Magadan

Oblast (region) in the Russian Far East; area 1,199,100 sq km/462,973 sq mi; population (1996) 258,000 (90% urban). The capital is Magadan, and Anadyr is another city. The region extends from the Sea of Okhotsk to the Bering Strait. It is largely mountainous, with coniferous forests in the southwest and tundra in the northeast, and has an extensive permafrost layer. The principal river is the Kolyma. There are rich deposits of gold, tin, and rare metals. Industries include gold and tin mining, fishing, and reindeer breeding; food and consumer goods are almost all imported.

From the 1930s to the mid-1950s Magadan was one of the most notorious areas of forced labour camps in the former Soviet Union. The oblast was created in 1953.