This vast plain—marshy and thinly populated in the north, hilly in the south—is of growing economic importance, mostly due to the abundance of natural resources: oil, coal, wood, water.

The Kuznetsk Basin around Kemerovo and Novokuznetsk is a center of coal mining, and the production of iron, steel, machinery, and chemicals.

The navigable Ob-Irtysh watershed covers most of this area, and the southern part is also criss-crossed by the Trans-Siberian, South Siberian and Turkestan-Siberian rail lines.

Agricultural products include wheat, rice, oats, and sugar beets, and livestock is raised.

Levels of social welfare are close to the national mean in terms of life expectancy for men and women, and the proportion of students in higher education.