southeast of the region. It is drained by the Angara, which flows north across the province; the outflow rate is controlled by the Irkutsk Dam. The two other major dams on the Irkutsk Oblast's section of the Angara are at Bratsk and Ust-Ilimsk; both forming large reservoirs. The Lena has its source in Irkutsk Oblast as well, and flows north-east into the neighboring Sakha Republic.

Irkutsk Oblast consists mostly of the hills and broad valleys of the Central Siberian Plateau, with the Lena-Angara Plateau. The Primorsky Range and the Baikal Mountains stretch along Lake Baikal, and in the northeast rise the North Baikal Highlands and the Patom Plateau. Pik Tofalariya is the highest point of the oblast.

Climate

The climate varies from warm summer continental in the south to continental-subarctic in the northern part (Köppen climate classification: Dwc). For almost half the year, from mid-October until the beginning of April, the average temperature is below 0 °C (32 °F). Winters are very cold, with average high temperatures in Irkutsk of −14.9 °C (5.2 °F) and average lows of −25.3 °C (−13.5 °F) in January. Summers are warm but short: the average high in July is +24.5 °C (76.1 °F) and the average low is +11.2 °C (52.2 °F). However, by September, the weather cools down significantly to an average daily high of +15.3 °C (59.5 °F) and an average daily low of +2.5 °C (36.5 °F). More than half of all precipitation falls in the summer months, with the wettest month being July, with 96.2 millimeters (3.79 in) of rain. January is the driest month, with only 11 millimeters (0.43 in) of precipitation. Annual precipitation averages 419.8 millimeters (16.53 in).

History

Ancient and early medieval history

The territory of present-day Irkutsk Oblast has been inhabited since the Upper Paleolithic. Among its best-known archaeological sites are Mal'ta and Buret', situated in the upper Angara basin. Excavations at these sites uncovered dwellings, tools made from stone and bone, ornaments, burials, and figurative art dating from the last Ice Age.

During the Mesolithic, Neolithic and Bronze Age, the Cis-Baikal region supported successive communities of hunter-gatherers and fishers. Archaeologists distinguish several cultural and mortuary traditions, including the Kitoi, Isakovo, Serovo and Glazkovo complexes. Important burial grounds have been excavated along the Angara, on the western shore of Lake Baikal, and in the Olkhon area. Archaeological evidence indicates long-term human occupation, although the degree of continuity between these cultural complexes remains debated.

From the late first millennium BC onward, the southern Baikal region formed part of the wider political and cultural world of the eastern Eurasian steppe. At different periods, communities around Lake Baikal interacted with, paid tribute to, or came under the influence of the Xiongnu, Xianbei, Rouran, Türk, Uyghur, and Yenisei Kyrgyz states. Their authority was not necessarily continuous or uniform across the whole territory of the modern oblast, particularly in the northern forest and taiga zones.

Between approximately the sixth and tenth centuries, written sources mention the Kurykans in the Lake Baikal region. They appear in Chinese accounts and in the Orkhon inscriptions as the "Three Kurykans". Archaeologists have frequently associated them with the Kurumchi cultural tradition of the western Baikal, upper Angara and upper Lena regions, noted for fortified sites, animal husbandry, ironworking and distinctive burials.

Mongolic period

Medieval Mongol sources referred to the wider region around Lake Baikal as Bargujin-Tokum, which was inhabited by the Barguts, Khori-Tumats, Buryats and other forest peoples. In 1207, Jochi, the eldest son of Genghis Khan, led a campaign that brought the northern forest peoples into the Mongol Empire. After the fragmentation of the Mongol Empire, the Baikal region remained connected to the Northern Yuan and the wider Mongolic world. By the 16th and early 17th centuries, some communities were subject to or paid tribute to Khalkha and Oirat rulers. Western Cis-Baikal, however, was not administered as a unified part of a single Mongol khanate. Local Buryat uluses retained their own leaders, while the region was contested by the Khotogoit Altan Khans, the Oirats and northern Khalkha.

