Kostroma area

Geographical location
Kostroma area is situated in the centre of nonchernozemny zone of the European territory of Russia, in the basin of the Volga, its left tributaries. Main wealth of the region is forest. It makes up 72.4%, among them 48% of coniferous forest. Overall supplies of wood are 617 million cubic meters. In the region there are different minerals: building materials, peat, limestone, phosphorus, shale. There are considerable reserves of mineral waters.

Administrative division
Area of the region is 60.1 thousand sq. km. The region is divided into 24 administrative districts,
7 towns of regional submission, 4 towns of district submission, 18 town settlements, 250 villages.
Centre of the region is the town of Kostroma, founded in 1152. Distance to Moscow is 342 km.

Culture
In Kostroma region there are 4 higher educational establishments, 19 secondary special, 567 schools. There are 33 doctors of all specialties for 10,000 citizens. Health service includes 94 hospitals. There are 2 professional theatres.
Kostroma region is rich in natural and historical monuments. Its number surpasses 2600. One of the main historical sights is Ipatjevsky monastery, where Mikhail Romanov became tsar in1613.