RUSSIA TOMSK Oblast

Tomsk Oblast (Russian: То́мская о́бласть, Tomskaya oblast) is a federal subject of Russia (an oblast). It lies in the southeastern West Siberian Plain, in the southwest of the Siberian Federal District. The development of the territory which now belongs to the oblast began in the early 17th century. Tomsk itself was founded in 1604. Most of the oblast's 316,900 km² territory is inaccessible because it is covered with taiga woods and swamps. The oblast shares borders with Krasnoyarsk Krai, Tyumen, Omsk, Novosibirsk, and Kemerovo Oblasts.