Russian expansion and colonization

Russian expansion into the region began in the early 17th century, when Cossack detachments advanced eastward from Yeniseysk into the Angara and upper Lena basins. Their principal objectives included control of the Siberian fur trade and the collection of yasak, a tribute generally paid in sable and other valuable furs, from Indigenous communities. The Russian state consolidated its presence through a chain of fortified settlements. Bratsk ostrog was established on the Angara in 1631, followed by other forts and winter stations, including Verkholensk in the upper Lena region, Balagansk in 1654 and Irkutsk in 1661. These settlements served as military and administrative centres for collecting tribute, controlling river routes and supporting further Russian settlement. The incorporation of the region was a prolonged and uneven process rather than a single peaceful act. Cossack detachments demanded yasak from Buryat, Evenk and other communities and sometimes took members of prominent families as amanats, or hostages, to guarantee payment and political submission. Some Buryat uluses resisted Russian expeditions, attacked forts or moved toward Mongolia and other parts of the Baikal region. Other leaders negotiated with Russian officials, entered tributary relations or sought Russian support in conflicts with neighbouring groups. By the end of the 17th century, most of the western Baikal and upper Angara region had been incorporated into the Russian state. Russian peasant, merchant and clerical settlement subsequently expanded around the forts and along the major rivers. Agricultural colonization and the allocation of land to settlers reduced Indigenous access to some pastures, hunting grounds and migration routes, contributing to further disputes and population movements. Russian rule nevertheless continued to rely partly on existing clan and territorial leaders. The incorporation of numerous Mongolic-speaking communities into a common administrative system also contributed over time to their consolidation under the broader ethnonym Buryat.

Imperial consolidation in the 18th century

During the 18th century, the military foothold established by Russian forts developed into a more permanent system of imperial administration, taxation and settlement. Indigenous communities continued to pay yasak, while the Russian authorities governed Buryat, Evenk and Tofalar territories partly through local clan and territorial leaders. The relationship between Indigenous communities and the state varied: local leaders petitioned officials, negotiated taxation and land use, and sought recognition of customary rights, while disputes over tribute, pasture and hunting grounds continued.

The Treaty of Kyakhta of 1727 formalized much of the frontier between the Russian and Qing empires south of the Baikal region and established regulated trade through Kyakhta. The new imperial border restricted earlier movements between communities around Lake Baikal and Mongolia, although commercial, religious and family connections continued across it.

Russian agricultural settlement expanded along the Angara, Lena and their tributaries. The appropriation of land for villages, monasteries and officials placed increasing pressure on some Indigenous pastures, hunting territories and seasonal routes. At the same time, Buryat communities adapted to the changing economy through combinations of pastoralism, hunting, fishing, agriculture and trade. Differences also developed between communities living near Russian settlements and those maintaining closer relations with Mongolia and the eastern Baikal region.

The Eparchy of Irkutsk was established in 1727 and became an important centre of Orthodox missionary activity in Eastern Siberia. Missionaries opened churches and schools and sought to convert Indigenous inhabitants, particularly western Buryats living close to Russian settlements. Conversion was gradual and uneven, and many communities combined Orthodox practices with earlier religious traditions.

Irkutsk as an administrative and commercial centre

As imperial control over Eastern Siberia became more firmly established, Irkutsk developed from a frontier fort into the principal administrative and commercial centre of the region. Its position on routes connecting European Russia with the Baikal region, Mongolia, China, Yakutia and the Pacific contributed to its growth. Trade through Kyakhta brought Chinese tea, silk and other goods into Siberia, while furs and Russian manufactures travelled in the opposite direction.

Irkutsk's administrative importance increased during the century. It became the centre of a separate province within the Siberia Governorate, and the re-established Irkutsk Governorate formally opened in 1765. Its jurisdiction at different times extended over much of Eastern Siberia, making the city a base for imperial administration, taxation, exploration and relations with neighbouring Asian states.

Irkutsk also served as a logistical centre for expeditions into northeastern Asia and the Pacific. Preparations for the First Kamchatka expedition and the Great Northern Expedition involved officials, supplies and transport routes based in Eastern Siberia. During the second half of the century, Irkutsk merchants became involved in the fur trade of the Aleutian Islands, the North Pacific and later Russian America. Among the most prominent was Grigory Shelikhov, whose commercial enterprises contributed to the creation of the Russian-American Company in 1799.

