KOMI-(RUSSIA)

Komi Republic (English) Республика Коми (Russian) Коми Республика (Komi)
- Republic -
Coordinates: 63°09′N 55°50′E / 63.15°N 55.833°E / 63.15; 55.833Coordinates: 63°09′N 55°50′E / 63.15°N 55.833°E / 63.15; 55.833
Coat of arms of the Komi Republic	Flag of the Komi Republic
Anthem	National Anthem of the Komi Republic[citation needed]
Political status
Country	Russia
Political status	Republic
Federal district	Northwestern[1]
Economic region	Northern[2]
Capital	Syktyvkar[citation needed]
Official languages	Russian[3]; Komi[4]
Statistics
Population (2010 Census preliminary results)[5]	901,600 inhabitants
- Rank within Russia	58th
- Urban[5]	77.0%
- Rural[5]	23.0%
Population (2002 Census)[6]	1,018,674 inhabitants
- Rank within Russia	54th
- Urban[6]	75.3%
- Rural[6]	24.7%
- Density	2.45 /km2 (6.3 /sq mi)[7]
Area (as of the 2002 Census)[8]	415,900 km2 (160,579.9 sq mi)
- Rank within Russia	13th
Established	August 22, 1921[citation needed]
License plates	11
ISO 3166-2:RU	RU-KO
Time zone	MSD (UTC+04:00)
Government (as of March 2011)
Head[9]	Vyacheslav Gayzer[10]
Legislature	State Council[9]
Constitution	Constitution of the Komi Republic
Official website
http://www.rkomi.ru/en/

The Komi Republic (Russian: Респу́блика Ко́ми, Respublika Komi; Komi: Коми Республика, Komi Respublika) is a federal subject of Russia (a republic).

Contents [hide] 1 Geography 1.1 Rivers 1.2 Lakes 1.3 Natural resources 1.4 Climate 1.5 Manpupuner and the 7 Strong Men Rock Formations 2 Administrative divisions 3 Demographics 3.1 Vital statistics for 2007 4 History 5 Politics 6 Economy 6.1 Transportation 7 Education 8 Sports 9 See also 10 References 11 Sources 12 Further reading 13 External links

[edit] Geography

The republic is situated to the west of the Ural mountains, in the north-east of the East European Plain. Forests cover over 70% of the territory and swamps cover approximately 15%.

• Area: 415,900 km² (160,600 sq mi)
• Borders (all internal): Nenets (NW/N), Yamalo-Nenets (NE/E), Khanty-Mansi (E), Sverdlovsk (SE), Perm Krai (S), Kirov (S/SW), and Arkhangelsk (W).
• Highest point: Mount Narodnaya (1,894 m)
• Maximum N→S distance: 785 kilometers (488 mi)
• Maximum E→W distance: 695 kilometers (432 mi)

[edit] Rivers

Major rivers include:

• Izhma River
• Mezen River
• Pechora River
• Sysola River
• Usa River
• Vashka River
• Vychegda River
• Vym River

[edit] Lakes

There are many lakes in the republic. Major lakes include:

• Sindorskoye Lake
• Yam-Ozero Lake

[edit] Natural resources

The Vym River, Komi Republic, Russia

The republic's natural resources include coal, oil, natural gas, gold, diamonds and timber. Native reindeer are in abundance, and have been intentionally bred for human usage by the indigenous population from the beginning.

Around 32,800 km² of mostly boreal forest (as well as some alpine tundra and meadows) in the Republic's Northern Ural Mountains have been recognized in 1995 as a UNESCO World Heritage site, Virgin Komi Forests. It is the first natural UNESCO World Heritage site in Russia and the largest expanse of virgin forests in Europe. The site includes two pre-existing protected areas: Pechora-Ilych Nature Reserve (created in 1930) and Yugyd Va National Park (created in 1994).

[edit] Climate

Winters in the republic are long and cold, and the summers, while short, are quite warm.

• Average January temperature: −17 °C (1.4 °F) (southern parts) to −20 °C (−4 °F) (northern parts)
• Average July temperature: +11 °C (51.8 °F) (northern parts) to +15 °C (59 °F) (southern parts)
• Lowest recorded temperature: −58.1 °C (−72.6 °F) (village of Ust-Shchuger)
• Average annual precipitation: 625 mm (24.6 in)

[edit] Manpupuner and the 7 Strong Men Rock Formations

Main article: Manpupuner rock formations

Deemed one of the Seven Wonders of Russia, Komi Republic is home to Manpupuner (Man-Pupu-Nyer), a mysterious site in the northern Ural mountains, in the Troitsko-Pechorsky District, made out of seven rock towers bursting out of the flat plateau known as the “7 strong men“. Manpupuner is a very popular attraction in Russia, but not on an international level and information regarding its origin is scarce. We know however that their height and abnormal shapes make the top of these rock giants inaccessible even to experienced rock-climbers.

