Central Federal District

The Central Federal District is a major administrative division of Russia.

It is one of the eight federal districts in the country. Geographically, it sits in the extreme west of present-day Russia. Many people consider it the central region of European Russia. The district is a vital part of the nation's structure. It functions as a large grouping of different territories.

The district is organized into two distinct economic regions. These are the Central economic region and the Central Black Earth economic region. Together, these regions comprise eighteen individual federal subjects. These subjects include areas like Belgorod, Bryansk, and Vladimir. Other subjects include Voronezh, Ivanovo, Kaluga, Kostroma, Kursk, and Lipetsk. The district also contains Oryol, Ryazan, Smolensk, Tambov, Tver, Tula, and Yaroslavl.

Moscow is a central part of this district's geography. Moscow is its own federal subject with a massive population. The Moscow Oblast is another subject located nearby. Interestingly, most public authorities for the Moscow Oblast are in Moscow. However, the administration for the district itself is located in Krasnogorsk. The district is managed by a Presidential Envoy. Igor Shchyogolev has held this position since June 26, 2018.

Demographics show that the district is very crowded. The 2021 Census recorded a population of 40,334,532 people. A large majority, 82.1%, of these residents live in urban areas.

The ethnic makeup is diverse, though mostly Russian. Russians make up 93.05% of the population. Other groups include Armenians, Ukrainians, and Tatars. There are also significant numbers of Tajiks, Uzbeks, and Azerbaijanis.

The economy of the district is very large and productive. The Gross Regional Product, or GRP, reached 33.6 trillion rubles. This amount is roughly equal to 407 billion euros. On a per capita basis, the value is about 10,000 euros. Moscow contributes a massive 24,471 billion rubles to this total. The Moscow Oblast contributes 6,832 billion rubles. Even smaller subjects like Belgorod have a GDP of 1,355 billion rubles.

Vital statistics provide a look at the population's changes. In 2022, there were 330,013 births recorded. This equals a rate of 8.5 births per 1,000 people. During the same year, there were 529,175 deaths. This results in a death rate of 13.6 per 1,000 people. The total fertility rate in 2022 was 1.31 children per woman. The life expectancy in 2021 was 70.85 years.

History shows how the leadership of the district has evolved. The role of the Presidential Envoy began in the year 2000. Georgy Poltavchenko was the first person to serve in this role. He served from May 18, 2000, until August 31, 2011. After him, Andrey Popov served as an acting envoy. Oleg Govorun then took the role in September 2011. Alexander Beglov served from 2012 until late 2017. Alexey Gordeyev had a short term before Igor Shchyogolev.