])ur discussion of the Soviet Union begins ir<br >he heart of the country， the Central Economi(<br >~egion around Moscow. As can be seen in the<br >able on the preceding page， this region polit.<br >cally consists of Moscow City and Mosco~<br >)blast in the center， Vladimir， Ivanovo<br >r aroslavl， and Kostroma Oblasts in the north-<br >~ast， Ryazan Oblast in the southeast， Tula anc<br >])rel Oblasts in the south， Kaluga and Bryans~<br >])blasts in the southwest， Smolensk Oblast ir<br >he west， and Kalinin Oblast in the northwest<br >])n January 1， 1973 these political units con-<br >;tituted an area of 485，000 square kilometer!<br >ind a population of 28，024，000 people.<br > In spite of its relatively small area， the Cen.<br >ral Region is the most populous economi(<br >egion in the country. It contains about 11.4<br >~ercent of the [aopulation of the U.S.S.R. ir<br >!.2 percent of the country s area. The region i!<br >lighly industrialized and urbanized; almos<br >hree-fourths of its population is classified a!<br >Jrban， and the greatest part of the rural popu.<br >ation works not in agriculture but in industry<br >ransport， and so forth， commuting daily tc<br >obs from home villages. The region contaim<br >!34 cities and 345 urban settlements (thes(<br >Jrban areas account for 10.5 percent of al<br >~uch settlements in the country).<br > Not all parts of the region are equally ur-<br >banized. Although the Central Economic Re-<br >~ion is often referred to synonymously as the<br >3entral Industrial Re~ion， the Central<br >