The Chuvash Republic is located in the center ofEuropean Russia, in the heart of theVolga-Vyatka economic region, mostly to the west of theVolga River, in theVolga Upland. It borders with theNizhny Novgorod Oblast in the west,Mari El Republic in the north, theRepublic of Tatarstan in the east and southeast,Republic of Mordovia in the southwest, and theUlyanovsk Oblast in the south. There are over two thousand rivers in the republic—with the major ones being the Volga, theSura, and theTsivil—as well as four hundred lakes. Some of the Volga River valley reservoirs are in the north of the republic, and the Sura River flows towards the Volga along much of the republic's western boundary.
The climate is moderatelycontinental, with the average temperatures ranging from −13 °C (9 °F) in January to +19 °C (66 °F) in July. Annualprecipitation varies between 450 and 700 millimeters (18 and 28 in), but is uneven from one year to another. Natural resources includegypsum, sand,clay,sapropel deposits,phosphorite, andpeat. There areoil andnatural gas deposits, although their extraction has not yet been commercially pursued. Forests, mostly in the south along the Sura River, cover approximately 30% of the land.[13]
The ancestors of the Chuvash wereBulgars andSuars,Oghur Turkic tribes residing in the NorthernCaucasus in the 5th to 8th centuries. In the 7th and 8th centuries, a part of the Bulgars left for theBalkans, where, together with localSouth Slavs, they established the state of modernBulgaria. Another part moved to the Middle Volga Region (seeVolga Bulgaria), where the Bulgar population that did not adoptIslam formed the foundation of the Chuvash people.[13]
During theMongol invasion of Volga Bulgaria, the steppe-dwelling Suar migrated north, whereVolga Finnic tribes, such as theMordvins andMari lived. The Chuvash claim to be the descendants of these Suars who assimilated with the Mari. In 1242, they became vassals of theGolden Horde. LaterMongol andTatar rulers did not intervene in local internal affairs as long as tribute was paid annually toSarai. When the power of the Golden Horde began to diminish, localMişär Tatar Murzas fromPiana andTemnikov tried to govern the Chuvash area.
DuringIvan the Terrible's war of conquest against theKhanate of Kazan, in August 1552, the Chuvash Orsai and MariAkpar Tokari princes swore their loyalty to theGrand Duchy of Muscovy atAlatyr on theSura River. Between 1650 and 1850, theRussian Orthodox Church sentChuvash-speaking missionaries to try to convert the Chuvash to the Orthodox faith. A group of these missionaries created a written Chuvash language. Most of the Chuvash who stayed in the area became Orthodox Christians, but some remainedpagan.
On 15 May 1917, the Chuvash joined theIdel-Ural Movement and in December 1917 joined the short-livedIdel-Ural State, when an agreement was reached withTatar representatives to draw the eastern border of Chuvashia at theSviyaga River. Between 1918 and 1919, theRussian Civil War encompassed the area. This ended with victory for theBolsheviks. To gain support from the local population, Lenin ordered the creation of a Chuvash state within theRussian SFSR. On 24 June 1920, theChuvash Autonomous Oblast was formed, which was transformed into theChuvash ASSR in April 1925.
Seat of the Government of the Chuvash RepublicResidence of the President of Chuvash Republic
Until 2012, the Chuvash Republic officially had the status of a state. In the constitution of Chuvashia (version 6, dated 13 September 2011 No. 46), the following was fixed: "The Chuvash Republic is a republic (state) within the Russian Federation."
During theSoviet period, the high authority in therepublic was shared between three persons: The first secretary of the Chuvashia CPSU Committee (who in reality had the biggest authority), the chairman of the oblast Soviet (legislative power), and the Chairman of the Republic Executive Committee (executive power). Since 1991, CPSU lost all the power, and the head of the Republic administration, and eventually the governor was appointed/elected alongside electedregional parliament.
The Charter of Republic of Chuvashia is the fundamental law of the region. TheState Council of the Chuvash Republic is the republic'sregional standing legislative (representative) body. The highest executive body is the Republic's Government, which includes territorial executive bodies such as district administrations, committees, and commissions that facilitate development and run the day to day matters.
The capital and largest city of Chuvashia isCheboksary, with a population of around 464,000 as of 2010. Cheboksary is situated mostly on the southern bank of the Volga in the northern part of the republic (one northern bank district was added in the second part of the 20th century), approximately 650 kilometers (400 mi) east ofMoscow. Nearby to the east is the next largest city,Novocheboksarsk, with a population of 124,000 as of 2010.