[edit] Administrative divisions

Main article: Administrative divisions of the Komi Republic

[edit] Demographics

• Population: 1,018,674 (2002)
  • Urban: 766,587 (75.3%)
  • Rural: 252,087 (24.7%)
  • Male: 488,316 (47.9%)
  • Female: 530,358 (52.1%)
• Females per 1000 males: 1,086
• Average age: 34.5 years
  • Urban: 33.7 years
  • Rural: 36.8 years
  • Male: 32.3 years
  • Female: 36.8 years
• Number of households: 381,626 (with 992,612 people)
  • Urban: 289,854 (with 749,329 people)
  • Rural: 91,772 (with 243,283 people)
• Vital statistics

Source: Russian Federal State Statistics Service

	Births	Deaths	Birth rate	Death rate
1920	4,760	4,353
1930	10,256	6,574
1940	14,976	12,134
1945	6,432	6,185
1950	20,087	6,002	37.6	11.2
1960	25,578	5,010	30.6	6.0
1965	18,956	5,241	20.2	5.6
1970	16,462	6,276	17.0	6.5
1975	18,899	7,284	18.1	7.0
1980	20,685	9,169	18.2	8.1
1981	21,244	9,103	18.4	7.9
1982	23,420	8,758	20.0	7.5
1983	23,806	9,250	20.1	7.8
1984	24,217	9,486	20.2	7.9
1985	23,303	9,334	19.2	7.7
1986	24,176	8,112	19.7	6.6
1987	23,616	8,544	19.0	6.9
1988	20,916	8,930	16.7	7.1
1989	18,481	8,857	14.7	7.1
1990	16,930	9,321	13.6	7.5
1991	15,589	9,665	12.7	7.9
1992	13,880	11,426	11.4	9.4
1993	12,158	14,642	10.1	12.2
1994	11,835	16,074	10.1	13.7
1995	11,105	15,057	9.7	13.2
1996	10,900	13,674	9.7	12.2
1997	10,388	12,244	9.4	11.1
1998	10,793	11,545	9.9	10.6
1999	9,680	12,253	9.1	11.5
2000	9,906	13,594	9.4	12.9
2001	10,325	13,968	10.0	13.5
2002	11,177	15,265	10.9	14.9
2003	11,462	15,810	11.3	15.6
2004	11,489	15,210	11.5	15.2
2005	10,975	15,074	11.1	15.2
2006	10,872	13,519	11.1	13.8
2007	11,523	12,304	11.9	12.7
2008	11,719	12,270	12.2	12.7

• Ethnic groups

According to the 2002 Census, ethnic Russians make up 59.6% of the republic's population, while the ethnic Komi are only 25.2%. Other groups include Ukrainians (6.1%), Tatars (15,680 or 1.5%), Belarusians (15,212 or 1.5%), Ethnic Germans (9,246 or 0.9%), Chuvash (7,529 or 0.7%), Azeris (6,066 or 0.6%), and a host of smaller groups, each accounting for less than 0.5% of the total population. 5,700 people (0.6%) did not indicate their nationalities during the Census.

	census 1926	census 1939	census 1959	census 1970	census 1979	census 1989	census 2002
Komi	191,245 (92.2%)	231,301 (72.5%)	245,074 (30.4%)	276,178 (28.6%)	280,798 (25.3%)	291,542 (23.3%)	256,464 (25.2%)
Russians	13,731 (6.6%)	70,226 (22.0%)	389,995 (48.4%)	512,203 (53.1%)	629,523 (56.7%)	721,780 (57.7%)	607,021 (59.6%)
Ukrainians	34 (0.0%)	6,010 (1.9%)	80,132 (9.9%)	82,955 (8.6%)	94,154 (8.5%)	104,170 (8.3%)	62,115 (6.1%)
Others	2,304 (1.1%)	11,459 (3.6%)	90,998 (11.3%)	93,466 (9.7%)	105,886 (9.5%)	133,355 (10.7%)	93,074 (9.1%)

[edit] Vital statistics for 2007

Source: [1]

