The Republic of Bashkortostan or Bashkortostan ( ba, Башҡортостан Республикаһы, Bashqortostan Respublikahy; russian: Республика Башкортостан, Respublika Bashkortostan),; russian: Респу́блика Башкортоста́н, r=Respublika Bashkortostan, p=rʲɪsˈpublʲɪkə bəʂkərtɐˈstan also unofficially called Bashkiria (russian: Башкирия, tr. Bashkiriya), is a

republic A republic () is a " state in which power rests with the people or their representatives; specifically a state without a monarchy" and also a "government, or system of government, of such a state." Previously, especially in the 17th and 18th ...

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-ei ...

located between the

Volga The Volga (; russian: Во́лга, a=Ru-Волга.ogg, p=ˈvoɫɡə) is the longest river in Europe. Situated in Russia, it flows through Central Russia to Southern Russia and into the Caspian Sea. The Volga has a length of , and a catch ...

and the

Ural Mountains The Ural Mountains ( ; rus, Ура́льские го́ры, r=Uralskiye gory, p=ʊˈralʲskʲɪjə ˈɡorɨ; ba, Урал тауҙары) or simply the Urals, are a mountain range that runs approximately from north to south through western ...

Eastern Europe Eastern Europe is a subregion of the European continent. As a largely ambiguous term, it has a wide range of geopolitical, geographical, ethnic, cultural, and socio-economic connotations. The vast majority of the region is covered by Russia, whi ...

. It covers and has a population of 4 million. It is Russia's 7th most populous federal subject and most populous republic. Its

capital Capital may refer to: Common uses * Capital city, a municipality of primary status ** List of national capital cities * Capital letter, an upper-case letter Economics and social sciences * Capital (economics), the durable produced goods used fo ...

and largest city is Ufa. Bashkortostan was established on .Национально-государственное устройство Башкортостана, 1917–1925 гг: Общее введение и Том 1 // Билал Хамитович Юлдашбаев, Китап, 2002, , 9785295029165Хрестоматия по истории Башкортостана: Документы и материалы с древнейших времен до 1917 года // Фарит Гумеров, "Китап", 2001 On 20 March 1919 it was transformed into the Bashkir ASSR,''Administrative-Territorial Structure of the Union Republics. 1987.'', p. 25 the first Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic in the RSFSR.БСЭ т.4 1950 год стр 347 In accordance with the Constitution of Bashkortostan and Russian Federation Constitution, Bashkortostan is a state but has no

sovereignty Sovereignty is the defining authority within individual consciousness, social construct, or territory. Sovereignty entails hierarchy within the state, as well as external autonomy for states. In any state, sovereignty is assigned to the perso ...

. On 11 October 1990 it adopted the Declaration of State Sovereignty. The state celebrates 11 October as its Republic Day.

Terminology

The name "Bashkortostan" derives from the name of the Bashkir ethnic group. While the root of the name is Turkic (being a combination of '', which in Turkish can mean ''head'', ''chief'', ''main'', ''principal'' and "qort" meaning ''wolf'', one of the animals regarded as sacred to

Turkic peoples The Turkic peoples are a collection of diverse ethnic groups of West, Central, East, and North Asia as well as parts of Europe, who speak Turkic languages.. "Turkic peoples, any of various peoples whose members speak languages belonging to ...

); the suffix -stan is Persian, common to many Eurasian territorial names. The Bashkirs speak the Bashkir language, which belongs to the Kipchak branch of the Turkic language group.

History

The first settlements in the territory of modern Bashkortostan date from the early

Paleolithic The Paleolithic or Palaeolithic (), also called the Old Stone Age (from Greek: παλαιός '' palaios'', "old" and λίθος ''lithos'', "stone"), is a period in human prehistory that is distinguished by the original development of stone too ...

period, but the

Bronze Age The Bronze Age is a historic period, lasting approximately from 3300 BC to 1200 BC, characterized by the use of bronze, the presence of writing in some areas, and other early features of urban civilization. The Bronze Age is the second pri ...

spurred an upsurge in the population of this territory. When people of the Abashevo culture started settling here, they possessed high skills in manufacturing bronze tools, weapons and decorations. They were the first to establish permanent settlements in the Southern Urals. Bashkortostan takes its name from its native people, the Bashkirs. The Slavonic name of the country, Bashkiriya, formed at the end of the 16th century. Originally it appeared in the forms ''Bashkir land'', ''Bashkir'', ''Bashkirda'' and ''Bashkir horde''. The ethnonym ''Bashkirs'' first became known in the 7th century. In the 10th century, Al-Balkhi wrote about Bashkirs as a people, divided into two groups, one of which inhabited the Southern Urals, while the other lived near the Danube River, close to the boundaries of Byzantium. His contemporary Ibn-Ruste described the Bashkirs as "an independent people, occupying territories on both sides of the Ural mountain ridge between Volga, Kama, Tobol and upstream of Yaik River". File:Рисунки в Каповой пещере.jpg, Cave paintings in the

Shulgan-Tash Nature Reserve Shulgan-Tash Nature Reserve ( ba, Шүлгәнташ, russian: Шульган-Таш заповедник) (also Shulgan-Tash) is a Russian 'zapovednik' (strict nature reserve) in the western foothills of the Southern Ural Mountains. The terrain i ...