According to the 2021 Census, ethnicChuvash make up 63.7% of the republic's population. Other groups includeRussians (30.7%),Tatars (2.7%),Mordvins (0.7%), and a host of smaller groups, each accounting for less than 0.5% of the total population.[17]
1112,104 people were registered from administrative databases, and could not declare an ethnicity. It is estimated that the proportion of ethnicities in this group is the same as that of the declared group.[18]
Osteopetrosis affects 1 newborn out of every 20,000 to 250,000[19] worldwide, but the odds are much higher in the Russian region of Chuvashia (1 of every 3,500–4,000 newborns) due to genetic traits of the Chuvash people.[20][21]
According to a 2012 survey,[22] 64.7% of the population of Chuvashia adheres to theRussian Orthodox Church, 4% are Orthodox Christian believers without belonging to any church or members of non-RussianOrthodox churches, 3% of the population (mostlyTatars) followIslam, 3% areunaffiliatedChristians, 1% follow indigenous faiths (Vattisen Yaly, Chuvash folk religion). In addition, 24% of the population declares to be "spiritual but not religious", 1% isatheist and 2.3% follows other religions or did not answer to the question.[22]
Study of religion is compulsory for schoolchildren in Chuvashia. Of the students, approximately 76.9% are enrolled for Orthodox Studies, 16.0% for Secular Studies, 15.7% for World Religions Studies and 1.4% for Islamic Studies.[24]
The Chuvash Republic is the most populous and fertile area in the middleVolga region. There are deciduous woodlands on fertile black earth. In agriculture, wheat and sugar-beet, pigs and beef cattle have become more important than the rye, oats, barley and dairy cattle which are typical for the whole area.
Thetransport network in the republic is one of the most developed in Russia. The republic's system of roads, railroads, waterways, and airports closely ties the region with others in and outside of Russia.[13]
Automobiles, trucks, and buses are the major forms of transportation, with the republic ranking fourth in highway density in all of Russia.[13] Cheboksary is situated on one of the main highways of the Russian Federation leading fromMoscow to the industrial areas of Tatarstan, the southernUrals, andSiberia. A recently completed bridge across the Volga River in the north connects the republic to the developedUral andVolga Federal Districts. To the south, highways connect Chuvashia with Saratov andVolgograd. Extensive public and private bus systems connect all towns within the republic with each other and with the surrounding regions.[13]
The standard speed of transportation ofcontainers by road is 400 kilometers (250 mi) per day. The average time of delivery from Cheboksary to Moscow is 1.5 days; toSaint Petersburg, 2.5 days; and toWestern Europe, 10 to 15 days.[13]
The railway network is highly developed, convenient, and accessible year-round. One of the largest railway junctions of Russia –Kanash—is in the center of the republic. Via Kanash, the rail system connects the major towns in Chuvashia with the big industrial centers of easternSiberia, theUrals, and Moscow. Express trains are reliable and provide a low-cost, comfortable way to travel. Express trains to and from Moscow are available every day, with the overnight journey taking approximately fourteen hours each way.
The following lines serve railway traffic in the Chuvash Republic:
Kanash – Cheboksary II – Cheboksary I – Cheboksary II –Novocheboksarsk line
In addition to these lines, there are 26 kilometers (16 mi) of1,520 mm (4 ft 11+27⁄32 in) gauge industrial lines running fromAltyshevo station, on Alatyr-Kanash section, toPervomaysky, located just west ofStarye Aybesi inAlatyrsky District.
All railway lines in Chuvashia are operated by the MPSGorky Railway Division. Steam locomotives were mostly replaced in 1970 by diesel locomotives and when the mainArzamas-Kanash-Sviyazhsk line was electrified, the diesel locomotives were replaced by electric ones.
The Arzamas-Kanash-Sviyazhsk line is a double track main line, while the others are single track lines. The 84 km (52 mi) Sviyazhsk-Kanash section was electrified in 1986, the 142 km (88 mi) Kanash-Sergach section in 1987.