Vital Statistics	Births 2007	Deaths 2007	BR 2007	DR 2007	NGR 2007	BR Jan-aug 2007	BR J-A 08	DR J-A 07	DR J-A 08	NGR J-A 07	NGR J-A 08
Komi Republic	11,523	12,304	11.9	13.8	-0.19%	11.8	11.9	12.9	12.6	-0.11%	-0.07%
Urban	8,087	8,204	NA	NA	NA	11.4	11.3	11.7	11.2	-0.03%	0.01%
Rural	3,436	4,100	NA	NA	NA	13.0	13.8	16.4	17.0	-0.34%	-0.32%
Syktyvkar	3,013	2,733	12.3	12.1	0.02%	12.3	11.6	11.6	11.1	0.07%	0.05%
Vorkuta	1,126	1,064	9.5	10.3	-0.08%	9.3	9.7	8.8	8.2	0.05%	0.15%
Vuktyl	210	200	12.6	12.2	0.04%	12.9	11.2	12.1	14.7	0.08%	-0.35%
Inta	414	495	10.2	13.7	-0.35%	10	10.4	12.1	13.2	-0.21%	-0.28%
Pechora	714	916	11.3	16.2	-0.49%	11.3	11.4	14.8	14.5	-0.35%	-0.31%
Sosnogorsk	582	725	11.6	15.8	-0.42%	10.9	11.7	14.8	14	-0.39%	-0.23%
Usinsk	614	459	11.9	8.9	0.30%	11.5	12.1	8.8	8.8	0.27%	0.33%
Ukhta	1,414	1,612	11.1	12.7	-0.16%	11	11.4	13.1	11.4	-0.21%	0.00%
Izhemsky District	315	368	15.6	1.5	-0.09%	15.2	17.4	18.2	18.2	-0.30%	-0.08%
Knyazhpogostsky District	290	411	10.9	16.8	-0.59%	10.2	10.2	15.5	14.6	-0.53%	-0.44%
Koygorodsky District	129	140	13.9	18.6	-0.47%	14.1	14.1	15.1	19.1	-0.10%	-0.50%
Kortkerossky District	314	373	13.7	17.8	-0.41%	14	12.2	15.8	16.7	-0.18%	-0.45%
Priluzsky District	318	402	13.9	21.8	-0.79%	13	14.2	16.6	19.2	-0.36%	-0.50%
Syktyvdinsky District	308	341	12.8	14.6	-0.18%	13.2	15.6	15.1	14.8	-0.19%	0.08%
Sysolsky District	214	302	13.3	17.0	-0.37%	14.7	12	18.8	17.9	-0.41%	-0.59%
Troitsko-Pechorsky District	193	262	12.0	19.1	-0.71%	12.2	13.9	16.7	18.5	-0.45%	-0.46%
Udorsky District	280	305	11.9	14.3	-0.24%	11.7	13	12.5	13.3	-0.08%	-0.03%
Ust-Vymsky District	443	543	14.0	19.4	-0.54%	14.9	12.7	17.7	16	-0.28%	-0.33%
Ust-Kulomsky District	453	433	14.8	19.5	-0.47%	15.1	15.1	13.9	15.2	0.12%	-0.01%
Ust-Tsilemsky District	179	220	12.5	16.0	-0.35%	11.1	15.3	16.3	17.8	-0.52%	-0.25

[edit] History

Map of the Komi Republic

The Komi first appear in the records of the Novgorod Republic in the 12th century, when Novgorodian (East Slavic) traders travelled to the Perm region in search of furs and animal hides. The Komi territories came under the influence of Muscovy in the late Middle Ages (late 15th to early 16th centuries). The site of Syktyvkar has been settled since the 16th century. It was known as Sysolskoye (Сысольскoe). In 1780, under Catherine the Great, it was renamed to Ust-Sysolsk (Усть-Сысольск) and used as a penal colony.

Starting from the expedition led by Alexander von Keyserling in 1843, the Komi territory was most extensively explored in the 19th and the beginning of the 20th centuries by the Russians, who found ample reservoirs of various minerals, as well as timber, to exploit. After the founding of the Soviet Union, the Komi-Zyryan Autonomous Oblast was established on August 22, 1929, and on December 5, 1936, it was reorganized into the Komi Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic with its administrative center located at the town of Syktyvkar.

