RUSSIA SVERDLOVSK Oblast

Sverdlovsk Oblast (Russian: Свердло́вская о́бласть, Sverdlovskaya oblast) is a federal subject of Russia (an oblast) located in the Urals Federal District. Given that the bulk of the oblast lies on the Asian side of the Urals (only its south-western extremity is on the European side of the mountains) it should be recognized as the most populous oblast within Asian Russia. Its administrative center is the city of Yekaterinburg (pop. 1,293,537), formerly named Sverdlovsk. Other large cities and towns include Nizhny Tagil (pop. 390,498), Kamensk-Uralsky (pop. 186,153), Pervouralsk (pop. 147,116), and Serov (pop. 99,804).