Jewish Autonomous Oblast

Jewish Autonomous Oblast
Autonomous oblast
Еврейская автономная область
Other transcription(s)
 • Yiddishייִדישע אװטאָנאָמע געגנט‎‎
A wintery Tunguska River near Nikolaevka village.
A wintery Tunguska River near Nikolaevka village.
Flag of Jewish Autonomous Oblast
Flag
Coat of arms of Jewish Autonomous Oblast
Coat of arms
Anthem: Anthem of Jewish Autonomous Oblast
[3]
Coordinates: 48°36′N 132°12′E / 48.600°N 132.200°E / 48.600; 132.200
CountryRussia
Federal districtFar Eastern[1]
Economic regionFar Eastern[2]
Administrative centerBirobidzhan[4]
Government
 • BodyLegislative Assembly[5]
 • Acting Governor[7]Maria Kostyuk[6]
Area
[8]
 • Total36,271 km2 (14,004 sq mi)
 • Rank61st
Population
 (2021 census)[9]
 • Total150,453
 • Estimate 
(2018)[10]
162,014
 • Rank80th
 • Density4.1/km2 (11/sq mi)
 • Urban
70.8%
 • Rural
29.2%
Time zoneUTC+10 (MSK+7 Edit this on Wikidata[11])
ISO 3166 codeRU-YEV
License plates79
OKTMO ID99000000
Official languagesRussian[12]
Websitewww.eao.ru

The Jewish Autonomous Oblast (JAO; Russian: Еврейская автономная область (ЕАО), romanized: Yevreyskaya avtonomnaya oblast, IPA: [jɪˈvrʲejskəjə ɐftɐˈnomnəjə ˈobləsʲtʲ (ˌje‿ˌa‿ˈo)]; Yiddish: ייִדישע אװטאָנאָמע (אױטאָנאָמע) געגנט‎, romanized: Yidishe avtonome (oytonome) gegnt, cyrillized: Йидише автономе (ойтономе) гегнт, IPA: [ˈjɪdɪʃə avtɔˈnɔmə (ɔɪtɔˈnɔmə) ˈɡɛɡn̩t]) is a federal subject of Russia in the far east of the country, bordering Khabarovsk Krai and Amur Oblast in Russia and Heilongjiang province in China.[14] Its administrative center is the town of Birobidzhan.

The JAO was designated by a Soviet official decree in 1928, and officially established in 1934. At its height, in the late 1940s, the Jewish population in the region peaked around 46,000–50,000, approximately 25% of its population.[15] By 1959, its Jewish population had fallen by half, and by 1989, with emigration restrictions removed, Jews made up 4% of its population. By 2010, according to census data, there were only approximately 1,600 people of Jewish descent remaining in the JAO (or just under 1% of the total population of the JAO and around 1% of Jews in the country), while ethnic Russians made up 93% of its population.[16] According to the 2021 census, there were only 837 ethnic Jews left in the JAO (0.6%).

Article 65 of the Constitution of Russia provides that the JAO is Russia's only autonomous oblast. It is one of two officially Jewish jurisdictions in the world, the other being Israel.[17] It is also the only territory in the world where Yiddish is an official language.

  1. ^ Президент Российской Федерации. Указ №849 от 13 мая 2000 г. «О полномочном представителе Президента Российской Федерации в федеральном округе». Вступил в силу 13 мая 2000 г. Опубликован: "Собрание законодательства РФ", No. 20, ст. 2112, 15 мая 2000 г. (President of the Russian Federation. Decree #849 of May 13, 2000 On the Plenipotentiary Representative of the President of the Russian Federation in a Federal District. Effective as of May 13, 2000.).
  2. ^ Госстандарт Российской Федерации. №ОК 024-95 27 декабря 1995 г. «Общероссийский классификатор экономических регионов. 2. Экономические районы», в ред. Изменения №5/2001 ОКЭР. (Gosstandart of the Russian Federation. #OK 024-95 December 27, 1995 Russian Classification of Economic Regions. 2. Economic Regions, as amended by the Amendment #5/2001 OKER. ).
  3. ^ Law #30
  4. ^ Charter of the Jewish Autonomous Oblast, Article 5
  5. ^ Charter of the Jewish Autonomous Oblast, Article 15
  6. ^ Official website of the Jewish Autonomous Oblast. Alexander Borisovich Levintal Archived April 17, 2021, at the Wayback Machine, Governor of the Jewish Autonomous Oblast (in Russian and Yiddish)
  7. ^ Charter of the Jewish Autonomous Oblast, Article 22
  8. ^ "Сведения о наличии и распределении земель в Российской Федерации на 01.01.2019 (в разрезе субъектов Российской Федерации)". Federal Service for State Registration, Cadastre and Cartography. Archived from the original on February 9, 2022. Retrieved August 29, 2023.
  9. ^ "Оценка численности постоянного населения по субъектам Российской Федерации". Federal State Statistics Service. Retrieved September 1, 2022.
  10. ^ "26. Численность постоянного населения Российской Федерации по муниципальным образованиям на 1 января 2018 года". Federal State Statistics Service. Retrieved January 23, 2019.
  11. ^ "Об исчислении времени". Официальный интернет-портал правовой информации (in Russian). June 3, 2011. Retrieved January 19, 2019.
  12. ^ Official throughout the Russian Federation according to Article 68.1 of the Constitution of Russia.
  13. ^ Charter of the Jewish Autonomous Oblast, Article 4
  14. ^ Eran Laor Cartographic Collection. The National Library of Israel. "Map of Manchuria and region, 1942".
  15. ^ Cite error: The named reference David Holley was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  16. ^ "Russia's Jewish Autonomous Region In Siberia 'Ready' To House European Jews". Radio Free Europe. January 20, 2016.
  17. ^ "'Sad And Absurd': The U.S.S.R.'s Disastrous Effort To Create A Jewish Homeland". NPR.org. Retrieved October 15, 2022.