The
Urals are a geographical region located around the
Ural Mountains, between the
East European and
West Siberian plains. It extends approximately from north to south, from the
Arctic Ocean to the bend of
Ural River near
Orsk city. The boundary between Europe and Asia runs along the eastern side of the Ural Mountains. Ural mostly lies within
Russia but also includes a part of northwestern
Kazakhstan. This is a historical, not an official entity, with the boundaries overlapping its western
Volga and eastern
Siberia neighbor regions. At points in time, parts of the Urals were considered a gateway to Siberia, if not Siberia itself, or were combined with the Volga administrative divisions. At present time, there are two official namesake entities, the
Ural Federal District and the
Ural economic region. While the latter follows the historical boundaries, the former is a political product; the District omits Western Urals and includes Western Siberia instead.