Udmurtia, or the Udmurt Republic, is a subject of the Russian
Federation, a republic within it. It is part of the Volga Federal
District and is part of the Ural Economic Region. It borders in the west
and north with the Kirov region, in the east with the Perm Territory, in
the south with Tatarstan, and in the southeast with Bashkortostan. The
capital is the city of Izhevsk.
Established as the Udmurt (until
1931 - Votskaya) autonomous region on November 4, 1920. On December 28,
1934, it was transformed into the Udmurt Autonomous Socialist Soviet
Republic. On September 20, 1990, the Supreme Council of the Republic
adopted the Declaration of State Sovereignty of the Udmurt Republic.
Since October 11, 1991 - the Udmurt Republic.
Pervomaisky (Zavyalovsky district)
The first permanent human settlements in the Kama region appeared 8-6 thousand years BC. There are several known archaeological cultures associated with the Permians (ancestors of the Komi and Udmurts) - Ananyinskaya, Pyanoborskaya, Polomskaya and Chepetskaya. At the turn of the 1st-2nd millennium AD, the formation of the Udmurt ethnos itself took place (the old Russian name for the Udmurts is Otyaks, Votyaks).
By the 16th century, the northern Udmurts became part of the Russian
state, and the southern ones were part of the Kazan Khanate. After Tsar
Ivan the Terrible conquered Kazan in 1552, the southern Udmurts also
became part of the Russian kingdom. In 1731, a commission of newly
baptized affairs was established for the Kazan and Nizhny Novgorod
dioceses, and the mass conversion of Udmurts to Christianity began.
In 1774-1775, residents of the southern Kama region took part in the
peasant war under the leadership of Emelyan Pugachev.
In the
second half of the 19th century, there was a rapid development of
industrial production, new factories, schools, and gymnasiums were
opened. In 1899, a through railway line was built from Perm to Kotlas.
In the 18th - early 20th centuries, the Udmurt lands were part of
the Vyatka province (Glazov and Sarapul, partially Elabuga and Malmyzh
districts).
As a state entity, Udmurtia arose after the October Socialist
Revolution. In 1918-1919, battles between the Red Army and the White
Guards took place on the territory of modern Udmurtia. On July 31, 1918,
the Udmurt (Votsky) department was established under the People's
Commissariat for Nationalities Affairs (Narkomnats), which began
preparations for the creation of autonomy for the Udmurt people. On
November 4, 1920, V.I. Lenin signed a decree (according to other
sources, a decree) of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee and
the Council of People's Commissars of the RSFSR on the formation of a
number of new autonomous regions, which, in particular, stated:
to form... autonomous regions of working peoples - Kalmyk, Mari and
Votyak.
At a joint meeting of the regional bureau of the RCP (b)
and the Revolutionary Committee, it was decided to declare February 27,
1921 as a day to celebrate the formation of the Votsk Autonomous Region.
On January 1, 1932, by resolution of the All-Russian Central
Executive Committee of the USSR, the name of the region was changed:
Due to the fact that the indigenous population of the Votsk
Autonomous Region... is an Udmurt people.
rename the Votsk Autonomous
Region to the Udmurt Autonomous Region.
On December 28, 1934, the
All-Russian Central Executive Committee of the USSR adopted a resolution
“On the transformation of the Udmurt Autonomous Region into the Udmurt
Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic.”
On March 14, 1937, the
Second Extraordinary Congress of Soviets of the Udmurt Autonomous Soviet
Socialist Republic adopted the first constitution of the Udmurt
Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic.
During the Great Patriotic
War, about 40 enterprises were evacuated to Udmurtia, and the production
of weapons for the front was also established. In the post-war period,
many large industrial enterprises were built on the territory of
Udmurtia - an automobile plant, Izhtyazhbummash and others.
On
June 20, 1958, the Udmurt Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic was
awarded the Order of Lenin, a number of outstanding representatives of
the republic were awarded the title of Hero of Socialist Labor, and
other high state awards were presented.
In 1970, the republic was
awarded the Order of the October Revolution.