Many of the "settlers" who came in the early 20th century were prisoners of the Gulag who were sent by the hundreds of thousands to perform forced labor in the Arctic regions of the USSR. Towns sprang up around labor-camp sites, which were initially carved out of the untouched tundra and taiga by gangs of prisoners. The first mine, "Rudnik No. 1," became the city of Vorkuta, and the other towns of the region have similar origins: "Prisoners planned and built all of the republic's major cities, not just Ukhta but also Syktyvkar, Pechora, Vorkuta, and Inta. Prisoners built Komi's railways and roads, as well as its original industrial infrastructure."^[11]

[edit] Politics

The head of government in the Komi Republic is the Head of the Republic. As of 2011, the head of the republic is Vyacheslav Gayzer.

The State Council is the legislature.

[edit] Economy

The Komi Republic's major industries include oil processing, timber, woodworking, natural gas and electric power industries. Major industrial centers are Syktyvkar, Inta, Pechora, Sosnogorsk, Ukhta, and Vorkuta.

[edit] Transportation

Railroad transportation is very well developed. The most important railroad line is Kotlas–Vorkuta–Salekhard, which is used to ship most goods in and out of the republic. The rivers Vychegda and Pechora are navigable. There are airports in Syktyvkar, Ukhta, and Vorkuta.

In 1997, total railroad trackage was 1,708 km, automobile roads 4,677 km.

[edit] Education

There are over 450 secondary schools in the republic (with ~180,000 students). The most important higher education facilities include Syktyvkar State University and Ukhta State Technical University.

[edit] Sports

Stroitel have played in the highest division of Russian Bandy League for a long time.

[edit] See also-(copy of wikipedia)

Music of the Komi Republic Komi-Permyak Okrug Komi mythology

Udoria Extreme points of Europe

KHAKASSIA-(RUSSIA)

Republic of Khakassia (English) Республика Хакасия (Russian) Хакасия Республиказы (Khakas)
- Republic -
Coat of arms of the Republic of Khakassia	Flag of the Republic of Khakassia
Anthem	none[citation needed]
Political status
Country	Russia
Political status	Republic
Federal district	Siberian[1]
Economic region	East Siberian[2]
Capital	Abakan[citation needed]
Official languages	Russian[3]; Khakas[4]
Statistics
Population (2010 Census preliminary results)[5]	532,300 inhabitants
- Rank within Russia	70th
- Urban[5]	67.3%
- Rural[5]	32.7%
Population (2002 Census)[6]	546,072 inhabitants
- Rank within Russia	71st
- Urban[6]	70.8%
- Rural[6]	29.2%
- Density	8.82 /km2 (22.8 /sq mi)[7]
Area (as of the 2002 Census)[8]	61,900 km2 (23,899.7 sq mi)
- Rank within Russia	46th
Established	October 20, 1930[citation needed]
License plates	19
ISO 3166-2:RU	RU-KK
Time zone	KRAST (UTC+08:00)
Government (as of March 2011)
Head[9]	Viktor Zimin[10]
Legislature	Supreme Council[11]
Constitution	Constitution of the Republic of Khakassia
Official website
http://www.r-19.ru

Republic of Khakassia (Russian: Респу́блика Хака́сия, Respublika Khakasiya; Khakass: Хакасия Республиказы) or Khakasiya (Хака́сия) is a federal subject of Russia (a republic) located in south-central Siberia.

Abakan is the capital and the largest city of the republic.

Khakas is a Turkic language with co-official status in the republic.

Contents [hide] 1 Administrative divisions 2 Demographics 3 History 4 Economy 5 Sports 6 Views of Khakassia 7 See also 8 References 9 External links 10 Sources

[edit] Administrative divisions

Main article: Administrative divisions of Khakassia

[edit] Demographics

• Population: 538,200 (2006 est.)^{[citation needed]}; 546,072 (2002 Census)
• Vital statistics

Source: Russian Federal State Statistics Service]

	Births	Deaths	Birth rate	Death rate
1970	7,347	3,749	16.4	8.4
1975	9,106	4,485	19.1	9.4
1980	9,994	5,345	19.7	10.5
1985	10,382	5,546	19.2	10.3
1990	8,724	6,060	15.3	10.6
1991	8,114	6,195	14.2	10.8
1992	6,917	6,843	12.0	11.9
1993	6,152	8,387	10.7	14.6
1994	6,219	9,426	10.9	16.5
1995	5,807	8,186	10.2	14.3
1996	5,727	8,093	10.1	14.2
1997	5,309	7,766	9.4	13.7
1998	5,602	7,821	10.0	13.9
1999	5,312	8,304	9.5	14.8
2000	5,634	8,104	10.1	14.6
2001	5,576	8,561	10.1	15.5
2002	6,118	9,280	11.2	17.0
2003	6,417	9,660	11.8	17.8
2004	6,453	8,763	11.9	16.2
2005	6,198	9,411	11.5	17.4
2006	6,465	7,927	12.0	14.8
2007	7,384	7,324	13.8	13.6
2008	7,935	7,427	14.8	13.8