. File:Mausoleum of Turahan.jpg, Mausoleum of Turahan, 14th-century building. File:Башкиры в Гамбурге, 1814.jpg, Bashkirs near

Hamburg Hamburg (, ; nds, label=Hamburg German, Low Saxon, Hamborg ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg (german: Freie und Hansestadt Hamburg; nds, label=Low Saxon, Friee un Hansestadt Hamborg),. is the List of cities in Germany by popul ...

during the

Napoleonic Wars The Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815) were a series of major global conflicts pitting the French Empire and its allies, led by Napoleon I, against a fluctuating array of European states formed into various coalitions. It produced a period of Fre ...

, c. 1813. File:Командиры БОКБ.jpg, The

Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army (Russian language, Russian: Рабо́че-крестья́нская Кра́сная армия),) often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist R ...

cavalry unit, made up of Bashkirs,

Russian Civil War {{Infobox military conflict , conflict = Russian Civil War , partof = the Russian Revolution and the aftermath of World War I , image = , caption = Clockwise from top left: {{flatlist, *Soldiers ...

, 1919. After the early-feudal Mongolian state had broken down in the 14th century, the territory of modern Bashkortostan became divided between the

Kazan Kazan ( ; rus, Казань, p=kɐˈzanʲ; tt-Cyrl, Казан, ''Qazan'', IPA: Help:IPA/Tatar, ɑzan is the capital city, capital and largest city of the Republic of Tatarstan in Russia. The city lies at the confluence of the Volga and t ...

and Siberia Khanates and the Nogai Horde. The tribes that lived there were headed by ''bi'' (tribal heads). After Kazan fell to Ivan the Terrible in 1554–1555, representatives of western and northwestern Bashkir tribes approached the

Tsar Tsar ( or ), also spelled ''czar'', ''tzar'', or ''csar'', is a title used by East and South Slavic monarchs. The term is derived from the Latin word ''caesar'', which was intended to mean "emperor" in the European medieval sense of the ter ...

with a request to voluntarily join Muscovy. Starting from the second half of the 16th century, Bashkiria's territory began taking shape as a part of the Russian state. In 1798 the Spiritual Assembly of Russian Muslims was established, an indication that the tsarist government recognized the rights of Bashkirs,

Tatars The Tatars ()Tatar
in the Collins English Dictionary is an umbrella term for different Turki ...

, and other Muslim nations to profess Islam and perform religious rituals. Ufa Governorate (), with a center in Ufa, was formed in 1865—another step towards territorial identification. After the Russian Revolution of 1917 were All-Bashkir Qoroltays (conventions) on which a decision on the need to create a national federal republic within Russia. As a result, on 28 November 1917, the Bashkir Regional (Central) Shuro (Council) proclaimed the establishment of territorial and national autonomy in areas of Orenburg, Perm, Samara, and Ufa provinces with a predominantly Bashkir population. In December 1917, delegates to the All-Bashkir (constituent) Congress, representing the interests of the population edge of all nationalities, voted unanimously for the resolution (Farman #2) of the Bashkir regional Shuro for the proclamation of national-territorial autonomy (of the Republic) Bashkurdistan. The congress formed the government of Bashkurdistan, the Pre-parliament—Kese-Qoroltay and other bodies of power and administration, and decisions were made on how to proceed. In March 1919, based on the agreements of the Russian Government with the Bashkir Government was formed

Bashkir Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic The Bashkir Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic ( ba, Башҡорт Автономиялы Совет Социалистик Республикаhы; russian: Башкирская Автономная Советская Социалистиче� ...

. During the Soviet period, Bashkiria was granted broad autonomous rights—the first among other Russian regions. The administrative structure of the Bashkir ASSR was based on principles similar to those of other autonomous republics of Russia. On 11 October 1990, the Supreme Soviet of the Republic adopted the declaration on state sovereignty of the Bashkir ASSR. On 25 February 1992, the Bashkir ASSR was renamed the Republic of Bashkortostan. On 31 March 1992, a Federative Compact "On separation of authorities and powers among federal organs of power of the Russian Federation and the organs of power of the Republic of Bashkortostan" was signed. On 3 August 1994, a Compact "On separation of authorities and mutual delegating of powers among the organs of power of the Russian Federation and the organs of power of the Republic of Bashkortostan" was signed, granting the republic autonomy. This agreement was abolished on 7 July 2005.

Geography

Bashkortostan contains part of the southern Urals and the adjacent plains. File:Шихан Торатау и коровы.jpg, Shihan Toratau. Single hills are popular symbols of Bashkortostan. File:Atysh waterfall (2008).jpg, Atysh waterfall File:Лошади на Банном.jpg, Bashkir horses near Yakty-Kul lake File:Лес вокруг г.Ямантау.jpg, Autumn Yamantau *''Area'': (according to the 2002 Census) *''Borders'': Bashkortostan borders with Perm Krai (N),

Sverdlovsk Oblast Sverdlovsk Oblast ( rus, Свердловская область, Sverdlovskaya oblast) is a federal subject (an oblast) of Russia located in the Ural Federal District. Its administrative center is the city of Yekaterinburg, formerly known as ...

