Bashkortostan
Bashkortostan
(bäshkôr`tĭstän') orBashkir Republic
(băshkĭr`), constituent republic (1990 pop. 4,100,100), 55,444 sq mi (143,600 sq km), E European Russia, in the S Urals, occupying the Belaya River basin. UfaUfa, city (1989 pop. 1,082,000), capital of Bashkortostan, E European Russia, at the confluence of the Belaya and Ufa rivers. An industrial center in the Urals, Ufa produces electrical and mining equipment and has oil refineries and a major petrochemical industry.
..... Click the link for more information. is the capital; other important cities are SterlitamakSterlitamak
, city (1989 pop. 247,000), Bashkortostan, E European Russia, on the Belaya River. It is a port and the center of a chemical complex. Milling and construction equipment and food products are also made. Founded in the second half of the 18th cent.
..... Click the link for more information. , BeloretskBeloretsk
, city (1989 pop. 72,000), in Bashkortostan, W Siberian Russia, in the Urals and on the Belaya River. One of the oldest industrial cities of the Urals region, Beloretsk is a metallurgical center, with industries that produce steel wire and cables.
..... Click the link for more information. , and IshimbayIshimbay
, city (1989 pop. 70,000), Bashkortostan, E European Russia, on the Belaya River. Founded in 1932, Ishimbay developed around the first major oil field of the Volga-Ural region, formerly the leading Soviet oil area.
..... Click the link for more information. . The Trans-Siberian and South Siberian railroads cross the republic. Bashkortostan forms the eastern part of the Volga-Ural petroleum region and also has natural gas, coal, salt, iron, gold, copper, zinc, bauxite, and manganese deposits. The drilling, refining, and processing of oil is the predominant economic activity. About 40% of the land is forested, and sawmilling and the production of plywood and paper are important. Grains (especially wheat, rye, and oats) are the chief agricultural products. The republic's population is made up of Bashkirs (about 21%), Russians (about 40%), and Tatars (about 25%). The Bashkirs, a mixture of Finno-Ugric, Turkic, and Mongolian tribes, are a Muslim people who speak a Turkic language very close to Tatar. Historically, the Bashkirs were controlled by the Volga Bulgars and the Golden Horde, and later by the khanates of Kazan, Nogai, and Siberia. In 1557, during the reign of Ivan IV, they came under Muscovite rule. The Russians founded Ufa in 1574 and began colonization, dispossessing the Bashkirs, who revolted numerous times during the next two centuries (notably under Pugachev in 1773–75). In 1917 a Bashkir national government was formed, but the region experienced heavy fighting between the Red and White armies in the aftermath of the Russian Revolution. In 1919, the region was made the first autonomous Soviet republic. In 1990 the republic passed a declaration of sovereignty, and in 1991 it declared itself independent, although this declaration was not recognized by any other government. It was a signatory, under the name Republic of Bashkortostan, 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,
..... Click the link for more information. ).