And on December 20,
1972, she was awarded the Order of Friendship of Peoples; in honor of
this, the “Friendship of Peoples” monument was opened in Izhevsk, which
is still the main memorable and visiting card of the capital of the
Udmurt Republic.
On May 31, 1978, the Supreme Council of the
Udmurt ASSR adopted the new Constitution of the UASSR.
On October 11, 1991, the Supreme Council of the Udmurt Autonomous
Soviet Socialist Republic adopted a law according to which the Udmurt
Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic acquired a new name - the Udmurt
Republic. The collapse of the USSR caused a deep crisis in the economy
of Udmurtia, which hit the engineering industry especially hard.
On December 7, 1994, the Constitution of the Udmurt Republic was
adopted.
The republic is located in the European part of Russia in the east of the East European Plain (in the Cis-Urals), approximately between 56°00' and 58°30' north latitude and 51°15' and 54°30' east longitude, in the basins of the Kama and Vyatka rivers. The length of the territory from west to east is 180 kilometers, from north to south - 270 kilometers.
The territory of Udmurtia is located on the Kama part of the East European Plain, which gradually turns into the Urals. The plain alternates between elevated and lowland areas, cut by numerous river valleys, ravines, and ravines. The surface of the republic's territory has a slight slope from east to west and from north to south. The highest point is 332.6 meters, located in the northeast of the republic on the Verkhnekamsk Upland. The lowest point of the republic is 52 meters, in the southwestern part, almost on the border with the Republic of Tatarstan, in the floodplain of the Vyatka River.
Udmurtia is located in an inland climate zone, which is characterized
by hot summers and cold, snowy winters.
The average annual
temperature in the republic ranges from 1.0 to 2.5 °C. The warmest month
of the year is July (+17.5…+19 °C), the coldest is January (−14…−15 °C).
Maximum temperatures reach +38…+39 °C. The absolute minimum was recorded
on December 31, 1978, when the temperature dropped below −50 °C. The
period with an average daily temperature below 0 °C lasts 160-175 days,
starting at the end of October and ending at the beginning of April.
The average annual precipitation is 500–600 mm. During the warm
period (above 0 °C) 65-75% of the annual precipitation falls. The
maximum precipitation occurs in July (62–74 mm), the minimum in February
(24–32 mm). The northeastern part of the republic is moistened most by
precipitation, and the southwestern part the least. The growing season
lasts about 150 days.
Stable snow cover forms in early to
mid-November, and at the latest in early December. Its height reaches
its maximum in mid-March, on average 50-60 cm. The average duration of
snow cover is 160-175 days.
The territory of Udmurtia belongs to the Kama River basin and has a
dense, well-developed river network. The total length of all the rivers
of the republic is approximately 30 thousand km. Both of the largest
rivers in the region - the Kama and Vyatka - have their sources in the
north of the republic, but after a few kilometers they leave its
territory. Having traveled hundreds of kilometers, both rivers return to
Udmurtia - in the southeast and southwest, respectively.
Most of
the rivers of Udmurtia are up to 10 km long - their number exceeds 7000.
The number of small rivers (from 10 to 100 km long) is 368, and medium
(from 100 to 500 km) and large (more than 500 km) - 17. The largest
rivers:
The rivers are predominantly fed by snow. The average
time for freeze-up is mid-to-late November, break-up is mid-to-late
April. The flood begins approximately in mid-April and lasts from 1
month (small rivers) to 40-45 days (large rivers). Of the rivers, only
the Kama and Vyatka are navigable.
There are more than 600 ponds
on the territory of the republic (including 190 ponds with a surface
area of more than 2 hectares), of which the largest are Izhevsky,
Votkinsk, Kambarsky and Pudemsky. From the southeast and south, Udmurtia
is washed by the Votkinsk and Nizhnekamsk reservoirs, formed on the Kama
River as a result of the construction of hydroelectric dams.
Underground water sources play an important role, thanks to the large
number of which Udmurtia received the unofficial name “Spring Land”.
More than 60 million m³ are extracted from them annually for drinking
water, technical and agricultural needs. The springs have a different
composition: from weakly mineralized sulfate-sodium composition to
concentrated sodium chloride and chloride-calcium-sodium brines
containing iodine, bromine, strontium and other elements. In medical and
health institutions, mineral water is bottled. The most significant
mineral springs are Varzi-Yatchinsky (sulfate-calcium waters),
Novo-Izhevsky, Kiznersky and Uvinsky (iodine-bromide waters).