In 2007 Khakassia recorded a positive natural increase of population for the first time in many years (Although very small, less than +0.01% per year), being one of the 20 Russian regions to have a positive natural population growth rate. [1] [2]

• Ethnic groups

According to the 2002 Russian Census, ethnic Russians make up 80.3% of the republic's population, while ethnic Khakas are only 12.0%. Other groups include ethnic Germans (1.7%), Ukrainians (1.5%), Tatars (0.7%), and a host of smaller groups, each accounting for less than 0.5% of the total population.

	1926 census	1939 census	1959 census	1970 census	1979 census	1989 census	2002 census
Khakas	44,219 (49.8%)	45,799 (16.8%)	48,512 (11.8%)	54,750 (12.3%)	57,281 (11.5%)	62,859 (11.1%)	65,421 (12.0%)
Russians	41,390 (46.6%)	205,254 (75.3%)	314,455 (76.5%)	349,362 (78.4%)	395,953 (79.4%)	450,430 (79.5%)	438,395 (80.3%)
Germans	46 (0.1%)	333 (0.1%)	10,512 (2.6%)	10,547 (2.4%)	11,130 (2.2%)	11,250 (2.0%)	9,161 (1.7%)
Ukrainians	836 (0.9%)	7,788 (2.9%)	14,630 (3.6%)	9,480 (2.1%)	10,398 (2.1%)	13,223 (2.3%)	8,360 (1.5%)
Others	2,381 (2.7%)	13,556 (5.0%)	22,938 (5.6%)	21,685 (4.9%)	23,622 (4.7%)	29,099 (5.4%)	24,735 (4.5%)

[edit] History

This section does not cite any references or sources. Please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (September 2009)

From the 6th century Khakassia was the core of the old Kyrgyz state. In the thirteenth century, following defeat by the Mongols, the majority of the Kyrgyz people migrated southwest to their current homeland in Central Asia (Kyrgyzstan). Modern Khakassians regard themselves as the descendants of those Kyrgyz who remained in Siberia. Khakassia was incorporated into the Russian state in 1707. In 1727 this was confirmed in a treaty between Russia and China. Tsarist policy was to deport convicted criminals from European Russia to Siberia and prisons were quickly constructed in Khakassia (1707 and 1718). Many prisoners stayed in the area on their release. Many of the indigenous Khakassian people converted to the Russian Orthodox church and were gradually forced to abandon their nomadic way of life. By the time of the Russian Revolution Russians made up approximately half of the population. Under Soviet rule autonomy was granted on 10 October 1930. During the 1920s and 1930s the Soviet authorities resettled an estimated quarter of a million Russians in the region. These were followed by 10,000 Volga Germans deported in World War II. By the time of the 1959 census ethnic Khakassians represented little more than one in ten of the population. Khakassia was given full autonomous republic status in 1991.

[edit] Economy

The main industries in the republic are coal mining, ore mining, and timber.

[edit] Sports

Sayany-Khakasiya has been playing in the highest division of Russian Bandy League for a long time. Last season they played in the 2nd highest division.

[edit] Views of Khakassia

• 

  Khakassia view (photo 2000)

• 

  Eagle on megalith near village Kazanovka in Republic Khakassia, Russian Federation (photo 2000)

• 

  Megalith near village Kazanovka in Republic Khakassia, Russian Federation (photo 2000)

• 

  Megalith near village Safronov in Republic Khakassia, Russian Federation (photo 2000)

• 

  Megalith near village Safronov in Republic Khakassia, Russian Federation (photo 2000)

• 

  Sunset near town Askiz in Republic Khakassia, Russian Federation (photo 2000)

• 

  Rape valley in Republic Khakassia, Russian Federation (photo 2000)

• 

  Rape valley in Republic Khakassia, Russian Federation (photo 2000)

[edit] See also-(copy of wikipedia)

• List of Chairmen of the Supreme Council of Khakassia
• Music of Khakassia

KARELIA-(RUSSIA)

