Ivanovo Region is located in the centre of the East European Plain between the Volga and Klyazma rivers, and belongs to Russia's Central Federal District.
Area – 21,437 square kilometers. Population – 1,067,000, with 80.8% living in urban areas and 19.2% in rural areas. Administrative centre – the city of Ivanovo (430,000 residents).
The gross regional product amounted to 86.1 billion roubles in 2009. Industry plays the leading role in the regional economy.
Ivanovo Region is known as the centre of Russia's textile industry: more than 150 major and medium-sized textile and garment factories operate in the region. Ivanovo cotton fabrics account for about 70% of the total Russian output. The region is busy implementing a textile cluster project (covering the full production cycle, from procuring raw materials to selling finished products). The project Modernising Existing Textile Enterprises in Ivanovo Region is one of the measures intended to implement the Strategy to Develop Russian Light Industry up to 2020.
The second major component of the industrial production in Ivanovo Region is mechanical engineering, with over 500 related production facilities, out of which 80 are major and medium-sized enterprises. The mechanical engineering complex shipped products worth 9.8 billion roubles in the first nine months of 2010. The largest enterprise is the Avtokran plant, which manufactures lorry-mounted cranes with 32-, 50- and 100-tonne lifting capacity as well as rotary supports. Its share in the Russian market for lifting equipment was 51% in 2009. Currently, the plant is engaged in a large-scale restructuring and retooling, and is mastering new techniques to produce state-of-the-art lorry cranes that are competitive on the world market.
The budget of Ivanovo Region is oriented toward addressing social needs: in 2006-2010 funding for the healthcare system from the region's consolidated budget went up by 70%. Over the past five years, 314 patient care institutions were repaired, with 1.2 billion roubles spent for this purpose.
Regional funding for education exceeded 6.6 billion roubles in 2009, almost twice as much as in 2005. Moreover, for the third consecutive year, Ivanovo Region won the contest among the regions of the Russian Federation implementing comprehensive modernisation projects in education, securing an additional 308 million roubles for education in the region.
The region actively supports war veterans: before the end of this year, all WWII veterans in Ivanovo Region in need will be provided with housing. The region has the necessary resources, and the living conditions of 607 people have already been improved.
The region is also well known for its tourist attractions (Plyos, Palekh and Kholuy), which are part of the Russia's Golden Ring.