Mordovia


Mordovia

(môrdō`vēə),

Mordovian Republic

(môrdō`vēən), or

Mordva Republic

(môrd`və), constituent republic (1990 est. pop. 965,000), c.10,000 sq mi (25,900 sq km), E European Russia. Once a densely forested steppe, it consists of the Volga upland in the east and the Oka-Don lowland in the west. Agricultural processing and the manufacture of machinery, furniture, paper, and wood chemicals are the major industries. Beekeeping is a long-established economic activity. Cattle and sheep are raised, and grain, hemp, potatoes, and flax are grown. SaranskSaransk
, city (1989 pop. 312,000), capital of Mordovia, central European Russia. Machine building and food processing are the major industries. Saransk was founded as a fort in 1641. It developed rapidly during World War II.
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, the capital, and Ardatov are the major cities. The population is composed mainly of Russians (60%), Mordovians (33%), and Tatars (5%). The Mordovians (Rus. Mordva) speak a Finno-Ugric language and are Orthodox Christians. The Mordovians were first mentioned by the Gothic historian Jordanes in the 6th cent. A.D. They were land tillers and herders, with close ties to the Slavs. In the mid-13th cent. they came under the political control of the Golden HordeGolden Horde, Empire of the,
Mongol state comprising most of Russia, given as an appanage to Jenghiz Khan's oldest son, Juchi, and actually conquered and founded in the mid-13th cent. by Juchi's son, Batu Khan, after the Mongol or Tatar (see Tatars) conquest of Russia.
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 and, when it disintegrated, passed to the Kazan khanate. Russia annexed the territory of the Mordovians in 1552. The Mordovian Autonomous SSR, also known as the Mordovian Autonomous SSR, was formed in 1934. It was a signatory, under the name Mordva Republic, to the Mar. 31, 1992, treaty that created the Russian Federation (see RussiaRussia,
officially the Russian Federation,
Rus. Rossiya, republic (2015 est. pop. 143,888,000), 6,591,100 sq mi (17,070,949 sq km). The largest country in the world by area, Russia is bounded by Norway and Finland in the northwest; by Estonia, Latvia, Belarus,
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).