Kurgan region is spread out behind the Urals, on vast territories of the West-Siberian lowland. Sometimes it is called gates to Siberia, as it is a significant transport junction with airport, railway and bus stations, linking Moscow to Far East.

As an independent administrative unit Kurgan region was organized in 1943. Its area is 71.5 thousand square kilometers. It is three-cornered in the shape and has from west to east 430 kilometers, from north to south 290 kilometers. In the beginning of the 60ies there were 743 settlements. Mainly these were villages.

In its territory there are 9 cities, 5 settlements, 23 agricultural regions. (The population is 1100000 people. 92% are Russians, the others are Tartars, Bashkirs, Kazakhs and other nationalities.)

In 1858 the population density was 8, 26 people per verst, and in 1897 - 12,37 in Kurgan district. During the Soviet period there were big changes in the population. From 1926 to 1939 the population was reduced by 25 % (from 1236,2 to 976 thousand people). In the period since 1979 the highest increase of the population was observed - from 999,2 to 1080,5 thousand people. In 1989 the population already was 1104,9 thousand people, and by 1.01.1992 it was 1117,4 thousand people. On preliminary calculations, the regional population by 1.01.1999 was 1103,7 thousand people, from which 489,5 thousand people live in rural areas. The density of population is 15,4 people on a sq. km.

The region location in a depth of a huge forest-steppe region determines the continental nature of the climate (cold winter with little snow and warm dry summer).

On the territory of the region flow more than 400 rivers. The main water-way is the Tobol, which crosses the region from south to north. On the whole, the Transurals fluvial system is considerably less advanced, than in the Urals regions and on the western Urals slope. The abundance of lakes and swamps in the Tobol's basin is connected with these peculiarities. The lakes take more than 5 % of the territory, there are over three thousand lakes, 3/4 of them are fresh.