(NE), Chelyabinsk Oblast (NE/E/SE), Orenburg Oblast (SE/S/SW), the Republic of Tatarstan (W), and the Udmurt Republic (NW) *''Highest point'': Mount Yamantau (1,638 m) *''Maximum North-South distance'': 550 km *''Maximum East-West distance'': over 430 km

Rivers

There are over 13,000 rivers in the republic. Many rivers are part of the deepwater transportation system of European Russia; they provide access to ports of the

Baltic Baltic may refer to: Peoples and languages *Baltic languages, a subfamily of Indo-European languages, including Lithuanian, Latvian and extinct Old Prussian *Balts (or Baltic peoples), ethnic groups speaking the Baltic languages and/or originatin ...

and Black seas. Major rivers include: *

Belaya (Aghidhel) River The Belaya (; , ; tt-Cyrl, Агыйдел ) is a river in Bashkortostan, Russian Federation. Its source lies in the south-western Ural Mountains. It is long, and its drainage basin covers .Ufa (Qaraidel) River (918 km) * Sakmara River (760 km) * Ik (Iq) River (571 km) * Dyoma (Dim) River (556 km) * Ay River (549 km) * Yuruzan River (404 km) *

Bystry Tanyp River The Bystry Tanyp or Tanyp ( ba, Тере Танып, Етеҙ Танып, ''Tere Tanıp, Eteź Tanıp''; russian: Быстрый Танып), is a river in Bashkortostan and Perm Krai in Russia, a right tributary of the Belaya.Sim River The Sim ( ba, Эҫем, russian: Сим) is a river in Chelyabinsk Oblast and the Republic of Bashkortostan in Russia. It is a tributary of the Belaya, part of the Volga watershed. Its length is , and its drainage basin covers .

(239 km) * Nugush River (235 km) *

Tanalyk River The Tanalyk (russian: Таналык; ba, Таналыҡ, ''Tanalıq''), is a river in Bashkortostan and Orenburg Oblast in Russia, a right tributary of the Ural.Zilim (Yethem) River (215 km) *

Syun River ''SYUN'' was a Japanese record label founded by Susumu Hirasawa in 1994. Hirasawa created the label to be able to have freedom to release some of his less commercial works (which later expanded to works by his associates, mostly members of P-M ...

(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 Urgun ( ps, ارګون) is the main town of the Urgun District of Paktika Province, Afghanistan. With an estimated population of 10,665,Pavlovskoye Reservoir Pavlovsky (masculine), Pavlovskaya (feminine), or Pavlovskoye (neuter) may refer to: *Pavlovsky (surname) Places *Pavlovsky District, several districts in Russia *Pavlovskoye Urban Settlement, several municipal urban settlements in Russia *Pavlo ...

(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 Yamantau (1,638 m) * Mount Bolshoy Iremel (1,582 m) * Mount Maly Iremel (1,449 m) *

Mount Arwyakryaz Mount is often used as part of the name of specific mountains, e.g. Mount Everest. Mount or Mounts may also refer to: Places * Mount, Cornwall, a village in Warleggan parish, England * Mount, Perranzabuloe, a hamlet in Perranzabuloe parish, C ...

(1,068 m) *

Mount Zilmerdaq Mount is often used as part of the name of specific mountains, e.g. Mount Everest. Mount or Mounts may also refer to: Places * Mount, Cornwall, a village in Warleggan parish, England * Mount, Perranzabuloe, a hamlet in Perranzabuloe parish, C ...

(909 m) *

Mount Alataw Mount is often used as part of the name of specific mountains, e.g. Mount Everest. Mount or Mounts may also refer to: Places * Mount, Cornwall, a village in Warleggan parish, England * Mount, Perranzabuloe, a hamlet in Perranzabuloe parish, C ...

(845 m) *

Mount Yurmataw Mount is often used as part of the name of specific mountains, e.g. Mount Everest. Mount or Mounts may also refer to: Places * Mount, Cornwall, a village in Warleggan parish, England * Mount, Perranzabuloe, a hamlet in Perranzabuloe parish, C ...

(842 m)

Natural resources

The Republic of Bashkortostan is one of the richest territories of Russia in mineral resources with deposits of some 3,000 mineral resources. Bashkortostan is rich in crude oil reserves, and is one of the principal centers of oil extraction in the

Russian Federation Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eig ...

. Other major resources are

natural gas Natural gas (also called fossil gas or simply gas) is a naturally occurring mixture of gaseous hydrocarbons consisting primarily of methane in addition to various smaller amounts of other higher alkanes. Low levels of trace gases like carbon d ...

coal Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock, formed as rock strata called coal seams. Coal is mostly carbon with variable amounts of other elements, chiefly hydrogen, sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen. Coal is formed when ...

, ferrous metal ores,

manganese Manganese is a chemical element with the Symbol (chemistry), symbol Mn and atomic number 25. It is a hard, brittle, silvery metal, often found in minerals in combination with iron. Manganese is a transition metal with a multifaceted array of ...

chromite Chromite is a crystalline mineral composed primarily of iron(II) oxide and chromium(III) oxide compounds. It can be represented by the chemical formula of FeCr2O4. It is an oxide mineral belonging to the spinel group. The element magnesium can ...