On the territory of Udmurtia the following have been created and are
functioning:
Nechkinsky National Park, located on the coast of the
Kama River;
Natural Park "Sharkan" (Sharkansky district);
Natural
Park "Ust-Belsk" (Karakulinsky district);
State Nature Reserve
"Kokmansky";
State natural botanical reserve "Andreevsky Pine
Forest",
and some other reserves and specially protected natural
areas and natural monuments.
Udmurtia is located in the MSC+1 time zone. The applied time offset relative to UTC is +4:00
The main subsoil resource of the republic is oil, 60% of which are
classified as hard-to-recover. Proven industrial oil reserves are
approximately 380 million tons, with annual production of 10 million
tons. In total, there are 114 oil fields on the state balance sheet, 72
of which are in development, and 32 are prepared for industrial
development. The largest deposits are Chutyrskoye, Kiengopskoye,
Mishkinskoye, Gremikhinskoye, Elnikovskoye, Vyatskoye, Karsovaiskoye.
The Udmurt Republic belongs to the Volga-Ural oil and gas province.
Oil exploration work on its territory began in 1945, and the first oil
fields appeared in 1969. Currently, all large deposits have been
developed for decades and are in the stage of declining production.
On the territory of Udmurtia, 619 peat deposits with a total reserve
of 204.7 million tons have been identified and recorded. There are 4
main peat extraction zones:
Cheptsy basin (Yarsky, Glazovsky,
Balezinsky, Kezsky, Yukamensky, Debyossky, Krasnogorsky, Igrinsky and
Sharkansky districts), the largest field is Dzyakino;
Kilmezi basin
(Seltinsky, Syumsinsky, Vavozhsky and Uvinsky districts), the largest
deposits are Nyurdor-Kotya, Orlovskoye, Chibyashur;
Prikamskaya
lowland (Zavyalovsky, Votkinsky, Sarapulsky, Kiyasovsky, Kambarsky,
Karakulinsky districts);
The southwestern lowland part of the Udmurt
Republic, the largest deposit is Karambay-Pychaskoe.
Brown and hard coals were mined in the republic. The main
coal-bearing areas are Kazakovsky (in the Alnashsky region) and
Kambarsky, coal-bearing strata that lie at a depth of 1000-1500 m. The
largest deposit is Golyushurminskoye.
In addition, the region has
industrial reserves of carbonate rocks (limestone), construction sand,
sand-gravel mixture, clay for the production of bricks and expanded
clay.
The territory of Udmurtia is poor in iron ores. Iron
ores—limonites—are found in the northwestern regions of the republic,
especially along the right bank of the Cheptsa, but their quality is
low. Currently, limonite reserves are depleted. Numerous siderite
concretions are found in the southeast, along the Kama and Kyrykmas
rivers.
At the beginning of 2018, the Territorial balance of
reserves of common minerals of the Udmurt Republic takes into account
542 subsoil areas (458 deposits and 84 occurrences): one deposit of
foundry sands, one deposit of fluxing limestone and 509 deposits and
occurrences of building materials, as well as 5 distributed peat
deposits, 26 deposits and manifestations of sapropel. By type of
minerals, building materials objects include: 214 objects of sand-gravel
mixture, 113 objects of brick clay rocks, 102 objects of construction
sands, 46 objects of limestone for chemical soil reclamation, 21 objects
of expanded clay clay rocks, 15 objects of limestone for building
stones, 10 objects soil sand-clay materials, 1 object of clays for
addition to the silicate mass, 1 object of thinning sands, 1 object of
sandstone. Reserves and resources of all deposits and occurrences of
organic mineral resources (without peat and sapropel) as of January 1,
2018 are: for category A+B+C1 - 491,958.7 thousand m³, C2 - 385,733.25
thousand m³, P - 133 951.4 thousand m³, off-balance sheet - 39,9624.4
thousand m³.
