Kursk

Capital city, economic and cultural centre of Kursk oblast (region), western Russian Federation, on the banks of the River Seim, and bordered on the west by Ukraine; population (1996 est) 442,000. It has engineering, chemical, textile, and light industries, and is an important railway junction. Kursk and the surrounding region was the site of a decisive tank battle in July–August 1943 which signalled the ultimate defeat of German forces on the Eastern Front.

Kursk is the oldest city in the central black earth (chernozem) region. The settlement has been known since 1032; it was the capital of a small principality in the 12th century until destroyed by the Tatars in 1238. It was in Lithuanian territory for some 200 years before being annexed by Moscow, and later fortified as part of its southern defence against the Crimean Tatars in the late 16th century. It became the provincial capital in 1797. Kursk was an important commercial centre before the 1930s, when industrial development took place.

Kursk

Oblast (region) in the western Russian Federation, on the frontier with Ukraine; area 29,800 sq km/11,506 sq mi; population (1996) 1,347,000 (60% urban). The capital is Kursk. The region is south of Moscow on the central Russian upland in the black earth (chernozem) belt. It features natural wooded steppe long cleared for agriculture and has soil erosion problems. The area is rich in iron ore. Industries include iron-ore mining, engineering, chemical manufacture, and food processing. Wheat, sugar beet, hemp, and sunflowers are grown, and there is dairy farming, and pig and poultry raising.

History The oblast belonged in the Middle Ages to Chernihiv, then to Novgorod-Severski, becoming Lithuanian in 1362, and Muscovite in 1503. During World War II, it was overrun by German forces (1941–43).