, iron ores, non-ferrous metals ores (

lead Lead is a chemical element with the symbol Pb (from the Latin ) and atomic number 82. It is a heavy metal that is denser than most common materials. Lead is soft and malleable, and also has a relatively low melting point. When freshly cut, ...

tungsten Tungsten, or wolfram, is a chemical element with the symbol W and atomic number 74. Tungsten is a rare metal found naturally on Earth almost exclusively as compounds with other elements. It was identified as a new element in 1781 and first isol ...

), non-metallic ores ( rock crystal, fluorite, Iceland spar,

sulfide Sulfide (British English also sulphide) is an inorganic anion of sulfur with the chemical formula S2− or a compound containing one or more S2− ions. Solutions of sulfide salts are corrosive. ''Sulfide'' also refers to chemical compounds la ...

pyrite The mineral pyrite (), or iron pyrite, also known as fool's gold, is an iron sulfide with the chemical formula Iron, FeSulfur, S2 (iron (II) disulfide). Pyrite is the most abundant sulfide mineral. Pyrite's metallic Luster (mineralogy), lust ...

barite Baryte, barite or barytes ( or ) is a mineral consisting of barium sulfate ( Ba S O4). Baryte is generally white or colorless, and is the main source of the element barium. The ''baryte group'' consists of baryte, celestine (strontium sulfate), ...

silicates In chemistry, a silicate is any member of a family of polyatomic anions consisting of silicon and oxygen, usually with the general formula , where . The family includes orthosilicate (), metasilicate (), and pyrosilicate (, ). The name ...

silica Silicon dioxide, also known as silica, is an oxide of silicon with the chemical formula , most commonly found in nature as quartz and in various living organisms. In many parts of the world, silica is the major constituent of sand. Silica is ...

asbestos Asbestos () is a naturally occurring fibrous silicate mineral. There are six types, all of which are composed of long and thin fibrous crystals, each fibre being composed of many microscopic "fibrils" that can be released into the atmosphere b ...

, talcum), deposits of precious and semi-precious stones and natural stones (

malachite Malachite is a copper carbonate hydroxide mineral, with the formula Cu2CO3(OH)2. This opaque, green-banded mineral crystallizes in the monoclinic crystal system, and most often forms botryoidal, fibrous, or stalagmitic masses, in fracture ...

jade Jade is a mineral used as jewellery or for ornaments. It is typically green, although may be yellow or white. Jade can refer to either of two different silicate minerals: nephrite (a silicate of calcium and magnesium in the amphibole group ...

granite Granite () is a coarse-grained ( phaneritic) intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly cools and solidifies un ...

). The republic has enough mineral resources to provide its power and fuel complex as well as petrochemical, chemical, agro-industrial complex, ferrous and non-ferrous metallurgy, glass-making and ceramic branches with raw materials. Bashkortostan is one of the major raw materials bases for Russia non-ferrous metallurgy. The republic has good deposits of

lignite Lignite, often referred to as brown coal, is a soft, brown, combustible, sedimentary rock formed from naturally compressed peat. It has a carbon content around 25–35%, and is considered the lowest rank of coal due to its relatively low heat ...

with a high degree of

bitumen Asphalt, also known as bitumen (, ), is a sticky, black, highly viscous liquid or semi-solid form of petroleum. It may be found in natural deposits or may be a refined product, and is classed as a pitch. Before the 20th century, the term a ...

. This lignite can be used for obtaining a variety of different chemical products like resins, surface-active substances, gummy

fertilizer A fertilizer (American English) or fertiliser (British English; see spelling differences) is any material of natural or synthetic origin that is applied to soil or to plant tissues to supply plant nutrients. Fertilizers may be distinct from ...

s, and other stimulants for plant growth. Mining-chemical raw materials ( rock salt, lime, phosphorites, barytes, etc.) are quite substantial, and are utilized in the republic economy. Bashkortostan is also rich in woods. The total territory covered with forests is about . More than one third of the republic territory is covered with woods. The following types of trees dominate:

birch A birch is a thin-leaved deciduous hardwood tree of the genus ''Betula'' (), in the family Betulaceae, which also includes alders, hazels, and hornbeams. It is closely related to the beech- oak family Fagaceae. The genus ''Betula'' cont ...

tree, conifers, lime, oak, and

maple ''Acer'' () is a genus of trees and shrubs commonly known as maples. The genus is placed in the family Sapindaceae.Stevens, P. F. (2001 onwards). Angiosperm Phylogeny Website. Version 9, June 2008 nd more or less continuously updated since h ...

. The general stock of timber according to some evaluation is 717.9 million m³. Bashkortostan forests have special sanctuaries and national parks. They cover more than . Bashkortostan is also rich in springs and sources of

mineral In geology and mineralogy, a mineral or mineral species is, broadly speaking, a solid chemical compound with a fairly well-defined chemical composition and a specific crystal structure that occurs naturally in pure form.John P. Rafferty, ed. (2 ...

