Russia and the Republic of Mordovia

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The Russian Federation was founded in 1991. It is the largest country in the world. Its total area is over 17 mln square km. Russia is situated both in Europe and Asia. It borders on 13 countries on land, and it is washed by 12 seas and 3 oceans. The population of Russia is about 150 mln people. There are more than 60 nationalities and ethnic groups in Russia. 83 per cent (%) of the population are Russians. Russia is divided into territories and regions. There are autonomous republics, autonomous regions and national areas. I live in Mordovia.

The Republic of Mordovia is a part of the Russian Federation. It occupies about 26 thousand square km. The republic stretches from west to east for 280 km and north to south for 55 to 140 km. It borders the Nizhniy Novgorod region in the north, the Ulyanovsk region in the east, the Penza region in the south, the Ryazan region in the west and Chuvashya republic in the north-east.

Mordovia is a multinational republic. Official languages of the republic are Russian and two Mordovian languages — Moksha and Erzya. These two languages are close to each other and belong to the Volga group of Finno-Ugric family of languages. Both are written on the basis of Cyrillic script. Some newspapers are published, TV and radio broadcasting is performed in them. Both Moksha and Erzya are in the UNESCO list of endangered languages. The number of native speakers is currently shrinking. The prevailing confession is the Russian Orthodox Church.

Finno-Ugric tribes populated the area of modern Western, Northern, and Central Russia since prehistory. Earliest archaeological signs of human beings in the area of Mordovia are from the Neolithic era. In 1928 Mordovian District with the center of Saransk was formed as a part of Middle Volga Region. In 1930, the district was transformed to Mordovian Autonomous Region, since 1934 — Mordovian Autonomous Republic, since 1994 — The Republic of Mordovia. In the 20th century, Mordovia became infamous as an area with the high concentration of prison camps.

Mordovia has about 937 thousand people, comprising urban residents and rural residents. The republic is divided into 22 administrative districts. There are 7 towns within its territory, among them Saransk, Ruzaevka, Kovylkino, Ardatov, Insar, Krasnoslobodsk and Temnikov. The republic is transited by principal railway lines, which have a node in Ruzaevka. The head of government in the Republic of Mordovia is the Head of the Republic.

Saransk is the capital of Mordovia. It was founded in 1641 as a fortress at the eastern border of Russia, and then it has become an industrial city. Before the Great October Socialist Revolution Saransk was a town of narrow streets with single-storeyed houses with the population less than 14 thousand people. Now it has a population of 317,000. It is the largest town in the Republic which is situated 600 km away from Moscow.

The Moksha and Sura rivers with their tributaries coming into the Volga river basin flow through the territory of Mordovia. Agro-climatic resources of Mordovia are rather favourable for development of many branches of agriculture. Hot temperature is sufficient for planting winter rye, spring wheat, barley, potatoes, hemp, forage crops. Agriculture of Mordovia which accounts for 16% of the gross national product specializes in growing grain crops (wheat, rye, millet and buckwheat), potatoes, sugar beets, vegetables and in breeding main kinds of cattle.

There are no large deposits of natural resources except building materials on the territory of Mordovia. However they are various: phosphorites, brown iron ore (limonite), mineral dyes and others. The reserves of building materials originated from sedimentary chalk deposits are of the greatest importance for the economy of the Republic.

Mordovia is an industrial-agrarian region and keeps stable positions in Russia at the foreign market by production of lighting sources, power semiconductor devices, electronic goods, excavators, industrial rubber products, medicinal preparations, etc. More than 50 enterprises of the republic export their production to different countries (the Saransk excavator plant, instrument-making plant, the foundry plant and others). Stable political climate in Mordovia enables growth of economic potential.

Mordovia has rich cultural traditions. The priceless treasures of Saransk land are Erzya's sculptures, Sychkov's paintings, Umarina's folk songs, Voinov`s musical compositions, Abramov's works of literature. In Saransk one can visit the Music Theatre, the National Drama Theatre, the State Puppet Theatre, Stephan Erzya Republican Art Museum, the Biological Museum, Pushkin's Park. In Mordovia there are historical monuments related to Pugachev uprising, some churches, the most recent and the largest one is the Cathedral of the soldier-saint Admiral Fyodor Ushakov in the center of Saransk. Near Temnikov there is Sanaksar Monastery that was founded in 1659. The walls of the monastery contain the tomb of Admiral Ushakov. Another saint resting in the monastery is Feodor of Sanaksar, which makes the Sanaksar Monastery an important center of pilgrimage.

Mordovian State Reserve realizes the protection of conifer (pine-tree), mixed and broad-leaved forests, forest-steppe, and karst lakes in the basin of River Moksha. There is also Smolny National Park that protects all kinds of woods, bogs, sandy banks and dunes of River Alatyr.