Republic of Karelia (English) Республика Карелия (Russian)
- Republic -
Coordinates: 61°46′N 34°25′E / 61.767°N 34.417°E / 61.767; 34.417Coordinates: 61°46′N 34°25′E / 61.767°N 34.417°E / 61.767; 34.417
Coat of arms of the Republic of Karelia	Flag of the Republic of Karelia
Anthem	Anthem of the Republic of Karelia[citation needed]
Political status
Country	Russia
Political status	Republic
Federal district	Northwestern[1]
Economic region	Northern[2]
Capital	Petrozavodsk[citation needed]
Official language	Russian[3]
Statistics
Population (2010 Census preliminary results)[4]	645,200 inhabitants
- Rank within Russia	68th
- Urban[4]	78.1%
- Rural[4]	21.9%
Population (2002 Census)[5]	716,281 inhabitants
- Rank within Russia	67th
- Urban[5]	75.0%
- Rural[5]	25.0%
- Density	4.15 /km2 (10.7 /sq mi)[6]
Area (as of the 2002 Census)[7]	172,400 km2 (66,564.0 sq mi)
- Rank within Russia	20th
Established	July 16, 1956[8]
License plates	10
ISO 3166-2:RU	RU-KR
Time zone	MSD (UTC+04:00)
Government (as of March 2011)
Head[9]	Andrey Nelidov[10]
Legislature	Legislative Assembly[11]
Constitution	Constitution of the Republic of Karelia
Official website
http://www.gov.karelia.ru/

The Republic of Karelia (Russian: Респу́блика Каре́лия, Respublika Kareliya; Karelian: Karjalan Tazavalda; Finnish: Karjalan tasavalta; Veps: Karjalan Tazovaldkund) is a federal subject of Russia (a republic).

Contents [hide] 1 Geography 1.1 Rivers 1.2 Lakes 1.3 National parks 1.4 Natural resources 1.5 Climate 2 Administrative divisions 3 Demographics 4 Economy 4.1 Industry 4.2 Transport 4.3 Foreign trade 5 History 6 Politics 7 Culture 8 Religion 9 See also 10 References 11 Sources 12 External links

[edit] Geography

The republic is located in the northwestern part of Russia, taking intervening position between the basins of White and Baltic seas. The White Sea shore line is 630 kilometers (391 mi).

• Area: 172,400 km² (66,600 sq mi)
• Borders:
  • internal: Murmansk Oblast (N), Arkhangelsk Oblast (E/SE), Vologda Oblast (SE/S), Leningrad Oblast (S/SW)
  • international: Finland (SW/W/NW) (border line length: 723 km)
  • water: White Sea (an inlet of the Barents Sea) (N/NE/E), Lake Onega (SE), Lake Ladoga (SW)
• Highest point: 576 m (1,890 ft), the Nuorunen peak.

[edit] Rivers

There are about 27,000 rivers in Karelia. Major rivers include:

• Vodla River (Vodlajoki, 149 km)
• Kem River (Kemijoki, 191 km)
• Kovda River (Koutajoki)
• Shuya River (Suojoki)
• Suna River (Suunujoki) with Kivach Waterfall (Kivatšun vesiputous)
• Vyg River (Uikujoki)

[edit] Lakes

There are 60,000 lakes in Karelia. Republic's lakes and swamps contain about 2,000 km³ of high-quality fresh water. Lake Ladoga (Finnish: Laatokka) and Lake Onega (Ääninen) are the largest lakes in Europe. Other lakes include:

The Regions of North and South Karelia lie in Finland and the Karelian Republic in Russia. The Karelian Isthmus is now part of Leningrad Oblast.

• Nyukozero (Nuokkijärvi)
• Pyaozero (Pääjärvi)
• Segozero (Seesjärvi)
• Syamozero (Säämäjärvi)
• Topozero (Tuoppajärvi)
• Vygozero (Uikujärvi)

[edit] National parks

• Vodlozero National Park
• Kalevala National Park
• Paanajärvi National Park

[edit] Natural resources

The most part of the republic's territory (148,000 km², or 85%) is composed of state forest stock. The total growing stock of timber resources in the forests of all categories and ages is 807 million m³. The mature and over mature tree stock amounts to 411.8 million m³, of which 375.2 million m³ is coniferous.

Fifty useful minerals are found in Karelia, located in more than 400 deposits and ore bearing layers. Natural resources of the republic include iron ore, diamonds, vanadium, molybdenum, and others.