In 1967, there were four daily passenger trains in both directions on the Alatyr-Kanash line. One of them was the semifast Sochi-Sverdlovsk-Sochi long-distance transit train, halting only atAlatyr,Buinsk, andKanash. Cheboksary was connected by daily semifast passenger train to Moscow. The travel time was 17.30[clarification needed] hours for the 758 km (471 mi) journey. 21 express and passenger trains used the Arzamas-Kanash-Sviyazhsk main line in the summer high season in both directions. Of these, four did not halt in Chuvashia. Most of the remaining semifast trains stopped at Shumerlya, Piner, Burnary, and Kanash. Four pairs of semifast trains also stopped at Tyurmari. In the 1999–2000 timetable, 11 pairs of Moscow-Kanash-Kazan express trains stopped at Kanash. The Chuvashia 53/54 express trains between Moscow and Kanash took 11.23 hours, back 10.57 hours.[clarification needed]
In addition to Russian1,524 mm (5 ft) gauge railways, there were six750 mm (2 ft 5+1⁄2 in)narrow-gauge railway lines: two shortpeat briquette industry lines at Severny and Sosnovka on the north side of the Volga, and four forest railways at Shumerlya, Atrat and Kirya. All opened in the 1930s. In 1965, their total length was 145 kilometers (90 mi):
Shumerlya-Kabanovo-Rechnoy-Burak-Krasnobar forest railway – total length 72 kilometers (45 mi)
TheVolga andSura Rivers connect Chuvashia to a national and international water network. To the south,Volgograd,Rostov-on-Don,Astrakhan, theCaspian Sea, andBlack Sea are directly reachable. To the west, the Volga River connects Cheboksary withNizhny Novgorod,Yaroslavl, Moscow and the northern regions of Russia. By using river-sea vessels, cargo transportation is possible from Chuvash river ports all the way toSaint Petersburg,Novorossiysk (on the Black Sea),Astrakhan, and ports situated on theDanube River. However, the river is frozen from December through April.[13] Cheboksary is a frequent stop on the many boat tours of the Volga.[13]
The internationalCheboksary Airport receives both cargo and passenger aircraft of practically all types and sizes. There are regularly scheduled flights to Moscow and other destinations. Additionally, Cheboksary is about a four-hour drive fromStrigino International Airport, the airport primarily servingNizhny Novgorod, which offers a greater number of flights, including connections throughAeroflot andBelavia.
WhileRussian is the predominant business language, theChuvash language is still spoken by many, especially in the country. The Chuvash language belongs to theOghur subgroup of theTurkic language group. In ancient times arunic system of writing was used. Chuvashi now uses amodified Cyrillic script that was adopted in 1871.
There has been a resurgence of native Chuvash pride, with many people looking back to their Chuvash roots and exploring the culture and heritage and relearning the language. Most building signs, road signs, and announcements are in both Russian and Chuvash.
At present Chuvash Republic has six professional theaters:
and over 30 amateur theaters, a Philharmonic Society, an Academic Folk Song and Dance Group, an Academic Choir, a Chamber Orchestra, and some professional concert groups.
There are also more than 20 museums, exhibition halls and modern art galleries.
There are about 627 monuments of architecture in Chuvashia, including 54 of national importance: the Vvedensky Cathedral (1657), the Holy Trinity Monastery (1566), the Salt House, the houses of Chuvash famous merchants (Zeleischikov, Solovtsov, the Efremov family) (18th-19th century) in Cheboksary, the Tolmachev family house and Trinity Cathedral (18th century) in the town ofTsivilsk, the Burashnikov house in the town ofYadrin.
^Президент Российской Федерации. Указ №849 от 13 мая 2000 г. «О полномочном представителе Президента Российской Федерации в федеральном округе». Вступил в силу 13 мая 2000 г. Опубликован: "Собрание законодательства РФ", No. 20, ст. 2112, 15 мая 2000 г. (President of the Russian Federation. Decree #849 of May 13, 2000On the Plenipotentiary Representative of the President of the Russian Federation in a Federal District. Effective as of May 13, 2000.).
^Госстандарт Российской Федерации. №ОК 024-95 27 декабря 1995 г. «Общероссийский классификатор экономических регионов. 2. Экономические районы», в ред. Изменения №5/2001 ОКЭР. (Gosstandart of the Russian Federation. #OK 024-95 December 27, 1995Russian Classification of Economic Regions. 2. Economic Regions, as amended by the Amendment #5/2001 OKER. ).
Нестеров, В. А. (1981) [1981].Населённые пункты Чувашской АССР. 1917–1981 годы: Справочник об административно-территориальном делении (in Russian). Чувашское книжное издательство.
Государственный Совет Чувашской Республики. 30 ноября 2000 г. «Конституция Чувашской Республики», в ред. Закона №34 от 26 июня 2014 г. «О внесении изменений в главу 7 Конституции Чувашской Республики». Вступил в силу 10 декабря 2000 г. Опубликован: "Республика", №52, 9 декабря 2000 г. (State Council of the Chuvash Republic. November 30, 2000Constitution of the Chuvash Republic, as amended by the Law #34 of June 26, 2014On Amending Chapter 7 of the Constitution of the Chuvash Republic. Effective as of December 10, 2000.).
Государственный Совет Чувашской Республики. Закон №12 от 14 июля 1997 г. «О государственных символах Чувашской Республики», в ред. Закона №59 от 30 июля 2013 г. «О внесении изменений в Закон Чувашской Республики "О государственных символах Чувашской Республики"». Вступил в силу со дня официального опубликования. Опубликован: "Чаваш ен", No.30, 26 июля – 2 августа 1997 г. (State Council of the Chuvash Republic. Law #12 of July 14, 1997On the State Symbols of the Chuvash Republic, as amended by the Law #59 of July 30, 2013On Amending the Law of the Chuvash Republic "On the State Symbols of the Chuvash Republic". Effective as of the day of the official publication.).
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