As of January 1, 2018, 161 subsoil plots were listed
on the balance sheet of 108 subsoil users.
The Udmurt Republic is a region with developed industry and diversified agricultural production. The republic has the highest concentration of defense enterprises in Russia. The republic has rich oil reserves; in 2006, 10.2 million tons were produced; in 2008, the oil refinery in Izhevsk was brought to full capacity. As of April 1, 2023, the state debt of Udmurtia amounts to 109.3% of the republican budget revenues.
The main industries are mechanical engineering, metalworking, ferrous metallurgy and woodworking. The energy sector is represented by a complex of thermal power plants in Izhevsk, Sarapul, Votkinsk and Glazov, the largest of which is Izhevsk CHPP-2. Metallurgical production is concentrated in Izhevsk, foundry production in Izhevsk and Votkinsk. The production of passenger cars and vans, paper-making machines, motorcycles, equipment for oil fields, hunting and sporting rifles, and chemical equipment stands out. Logging is carried out in the northern and western regions of the republic, wood is produced in the form of lumber, furniture and house-building structures are produced. A significant number of enterprises in the republic are associated with the military-industrial complex of Russia.
As of January 1, 2021, the rural population was 504,754 people, which
is 34% of the total population of the Udmurt Republic.
According
to natural and climatic conditions, Udmurtia belongs to the Volga-Vyatka
(4) region.
In 2020, the volume of agricultural production is
71.7 billion rubles, of which livestock products are 48.4 billion
rubles, crop production is 23.3 billion rubles. The production index was
104.3%.
Agricultural lands occupy up to 50% of the territory of
the republic. Livestock farming is dominated by cattle and pigs, sheep
and poultry are raised. Rye, wheat, buckwheat, barley, oats, millet,
peas, corn, sunflower, flax, rapeseed, potatoes, vegetables, and fodder
crops are grown.
As of January 1, 2021, in farms of all categories there were 333.9
thousand heads (-2.1 thousand compared to January 1, 2020) of cattle, of
which 132.2 thousand heads were cows, 254.9 thousand ( -9.6 thousand
compared to January 1, 2020) pigs, 53.4 thousand (-2.7 thousand compared
to January 1, 2020) sheep and goats, 3.2 thousand (-200 heads compared
to January 1, 2020) horses.
In 2020, milk was produced, including
goat milk, 870.8 thousand tons (+5.4%), 188.0 thousand tons (+4.7
thousand tons) were produced for slaughter of livestock and poultry (in
live weight), 1090 million eggs.
In 2020, the average milk yield
per cow was 7927 kg. Compared to 2019, the increase was 560 kg; over the
past five years, on average, productivity has increased by 1565 kg. 12
breeding plants and 28 breeding reproducers are involved in the
improvement of dairy animals in Udmurtia. In 2020, the number of highly
productive cows increased by 244%.
In 2020, the sown area of all categories of farms amounted to 921.4
thousand hectares, of which forage crops 556.8 thousand hectares, grain
crops 320.5 thousand hectares, potatoes 20.1 thousand hectares, open
ground vegetables 3.1 thousand ha.
In 2022, the gross grain
harvest amounted to 937 thousand tons, breaking the record of the
decade. The average yield is 27.9 c/ha. The indicator is high in the
farms of the Mozhginsky, Vavozhsky and Sharkansky districts.
The transport network of the republic is represented by road, rail
and air transport.
Several federal highways pass through the
territory of the republic: M7 (access to Izhevsk and Perm), P320, P321,
P322.
The only airport in the republic is located in the city of
Izhevsk. Air transportation is carried out by Izhavia JSC, which
operates regular flights to transport passengers and cargo on 14 air
lines, Aeroflot PJSC, which operates regular flights from Moscow
(Domodedovo Airport) and back, and Rossiya JSC.
Railway transport
plays a leading role in ensuring interregional connections of the Udmurt
Republic. It carries out the bulk of interregional transportation of
goods and passengers. The main directions are the lines:
“Kazan-Agryz-Ekaterinburg”, “Kirov-Balezino-Perm”,
“Balezino-Izhevsk-Alnashi”, “Izhevsk-Votkinsk”, “Lyukshudya-Kilmez”.