The Ryazan region is located in the centre of the European part of Russia. The total area is 40 000 sq.km (almost as big as Switzerland). The administrative center - the city of Ryazan is situated 200 km southeast from Moscow. The total population of the region is 1,153,300 people (October, 1st, 2009 Census). More than 96% of the population are Russian by nationality. Then there are the Ukrainian, the Mordvinian, the Tatar, the Belorussian. Altogether there are 70 nationalities.