The Tatarstan Republic
The Republic of Tatarstan is situated in the middle of the Volga-Basin at the confluence of the Volga and Kama rivers. In the north, it borders Udmurtia, in the west - Mari and Chuvashia, in the east - Bashkkortostan, and in the south - Samara Region. Area: 68,000 km2.
Climate
Climate in the Republic of Tatarstan is moderate-continental with warm, sometimes hot, summer and moderate cold winter. The average temperature of the coldest month (January) is -14°C (7°F), of the warmest (July) +19°C (66°F), the annual average temperature is +2.5°C (36.5°F). The annual average amount of precipitation comes to 500 mm, of which 2/3 fall on summer and autumn and 1/3 - on winter and spring. Moderate climate favours development of all kinds of agriculture.
Population:
The population of Tatarstan is 3,7 million, of which 48% are Tatars and 43% Russians. Only 23% of Tatars live in Tatarstan. The Tatars descends from nomadic tribes that migrated westward from southern Siberia between the 10th and the 13th centuries. The term, Tatar, refers to a people its roots from three main ethnic groups of Turkic origin.
Economy:
Tatarstan is economically very important region. The region produces oil, gas and has many highly developed industries for machine-building products such as heavy trucks and bombers. Its economic and strategic value is possibly the primary reason for the special position of Tatarstan within the Russian Federation.
Brief History:
1552 Ivan the Terrible conquered the Empire of the Kaza Khanate and incorporated it into the Russian Empire. The Tatars made numerous attempts to throw off Tsarist rule, they did not succeed.
1918 A Tatar-Bashkir Soviet Republic was set up within the Russian federation. The borders of the two republics were drawn arbitrarily, and 75% of the Tatar population were left outside their nominal republic.
1990 Tatarstan became the first of the autonomous republics to adopt a declaration of sovereignty. This declaration was not recognised by the Russian Federation.
1992 The Tatarstan government organised a referendum on the sovereignty of Tatarstan. 61% voted in favour of state sovereignty and adopted its own republican constitution.
1994 The presidents of Russia and Tatarstan signed a bilateral power-sharing treaty on behalf on the Russian Federation and the Republic of Tatarstan, respectively. The treaty recognises extensive self-government rights of Tatarstan, apparently beyond those enjoyed under the Russian Constitution, yet it falls short of recognising state sovereignty.
1995 The economy of Tatarstan began to improve and the standard of living in Tatarstan is higher than in other parts of the Russian Federation.
1996 Over 1 000 companies were privatised which supply about 75% of the consumer production within Tatarstan.
Turkic writing has ancient traditions dated back to tile 5th-7th centuries, when the people started to use common-Turkic runic writing. Together with the Moslem religion since 10th century the Arabic script came to the Volga-Kama Bulgaria, till the year of 1928. In 1928-1938 the Roman-based alphabet was used, since 1938 the Tatar written language is based on Cyrillic script.
The history of Bulgar-Tatar literature numbers ten centuries; the first printed book in the Tatar language was published in the middle of 18th century. At present, about 600 books with total edition of some 8 mln copies are published in the Republic annually with 170 issues of periodicals and 30 magazines. Several dozens of periodicals are also issued in the Tatar language.
In the Republic there are 16 professional theatres, conservatory, State Symphonic Orchestra, 27 museums, 1800 libraries with 20 min books. Traditional festivals are: the International Opera Festival named after F.I.Shalyapin (who was born in Kazan), the Festival of Classic Ballet named after Rudolf Nuriev.
In Tatarstan operate 7 "creative communions" - Writers Union, Journalists Union, Composers Union, Cinernatography Union, Theatre Workers Union, Architectors Union. Under the Presidential authority the Fund for Culture Development and Support is established.
REGIONS OF RUSSIA
Aginsky-Buryat AO I
Altaisky Krai I
Amurskaya Oblast I
Arkhangelskaya Oblast I
Astrakhanskaya Oblast
Belgorodskaya Oblast I
Bryanskaya Oblast I
Chelyabinskaya Oblast I
Chitinskaya Oblast I
Chukotsky AO I
Evenksky AO I
Irkutskaya Oblast I
Ivanovskaya Oblast
Jewish Autonomous Oblast I
Kaliningradskaya Oblast I
Kaluzhskaya Oblast I
Kamchatskaya Oblast I
Kemerovskaya Oblast I
Khabarovsky krai I
Khanty - Mansiysk Autonomous Okrug I
Kirovskaya Oblast I
Komi-Permyatsky AO I
Koryaksky Autonomous Okrug I
Kostromskaya Oblast I
Krasnodarsky Krai I
Krasnoyarsky Krai I
Kurganskaya Oblast I
Kurskaya Oblast I
Leningradskaya Oblast I
Lipetskaya Oblast I
Magadanskaya Oblast I
Moscovskaya Oblast I
Murmanskaya Oblast I
Nenetsky AO I
Nizhegorodskaya Oblast I
Novgorodskaya Oblast I
Novosibirskaya Oblast I
Omskaya Oblast I
Orenburgskaya Oblast I
Orlovskaya Oblast I
Penzenskaya Oblast I
Permskaya Oblast I
Primorsky krai I
Pskovskaya Oblast I
Rostovskaya Oblast I
Ryazanskaya Oblast I
Sakhalinskaya Oblast I
Samarskaya Oblast I
Saratovskaya Oblast I
Smolenskaya Oblast I
Stavropolsky krai I
Sverdlovskaya Oblast I
Taimyrsky AO I
Tambovskaya Oblast I
The Adygea Republic I
The Altai Republic I
The Bashkortostan Republic I
The Buryatia Republic I
The Chechnya Republic I
The Chuvash Rebublic I
The Dagestan Republic I
The Ingushetia Republic I
The Kabardino-Balkaria I
The Kalmykia Republic I
The Karachayevo-Circassian Republic I
The Karelia Republic I
The Khakasia Republic I
The Komi Republic I
The Mari El Republic I
The Mordovian Republic I
The North Ossetia I
The Sakha Republic (Yakutia) I
The Tatarstan Republic I
The Tyva Republic I
The Udmurtia Republic I
Tomskaya Oblast I
Tulskaya Oblast I
Tverskaya Oblast I
Tyumenskaya Oblast I
Ulyanovskaya Oblast I
Ust-Ordynsky Buryatsky AO I
Vladimirskaya Oblast I
Volgogradskaya Oblast I
Vologodskaya Oblast I
Voronezhskaya Oblast I
Yamalo-Nenetsky AO I
Yaroslavskaya Oblast I
[ About Russia ]
[ Listen to the national anthem of Russia ]
[ The State flag ]
[ The State emblem ]
[ Power structure of Russia ]
[ Regions of Russia ]
[ Cities of Russia ]
[ Nations of Russia ]
|
