Bashkortostan
Bashkortostan, officially the Republic of Bashkortostan, sometimes also called Bashkiria, is a republic of Russia between the Volga river and the Ural Mountains in Eastern Europe. The republic borders Perm Krai to the north, Sverdlovsk Oblast to the northeast, Chelyabinsk Oblast to the east, Orenburg Oblast to the south, Tatarstan to the west and Udmurtia to the northwest. It covers. It is the seventh-most populous federal subject in Russia and the most populous republic. Its capital and largest city is Ufa. As of 2025, it has a population of 4,046,094.
Bashkortostan was established on. On 20 March 1919, it was transformed into the Bashkir ASSR, the first autonomous republic in the Russian SFSR. On 11 October 1990, it adopted the Declaration of State Sovereignty. In the Constitution of Bashkortostan and Constitution of Russia, Bashkortostan is defined as a state.
Name
The name Bashkortostan derives from the name of the Bashkir ethnic group, and is literally translated as "land of the Bashkirs". While the endonym having various theories on its meaning, the most prominent is being a combination of Turkic words baş, meaning 'head', 'chief', 'main', 'principal' and qurt meaning 'wolf' ; the suffix -stan is Persian, commonly used for many Eurasian territorial names.The Russian name Bashkiriya first appeared at the end of the 16th century. Originally, it appeared in the forms Bashkir land, Bashkir, Bashkirda and Bashkir horde.
History
Early history
The first settlements in the territory of modern Bashkortostan date from the early Paleolithic period, but the Bronze Age spurred an upsurge in the population of this territory. When people of the Abashevo culture started settling here, they possessed high skills in manufacturing bronze tools, weapons and decorations. They were the first to establish permanent settlements in the Southern Urals.In the 10th century, Al-Balkhi wrote about Bashkirs as a people, divided into two groups, one of which inhabited the Southern Urals, while the other lived near the Danube River, close to the boundaries of Byzantium. His contemporary Ibn-Ruste described the Bashkirs as "an independent people, occupying territories on both sides of the Ural mountain ridge between Volga, Kama, Tobol and upstream of Yaik River".
After the early-feudal Mongolian state had broken down in the 14th century, the territory of modern Bashkortostan became divided between the Kazan, the Siberia Khanates and the Nogai Horde. The tribes that lived there were headed by bi.
Within the Russian Tsardom and Empire
After Kazan fell to Ivan the Terrible in 1554–1555, representatives of western and northwestern Bashkir tribes approached the Tsar with a request to voluntarily join Muscovy. The Bashkir rebellion of 1662–1664 and the Bashkir rebellion of 1704–1711 were primarily caused by the Russian government's violations of the terms and conditions previously agreed between the Bashkirs and the Russian authorities. Bashkirs were also largely involved in the Pugachev Rebellion.File:Памятник Салавату Юлаеву1.jpg|thumb|The monument for the national hero of Bashkortostan, Salawat Yulayev, who led a rebellion against the Russian Empire.
Starting from the second half of the 16th century, Bashkiria's territory began taking shape as a part of the Russian state. In 1798, the Spiritual Assembly of Russian Muslims was established, an indication that the tsarist government recognized the rights of Bashkirs, Tatars, and other Muslim nations to profess Islam and perform religious rituals. Ufa Governorate, with a center in Ufa, was formed in 1865—another step toward territorial identification.
After the Russian Revolution of 1917
After the Russian Revolution of 1917 were the All-Bashkir Qoroltays, which required a decision on the need to create a national federal republic within Russia. As a result, on 28 November 1917, the Bashkir Regional Shuro proclaimed the establishment of territorial and national autonomy in areas of Orenburg, Perm, Samara, and Ufa provinces with a predominantly Bashkir population.In December 1917, delegates to the All-Bashkir Congress, representing the interests of the population edge of all nationalities, voted unanimously for the resolution of the Bashkir regional Shuro for the proclamation of national-territorial autonomy Bashkurdistan. The congress formed the government of Bashkurdistan, the Pre-parliament—Kese-Qoroltay and other bodies of power and administration, and decisions were made on how to proceed.
In March 1919, based on the agreements of the Russian Government, the Bashkir Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic was formed. During the Soviet period, Bashkiria was granted broad autonomous rights, the first among other Russian regions. The administrative structure of the Bashkir ASSR was based on principles similar to those of other autonomous republics of Russia.
