Some of the oldest Russian cities, including Veliky Novgorod and Staraya Russa, are located in the oblast.

The historic monuments of Veliky Novgorod and surroundings have been declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Sorted by the discharge, the biggest rivers of the oblast are the Volkhov, the Mologa, the Msta, the Lovat, the Syas, and the Shelon.

It lay on the historical trade route from the Varangians to the Greeks, which followed the Volkhov upstream to Lake Ilmen and then followed the course of the Lovat before eventually reaching the Dnieper River.

[15] Subsequently, Rurik's successor, Oleg, moved the capital to Kiev, but Novgorod continued to play an important role until the 15th century.

Novgorod linked the river routes of Baltic, Byzantium, Central Asian regions, and all parts of European Russia and flourished as one of the most important trading centres of eastern and northern Europe.

It was also an important cultural center, and the majority of monuments preserved in Russia from the 11th through the 14th century are those standing in Veliky Novgorod.

This event, known as the Massacre of Novgorod, had catastrophic consequences for the city, which lost the majority of its population and never recovered.

The railway construction lead to the development of the adjacent areas and eventually to creation of new towns such as Malaya Vishera, Okulovka, and Chudovo.

Later on, the railroads between Sonkovo and Saint Petersburg, as well as between Bologoye and Pskov, and a number of connecting lines, were constructed.

Novgorod Oblast was an area of long and fierce battles, such as, for example, the Demyansk Pocket, or the Leningrad–Novgorod Offensive in 1944, when the Soviet troops crossed the Volkhov River.

Since 1991, CPSU lost all the power, and the head of the Oblast administration, and eventually the governor was appointed/elected alongside elected regional parliament.

[34] The leading political force in the Novgorod Oblast is the regional branch of the United Russia party.

[45] In 2011, approximately 90% of the farms held cattle, and 79% of all agricultural production in the oblast were meat, milk, and eggs.

In Chudovo, one railroad branches off south to Veliky Novgorod, and another one north to Volkhovstroy and eventually to Murmansk.

A railway crosses the south of the oblast as well, connecting Bologoye and Pskov via Parfino and Staraya Russa.

Vital statistics for 2022:[50][51] Total fertility rate (2022):[52] 1.32 children per woman Life expectancy (2021):[53] Total — 67.64 years (male — 62.48, female — 72.80) According to a 2012 survey[54] 46.8% of the population of Novgorod Oblast adheres to the Russian Orthodox Church, 4% are unaffiliated generic Christians, 1% are Muslims.

In addition, 34% of the population declares to be "spiritual but not religious", 10% is atheist, and 3.9% follows other religions or did not give an answer to the question.

Despite great damages, in particular, during World War II, a large amount of medieval monuments of art, archeology, and architecture survive.

The Saint Sophia Cathedral in Novgorod is the oldest Christian church in Russia with the exception of the Caucasus area.

Novgorod has, furthermore, a large number of architectural monuments constructed in the 13th–14th centuries, of which the Church of the Transfiguration on Ilyina Street is a representative example.

Theophanes the Greek, one of the most notable old Russian artists, spent a part of his life in Novgorod, creating, in particular, frescoes in the Church of the Transfiguration on Ilyina Street.

The East Slavic instrument Gusli was first recorded in the north Russian regions around the era of Novgorodian Rus'.

[56] The oldest Onion domes which became a popular feature of Russian culture and architecture originated among other regions also in Veliky Novgorod.

The archaeological excavations in Novgorod and Staraya Russa unearthed over a thousand of birch bark manuscripts, used mostly to document various business issues.

In 14th century the Slavic-Nordic pirates Ushkuiniks spread in the Russian north and later in many other regions of ancient Russia.

For example, generalissimo Alexander Suvorov, a Russian military commander notable for military operations against the Ottoman Empire and against the army of Napoleon in the late 18th century, owned the estate of Konchansko-Suvorovskoye, currently in Borovichsky District,[57] and authors Gleb Uspensky and Nikolay Nekrasov owned summer houses in and near Chudovo.