Саратов облысының экологиялық жағдайы және қауіпті қалдықтары

First level administrative division of Russia

In the dumps and storehouses of enterprises in the Saratov oblast is located 24 million tons of industrial waste:

1 class of danger – 3,5 thousand tons; ("Tantalus", "Banner of Labor", "SAZ", "AIT", "ELMASH", "SEPO"),
2 class of danger – about 5 thousand tons;
3 class of danger – about 3 million tons;
4 class of danger – about 21 million tons. In 1998, about 1.5 million tons of industrial wastes of 1–4 hazard classes were formed in the region, about 2 million tons of solid household waste. Compared to 1997, there was a decrease in the gross volume of industrial waste generation by 11%, which is associated with a fall in production volumes. A particularly dangerous enterprise in Saratov is the AIT plant, which pollutes not only its own territory, but also the adjacent residential area. This enterprise for a long time exported to the dump of the Alexander Village Soviet production waste containing nickel and cadmium. In dumps in the amount of more than 19 million tons (with a design capacity of 10.84 million tons) phosphogypsum from the production activity of Irgiz OJSC in Balakovo has been accumulated. Here the pollution is tens of times higher than the maximum permissible concentration for phosphates, chlorides, iron, ammonia and nitrates. One of the most pressing problems is the problem of collection and disposal of technical and domestic garbage. The number of unauthorized landfills is growing. For today, the administrations of municipal entities and the Government of the Saratov oblast are not controlled or monitored in any way. The only measure is a one time garbage collection in the territories of municipalities, initiated by public organizations of the Saratov region and "subbotniks", which are held in the spring and autumn.

Annually, Saratov enterprises emit up to 50 million tons of harmful substances into the atmosphere. These include carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxides, sulfur dioxide, hydrocarbons, aldehydes, heavy metals, ammonia, and atmospheric dust. The main sources of anthropogenic aerosol air pollution are thermal power plants (CHPs) that consume coal. Combustion of coal, cement production and smelting of cast iron give a total dust emission to the atmosphere equal to 170 million tons per year. In 2011, Saratov was excluded from the list of Russian cities with very high levels of air pollution.

Historical and modern earthquakes are known in the region. The level of seismic activity in the territory of the region, according to the officially published map of the general seismic zoning of the territory of the Russian Federation (OSR 97 C), is determined by the probability of earthquakes with an intensity of up to 7 points inclusive on the Medvedev–Sponheuer–Karnik scale.

By the time of the Paleolithic in the territory of the Saratov oblast are the parking near the village of Aryash Novoburassky district and near the settlement Nepryakhin of the Ozinsky district. Two male skulls from the cemetery of Khlopkov Bugor belong to the era of the Eneolithic. A single barrow Panitsky 6B in the Krasnoarmeysky district has a dating of the end of the IV – beginning. III millennium BC. By the town Khvalynsk was called the Eneolithic Khvalynsk culture (V IV thousand BC. ).

In the middle of the 13th century prisoners captured by the Mongols from various conquered countries built one of the first and largest cities of the Golden Horde, Uvek, in the area of modern Saratov (Marco Polo tells of the Venetians visiting the city in 1262). In 1334, the Arab traveler Ibn Battuta visited it and recorded that Ukek is a city of "average size, but beautifully built, with abundant benefits and severe cold". At the end of the 14th century, the city was destroyed by Tamerlane. In the next 200 years, a rare population of the Wild Fields was represented by the Nogais, and then by the Kalmyk nomad camps, Cossacks and fishing co operatives of Russian monasteries. In the meantime, after the collapse of the Golden Horde, the Kazan Khanate was formed on the territory of the Kazan ulus, which in 1552 was conquered by the Russian Tsar Ivan IV.

After the capture of Kazan and the territorial state reform of Peter I in 1708, the conquered Kazan Khanate became the so called formally independent Kazan tsardom in union with the Russian State. In 1708 the Kazan tsardom was transformed into the Kazan Governorate. In 1717, the Astrakhan Governorate was separated from it. On December 25, 1769, the Saratov Province of the Astrakhan Governorate was created. On January 11, 1780 Empress Catherine II issued a decree establishing the Saratov viceregency from the northern districts of the Astrakhan Governorate (Saratov, Khvalynsky, Volsky, Kuznetsky, Serdobsky, Atkarskiy, Petrovsky, Balashov and Kamyshinsky). By decree of Emperor Paul I of December 12, 1796, the Saratov Viceroyalty was abolished, and its counties were divided between the Penza and Astrakhan Governorates. Between the autumn of 1891 through the summer of 1892, the territory of the Saratov Governorate became part of the main zone of crop failure caused by drought (see Russian famine of 1891–92).

In 1918, part of the territory of the Saratov Governorate was included in the newly formed autonomous region of the Germans in the Volga region. In 1928, the province was disbanded, and its territory became part of the Lower Volga oblast, soon transformed into the Lower Volga krai. January 10, 1934 the Lower Volga krai was divided into Saratov and Stalingrad krais. According to the Constitution of the USSR, adopted on December 5, 1936, the Saratov krai was reorganized into the Saratov oblast, with the creation of the Volga German Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic. By the decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR on September 7, 1941, in Saratov oblast were included the territories of 15 cantons of the former Volga German Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic (Balzer, Zolotovsky, Kamensk, Ternovsky, Kukkus, Zelman, Krasnoyarsk, Marksstadt, Untervalden, Fedorov, Gnadenfly, Krasno Kutsky, Lysanderzhsky, Mariental and Eckheim). After the abolition of the Balashov oblast by the Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the RSFSR of November 19, 1957, these cities and districts were returned to the Saratov region.

On 4 July 1997, Saratov, alongside Bryansk, Chelyabinsk, Magadan, and Vologda signed a power sharing agreement with the government of Russia, granting it autonomy. The agreement was abolished on 9 February 2002.

During the Soviet period, the high authority in the oblast was shared between three persons: The first secretary of the Saratov CPSU Committee (who in reality had the most authority), the chairman of the oblast Soviet (legislative power), and the Chairman of the oblast Executive Committee (executive power). In 1991, the CPSU lost all its power, and the head of the Oblast administration, and eventually the governor was appointed or elected alongside elected the regional parliament. The Charter of Saratov Oblast is the fundamental law of the oblast. The Legislative Assembly of Saratov Oblast is the province's standing legislative (representative) body. The Legislative Assembly exercises its authority by passing laws, resolutions, and other legal acts and by supervising the implementation and observance of the laws and other legal acts it passes. The highest executive body is the Oblast Government, which includes territorial executive bodies such as district administrations, committees, and commissions that facilitate development and run the day to day matters of the province. The Oblast administration supports the activities of the Governor who is the highest official and acts as guarantor of the observance of the oblast Charter in accordance with the Constitution of Russia.

According to a 2012 survey 30% of the population of Saratov Oblast adheres to the Russian Orthodox Church, 4% are unaffiliated generic Christians, 1% are Orthodox Christians who believe but aren't members of any church or are members of non Russian Orthodox churches. 2% are Muslims, 1% of the population adheres to Rodnovery (Slavic folk religion), and 0.5% adheres to forms of Hinduism (Vedism, Krishnaism or Tantrism). In addition, 38% of the population declares to be "spiritual but not religious", 16% is atheist, and 7.5% follows other religions or did not give an answer to the question.