Dissolution of the Soviet Union
On 11 October 1990, the Supreme Soviet of the Republic adopted the declaration on state sovereignty of the Bashkir ASSR. On 25 February 1992, the Bashkir ASSR was renamed the Republic of Bashkortostan.On 31 March 1992, a Federative Compact "On separation of authorities and powers among federal organs of power of the Russian Federation and the organs of power of the Republic of Bashkortostan" was signed. On 3 August 1994, a Compact "On separation of authorities and mutual delegating of powers among the organs of power of the Russian Federation and the organs of power of the Republic of Bashkortostan" was signed, granting the republic autonomy. This agreement was unilaterally abolished on 7 July 2005.
Geography
Bashkortostan contains part of the southern Urals and the adjacent plains.- Area:
- Borders: Bashkortostan borders with Perm Krai, Sverdlovsk Oblast, Chelyabinsk Oblast, Orenburg Oblast, the Republic of Tatarstan, and the Udmurt Republic
- Highest point: Mount Yamantau
- Maximum north-south distance: 550 km
- Maximum east-west distance: over 430 km
Rivers
Major rivers include:
- Belaya River
- Ufa River
- Sakmara River
- Ik River
- Dyoma River
- Ay River
- Yuruzan River
- Bystry Tanyp River
- Sim River
- Nugush River
- Tanalyk River
- Zilim River
- Syun River
Lakes
Mountains
The Republic contains part of the southern Urals, which stretch from the northern to the southern border. It includes a number of mountain ranges.The highest mountains include:
- Mount Yamantau
- Mount Bolshoy Iremel
- Mount Maly Iremel
Natural resources
Over one-third of the territory of Bashkortostan, or, is wooded. The following types of trees dominate: birch, conifers, lime, oak, and maple. Bashkortostan forests have special sanctuaries and national parks. They cover more than.
The Asselian Age at the start of the Permian period of geological time is named after the Assel River in Bashkortostan.
Administrative divisions
As of 2013, Republic of Bashkortostan is divided into 54 districts, 21 cities or towns, 2 urban type settlements and 827 selsoviets.Politics
The head of the government of the Republic of Bashkortostan is called the Head. According to the Constitution, the Head of the Republic of Bashkortostan guarantees rights and liberties to the country's people and citizens, protects the economic and political interests of the Republic of Bashkortostan, and secures legitimacy, law, and order within its territory.Since 11 October 2018, the Head of the Republic of Bashkortostan has been Radiy Khabirov. He was first appointed as acting head by Russian president Vladimir Putin. In 2019 he was elected after winning 82% of the vote in the 2019 Bashkir head election. He was re-elected in the 2024 Bashkir head election. Before his current role, Radiy Khabirov was the Head of Krasnogorsk, Moscow Oblast. His predecessor was Rustem Khamitov, the leader after 19 July 2010. He resigned on 11 October 2018 ahead of the election because he decided to not run for reelection.
The Republic's parliament is the State Assembly—Kurultai, popularly elected every five years. The one-chamber State Assembly has 110 deputies.
File:Путин и Хабиров 2019 год.jpg|thumb|Bashkortostan's leader Radiy Khabirov with Russian president Vladimir Putin, 26 August 2019
The Republic's Constitution was adopted on 24 December 1993. Article 1 of the Constitution stipulates that Bashkortostan is a sovereign state within Russia, it has state power beyond the limits of the authority of the Russian Federation and the powers of the Russian Federation concerning the aspect of the joint authority of the Russian Federation and the Republic of Bashkortostan. The Republic of Bashkortostan is a full-fledged subject of the Russian Federation on equal and agreed bases.
The relations of the Republic of Bashkortostan and the Russian Federation are based on the articles of the Constitution of the Russian Federation, the Constitution of the Republic of Bashkortostan, the Federative Treaty and the Agreement on Separation of authorities and powers and mutual delegating of powers among the organs of state power of the Republic of Bashkortostan.
The judicial power of the republic is in the hands of the Supreme Court, the Court of Appeals, district courts, and justices of the peace.
In full accord with universally recognized principles of international law, articles of the European Charter of Local Self-Government and the Constitution of the Russian Federation, the Republic of Bashkortostan ensures in its Constitution that local self-government is recognized and guaranteed within the republic's territory.
The Republic of Bashkortostan resolves all issues of administrative-territorial structure on its own. The list of districts and towns, municipalities, as well as the order of establishing, amending and changing borders of municipalities and their names, are stipulated by the Republic of Bashkortostan law "On administrative-territorial structure of the Republic of Bashkortostan and territory of municipalities".
The state has strong economic and cultural ties with its western neighbour, the Republic of Tatarstan.