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'Chuvash Republic' (; ), or 'Chuvashia' (Чува́шия) is a federal subject of Russia (a republic) located in central Russia. It is the homeland of Bulgar Turkic Chuvash people.

Contents

Geography

Time zone

Natural resources

Climate

Administrative divisions

Demographics

History

Politics

Economy

Transportation

Road

Railroad

River, sea, and air

Culture

Education

External links

Geography

Chuvashia is located in the center of the European part of Russia, in the heart of the Volga-Vyatka region, midway between Nizhny Novgorod and Kazan. The republic is not large, but is one of the most densely populated regions in the Russian Federation, with a total population of 1.35 million people.
It is bordered to the north and west by the Volga River, with the Mari El Republic to the north and Nizhny Novgorod Oblast to the west. To the south it borders Mordovia and Ulyanovsk Oblast, to the east Tatarstan. The capital city of Cheboksary is the republic’s major industrial center. Cheboksary is situated on the banks of the Volga River, approximately 650 km east of Moscow.
Chuvashia’s central location gives companies located here easy access to some of the most industrially developed regions of the country.
The majority of the republic is rural in character, with Cheboksary (population 453,700 in 2004) and Novocheboksarsk (population 125,600 in 2004) in the north along the Volga River being the major industrialized cities. Forests, mostly in the south along the Sura River, cover approximately 30 percent of the land.

Time zone

Chuvashia is located in the Moscow Time Zone (MSK/MSD). UTC offset is +0300 (MSK)/+0400 (MSD).

Natural resources

Chuvashia's natural resources include gypsums, sands, tripoli, clays, sapropel deposits, phosphorite and peat.

Climate

Chuvashia has a moderate continental climate. Average temperatures range from −13°C in January to 19°C in July. Annual precipitation can reach 500 mm. The varied continental climate offers opportunities for both summer and winter recreational activities.

Administrative divisions

Demographics

★ 'Population'
According to the 2002 Census, Chuvashia's total population was 1,346,300. 794,800, or 60.9% of the population were living in urban areas. 510,200, or 39.1% of the population were living in rural areas. The largest city is the capital, Cheboksary, followed by nearby Novocheboksarsk.

★ 'Vital statistics' (2005)

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★ ''Births'': 13,133 (birth rate 10.1)

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★ ''Deaths'': 19,682 (death rate 15.2)

★ 'Ethnic groups'
According to the 2002 Census, ethnic Chuvash make up 67.7% of the republic's population. Other groups include Russians (26.5%), Tatars (2.8%), Mordvins (1.2%), Ukrainians (0.5%), and a host of smaller groups, each accounting for less than 0.5% of the total population.

	census 1926	census 1939	census 1959	census 1970	census 1979	census 1989	census 2002
Chuvash	667,695 (74.6%)	777,202 (72.2%)	770,351 (70.2%)	856,246 (70.0%)	887,738 (68.4%)	906,922 (67.8%)	889,268 (67.7%)
Russians	178,890 (20.0%)	241,386 (22.4%)	263,692 (24.0%)	299,241 (24.5%)	338,150 (26.0%)	357,120 (26.7%)	348,515 (26.5%)
Tatars	22,635 (2.5%)	29,007 (2.7%)	31,357 (2.9%)	36,217 (3.0%)	37,573 (2.9%)	35,689 (2.7%)	36,379 (2.8%)
Mordvins	23,958 (2.7%)	22,512 (2.1%)	23,863 (2.2%)	21,041 (1.7%)	20,276 (1.6%)	18,686 (1.4%)	15,993 (1.2%)
Ukrainians	149 (0.0%)	3,629 (0.3%)	3,837 (0.3%)	4,487 (0.4%)	6,122 (0.5%)	7,302 (0.5%)	6,422 (0.5%)
Others	1,152 (0.1%)	3,074 (0.3%)	4,759 (0.4%)	6,443 (0.5%)	8,752 (0.7%)	12,304 (0.9%)	17,177 (1.3%)

History

The Chuvash ancestors were tribes of ancient Bulgars and Suars that resided in the Northern Caucasus in the 5th to the 8th centuries. In the 7th and 8th centuries one part of the Bulgars left for the Balkans, where, together with the local Slavs, they established the state of modern Bulgaria. Another part moved to the Middle Volga Region (see Volga Bulgaria), where they later formed the ethnic foundation for the Chuvash people. The Chuvash nationality was formed from the part of the Bulgar population that did not adopt Islam in the 10th century. During the Mongol invasion to Volga Bulgaria the rest of the steppe-dwelling Chuvash population migrated to the north, where the local Finnic tribes, such as the Merdi Erza and Kukuk Mari lived and continued to serve their own Goods. They become vassals of Golden Horde but the