Residents in two Siberian regions voted on Sunday to approve the proposed merger of their regions, the Itar-Tass news agency reported citing preliminary results of the vote.

More than 90 percent of the voters in the Chita region and the Aginsky Buryat autonomous district voted in favor of the change, which will lead to the creation of a new region called the Trans- Baikal territory next March.

Chita, a region in eastern Siberia, covers an area of 431,500 square kilometers and has a population of 1.1 million, while Aginsky Buryat is much smaller with an area of 19,000 square kilometers and an population of 75,000.

Some Russian regions have merged in recent years, reducing the number of regions in the country from 89 to 86 now.

Popularity: 1% [?]