Pskov Oblast - Geography

Geography

Pskov Oblast borders with Leningrad Oblast in the north, Novgorod Oblast in the east, Tver and Smolensk Oblasts in the southeast, Vitebsk Region of Belarus in the south, and Latvia and Estonia in the west. In the northwest, Pskov Oblast is limited by Lake Peipus, which makes a stretch of the state border with Estonia.

Pskov Oblast belongs to the drainage basin of the Baltic Sea. Most of it belongs to the basin of the Narva River. The biggest river of the Narva Basin is the Velikaya River, which flows through the whole oblast from south to north and drains into Lake Peipus. The drainage basin of the Velikaya includes, in particular, the whole oblast with the exception of relatively minor areas in the southern, the eastern, and the northeastern parts of the oblast. The rivers in the southeast of the oblast drain into the Lovat River, which has its source in Belarus and crosses Pskov Oblast from south to north, continuing to Novgorod Oblast. The Lovat is a major tributary of Lake Ilmen and belongs to the basin of the Neva River. Another tributary of Lake Ilmen is the Shelon River, which flows in the eastern part of the oblast. Finally, minor areas in the southern part of Pskov Oblast belong to the river basin of the Western Dvina River. A short stretch of the Western Dvina makes the border between Pskov and Tver Oblasts.

The northern part of the oblast is flat and swampy, whereas the central and the southern parts are formed by glacial landscape. There are many lakes, especially in the southern part of the oblast. The biggest lake after Lake Peipus is Lake Zhizhitskoye, with the area of 51.3 square kilometres (19.8 sq mi). It is located at the southeast of the oblast and belongs to the drainage basin of the Western Dvina.

One of the most important natural resources of Pskov Oblast is wood. Forest takes up to one third of the territory of the region. Overall stocks of woods as of 1 January 2005 were 331,200,000 cubic metres (1.17×1010 cu ft).