[edit] Climate

The Republic of Karelia is located in the Atlantic continental climate zone. Average temperature in January is -8.0°C, and +16.4°C in July. Average annual precipitation is 500–700 mm.^[12]

[edit] Administrative divisions

Main article: Administrative divisions of the Republic of Karelia

[edit] Demographics

• Population: 716,281 (2002)
  • Urban: 537.395 (75.0%)
  • Rural: 178,886 (25.0%)
    

    

    Early 20th-century photo of a bridge across the Shuya River.
  • Male: 331,505 (46.3%)
  • Female: 384,776 (53.7%)
• Females per 1000 males: 1,161
• Average age: 37.1 years
  • Urban: 35.9 years
  • Rural: 40.6 years
  • Male: 33.9 years
  • Female: 39.9 years
• Number of households: 279,915 (with 701,314 people)
  • Urban: 208,041 (with 525,964 people)
  • Rural: 71,874 (with 175,350 people)
• Vital statistics

Source: Russian Federal State Statistics Service

	Births	Deaths	Birth rate	Death rate
1970	11,346	5,333	15.9	7.5
1975	12,748	6,086	17.6	8.4
1980	12,275	7,374	16.6	10.0
1985	13,201	8,205	17.1	10.7
1990	10,553	8,072	13.3	10.2
1991	8,982	8,305	11.4	10.5
1992	7,969	9,834	10.1	12.5
1993	7,003	11,817	9.0	15.1
1994	6,800	13,325	8.8	17.2
1995	6,729	12,845	8.8	16.7
1996	6,461	11,192	8.5	14.7
1997	6,230	10,306	8.3	13.7
1998	6,382	10,285	8.5	13.8
1999	6,054	11,612	8.2	15.7
2000	6,374	12,083	8.7	16.5
2001	6,833	12,597	9.4	17.4
2002	7,247	13,435	10.1	18.7
2003	7,290	14,141	10.2	19.9
2004	7,320	13,092	10.4	18.5
2005	6,952	12,649	9.9	18.1
2006	6,938	11,716	10.0	16.8
2007	7,319	11,007	10.6	15.9
2008	7,682	11,134	11.1	16.2

• Ethnic groups

According to the 2002 Census, ethnic Russians make up 76.6% of the republic's population, while the ethnic Karelians are only 9.2%. Other groups include Belarusians (5.3%), Ukrainians (2.7%), Finns (2.0%), Vepsians (0.7%), and a host of smaller groups, each accounting for less than 0.5% of the total population. 4,886 people (0.7%) did not indicate their nationality during the Census.

	census 1926	census 1939	census 1959	census 1970	census 1979	census 1989	census 2002
Russians	153,967 (57.2%)	296,529 (63.2%)	412,773 (62.7%)	486,198 (68.1%)	522,230 (71.3%)	581,571 (73.6%)	548,941 (76.6%)
Karelians	100,781 (37.4%)	108,571 (23.2%)	85,473 (13.0%)	84,180 (11.8%)	81,274 (11.1%)	78,928 (10.0%)	65,651 (9.2%)
Belarusians	555 (0.2%)	4,263 (0.9%)	71,900 (10.9%)	66,410 (9.3%)	59,394 (8.1%)	55,530 (7.0%)	37,681 (5.3%)
Ukrainians	708 (0.3%)	21,112 (4.5%)	23,569 (3.6%)	27,440 (3.8%)	23,765 (3.2%)	28,242 (3.6%)	19,248 (2.7%)
Finns	2,544 (0.9%)	8,322 (1.8%)	27,829 (4.2%)	22,174 (3.1%)	20,099 (2.7%)	18,420 (2.3%)	14,156 (2.0%)
Vepsians	8,587 (3.2%)	9,392 (2.0%)	7,179 (1.1%)	6,323 (0.9%)	5,864 (0.8%)	5,954 (0.8%)	4,870 (0.7%)
Others	2,194 (0.8%)	20,709 (4.4%)	29,869 (4.5%)	20,726 (2.9%)	19,565 (2.7%)	21,505 (2.7%)	25,734 (3.6%)

The Karelian language is close to Finnish, and in recent years, it has been considered by some authorities as a dialect of Finnish. Nevertheless, Eastern Karelian is not completely mutually intelligible with Finnish and could be considered a separate language. Finnish was the second official language of Karelia from the Winter War 1940 up until the 1980s,^[13] when perestroika began. Currently Russian is the only official language of the republic, but there is a motion in the republic's government to make Karelian official as well. Finnish has also again been proposed as a second official language for the republic, but the proposal has never been implemented, although Karelian, Veps and Finnish are recognized as "national languages" of the republic.^[14]

[edit] Economy

Karelia's Gross regional product in 2007 was 109.5 billion rubles.^[15] This amounts to 151,210 rubles per capita, which is somewhat lower than the national average of 198,817 rubles.^[16]

