Republic of Tatarstan:

1. basic facTs abouT THe Republic of TaTaRsTan
1.3. GEOGrAphY
The Republic of Tatarstan is situated in the European part of the Russian
Federation at the confluence of the Volga and the Kama rivers. The
territory of the republic stretches some 460 kilometres west to east and
290 kilometres north to south. The total area of the republic is 67,836.2
square kilometres, which is approximately equal to the area of Sri Lanka or
that of Belgium and the Netherlands taken together. Tatarstan borders on
eight regions of the Russian Federation: the Republic of Bashkortostan, the
Udmurt Republic, the Republic of Mari El, the Chuvash Republic, the Kirov,
Orenburg, Ulyanovsk, and Samara regions.
RUSSIAN FEDERATION
THE REPUBLIC OF TATARSTAN
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1.4. cLiMATE
The climate of Tatarstan is mild continental with long, warm and sometimes
hot and droughty summer and moderately cold winter.
Snowy period is almost 5 months (from mid-November to early April).
The average temperature in January is -14°C, and in July the average temperature
is +19°C. The range of monthly average temperatures is 32°C to
34°C, and the range of absolute temperatures is 86°C. Annual precipitation
ranges from 430 millimetres to 500 millimetres.
1.5. nATurAL rESOurcES
The Republic of Tatarstan is rich in mineral resources, with crude oil representing
its main source of wealth. The first commercial oil deposit was
discovered as early as in 1943.
The main oil reserves, some 0.8 billion tonnes, are concentrated in medium-size
and small deposits. Along with crude oil, petroleum gas is also produced.
Other mineral resources extracted
in the republic's territory are gypsum
(total reserves are 72 million tonnes), oil
bitumen (explored reserves are 7 billion
tonnes), peat (800 peat deposits with
a total area of over 35,000 hectares),
construction stone (56.7 million cubic
metres), brick clay (158.3 million cubic
metres), limestone and dolomite (92
million tonnes). Production of black
coal is complicated due to its deep occurrence.
Exploitation of combustible
shale deposits in south-west Tatarstan
is also promising.
The Republic of Tatarstan has large
water resources, which are characterised
by a branched river system with
such large rivers as the Volga, Kama,
their tributaries, such as Vyatka, Belaya,
Sviyaga, and others. Total water surface
area is 4,400 square kilometres, or 6.4% of the territory of the Republic of
Tatarstan. There are four reservoirs in the republic, Kuybyshevskoye, Nizhnekamskoye,
Zainskoye, and Karabashskoye. The Europe’s largest storage
basin, Kuybyshevskoye Reservoir, with the volume of 57.3 cubic kilometres,
is located for the most part in the territory of the Republic of Tatarstan. Its
widest span in the mouth of the Kama is nearly 30 kilometres. A total of
4,098 water streams flow across Tatarstan with a total length of 19,632.5
kilometres. The republic is fully provided with potential ground water resources
totalling 5.46 million cubic metres per day.
The available land of the Republic of Tatarstan is 6,783,700 hectares.
The major part, some 68%, are agricultural lands (4,630,100 hectares); forest
lands constitute 18% (1,217,700 hectares); water resource lands, 6.5%
(436.1 hectares); lands of inhabited localities, 5.7% (386,700 hectares);
lands of specially protected areas, 0.5% (31,600 hectares); and industry
lands, 0.1% (79,000).
1.6. pOpuLATiOn
The population of the Republic of Tatarstan numbers 3,772,900 and comprises
representatives of 115 ethnic groups; these include Tatars (52.9%),
Russians (39.5%), Chuvashes (3.4%), Ukrainians, Udmurts, Mari, Bashkirs,
Jews, and others. Russian population prevails in large cities and adjacent
regions, while Tatar population dominates in rural areas.
1.7. rELiGiOn
Over thousand religious societies have been registered in the territory of
the Republic of Tatarstan. The most widely-spread religions are Islam and
Orthodox Christianity.
The Sunni Islam was adopted as official religion in the Volga Boulgaria as
early as in 922. At present, it is professed by a majority of Tatars and Bashkirs.
The supreme body of Muslims is the Religious Muslim Board of the
Republic of Tatarstan.
The Orthodox Christianity appeared
in the mid-16th century
after the annexation of the Kazan
Khanate by the Russian State. The
followers of this religion supported
1. basic facTs abouT THe Republic of TaTaRsTan
in the territory of the republic by the Kazan Eparchy of the Russian Orthodox
Church are Russians, Chuvashes, Mari, Mordvinians, Udmurts, and a
part of Tatars (kryasheny). There are small communities of other Christian
confessions: Old Believers, Catholics, Lutherans, Baptists, Seventh–Day
Adventists, as well as small communities of other confessions, such as
Krishnaists and Bahá'í Faith.
1.8. STATE LAnGuAGES
According to the Constitution of the Republic of Tatarstan, the Tatar and
the Russian languages are recognised as equal in rights throughout the territory
of the Republic of Tatarstan.
The Tatar language belongs to the Turkic group of the Altai family of languages
alongside with Kazakh, Uzbek, Turkish, etc.
The Russian language, together with Ukrainian and Byelorussian, constitutes
Eastern-Slavic subgroup of Slavic group of the Indo-European family
of languages.
1.9. hiSTOrY
The Republic of Tatarstan boasts a rich history. The first state in the region
was the Volga Boulgaria
created by Turkic
tribes, whose ancestors
have already had a statehood
experience within
the frames of the Turkic
Kaghanate and Hunnish
Power, as early as in the
8th–9th centuries. In
922, it adopted Islam as
official religion, which
meant its international
recognition and falling
under the influence of
the Arab Caliphate. Boulgaria was the most politically and economically
developed state in the region and played an important role in life of peoples
that inhabited the region. The country pioneered in smelting cast-iron
in Europe.
In addition to metallurgy, quite developed were the art of jewellery,
tanning industry, culture, science, and education. Unity of the country,
its regular armed forces and well-organised reconnaissance allowed it to
withstand the Mongolian aggressors. Only with the fourth attempt in 1236,
their superior forces succeeded in breaking down the resistance of the
Boulgars, but even after that the Mongols had to maintain a huge garrison
to keep the rebellious land pacified.
Boulgaria became an ulus of the Golden Horde, with the local dynasty
remaining in power, in the same way as in Russian principalities. However,
centrifugal tendencies began to appear, and the country broke into semidependent
emirates, with Kazan among them, and actually got out of the
Republic of TaTaRsTan: GeneRal oveRview, sTaTe sysTem, economy Republic of TaTaRsTan: GeneRal oveRview, sTaTe sysTem, economy
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