In the northwest, Pskov Oblast is limited by Lake Peipus, which makes up most of the state border with Estonia.

The biggest river of this basin is the Velikaya, which flows across the whole oblast from south to north and drains into Lake Peipus.

The drainage basin of the Velikaya covers the whole territory of the oblast, with the exception of relatively minor areas in its southern, eastern, and northeastern parts.

The north of the oblast is flat and swampy, whereas the central and the southern parts are formed by glacial landscapes.

[17] Pskov was first mentioned in chronicles under the year 903, and several versions of the Trade route from the Varangians to the Greeks ran through its current territory, along the Velikaya and the Lovat rivers.

Formal independence ended in 1510, when Pskov was occupied by the troops of Vasili III of Russia, the Grand Prince of Moscow.

In 1772, in order to accommodate areas acquired by Russia as a result of the First Partition of Poland, Pskov Governorate with the seat in Opochka was created.

[21] The southern part of Pskov Oblast wento through a number of administrative reforms, before ending up in Vitebsk Governorate.

Besides, in 1920 the westernmost areas of the Pskov Governorate including Pechory, Izborsk, Vyshgorodok and Pytalovo that since 1918 were occupied by the North-Western Army, Latvian and Estonian republican units, were ceded from Russian SFR to Latvia and Estonia respectively under the Tartu Peace Treaty and Riga Peace Treaty.

Between autumn of 1941 and spring of 1944, during World War II, the current area of Pskov Oblast was occupied by German troops.

In 1945 areas ceded by Russian SFR to Latvia and Estonia in 1920 were transferred back from Estonian and Latvian Soviet Socialist Republics to Pskov Oblast, including the town of Pechory.

By 1950 the population dropped to little more than one million due to the forced collectivisation in the 1930s, losses during the Second World War and internal migration to other areas of the Soviet Union.

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

Liya Milushkina, supporter of Alexey Navalny and former head of the regional Open Russia organisation, and her husband Artyom were convicted for sale of illegal drugs and sentenced to 10.5 and 11 years in prison respectively.

On 9 September 2018, Mikhail Vedernikov was elected governor of the Pskov Oblast (he was nominated for election by the Pskov Oblast branch of the United Russia party based on the results of a preliminary intra-party vote),[41] won the first round, gaining 70.68% of the vote,[42] and took office on 17 September 2018.

The main specializations of agriculture in Pskov Oblast are cattle breeding with milk and meat production.

[55] The railway connecting Bologoye and Pskov via Dno and Porkhov crosses the district from east to west.

In Pskov, it crosses another railroad connecting Saint Petersburg with Riga via Plyussa, Ostrov, and Pytalovo.

In the south, the railway connecting Moscow with Riga crosses the oblast from east to west, passing through Velikiye Luki, Novosokolniki, and Sebezh.

Another railway, running in the east of the oblast in the north–south direction, connects Saint Petersburg via Dno and Novosokolniki with Nevel.

Pskov Airport (Kresty) serves regular flights to Moscow Domodedovo and Saint Petersburg Pulkovo.

Pskov, similarly to Novgorod, avoided the Mongol invasion of Rus', and therefore it conserved the best examples of Old Russian architecture.

The Christ's Transfiguration Cathedral of Mirozhsky Monastery in Pskov, built in the 12th century, contains the 12th-century frescoes, which are extremely rare in Russia.

Pre-18th century civil architecture is extremely rare in Russia, only a handful of building survived, and Pskov contains several dozens of the best samples of this genre.

Pskov for a considerable part of its history was located at the west border of Russia, and therefore the fortification architecture was particularly useful in the area.

In Soviet times, the estate and surrounding areas were transformed into the Mikhaylovskoye Museum Reserve and became a primary tourist attraction.