Ust-Orda Buryat Okrug

In a referendum held on April 16, 2006, the majority of residents in Irkutsk Oblast and Ust-Orda Buryat Autonomous Okrug agreed to the unification of the two regions. According to regions' electoral commissions, 68.98% of residents of Irkutsk Oblast and 99.51% of residents in Ust-Orda Buryatia took part in the vote, making it one of the best attended plebiscites in the country since the 2003 Russian election. The merger was approved by an absolute majority of the electorate: by 89.77% in Irkutsk Oblast and by 97.79% in Ust-Orda Buryatia. The enlarged Irkutsk Oblast has officially come into existence on January 1, 2008. ==Administrative divisions==

The okrug is divided into six administrative districts: • Alarsky District • Bayandayevsky District • Bokhansky District • Ekhirit-Bulagatsky District • Nukutsky District • Osinsky District ==Demographics==

• Population: Vital statistics :Source: Russian Federal State Statistics Service Ethnic groups Of the 135,327 residents (as of the 2002 Census), 38 (0.02%) chose not to specify their ethnic background. Of the rest, residents identified themselves as belonging to 74 ethnic groups, including Russians (54.4%), Buryats (39.6%), Tatars (3%) and Ukrainians (0.96%) ==See also==