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Tselinnyi krai [i.e. Virgin Lands]

Moscow: Glavnoe upravlenie geodezii i kartografii Ministerstva geologii i okhrany nedr SSSR, 1962. Item #1833

Two leaves, together 95,5x148 cm. Small tears of edges, few stains on them, creases of uncut fragment on left edge, otherwise mint.

The Soviet term “tselina” was widely promoted for underdeveloped, scarcely populated, high-fertility lands of the Kazakh SSR in 1954. This map is connected with extensive development of Soviet agriculture in the post-WWII period.
The epopee of the Virgin Lands campaign was initiated by N. Khrushchev. Creation of local state farms began, although there was no proper infrastructure – roads, granaries, qualified personnel, housing and any repair base for equipment. The natural conditions of the steppes were ignored and huge resources were spent on this campaign. In 1954-1961 virgin lands absorbed 20% of all Soviet investments in agriculture. Thanks to the extraordinary concentration of funds and people, local farms gave high yields in the 1950s.
Kokshetau, Qostanai, Pavlodar, North Kazakhstan and Akmola regions were united into Tselinnyi Krai of the Kazakh SSR in 1960. Akmolinsk became their center and was renamed to Tselinograd [City of Virgin Lands] in 1961. Later, the city changed its name to Astana and Nur-Sultan.
This map displays all these regions. Together, they were a crucial Soviet territory where half of the total amount of grain was produced at that time. Yet, desired stability wasn’t achieved and a seed fund couldn’t be collected later. As a result of the violation of ecological balance and soil erosion in 1962-1963, dust storms became a real disaster. The development of virgin lands has entered a stage of crisis, the efficiency of their cultivation fell. Tselinnyi Krai as an administrative division was liquidated soon after Khrushchev was pensioned off in 1964.

Price: $950.00