Mordovia
54.244.5Koordinaten: 54 ° 12 ' N, 44 ° 30' E
The Republic of Mordovia (Russian Республика Мордовия / Respublika Mordowija, therefore, also called German Mordovia, ersjanisch Мордовия Республикась, Moksha Мордовия Республиксь ) is a republic in the European part of Russia.
Geography
Mordovia is located in the Volga Federal District between Moscow and the Volga. It is bordered to the north by the Nizhny Novgorod, Ryazan Oblast to the west, to the east by Ulyanovsk Oblast, north-east of Chuvashia and on the south by the Penza Oblast. The capital Saransk is situated about 600 kilometers southeast of Moscow.
In Mordovia, there are about 500 lakes and ten rivers with more than 100 kilometers in length: the Moksha with the current flowing in its catchment area Issa, Siwin, Wad, Parza and Wyscha and Sura with Alatyr, Insar and Pjana. The largest lakes are Inerka and Tatarka.
Population
The Finno- Ugric Mordvins are a people that were more exposed than other peoples in Russia a pressure of assimilation by the Russians and is. Thus, only about 40 % of the population declared themselves at the 2010 census to Mordvinian nationality. The Russians are the majority and live, especially in the larger cities. Several hundred thousand Mordvins live in other parts of Russia and the successor states of the former Soviet Union. A large minority in the region are the Tatars, whose population is more than five percent in Mordovia. The proportion of the smaller minorities, such as Ukrainians, Belarusians (2002: 1,240 persons) or Chuvash (2002: 1,097 persons), in particular shrinks due to emigration. In Mordovia there since about 1970 before a steady decline in population. In the forty years from 1970 to 2010, the decline amounted to 194 807 people or 18.9%.
The official languages are equal, the two languages Mordvinian Ersjanisch and Moksha and Russian. The majority of the population is committed to the Russian Orthodox Church.
Administrative divisions and cities
The Republic of Mordovia is divided into 22 Rajons and a city circuit, which is formed by the Republic capital Saransk. Saransk is also the only major city in the Republic; by a large margin and follow Rusajewka Kowylkino and four other cities and 14 urban-type settlements.
History
Mordovia was inhabited already in the sixth century of the Finno- Ugric peoples. In the early Middle Ages, the area belonged to the sphere of influence of the Volga Bulgars and the Kievan Rus. After the Mongol invasion, the region was controlled by the Golden Horde. After Ivan IV of Moscow defeated the Khanate of Kazan, Mordovia came under Russian rule. The Mordvinian upper class quickly took over the Russian culture and Orthodox religion, while on the other hand the simple population maintained its original shamanistic religion long. Only in the 18th century, a nationwide Christianization in Mordovia.
Mordovia was during the Soviet Union from 16 July 1928, the Mordvinian Okrug, which was renamed on 10 January 1930 in Mordvinian Autonomous Oblast. In the 1920s, two uniform computational spellings were elaborated Ersjanisch and Moksha for the two Mordvinian languages and it developed its own literature. Since December 20, 1934 Mordovia was an Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic ( ASSR ) within the Russian Soviet Federated Socialist Republic ( RSFSR ).
1990 Mordovia became an autonomous republic within Russia. Republic is the head Nikolai Merkuschkin. Mordovia for decades already suffering from a declining population.
Labor camp in Mordovia
Since the 1920s, there are many in Mordovia labor camps. In the Soviet Union they were part of the gulag system. From 1990, the number of prisoners in these camps was approximately halved, but the prison conditions remain poor; there are reports of guards, beat or rape the prisoners. Among others were Nadezhda Tolokonnikowa, singer of the punk band Pussy Riot, and Svetlana Bakhmina, which played a role in the Yukos case, interned in camps Mordovia.
Transport and the economy
The republic has good transport links, including to Moscow, Nizhny Novgorod and Samara. Mordovia has a well developed, diverse economy and is rich in mineral resources ( precious metals ).
Gallery
Military Museum in Saransk
Makarowski Monastery
Theodor Cathedral in Saransk