Jewish Autonomous Oblast
The Jewish Autonomous Oblast (JAO; Russian: Евре́йская автоно́мная о́бласть (ЕАО), romanized: Yevreyskaya avtonomnaya oblast; Yiddish: ייִדישע אװטאָנאָמע געגנט, IPA: [jɪdɪʃə avtɔnɔmə ɡɛɡnt]) is a federal subject of Russia situated in the far east of the country, bordering Khabarovsk Krai and Amur Oblast in Russia and Heilongjiang province in China. Its administrative center is the town of Birobidzhan.
Jewish Autonomous Oblast | |
|---|---|
| Еврейская автономная область | |
| Other transcription(s) | |
| • Yiddish | ייִדישע אװטאָנאָמע געגנט |
A wintery Tunguska River near Nikolaevka village. | |
| Coordinates: 48°36′N 132°12′E | |
| Country | Russia |
| Federal district | Far Eastern |
| Economic region | Far Eastern |
| Administrative center | Birobidzhan |
| Government | |
| • Body | Legislative Assembly |
| • Governor | Rostislav Goldstein |
| Area | |
| • Total | 36,271 km2 (14,004 sq mi) |
| • Rank | 61st |
| Population | |
| • Total | 150,453 |
| • Estimate (2018) | 162,014 |
| • Rank | 80th |
| • Density | 4.1/km2 (11/sq mi) |
| • Urban | 70.8% |
| • Rural | 29.2% |
| Time zone | UTC+10 (MSK+7 ) |
| ISO 3166 code | RU-YEV |
| License plates | 79 |
| OKTMO ID | 99000000 |
| Official languages | Russian |
| Website | www.eao.ru |
The JAO was designated by a Soviet official decree in 1928, and officially established in 1934. At its height, in the late 1940s, the Jewish population in the region peaked around 46,000–50,000, approximately 25% of its population. By 1959, its Jewish population had fallen by half, and by 1989, with emigration restrictions removed, Jews made up 4% of its population. By 2010, according to census data, there were only approximately 1,600 people of Jewish descent remaining in the JAO (or just under 1% of the total population of the JAO and around 1% of Jews in the country), while ethnic Russians made up 93% of its population. According to the 2021 census, there were only 837 ethnic Jews left in the JAO (0.6%).
Article 65 of the Constitution of Russia provides that the JAO is Russia's only autonomous oblast. It is one of two officially Jewish jurisdictions in the world, the other being Israel.