2. Overview
The Republic of Tatarstan (Tatar:
Татарстан Республикасы/Tatarstan
Respublikası; Russian: Респу́блика
Татарста́н/Respublika Tatarstan), also
called Tatariya, is a federal subject
(republic) of the Russian Federation,
located in the Volga Federal District.
It lies in the middle Volga River basin
near the convergence of the Volga and
Kama rivers.
Kazan (Tatar: Казан; Russian: Казань)
is the capital and largest city.
3. Map of Tatarstan
Political status
Country: Russia
Federal district: Volga
Economic region: Volga
Established: May 27, 1920
Capital: Kazan
Official languages: Tatar,
Russian
Government
President: Rustam Minnikhanov
Legislature: State Council
Statistics
Population (January 2014
estimation): 3,838,374
Rank: 8th
7. Geography
The Volga flows north to south through the western border of Tatarstan, while the Kama,
the Volga’s largest stream, makes up an approximate east to west axis across the
greater part.
The Vyatka and the Belaya rivers are important tributaries of the Kama.
The relief is mostly that of a short, rolling grassland.
The area west of the Volga soars to 771 feet (235 m), symbolizing the extreme northern
end of the Volga Upland.
In the east, the land enlarges to the Urals foreland.
The climate is mainland, with long, harsh winters and hot summers.
Yearly rainfall is almost seventeen to twenty inches (420–510 mm), with a summer
extremity.
9. Geography – cont.
The majority of Tatarstan’s territory lies in the forest-steppe zone on decayed, or
podzolized, chernozems (black earth).
Nearly one-sixth of the terrain is forested.
Along the rivers are wide-ranging valley pastures, while those on the Volga and lower
Kama have vanished under the waters of the Nizhnekamsk Reservoir and
the Samara Reservoir, which flooded over 1,100 square miles (2,850 square km) of the
republic.
11. Historical Background
The Tatars, who currently make up about half of Tatarstan’s population, are a Turkic
people.
As descendants of the Mongols of the Golden Horde, they settled in this region in the
mid-thirteenth century, mainly replacing or captivating the native Bulgar population.
As the Golden Horde’s rule waned in the fifteenth century, it was divided into various
factions, of which the Kazan Khanate was the most northerly.
The khanate was long involved with Muscovy in a battle that was finally settled in 1552,
when Ivan IV (also known as Ivan the Terrible) blockaded and seized Kazan, leading to
Russian colonization of the region.
The Republic of Tatarstan was established in 1920.
Tatarstan remained a republic within the Russian Federation after the breakup of the
Soviet Union in 1991, but separatist attitudes arose soon afterward among
its Tatar population.
15. Economy
The republic’s varied economy focuses on petroleum production, industry,
and agriculture.
The first oil well was installed in 1943, and later growth was fast.
Pipelines run east and west from the oil fields at Almetyevsk; manufacturing
of natural gas is concentrated in Nizhnaya Maktama.
16. Economy – cont.
The chemical industry has cultivated primarily at Kazan, Mendeleyevsk,
and Nizhnekamsk.
Engineering works are located principally in cities along the Volga and the Kama,
particularly in Kazan, Zelyonodolsk, and Chistopol.
Trucks are assembled at a large factory in Naberezhnye Chelny.
Paper and pulp are made in Mamadysh and a cluster of nearby cities.
The manufacture of soap and other fat products is also important for Kazan’s economy.
Farming products include wheat, corn (maize), millet, legumes, potatoes, sugar beets,
hemp, tobacco, apples, dairy products, and livestock.
18. Economy – cont.
A heavy freight traffic moves near the rivers; frequent passenger services
also link the river ports of the republic with Moscow and all parts of the Volga
River Basin.
Rail service is not as developed; two main lines between Moscow and the
Urals traverse the republic’s northwestern and southeastern corners.
Another line runs north to south across the Volga right-bank area.
Tatarstan is also home to numerous institutions of higher learning, notably
the Kazan Federal University and specialized institutes.