The growth of commerce and administration supported the development of crafts, schools and cultural institutions. A school attached to the Ascension Monastery opened in 1725, the Irkutsk Eparchy was founded in 1727, and a navigation school was established in the middle of the century. By the late 18th century, Irkutsk had a public library, a regional museum and an amateur theatre.

The city's built environment also changed. Among the notable stone buildings constructed during the century were the Church of the Saviour and the Church of the Exaltation of the Cross. Nevertheless, most inhabitants of the wider region continued to live in rural settlements, Indigenous uluses and dispersed hunting or pastoral territories rather than in Irkutsk itself.

19th century

The Circum-Baikal Railway skirts the southwestern tip of Lake Baikal

In the late eighteenth century and the early nineteenth century, Irkutsk Province gradually increased in importance as a center of trade, craft, and culture. It became the center of Russian trade with China and, from the 1830s, a gold-manufacturing center of Eastern Siberia. In 1803 Irkutsk became the center of the Siberian Governorate-General, and in 1822 it became the center of the Eastern Siberian Governorate-General. The Governors-General of Eastern Siberia greatly influenced the development of the city.

Irkutsk merchants explored the Yeniseysky and Leno-Vitimsky gold regions and substantially increased their capital, which made them the richest merchants in Siberia. The Irkutsk merchant class began to play a major role in the city's development. Intensive city construction took place. Private residences, hospitals, orphanages, and schools were built, while significant funds went towards education and the development of science in the region.

The architecture of the city of Irkutsk underwent change. The Irkutsk White House, done in Russian classic style in 1800–1804, and the Moscow Triumphal Gates of Irkutsk – a monument of the nineteenth century, were built in honor of the tenth anniversary of Alexander I's reign.

1866 ground-breaking ceremony for the Chapel of Christ the Savior in Irkutsk

In the second half of the nineteenth century the printing art developed in Irkutsk, the first newspapers being, “Irkutsk province news” and “Amur”. The names of A.P.Schapov, M.B.Zagoskin, V.I.Vagin were connected with the newspaper “Siberia”. In 1851, the first scientific organization in Eastern Siberia – the Siberian branch of Russian geographical society, was opened. In 1877, it was called the Eastern-Siberian branch. V.I.Dybovskii, A.L.Chekanovskii, I.D.Cherskii, V.A.Obruchev, geologists, geographers and researchers of Siberia, worked in Irkutsk Oblast on exploring Lake Baikal and the Lena River.

The summer of 1879 could be considered to be a dramatic period in the city of Irkutsk's history. During a July 22–24 fire almost all the central parts of the city were burnt, and more than two thirds of city buildings and 75 city districts were destroyed. The city began to revive, getting a new look. Stone and wooden constructions built after the fire have been preserved up to the present day. In 1898 the arrival of the first train via the Trans-Siberian Railway to Irkutsk Oblast was a major event. The construction of the Trans-Siberian Railway contributed to further city development.

Several politically exiled figures were connected with Irkutsk city. Among the first of the exiled was A.N. Radischev, who lived in Irkutsk for more than 3 months. Since the 1830s, the Decembrists lived in settlements and in colonies in the Irkutsk Oblast. The exiled houses of Volkonsky and Trubetskoy later became house-museums. N. A. Panov, I. V. Podzhio, A. Z. Muravyov, P. A. Mukhanov, A. P. Yushnevsky, V. A. Bechasnov, the wife of Trubetskoy and their children stayed in Irkutsk for the rest of their lives. In the late 1850s, the Petrashevtzy appeared in Irkutsk. The exiled historian-democrat, A.P. Schapov, lived here until his last days, and the Polish rebels and revolutionaries (including the narodnik) also lived here.

Chapel of the Savior and Medvednikovsky Bank, 1897

A well-known Russian publicist of the nineteenth century, N. Shelgunov, wrote about Irkutsk: “Irkutsk is the only Siberian city, which has the city character. ...As England created London, France - Paris, Siberia – created Irkutsk. Siberia is proud of Irkutsk, “not to see this city” means “not to see Siberia”.