, medicinal, and drinking water. The Asselian Age at the start of the

Permian The Permian ( ) is a geologic period and stratigraphic system which spans 47 million years from the end of the Carboniferous Period million years ago (Mya), to the beginning of the Triassic Period 251.9 Mya. It is the last period of the Paleo ...

Period of geological time is named after the Assel River in Bashkortostan.

Climate

*''Average annual temperature'': (mountains) to (plains) *''Average January temperature'': *''Average July temperature'':

Administrative divisions

Politics

The head of the

government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive, and judiciary. Government i ...

of the Republic of Bashkortostan is the Head (before 1 January 2015 the title was called "President"). According to the

Constitution A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organisation or other type of entity and commonly determine how that entity is to be governed. When these pr ...

, the Head of the Republic of Bashkortostan guarantees rights and liberties of the country's people and citizens, protects economic and political interests of the Republic of Bashkortostan, and secures legitimacy, law, and order within its territory. Since 11 October 2018, the head of the

Head of the Republic of Bashkortostan ) (from 01.01.2015) Head (russian: Глава) (in russian from 01.01.2015) , member_of = Government of the Republic of Bashkortostan , residence = Republic House , seat = 46 Tukaeva Street,Ufa, 450101 E-mail: [email protected] , appointer = ...

has been Radiy Khabirov. He was first appointed as acting head by the Russian President

Vladimir Putin Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin; (born 7 October 1952) is a Russian politician and former intelligence officer who holds the office of president of Russia. Putin has served continuously as president or prime minister since 1999: as prime min ...

. In 2019 he was officially elected after winning 82% of the vote in the

2019 Bashkir head election The 2019 Bashkir head election was held on 8 September 2019 in the autonomous republic of Bashkortostan. The result was a victory for Radiy Khabirov who won 82.02% of the vote. Background Since July 2010, Bashkortostan was headed by President R ...

. The next election will be in 2024. Before his current role, Radiy Khabirov was the Head of Krasnogorsk, Moscow Oblast. His predecessor was

Rustem Khamitov , image = Rustem Zakievich Khamitov.jpg , imagesize = , order = 2nd Head of the Republic of Bashkortostan , term_start = 19 July 2010 , term_end = 11 October 2018 , predecessor = Murtaza Rakhimov , successor = Radiy Khabirov (Acting) , pr ...

who was the leader since 19 July 2010. He resigned on 11 October 2018 ahead of the election because he personally decided to not run for re-election. The Republic's

parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: representing the electorate, making laws, and overseeing the government via hearings and inquiries. Th ...

is the State Assembly—Kurultai, popularly elected every five years. The one-chamber State Assembly has 110 deputies. The Republic's

was adopted on 24 December 1993. Article 1 of the Constitution stipulates that Bashkortostan is a sovereign state within Russia, it has state power beyond the limits of authority of the Russian Federation and the powers of the Russian Federation concerning the aspect of the joint authority of the Russian Federation and the Republic of Bashkortostan. The Republic of Bashkortostan is a full-fledged subject of the Russian Federation on equal and agreed bases. The relations of the Republic of Bashkortostan and the Russian Federation are at present based on the articles of the Constitution of the Russian Federation, the

Constitution of the Republic of Bashkortostan The Constitution of the Republic of Bashkortostan (russian: Конституция Республики Башкортостан) is the supreme law of Bashkortostan, Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinenta ...

, the Federative Treaty (with amendments) and the Agreement on Separation of authorities and powers and mutual delegating of powers among the organs of state power of the Republic of Bashkortostan. The judicial power of the republic is in the hands of the Constitutional Court, the Supreme Court, the Court of Appeals, District Courts, and justices of the peace. In full accord with universally recognized principles of international law, articles of the European Charter of Local Self-Government and the Constitution of the Russian Federation, the Republic of Bashkortostan ensures in its Constitution that local self-government is recognized and guaranteed within the republic's territory. The Republic of Bashkortostan resolves all issues of administrative-territorial structure on its own. The list of districts and towns, municipalities, as well as the order of establishing, amending and changing borders of municipalities and their names, are stipulated by the Republic of Bashkortostan law "On administrative-territorial structure of the Republic of Bashkortostan and territory of municipalities". The state has strong economic and cultural ties with its western neighbour, the Republic of Tatarstan.

Economy

Bashkortostan is one of the most developed regions of the Russian Federation in terms of its cross regional output, the volume of industrial production, agricultural production, and investment in fixed assets. The largest companies in the region include

Bashneft Bashneft is a Russian oil company formed by the transfer of the oil related assets of the Soviet oil ministry in Bashkortostan to the regional government of the Republic of Bashkortostan by Boris Yeltsin Boris Nikolayevich Yeltsin ( rus, ...

(revenues of $ billion in 2017),

Ufa Engine Industrial Association Ufa ( ba, Өфө , Öfö; russian: Уфа́, r=Ufá, p=ʊˈfa) is the largest city and capital of Bashkortostan, Russia. The city lies at the confluence of the Belaya and Ufa rivers, in the centre-north of Bashkortostan, on hills forming the ...

