The Republic of Bashkortostan or Bashkiria (Russian: Респу́блика Башкортоста́н or Башки́рия; Bashkir:) is a federal subject of the Russian Federation (a republic). The direct transliteration of the republic's name in Russian is Respublika Bashkortostan or Bashkiriya, and the transliteration of the republic's name in Bashkir is Bašqortostan Respublikahy. In Tatar the republic's name is Başqortostan Respublikası.

Geography

Bashkortostan contains part of the southern Urals and the adjacent plains.

• Area: 143,600 km².
• Borders: Bashkortostan borders Perm Oblast (N), Sverdlovsk Oblast (NE), Chelyabinsk Oblast (NE/E/SE), Orenburg Oblast (SE/S/SW), Tatarstan (W), and Udmurtia (NW).
• Highest point: Mount Yamantaw (1,638 m).
• Maximum N->S distance: 550 km.
• Maximum E->W distance: over 430 km.
• Average elevation: no data.

Time zone

Bashkortostan is located in the Yekaterinburg Time Zone (YEKT/YEKST). UTC offset is +0500 (YEKT)/+0600 (YEKST).

Rivers

There are over 13,000 rivers in the republic. Major rivers include:

• Belaya (Ağidel) River (1,430 km)
• Ufa (Öfö) River (918 km)
• Sakmara River (760 km)
• Ik (Iq) River (571 km)
• Dyoma River (556 km)
• Ay River (549 km)
• Yuruzan River (404 km)
• Bystry Tanyp River (345 km)
• Sim River (239 km)
• Nugush River (235 km)
• Tanalyk River (225 km)
• Zilim River (215 km)
• Syun River (209 km)

Lakes

There are 2,700 lakes and reservoirs in the republic. Major lakes and reservoirs include:

• Asylykül Lake (23.5 km²)
• Qandrykül Lake (15.6 km²)
• Urgun Lake (12.0 km²)
• Pavlovskoye Reservoir (120.0 km²)
• Nugushkoye Reservoir (25.2 km²)

Mountains

The republic contains part of the southern Urals, which stretch from the northern to the southern border. The highest mountains include:

• Mount Yamantaw (1,638 m)
• Mount Bolshoy Iremel (1,582 m)
• Mount Maly Iremel (1,449 m)
• Mount Arwyakryaz (1,068 m)
• Mount Zilmerdaq (909 m)
• Mount Alataw (845 m)
• Mount Yurmataw (842 m)

Natural Resources

Bashkortostan is rich in oil reserves, and was one of the principle centers of oil extraction in the USSR. Other natural resources include natural gas, coal, iron ores, gold, gypsum and more.

Climate

• Average annual temperature: 0.3°C (mountains) to 2.8°C (plains)
• Average January temperature: -16°C
• Average July temperature: +18°C
• Average annual precipitation: no data

Administrative division

Main article: Administrative division of Bashkortostan.

Demographics

About a hundred nationalities inhabit Bashkortostan, including Russians (39%), Tatars (28%), Bashkirs (22%), Chuvash, Mari, Ukrainians, and Germans.

Spoken languages: Russian (~100%), Tatar (~30%), Bashkir (~20%).

It is believed that during the population cenus of 2002 some information was forged, especially the numbers of Tatars and Bashkirs.

• Population: 4,104,336 (2002)
  • Urban: 2,626,613 (70.8%)
  • Rural: 1,477,723 (29.2%)
  • Male: 1,923,233 (46.9%)
  • Female: 2,181,103 (53.1%)
• Females per 1000 males: 1,134
• Average age: 35.6 years
  • Urban: 35.2 years
  • Rural: 36.4 years
  • Male: 33.4 years
  • Female: 37.7 years
• Number of households: 1,429,004 (with 4,066,649 people)
  • Urban: 931,417 (with 2,592,909 people)
  • Rural: 497,587 (with 1,473,740 people)

Population development

History

Bashkortostan became a republic within Russian Federation on March 31, 1992.

Politics

The head of government in Bashkortostan is the President, who is elected for a four-year term. As of 2005, the president is Mortaza Ghöbäydulla uly Räximev (Murtaza Rakhimov), who was elected on December 17, 1993. Prior to the elections, Rakhimov was the Chairman of the Supreme Soviet of the Republic—the highest post at that time. Rakhimov was re-elected in December of 2003 in a poll condemned by the OSCE for exibiting "elements of basic fraud." The election was marked by intimidation of political opponents (including job sackings), forced closure of media and enforced open-ballot voting at many factories controlled by the Rakhimov family.

The Republic's parliament is the State Assembly (Kurultai), popularly elected every five years. The State Assembly has 120 deputies.

The Republic's constitution was adopted on December 24, 1993.

Economy

Much of Bashkortostan's economy depends on its oil processing industry, which is a left-over from Soviet times and has seen little investment since the collapse of the USSR. Most of the industry, nominally privatized, has in fact been granted to the factions close to the president's family.

More than one half of Bashkortostan's industry is based in Ufa, the republic's capital.

Education

Education is in Russian, Bashkir and Tatar languages.

Related articles

• Bashkirs
• Music of Bashkortostan
• Idel-Ural State
• Zeki Validi Togan

External links

• Official website of Bashkortostan (in Russian)
• "Tatars: 2002 Cenus results in Bashkortostan forged" (in Russian)