In the early nineteenth century the city was considerably changed, especially its center. Large buildings were being built, mason streets were being made, cab drivers and street lights appeared. The water supply and the first electrification stations were built. The Irkutsk Regional museum was stamped with the names of Siberian researchers on its walls (1883), the building of the first public community, city theater (1897), Kazan' cathedral, made in new Byzantine style (1893), and the Roman Catholic cathedral (1895) completed an architectural style of the city. In 1908 a monument to Alexander III was opened on the Angara embankment.

20th century

Irkutsk. Chapel of St. Innocent, c. 1910

The orphanage of E. Medvednikova is the first women's educational institution in Siberia. Irkutsk, Timiryazeva street, 59

Ice hockey arena in Irkutsk

The city was damaged and influenced by the political events of the twentieth century – the Russian revolution, the 1917 October Revolution, the Civil war and the Great Patriotic War.

Since the 1930s the industrial construction of the city had begun. Mechanical engineering plants, the air plant, brick and concrete plants, tea fabric, and food industry plants were being built. Economic development of the city contributed to scientific, educational and cultural development. The first Higher education in Eastern Siberia, Irkutsk State University was founded in 1918. Its departments were developing as independent institutes: medical, pedagogical, finance-economical. In 1930 the metallurgic institute was opened, in 1934 the agricultural institute was organized.

The early Soviets educated women in traditional professions like nursing and primary education. At right is the Irkutsk orphanage named for E. Medvednikova, which served both as an eleemosynary institution and educational facility.

Since the 1950s a rapid development of the city of Irkutsk took place. In 1947 streetcar routes were opened in the city and trolleybus routes were opened in 1972. In 1958 a TV center was established. The city's larger districts and micro regions construction period began. New districts such as Baykalsky, Solnechny, Yubileyny, Primorsky, Akademgorodok and others were created.

Administrative divisions

Main article: Administrative divisions of Irkutsk Oblast

Politics

Building of the Government of Irkutsk Oblast

Soviet era

During the Soviet period, the high authority in the oblast was shared between three persons: The first secretary of the Irkutsk CPSU Committee (who in reality had the biggest authority), the chairman of the oblast Soviet (legislative power), and the chairman of the oblast Executive Committee (executive power). After the abolition of Article 6 of the Constitution of the USSR in March 1990, the CPSU lost its monopoly on power. The head of the Oblast administration, and eventually the governor was appointed/elected alongside elected regional parliament.

Russian Federation

The Charter of Irkutsk Oblast is the fundamental law of the region. The Legislative Assembly of Irkutsk Oblast is the province's standing legislative (representative) body. The Legislative Assembly exercises its authority by passing laws, resolutions, and other legal acts and by supervising the implementation and observance of the laws and other legal acts passed by it. The highest executive body is the Oblast Government, which includes territorial executive bodies such as district administrations, committees, and commissions that facilitate development and run the day to day matters of the province. The Oblast administration supports the activities of the Governor who is the highest official and acts as guarantor of the observance of the oblast Charter in accordance with the Constitution of Russia.

Demographics

The oblast is very thinly populated, with a population density of 3 people per square kilometer, compared to a national average of 8.4. Irkutsk is the administrative center and largest city, with 612,973 residents. Other large cities are Bratsk (238,825 people), Angarsk (229,592 people), Ust-Ilimsk (83,635 people), and Usolye-Sibirskoye (80,331 people).

Ethnic Russians form the majority of the population. The Buryats, an indigenous people of the Lake Baikal region, are the oblast's largest ethnic minority. Buryat communities live throughout the oblast, particularly in the Ust-Orda Buryat Okrug and the Olkhonsky, Kachugsky, Angarsky, and Ust-Udinsky districts. The Ust-Orda Buryat Okrug is an administrative-territorial unit of Irkutsk Oblast with special status, rather than a separate federal subject. The oblast is also home to the Tofalars and Evenks, its two officially recognized Indigenous small-numbered peoples. The Tofalars traditionally inhabit the mountainous Tofalarija area of Nizhneudinsky District, while Evenk communities are found principally in the northern districts, including Katangsky, Kachugsky, Kazachinsko-Lensky, Ust-Kutsky, Mamsko-Chuysky, Bodaybinsky, and Kirensky. According to the 2021 Census, ethnic Russians accounted for 92.2% of residents who reported an ethnicity and Buryats for 3.6%. The census recorded 659 Tofalars.

