UfaUfa (Öfö; Уфа́) is the largest city in and the 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 Ufa Plateau to the west of the southern Ural Mountains, with a population of over 1.1 million residents, up to 1.4 million residents in the urban agglomeration. Ufa is the tenth-most populous city in Russia, and the fourth-most populous city in the Volga Federal District.
Bashkir languageBashkir (UKbæʃˈkɪə, USbɑːʃˈkɪər; Башҡортса Bashqortsa, Башҡорт теле Bashqort tele, bɑʂ'qʊ̞ɾt tɪ̞ˈlɪ̞) is a Turkic language belonging to the Kipchak branch. It is co-official with Russian in Bashkortostan. It is spoken by approximately 1.6 million native speakers in Russia, as well as in Ukraine, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Estonia and other neighboring post-Soviet states, and among the Bashkir diaspora. It has three dialect groups: Southern, Eastern and Northwestern.
BashkirsThe Bashkirs or Bashkorts (Başqorttar, bɑʃqortˈtɑr; Башкиры, bɐʂˈkjirɨ) are a Kipchak Turkic ethnic group indigenous to Russia. They are concentrated in Bashkortostan, a republic of the Russian Federation and in the broader historical region of Badzhgard, which spans both sides of the Ural Mountains, where Eastern Europe meets North Asia. Smaller communities of Bashkirs also live in the Republic of Tatarstan, the oblasts of Perm Krai, Chelyabinsk, Orenburg, Tyumen, Sverdlovsk and Kurgan and other regions in Russia; sizable minorities exist in Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan.
Ural (river)The Ural (Урал, ʊˈraɫ), known before 1775 as Yaik (Яик, Яйыҡ, jɑˈjɯq; Жайық, ʑɑˈjəq), is a river flowing through Russia and Kazakhstan in the continental border between Europe and Asia. It originates in the southern Ural Mountains and discharges into the Caspian Sea. At , it is the third-longest river in Europe after the Volga and the Danube, and the 18th-longest river in Asia. The Ural is conventionally considered part of the boundary between the continents of Europe and Asia.
ZlatoustZlatoust (Златоуст; zlətɐˈust) is a city in Chelyabinsk Oblast, Russia, located on the Ay River (in the Kama basin), west of Chelyabinsk. Population: 181,000 (1971); 161,000 (1959); 99,000 (1939); 48,000 (1926); 21,000 (1910). Apparently, the city's name is derived from the Russian translation of "Chrysostom", literally "golden-mouthed" in the original Greek, for the eloquent Saint John Chrysostom, because the city was founded near a church dedicated to that saint.
Vologda OblastVologda Oblast (Vologodskaya oblast, vəlɐˈɡotskəjə ˈobləsjtj; Vologdan agj) is a federal subject of Russia (an oblast). Its administrative center is Vologda. The oblast has a population of 1,202,444 (2010 Census). The largest city is Cherepovets, the home of the Severstal metallurgical plant, the largest industrial enterprise in the oblast. Vologda Oblast is home to many historic monuments, such as the Kirillo-Belozersky Monastery, Ferapontov Monastery (a World Heritage Site) with the frescoes of Dionisius, the two medieval towns of Velikiy Ustyug and Belozersk, and the baroque churches of Totma and Ustyuzhna.
MordvinsMordvins (also Mordvinians, Mordovians; Mordva; no equivalents in Moksha and Erzya) is an official term used in the Russian Federation to refer both to Erzyas and Mokshas since 1928. Soviet people According to recent Oxford studies: In Mordovia, policies aiming at the revival of the Mordvin languages started late. The language law and the education law were adopted only in 1998. Even these measures were controversial, as opinions differ concerning the status of the two standardized main language varieties and ethnic (sub) groups, Erzya and Moksha.
Oblasts of RussiaAn oblast (область) is a type of federal subject in Russia. Oblasts are constituent political entities in a federal union with representation in the Federation Council, and serve as a first-level administrative division. Each oblast features a state government holding authority over a defined geographic territory, with a state legislature, the Oblast Duma, that is democratically elected. The governor is the highest executive position of the state government in an Oblast, and is elected by people.
Volga GermansThe Volga Germans (Wolgadeutsche, ˈvɔlɡaˌdɔɪ̯t͡ʃə; povolzhskiye nemtsy) are ethnic Russia Germans who settled and historically lived along the Volga River in the region of southeastern European Russia around Saratov and close to Ukraine nearer to the south. Recruited as immigrants to Russia in the 18th century, they were allowed to maintain their German culture, language, traditions and churches (Lutheran, Reformed, Catholics, Moravians and Mennonites).
ArkaimArkaim (Аркаим) is a fortified archaeological site, dated to 2150-1650 BCE, belonging to Sintashta culture, situated in the steppe of the Southern Urals, north-northwest of the village of Amursky and east-southeast of the village of Alexandrovsky in the Chelyabinsk Oblast of Russia, just north of the border with Kazakhstan. It was discovered in 1987 by a team of archaeologists which later came under the leadership of Gennady Zdanovich. The realization of its importance unprecedentedly forestalled the planned flooding of the area for a reservoir.