(part of United Engine Corporation; $ billion),

Peton Holding Peton may refer to: * Piton A piton (; also called ''pin'' or ''peg'') in climbing is a metal spike (usually steel) that is driven into a crack or seam in the climbing surface using a climbing hammer, and which acts as an anchor for prote ...

($ billion), Bashkhim ($ million), Ufaorgsintez ($ million),

Beloretsk Iron and Steel Works Beloretsk Iron and Steel Works (russian: Белорецкий металлургический комбинат, ''Beloretskiy Metallurgicheskiy Kombinat''; ba, Белорет металлургия комбинаты,), abbreviated as BMK, is th ...

($ million). The extraction of

crude oil Petroleum, also known as crude oil, or simply oil, is a naturally occurring yellowish-black liquid mixture of mainly hydrocarbons, and is found in geological formations. The name ''petroleum'' covers both naturally occurring unprocessed crude ...

in Bashkiria began in 1932. At the end of 1943 large crude oil deposits were discovered. During the

Great Patriotic War The Eastern Front of World War II was a theatre of conflict between the European Axis powers against the Soviet Union (USSR), Poland and other Allies, which encompassed Central Europe, Eastern Europe, Northeast Europe (Baltics), an ...

of 1941 to 1945, Bashkiria became one of the major regions of the Soviet Union to accommodate plants and factories evacuated from Western Russia, as well as great masses of people, while also providing the country with weaponry, fuel, and foodstuffs. After the war, a number of industries developed further in Bashkiria, such as mining, machine-building and (especially) oil-refining. Bashkiria's industry became a solid base for the further economic growth of all European outlying territories of Russia. The economy of Bashkortostan, being one of the largest industrial centers of Russia, is very diverse. Bashkortostan has a large agricultural sector. But the republic's most important industry is chemical processing; Bashkortostan produces more oil than any other region of Russia, about 26 million tons annually, and provides 17% of the country's

gasoline Gasoline (; ) or petrol (; ) (see ) is a transparent, petroleum-derived flammable liquid that is used primarily as a fuel in most spark-ignited internal combustion engines (also known as petrol engines). It consists mostly of organic c ...

and 15% of its

diesel Diesel may refer to: * Diesel engine, an internal combustion engine where ignition is caused by compression * Diesel fuel, a liquid fuel used in diesel engines * Diesel locomotive, a railway locomotive in which the prime mover is a diesel engi ...

fuel. Other important products manufactured in Bashkortostan include

alcohols In chemistry, an alcohol is a type of organic compound that carries at least one hydroxyl () functional group bound to a saturated carbon atom. The term ''alcohol'' originally referred to the primary alcohol ethanol (ethyl alcohol), which is ...

pesticide Pesticides are substances that are meant to control pests. This includes herbicide, insecticide, nematicide, molluscicide, piscicide, avicide, rodenticide, bactericide, insect repellent, animal repellent, microbicide, fungicide, and ...

s, and

plastics Plastics are a wide range of synthetic or semi-synthetic materials that use polymers as a main ingredient. Their plasticity makes it possible for plastics to be moulded, extruded or pressed into solid objects of various shapes. This adaptabi ...

. Bashkortostan's gross regional product (GRP) in 2016 was 1.34 trillion rubles, making the republic the subject with the ninth-highest GRP in Russia. The state had a positive trade balance, with $13.7 billion exported and $1.2 billion imported in 2013. 82.9% of enterprises in Bashkortostan are profitable, higher than the nationwide average of 68.42%. Bashkortostan has been recognized as the subject with the lowest economic risk. Bashkortostan is among the leaders in real estate development, developed electric power industry and tourism. According to ''

Forbes ''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine owned by Integrated Whale Media Investments and the Forbes family. Published eight times a year, it features articles on finance, industry, investing, and marketing topics. ''Forbes'' also r ...

'', Ufa is the best city in Russia for business among cities with a population of over one million (2013).

Structure of GRP

GRP structure of Bashkortostan for 2013. File:Russian Navy Kamov Ka-31.jpg, Ka-31 helicopter, produced in Kumertau. File:DT-30P1 Vityaz 1.jpg, DT-30 amphibious ATV, made in Ishimbay. File:117C for Su-35.jpg, AL-41F1 engine for PAK FA fifth-generation fighter and

Su-35S The Sukhoi Su-35 (russian: link=no, Сухой Су-35; NATO reporting name: Flanker-E) is the designation for two improved derivatives of the Su-27 air-defence fighter. They are single-seat, twin-engine, supermaneuverable aircraft, designe ...

, produced in Ufa. File:Автобус НефАЗ-VDL "Башавтотранс" на улицах г.Уфы..jpg, Nefaz-VDL bus of Neftekamsk Automotive Plant.

Demographics

Settlements

Population development

Life expectancy in Russian subject -Bashkortostan

Vital statistics

:Source
Russian Federal State Statistics Service
Note: Total fertility rate 200-12 source.

Ethnic groups

Bashkirs as the indigenous (autochthonal) peoples of Bashkortostan have the sole rights to self-determination. According to the 2010 Census, the ethnic composition was: *

Russians , native_name_lang = ru , image = , caption = , population = , popplace = 118 million Russians in the Russian Federation (2002 '' Winkler Prins'' estimate) , region1 = , pop1 ...