Ethnic group Population Percentage Russians 1,917,265 92.2% Buryats 74,746 3.6% Tatars 12,130 0.6% Ukrainians 9,506 0.5% Other 65,640 3.2%

One small ethnic group, concentrated in three villages (Pikhtinsk, Sredne-Pikhtinsk, and Dagnik) in Zalarinsky District is the so-called "Bug Hollanders": descendants of Polish-speaking Lutheran farmers who had moved to Siberia from the then Russian Volhynia in 1911–1912 in search of affordable land. Although they had long lost German (or Dutch) language of their ancestors (even in the early twentieth century they spoke Ukrainian and read Polish), they were still considered ethnic Germans, and during World War II were usually drafted for work in labor camps, instead of front-line military service.

Religion

Religion in Irkutsk Oblast as of 2012 (Sreda Arena Atlas)

Russian Orthodoxy			28.1%
Other Orthodox			5.7%
Other Christians			6.7%
Islam			1.2%
Pagan and traditional religions			2.2%
Spiritual but not religious			37.2%
Atheism and irreligion			17.5%
Other and undeclared			1.4%

According to the 2012 Arena Atlas survey, 28.1% of the population of Irkutsk Oblast adhered to the Russian Orthodox Church, 5.7% belonged to other Orthodox churches or identified as Orthodox without belonging to a church, and 6.7% identified as other Christians. Muslims accounted for 1.2% of the population, while 2.2% followed pagan or other traditional religions. A further 37.2% described themselves as spiritual but not religious, 17.5% as atheist, and 1.4% followed other religions or did not answer the question. The survey presents results for the population of the oblast as a whole and does not provide a reliable separate religious breakdown for its ethnic communities. Among the Buryats of the western Baikal region, including those of the Ust-Orda Buryat Okrug, shamanism has traditionally had a particularly strong presence. Buddhism and Russian Orthodoxy are also practised by some Buryats, and religious affiliation does not always correspond to exclusive practice: ancestral rites, the veneration of sacred natural places and other shamanic traditions may coexist with Buddhism or Christianity.

Population

Historical population

Year	Pop.	±%
1897	514,267	—
1959	1,976,453	+284.3%
1970	2,313,410	+17.0%
1979	2,559,522	+10.6%
1989	2,830,641	+10.6%
2002	2,581,705	−8.8%
2010	2,428,750	−5.9%
2021	2,370,102	−2.4%
2025	2,316,571	−2.3%
Source: Census data, estimate

Irkutsk Oblast registered natural population growth in 2008, the first time after 1993. Still, the future prospects for population growth in Irkutsk seems bleak. In 2007, women in Irkutsk were having an average of 1.602 children each. Fertility rate was extremely low in urban areas, where women were having just 1.477 children each. In rural areas however, the fertility rate was slightly above replaceable levels. In rural areas of Irkutsk Oblast, women were having an average of 2.165 children each. (Figures are not available for 2008, although for Russia as a whole fertility rates for 2008 were approx. 6% higher than that in 2007, and for Irkutsk 9% higher).

Vital statistics for 2024:

• Births: 22,304 (9.6 per 1,000)
• Deaths: 32,158 (13.8 per 1,000)

Total fertility rate (2024):
1.62 children per woman

Life expectancy (2021):
Total — 66.80 years (male — 61.90, female — 71.69)

