Bashkortostan

Bashkortostan, republic in Russia, extending from the western slopes of the southern Ural Mountains in the east to the rolling hills of the Bugulma-Belebey Upland in the west.

From Mount Yamantau, the highest peak in the southern Urals, elevation generally decreases southward and westward, with the heavily forested mountains giving way to open steppe interspersed with islands of mainly deciduous trees and to the floodplains of the Belaya River. The largest tributary of the Kama and the main water route of the republic, the Belaya rises in the southern Urals, flows southwest and then northwest, and separates the mountainous east from the upland west. Cold Siberian air masses severely affect the humid, continental climate of the republic. Extreme temperatures of −49 °F (−45 °C) in the winter and 97 °F (36 °C) in the summer may be recorded. The southern part of the republic suffers from the scorching and drought-producing sukhovey winds in late spring and summer. Rainfall varies from 16 to 20 inches (400 to 500 mm) in the steppe areas to 24 inches (600 mm) in the mountains.

Settled during the khanate of the Golden Horde by the Turkic Bashkirs, the area passed to Russia in 1552 after the overthrow of the Kazan khanate by Tsar Ivan IV the Terrible. In 1574 the Russians founded Ufa, now the capital and largest city of the republic. By the middle of the 18th century, copper and iron production had begun in the area, and it was an autonomous republic of the U.S.S.R. from 1919 to 1991.

Included in the Volga economic region of Russia, Bashkortostan has developed both agriculturally and industrially. The republic’s rich mineral resources provide many raw materials for its expanding industries. Oil and natural gas are extracted from oil fields near Ufa and Neftekamsk in the northwest, at Belebey in the west, and at Ishimbay on the middle Belaya; iron ore and manganese are mined in the Urals, copper in the southeast, and salt near Sterlitamak; and quarries provide materials for the glass and cement industries. Petroleum production, refining, and processing rank as the most important of the republic’s industries. The main refineries at Ufa, Ishimbay, and Salavat are linked by a pipeline network with both regional oil fields and those of the republic of Tatarstan. Iron and steel centres at Beloretsk and Tirlyansky produce steel cables, wire, and sheet steel, used in the manufacture of machine tools, petroleum and mining equipment, motor engines, electric cables, telephones, and typewriters. The chemical industry uses oil and gas by-products, and the timber industry produces veneer, furniture, matches, and paper for manufacture. Large power plants are located at Ufa, Sterlitamak, Ishimbay, Yermolaevo, Salavat, and Karmanovo.

Agriculture is most important in the Belaya River valley. The main agricultural products include rye, oats, corn (maize), flax, sugar beets, potatoes, and sunflowers; market gardening flourishes around Ufa and Sterlitamak, while stock raising (cattle, sheep, goats) predominates in the Urals. The area is noted for its breed of horses, and beekeeping, a traditional occupation, is widespread. Rail and motor roads radiate from Ufa, which also has an airport; one of the main trans-Urals railway routes passes through the capital, and branch lines from it lead to other industrial centres of the republic, to Magnitogorsk, and to the mountainous regions of Bashkortostan.

The population of Bashkortostan comprises Russians, Tatars, Bashkirs, Chuvash, Mari, Ukrainians, and Mordvinians; the great majority are urban dwellers. Sterlitamak and Salavat rank with Ufa as major cities. The republic has several institutes of higher education, hundreds of libraries, and many theatres, several of which have performances in the Bashkir language. Area 55,400 square miles (143,600 square km). Pop. (2006 est.) 4,063,409.