36.1% * Bashkirs 29.5% * Volga Tatars 25.4% * Chuvash 2.7% * Mari 2.6% *

Ukrainians Ukrainians ( uk, Українці, Ukraintsi, ) are an East Slavic ethnic group native to Ukraine. They are the seventh-largest nation in Europe. The native language of the Ukrainians is Ukrainian. The majority of Ukrainians are Eastern Ort ...

1% * Mordovians 0.5% * Udmurts 0.5% *

Belarusians , native_name_lang = be , pop = 9.5–10 million , image = , caption = , popplace = 7.99 million , region1 = , pop1 = 600,000–768,000 , region2 = , pop2 ...

0.3%

Languages

According to the 2010 Census, spoken languages: Russian (97%),

Tatar The Tatars ()Tatar
in the Collins English Dictionary is an umbrella term for different

(26%), Bashkir (23%).

Religion

Islam Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God (or '' Allah'') as it was revealed to Muhammad, the ...

is adhered to by a

majority A majority, also called a simple majority or absolute majority to distinguish it from related terms, is more than half of the total.Dictionary definitions of ''majority'' aMerriam-WebsterBashkir and

Tatar The Tatars ()Tatar
in the Collins English Dictionary is an umbrella term for different

descent. The

Muslim Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...

s of Bashkortostan follow the

Sunni Sunni Islam () is the largest branch of Islam, followed by 85–90% of the world's Muslims. Its name comes from the word '' Sunnah'', referring to the tradition of Muhammad. The differences between Sunni and Shia Muslims arose from a dis ...

Hanafi The Hanafi school ( ar, حَنَفِية, translit=Ḥanafiyah; also called Hanafite in English), Hanafism, or the Hanafi fiqh, is the oldest and one of the four traditional major Sunni schools ( maddhab) of Islamic Law (Fiqh). It is named a ...

school of Islamic law. Most ethnic Russians, Chuvash, and Ukrainians are Orthodox Christians. Most Mari are Pagan. Non-religious people form a substantial part of any ethnic group in Bashkortostan. There are 13,000 Jews in the republic, with a historic

synagogue A synagogue, ', 'house of assembly', or ', "house of prayer"; Yiddish: ''shul'', Ladino: or ' (from synagogue); or ', "community". sometimes referred to as shul, and interchangeably used with the word temple, is a Jewish house of wor ...

in Ufa, and a new Jewish Community Center built in 2008. According to the 2012 Sreda survey which interviewed 56,900 people, 58% of the population of Bashkortostan are

, 17% adhere to the

Russian Orthodox Church , native_name_lang = ru , image = Moscow July 2011-7a.jpg , imagewidth = , alt = , caption = Cathedral of Christ the Saviour in Moscow, Russia , abbreviation = ROC , type ...

, 3% are unaffiliated generic

Christians Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρ� ...

, 1% are Orthodox Christian believers without belonging to any church or members of other Orthodox churches, and 2% are adherents of the Slavic native faith (Rodnovery), the

Mari native religion The Mari religion ( Mari: Чимарий йӱла, ''Čimarii jüla''), also known as Mari paganism, is the ethnic religion of the Mari people, a Volga Finnic ethnic group based in the republic of Mari El, in Russia. The religion has undergone c ...

, Chuvash

Vattisen Yaly Vattisen Yaly ( cv, Ваттисен йӑли, ''Tradition of the Old'') is a contemporary revival of the ethnic religion of the Chuvash people, a Turkic ethnicity of Bulgar ancestry mostly settled in the republic of Chuvashia and surroundin ...

Tengrism Tengrism (also known as Tengriism, Tengerism, or Tengrianism) is an ethnic and old state Turko- Mongolic religion originating in the Eurasian steppes, based on folk shamanism, animism and generally centered around the titular sky god Tengri. ...

. In addition, 4% of the population declare to be "spiritual but not religious", 5% are

atheist Atheism, in the broadest sense, is an absence of belief in the existence of deities. Less broadly, atheism is a rejection of the belief that any deities exist. In an even narrower sense, atheism is specifically the position that there no ...

, and 7% follow other religions or did not give an answer to the question. Note, however, that this survey has been criticized as biased. It was conducted by the service "Sreda", which has ties to the Christian organizations. In 2010, there were over 1,000 mosques in Bashkortostan, 200 Orthodox churches and 60 religious buildings of other confessions.

