The culture of

Tatarstan The Republic of Tatarstan (russian: Республика Татарстан, Respublika Tatarstan, p=rʲɪsˈpublʲɪkə tətɐrˈstan; tt-Cyrl, Татарстан Республикасы), or simply Tatarstan (russian: Татарстан, tt ...

is molded from the culture of

Volga Tatar The Volga Tatars or simply Tatars ( tt-Cyrl, татарлар, tatarlar) are a Turkic ethnic group native to the Volga-Ural region of Russia. They are subdivided into various subgroups. Volga Tatars are Russia's second-largest ethnicity after t ...

people,

Russian Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including: *Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...

, and

European culture The culture of Europe is rooted in its art, architecture, film, different types of music, economics, literature, and philosophy. European culture is largely rooted in what is often referred to as its "common cultural heritage". Definition ...

Education

The education system in Tatarstan is secular. The literacy rate for the total population is about 100%. Elementary and secondary education is compulsory (grades 1–10). Students must pass graduation exams at the end of the 10th grade in order to continue their education in colleges and universities. Most schools are public along with a small number of parochial schools run by churches or mosques. The school year begins in September. Kazan State University is one of the major centers of higher education in Russia. There are several colleges, institutes, and technical schools in Kazan and other cities of the republic.

Music

Traditional (folk) Tatar music is based on the

pentatonic scale A pentatonic scale is a musical scale with five notes per octave, in contrast to the heptatonic scale, which has seven notes per octave (such as the major scale and minor scale). Pentatonic scales were developed independently by many ancien ...

. The first Tatar

opera Opera is a form of theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a librett ...

was staged in 1925. It was composed by Sultan Gabyashi in collaboration with

Vasili Vinogradov Vinogradov Vasily Ivanovich (; Vasili Vinogradov, russian: Виногра́дов Васи́лий Ива́нович; 1874–1948) was an ethnically Russian Tatar opera composer, violinist and pedagogue. TASSR Honoured Worker of Culture (1 ...

. Farit Yarullin was the creator of the first Tatar

ballet Ballet () is a type of performance dance that originated during the Italian Renaissance in the fifteenth century and later developed into a concert dance form in France and Russia. It has since become a widespread and highly technical form of ...

, known as ''

Şüräle Shurale (Tatar and Bashkir: Шүрәле, �yræˈlɘ russian: Шурале) is a forest spirit in Tatar and Bashkir mythology. According to legends, Şüräle lives in forests. He has long fingers, a horn on its forehead, and a woolly body. He ...

''. Modern Tatar music includes practically all existing musical genres.

Theater

There are 16 professional and dozens of amateur theaters in Tatarstan performing plays in Tatar, Russian, and other local languages.

Cinema

1924 Events January * January 12 – Gopinath Saha shoots Ernest Day, whom he has mistaken for Sir Charles Tegart, the police commissioner of Calcutta, and is arrested soon after. * January 20– 30 – Kuomintang in China hol ...

, Tatarkino (Tatarcinema), a government company for making documentaries, feature films and others, was created in

Kazan Kazan ( ; rus, Казань, p=kɐˈzanʲ; tt-Cyrl, Казан, ''Qazan'', IPA: ɑzan is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Tatarstan in Russia. The city lies at the confluence of the Volga and the Kazanka rivers, covering a ...

Cuisine

Libraries

Major libraries include the Science Library of

Kazan State University Kazan (Volga region) Federal University (russian: Казанский (Приволжский) федеральный университет, tt-Cyrl, Казан (Идел буе) федераль университеты) is a public research uni ...

and the National Library of the Republic of Tatarstan. There are two museums of republican significance, as well as 90 museums of local importance. In the past several years new museums appeared throughout the Republic.

Religion

In Tatarstan, religion and the state are separate from each other, although as in the rest of Russia, religious authorities are subordinated to the state. The most common

faith Faith, derived from Latin ''fides'' and Old French ''feid'', is confidence or trust in a person, thing, or In the context of religion, one can define faith as "belief in God or in the doctrines or teachings of religion". Religious people often ...

are

Sunni Islam Sunni Islam () is the largest branch of Islam, followed by 85–90% of the world's Muslims. Its name comes from the word '' Sunnah'', referring to the tradition of Muhammad. The differences between Sunni and Shia Muslims arose from a disagre ...

and

Russian Orthodoxy Russian Orthodoxy (russian: Русское православие) is the body of several churches within the larger communion of Eastern Orthodox Christianity, whose liturgy is or was traditionally conducted in Church Slavonic language. Most C ...

. As of 2004, there were 1,208 buildings used for religious purposes in Tatarstan; 1,014 of which were Islamic, and 176—Russian Orthodox.

External links

Tatar National Traditions, Culture and Art

The Politics of Culture in Late Imperial Kazan

National Arts of the Tatars

The National Museum of the Republic of Tatarstan at Google Cultural Institute
* {{Culture-stub