Home – Home – Jornals – Geography and Natural Resources 2024 number 2

This article considers the space of the Russian Federation based on analyzing the variability in macroregional identifications of its regions. Four variants of economic zoning of the territory of Russia as carried out by the State Planning Committee of the USSR and the Ministry of Economic Development of the Russian Federation are analyzed. Territories are identified, which in all variants of zoning are referred to the same macroregions and groups of macroregions (combined by basic terms-concepts, such as Siberia, the Far East, the Urals, etc.) and territories referred in different zonings to different macroregions and their groups. The former and latter territories are defined, respectively, as areas of stable and disturbed macroregional identity. Disturbances of macroregional identity are variative. The concepts of macroregional cores (areas of stable and slightly disturbed macroregional identity) of various levels are introduced. Areas that, by their identity, occupy an intermediate or transitional position between the cores, are defined as ligament areas. Core areas are regarded as territories of potential isolation, and ligament areas as territories that increase the stability of the RF space in relation to the risks of disintegration. Three areas of disturbed macroregional identity (ligament areas) were identified, namely the Black Sea-Caspian, Volga-Ural, and Eastern. The Black Sea-Caspian area connects the historical and political-economic core with the republics of the North Caucasus and the industrial core of the middle Volga region. The Volga-Ural area connects the most developed territories of the European and Asian parts of the Russian Federation. The eastern area is the European part of the country, and Western Siberia with the Far East. Both European areas of disturbed macroregional identity, compared with the Eastern one, have a higher level of socio-economic development, have a greater demographic weight, are characterized by increased involvement in military-political conflicts in the post-Soviet space, and, accordingly, receive increased attention from the federal authorities. Overcoming the socio-economic lag of the majority of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation, which form the Eastern area, from the average levels for the country, is one of the factors for maintaining the country’s territorial stability.