[edit] Industry

Industrial activity in Karelia is dominated by the forest and wood processing sector. Timber logging is carried out by a large number of small enterprises whereas pulp and paper production is concentrated in five large enterprises, which produce about a quarter of Russia's total output of paper.^[17] Three largest companies in the pulp and paper sector in 2001 were: OAO Kondopoga (sales of $209.4 mln in 2001), Segezha Pulp and Paper Mill ($95.7 mln) and OAO Pitkjaranta Pulp Factory ($23.7 mln).^[12]

In 2007, extractive industries (including extraction of metal ores) amounted to 30% of the republic's industrial output.^[15] There are about 53 mining companies in Karelia, employing more than 10,000 people.^[18] One of the most important companies in the sector is OAO Karelian Pellet, which is the 5h largest of Russia's 25 mining and ore dressing enterprises involved in ore extraction and iron ore concentrate production. Other large companies in the sector were OAO Karelnerud, Mosavtorod State Unitary Enterprise and Pitkjaranta Mining Directorate State Unitary Enterprise.^[12]

Processing industries contributed 56,4% of the overal production in 2007. The latter figure includes pulp-and-paper (23.6%), metals and metal-working (7.9%), woodworking (7.1%), foodstuffs (5.8%) and machine-building (3.9%). Production and distribution of electicity, natural gas and water made up 13.6% of the region's output.^[15]

[edit] Transport

Karelia has a relatively well developed network of transport infrastructure. Water communications connect Karelia with the Barents, Baltic, Black and Caspian Seas through the system of rivers, lakes and canals. Federal railway (see Murmansk Railway) and automobile highways cross Karelia and connect Murmansk Region and Murmansk sea port with St. Petersburg, Moscow, the center of Russia and with Finland. Regular airline service connects Petrozavodsk with Joensuu and Helsinki in Finland.^[19] A fast fibre-optic cable link connecting Finnish Kuhmo and Karelian Kostomuksha was built in 2007, providing fast telecommunications.^[15]

[edit] Foreign trade

The Republic's main export partners in 2001 were Finland (32% of total exports), Germany (7%), Netherlands (7%) and the United Kingdom (6%).^[12] Main export products were lumber (over 50%), iron ore pellets (13-15%) paper and cardboard (6-9%) and sawn timber with (5-7%). Many of Karelia's companies have received investments from Finland.^[12]

[edit] History

Historically, Karelia was a region to the northwest of Russia, east of present-day Finland, controlled by the Novgorod Republic. From the 13th century and onwards, various parts were conquered by Sweden, and incorporated into Swedish Karelia until they were lost to Russia by the Treaty of Nystad in 1721.

In 1920, the province became the Karelian Labour Сommune. In 1923, the province became the Karelian Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic (Karelian ASSR). From 1940 it was made into the Karelo-Finnish SSR, incorporating the Finnish Democratic Republic which nominally operated in those parts of Finnish Karelia that were occupied by the Soviet Union during the Winter War. Annexed territories were incorporated into Karelo-Finnish SSR, but after the Continuation War the Karelian Isthmus was incorporated into the Leningrad Oblast. Its status was changed back to an ASSR in 1956. During the Continuation War in 1941 Finland occupied large parts of the area but was forced to withdraw in 1944. Though Finland is not currently pursuing any measures to reclaim Karelian lands ceded to Russia, the "Karelian Question" is still a topic present in Finnish politics.

The autonomous Republic of Karelia in its present form was formed on November 13, 1991.

[edit] Politics

The highest executive authority in the Republic of Karelia is the Head of the Republic. As of 2010, the Head of the Republic is Andrey Vitalyevich Nelidov, who was elected in June 2010.

The parliament of the Republic of Karelia is the Legislative Assembly comprising fifty deputies elected for a four year term.

The Constitution of the Republic of Karelia was adopted on February 12, 2001.

[edit] Culture

View of the old town of Kem in 1916, photograph by Sergey Prokudin-Gorsky

Karelia is sometimes called "the songlands" in the Finnish culture, as Karelian poems constitute most of the Karelo-Finnish epic Kalevala.

[edit] Religion

The Karelians have been traditionally Russian Orthodox, known in Finland for their small chapels called tsasouna (variant spelling of Russian "часовня" "chasovnya", chapel) associated with villages or graveyards. However, first Catholicism and then Lutheranism was brought to the area by the Finnish immigrants during Sweden's conquest of Karelia and some Lutheran parishes remain in Karelia.

[edit] See also-(copy of wikipedia)

• Music of Karelia
• Sami music
• Pegrema
• Karelian Isthmus