Education

About sixty scientific organizations are active in the republic. Fundamental and applied scientific

research Research is "creative and systematic work undertaken to increase the stock of knowledge". It involves the collection, organization and analysis of evidence to increase understanding of a topic, characterized by a particular attentiveness ...

is underway at twelve institutes of the Russian Academy of Sciences, twenty-nine institutes of different branches of industry, as well as numerous design bureaus and organizations, universities, and colleges. The country's system of popular education took shape over many centuries and reflects the Bashkir people's

folklore Folklore is shared by a particular group of people; it encompasses the traditions common to that culture, subculture or group. This includes oral traditions such as tales, legends, proverbs and jokes. They include material culture, rangin ...

nation A nation is a community of people formed on the basis of a combination of shared features such as language, history, ethnicity, culture and/or society. A nation is thus the collective identity of a group of people understood as defined by th ...

al customs, and

tradition A tradition is a belief or behavior (folk custom) passed down within a group or society with symbolic meaning or special significance with origins in the past. A component of cultural expressions and folklore, common examples include holidays or ...

s. When

spread in Bashkiria in the 10th century, an educational system began to emerge gradually— primarily religious schools operated under the supervision of

mosque A mosque (; from ar, مَسْجِد, masjid, ; literally "place of ritual prostration"), also called masjid, is a place of prayer for Muslims. Mosques are usually covered buildings, but can be any place where prayers ( sujud) are performed, ...

s ( and madrasah). In addition, many institutions of higher education operate in the republic, including branches of 16 leading Russian universities and colleges. Specialists graduate with degrees in about 200 trades and

profession A profession is a field of work that has been successfully '' professionalized''. It can be defined as a disciplined group of individuals, '' professionals'', who adhere to ethical standards and who hold themselves out as, and are accepted b ...

s. Education is primarily in Russian and Bashkir.

Sport

Russian Premier League football club FC Ufa is from Ufa.

KHL The Kontinental Hockey League (KHL; russian: Континентальная хоккейная лига (КХЛ), Kontinental'naya khokkeynaya liga) is an international professional ice hockey league founded in 2008. It comprises member clubs b ...

team

Salavat Yulaev Ufa Hockey Club Salavat Yulaev (russian: Хоккейный клуб «Салават Юлаев», Hokkejnyj klub «Salavat Julajev»; ba, «Салауат Юлаев» хоккей клубы, «Salawat Yulayev» xokkey klubı), commonly referred ...

plays in the city, as does Supreme Hockey League teams Toros Neftekamsk and

HC Gornyak Uchaly Gornyak-UGMK are a Russian Ice Hockey team based in Verkhnyaya Pyshma, Russia. History Founded in 2012, they play in the Supreme Hockey League having joined the league in 2017, and are the farm team of the Kontinental Hockey League's Avtomobilist ...

Minor Hockey League The Junior Hockey League (JHL) (russian: Молодежная Хоккейная Лига (МХЛ), Molodezhnaya Hokkeinaya Liga), sometimes translated as the ''Minor'' or ''Youth'' Hockey League, is a major junior ice hockey league in Eurasi ...

team Tolpar Ufa and Russian Women's Hockey League team

Agidel Agidel (russian: Агиде́ль; ba, Ағиҙел, ''Ağiźel''; tt-Cyrl, Агыйдел, translit=Ağıydel) is a town in the Republic of Bashkortostan, Russia, located near the border with the Republic of Tatarstan. Population: Etymology ...

Russian Volleyball Super League The Russian Volleyball Super League (RVSL) (russian: Волейбольная суперлига) is the top league of Russian professional volleyball. It was founded in 1992, and it is considered to be the continuer of the Soviet top league, f ...

team Ural and volleyball team Samrau-UGNTU are from Ufa.

Russian Handball Super League The Russian Handball Super League (RHSL) is the top men's professional team handball league in Russia. In reaction to the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, the International Handball Federation banned Russian and Belarus athletes and officials, ...

team Ugntu-VNZM and Russian Women's Handball Super League team Ufa-Alisa are from Ufa.

Formula One Formula One (also known as Formula 1 or F1) is the highest class of international racing for open-wheel single-seater formula racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The World Drivers' Championship, ...

driver Daniil Kvyat hails from Ufa. It was decided in 2018 to revive bandy. There are even preliminary plans for building an indoor arena.

Culture

Bashkortostan is home to song and dance companies, a network of national theaters, museums, and libraries, and a number of annual folk festivals. The republic has seven Bashkir, four Russian, and two Tatar State Drama Theaters, a State Opera and Ballet Theater, a National Symphony Orchestra, "Bashkortostan" film studio, thirty philharmonic collectives, and the Bashkir State Folk Dance Ensemble. The Bashkir School of Dance is well respected, with many students receiving international awards at competitions in Russia and other countries. World-renowned ballet dancer

Rudolf Nureyev Rudolf Khametovich Nureyev ( ; Tatar/ Bashkir: Рудольф Хәмит улы Нуриев; rus, Рудо́льф Хаме́тович Нуре́ев, p=rʊˈdolʲf xɐˈmʲetəvʲɪtɕ nʊˈrʲejɪf; 17 March 19386 January 1993) was a Soviet ...

, as a child, was encouraged to dance in Bashkir folk performances, and began his dancing career in Ufa. Bashkir literature is the literary tradition of the Republic of Bashkortostan. There are many museums in the Republic where you can get acquainted with the history of the region. The

National Museum of the Republic of Bashkortostan National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, c ...

, the

Bashkir Nesterov Art Museum The Bashkir Nesterov Art Museum is an art museum in Ufa, Bashkortostan, Russia. It was established in 1920 by the Government of Bashkortostan. The museum was named in honor of Mikhail Nesterov, a Russian painter and Ufa native. The museum's col ...