District in 2007	Type	Birth Rate	Death Rate	NGR
Irkutsk Oblast	Obl	13.8	14.0	-0.02%
Bratsk	Urb=	11.8	13.0	−0.12%
Zima	Urb=	17.4	17.2	0.02%
Irkutsk	Urb=	13.5	12.6	0.09%
Sayansk	Urb=	12.9	11.8	0.11%
Svirsk	Urb=	14.3	21.7	−0.74%
Tulun	Urb=	13.9	15.3	−0.14%
Usolye-Sibirskoye	Urb=	13.1	16.3	−0.32%
Ust-Ilimsk	Urb=	10.5	9.4	0.11%
Cheremkhovo	Urb=	15.1	20.6	−0.55%
Angarsky	Rur=	11.0	13.5	−0.25%
Balagansky	Rur=	15.9	14.1	0.18%
Bodaybinsky	Rur=	13.6	13.9	−0.03%
Bratsky	Rur=	13.5	14.7	−0.12%
Zhigalovsky	Rur=	18.8	16.7	0.21%
Zalarinsky	Rur=	16.0	15.9	0.01%
Ziminsky	Rur=	14.7	16.4	−0.17%
Irkutsky	Rur=	16.1	13.1	0.30%
Kazachinsko-Lensky	Rur=	15.3	11.8	0.35%
Katangsky	Rur=	12.8	14.6	−0.18%
Kachugsky	Rur=	17.3	15.4	0.19%
Kirensky	Rur=	13.6	14.7	−0.11%
Kuytunsky	Rur=	16.0	17.0	−0.10%
Mamsko-Chuysky	Rur=	9.9	19.3	−0.94%
Nizhneilimsky	Rur=	14.3	15.0	−0.07%
Nizhneudinsky	Rur=	14.2	19.9	−0.57%
Olkhonsky	Rur=	18.6	13.0	0.56%
Slyudyansky	Rur=	16.4	15.6	0.08%
Tayshetsky	Rur=	13.6	16.4	−0.28%
Tulunsky	Rur=	15.8	15.9	−0.01%
Usolsky	Rur=	14.1	14.0	0.01%
Ust-Ilimsky	Rur=	14.4	12.3	0.21%
Ust-Kutsky	Rur=	16.5	14.5	0.20%
Ust-Udinsky	Rur=	19.0	15.4	0.36%
Cheremkhovsky	Rur=	18.1	16.1	0.20%
Chunsky	Rur=	14.4	16.4	−0.20%
Shelekhovsky	Rur=	13.7	12.3	0.14%
Alarsky	OAO=	15.5	11.7	0.38%
Bayandayevsky	OAO=	18.2	14.0	0.42%
Bokhansky	OAO=	16.1	12.9	0.32%
Nukutsky	OAO=	21.2	12.6	0.86%
Osinsky	OAO=	17.9	12.3	0.56%
Ekhirit-Bulagatsky	OAO=	20.8	11.5	0.93%

See also

• Music of Irkutsk
• List of Chairmen of the Legislative Assembly of Irkutsk Oblast

References

Sources

• Законодательное Собрание Иркутской области. Постановление №9/5-ЗС от 15 апреля 2009 г. «Устав Иркутской области», в ред. Закона №2-У от 14 декабря 2017 г. «О поправках к Уставу Иркутской области». Вступил в силу по истечении десяти дней после дня официального опубликования. Опубликован: "Областная", №45, 24 апреля 2009 г. (Legislative Assembly of Irkutsk Oblast. Resolution #9/5-ZS of April 15, 2009 Charter of Irkutsk Oblast, as amended by the Law #2-U of December 14, 2017 On the Amendments to the Charter of Irkutsk Oblast. Effective as of the day following a ten-day period after the day of the official publication.).
• Центральный исполнительный комитет СССР. Постановление от 26 сентября 1937 г. «О разделении Восточно-Сибирской области на Иркутскую и Читинскую области». (Central Executive Committee of the USSR. Resolution of September 26, 1937 On Splitting East Siberian Oblast into Irkutsk and Chita Oblasts. ).

Further reading

• Brumfield, William. Irkutsk: Architectural Heritage in Photographs (Moscow: Tri Kvadrata Publishing, 2006) ISBN 978-5-94607-061-4

External links

• Official website of Irkutsk Oblast Archived January 14, 2021, at the Wayback Machine (in Russian)
• Kommersant.com. Information about Irkutsk Oblast.
• "Irkutsk. A governor-generalship and a government of Eastern Siberia" . New International Encyclopedia. 1905.
• Kropotkin, Peter Alexeivitch; Bealby, John Thomas (1911). "Irkutsk (government)" . Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 14 (11th ed.). pp. 795–796.