Udmurtia (russian: Удму́ртия, r=Udmúrtiya, p=ʊˈdmurtʲɪjə; udm, Удмуртия, ''Udmurtija''), or the Udmurt Republic (russian: Удмуртская Республика, udm, Удмурт Республика, Удмурт Элькун, ''Udmurt Respublika'', ''Udmurt Eľkun''), is a
federal subject
The federal subjects of Russia, also referred to as the subjects of the Russian Federation (russian: субъекты Российской Федерации, subyekty Rossiyskoy Federatsii) or simply as the subjects of the federation (russian ...
of
Russia
Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...
(a
republic
A republic () is a "state in which power rests with the people or their representatives; specifically a state without a monarchy" and also a "government, or system of government, of such a state." Previously, especially in the 17th and 18th c ...
) in
Eastern Europe
Eastern Europe is a subregion of the Europe, European continent. As a largely ambiguous term, it has a wide range of geopolitical, geographical, ethnic, cultural, and socio-economic connotations. The vast majority of the region is covered by Russ ...
, within the
Volga Federal District
Volga (Privolzhsky) Federal District (russian: Приво́лжский федера́льный о́круг, ''Privolzhsky federalny okrug'') is one of the eight federal districts of Russia. It forms the southeastern part of European Russia. ...
. Its
capital
Capital may refer to:
Common uses
* Capital city, a municipality of primary status
** List of national capital cities
* Capital letter, an upper-case letter Economics and social sciences
* Capital (economics), the durable produced goods used f ...
is the
city
A city is a human settlement of notable size.Goodall, B. (1987) ''The Penguin Dictionary of Human Geography''. London: Penguin.Kuper, A. and Kuper, J., eds (1996) ''The Social Science Encyclopedia''. 2nd edition. London: Routledge. It can be def ...
of
Izhevsk
Izhevsk (russian: Иже́вск, p=ɪˈʐɛfsk; udm, Ижкар, ''Ižkar'', or , ''Iž'') is the capital city of Udmurtia, Russia. It is situated along the Izh River, west of the Ural Mountains in Eastern Europe. It is the 21st-largest city i ...
.
Name
The name ''Udmurt'' comes from ('meadow people'), where the first part represents the
Permic
The Permic or Permian languages are a branch of the Uralic language family. They are spoken in several regions to the west of the Ural Mountains within the Russian Federation. The total number of speakers is around 950,000, of which around 550,00 ...
root or ('meadow, glade, turf, greenery'). This is supported by a document dated 1557, in which the
Udmurts
The Udmurts ( udm, Удмуртъёс, ) are a Permian ( Finnic) ethnic group in Eastern Europe, who speak the Udmurt language. In the course of history, Russian-speakers have referred to them as ' (), Otyaks, Wotyaks or Votyaks.
Etymology
The n ...
are referred to as ('meadow people'), alongside the traditional Russian name .
The second part means 'person' (cf.
Komi ,
Mari ). It is probably an early borrowing from a
Scythian
The Scythians or Scyths, and sometimes also referred to as the Classical Scythians and the Pontic Scythians, were an ancient Eastern
* : "In modern scholarship the name 'Sakas' is reserved for the ancient tribes of northern and eastern Centra ...
language: or ('person, man'; cf. Urdu ), which is thought to have been borrowed from the
Indo-Aryan term ('man, mortal, one who is bound to die'. cf.
Old Indic
The Indo-Aryan languages (or sometimes Indic languages) are a branch of the Indo-Iranian languages in the Indo-European language family. As of the early 21st century, they have more than 800 million speakers, primarily concentrated in India, Pa ...
('young warrior') and ('chariot warrior'), both connected specifically with horses and chariots. The
Indo-Europeanists
Indo-European studies is a field of linguistics and an interdisciplinary field of study dealing with Indo-European languages, both current and extinct. The goal of those engaged in these studies is to amass information about the hypothetical pro ...
T. Gamkrelidze and
V. Ivanov associate this word with horse-riding Altaic tribes in the
Bronze Age
The Bronze Age is a historic period, lasting approximately from 3300 BC to 1200 BC, characterized by the use of bronze, the presence of writing in some areas, and other early features of urban civilization. The Bronze Age is the second pri ...
.
On the other hand, in the Russian tradition, the name 'meadow people' refers to the inhabitants of the left bank of river in general. Recently, the most relevant is the version of
V. V. Napolskikh and S. K. Belykh. They suppose that ethnonym was borrowed either from
Indo-Iranian 'outside, close, last, edge, limit, boundary' or Turkic-Altaic / 'oath (in fidelity), comrade, friend'.
History
On November 4, 1920, the Votyak Autonomous Oblast was formed.
[''Administrative-Territorial Structure of the Union Republics. 1987.'', p. 57] On January 1, 1932, it was renamed
Udmurt Autonomous Oblast
The Udmurt Autonomous Oblast (russian: Удмуртская автономная область ; udm, Удмурт автономи улос ) was formed on 4 November 1920 as the Votyak Autonomous Oblast (russian: Вотская автоно ...
, which was then reorganized into the
Udmurt ASSR on December 28, 1934.
During
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
, many industrial factories were evacuated from the
Ukrainian SSR
The Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic ( uk, Украї́нська Радя́нська Соціалісти́чна Респу́бліка, ; russian: Украи́нская Сове́тская Социалисти́ческая Респ ...
and western borderlands to Udmurtia.
Geography
The republic is located to the west of the
Ural Mountains
The Ural Mountains ( ; rus, Ура́льские го́ры, r=Uralskiye gory, p=ʊˈralʲskʲɪjə ˈɡorɨ; ba, Урал тауҙары) or simply the Urals, are a mountain range that runs approximately from north to south through western ...
and borders
Kirov,
Perm
Perm or PERM may refer to:
Places
*Perm, Russia, a city in Russia
** Permsky District, the district
**Perm Krai, a federal subject of Russia since 2005
**Perm Oblast, a former federal subject of Russia 1938–2005
**Perm Governorate, an administra ...
,
Bashkortostan
The Republic of Bashkortostan or Bashkortostan ( ba, Башҡортостан Республикаһы, Bashqortostan Respublikahy; russian: Республика Башкортостан, Respublika Bashkortostan),; russian: Респу́блик ...
, and
Tatarstan
The Republic of Tatarstan (russian: Республика Татарстан, Respublika Tatarstan, p=rʲɪsˈpublʲɪkə tətɐrˈstan; tt-Cyrl, Татарстан Республикасы), or simply Tatarstan (russian: Татарстан, tt ...
.
Udmurtia is a republic in the Russian Federation, located in Central Russia between the branches of two of the largest and oldest rivers in Europe: the
Kama
''Kama'' (Sanskrit ) means "desire, wish, longing" in Hindu, Buddhist, Jain, and Sikh literature.Monier Williamsकाम, kāmaMonier-Williams Sanskrit English Dictionary, pp 271, see 3rd column Kama often connotes sensual pleasure, sexual ...
and its right tributary the
Vyatka.
The city of Izhevsk is the administrative, industrial and cultural center of Udmurtia. Geographically, it is located not far from Moscow, the capital and largest city of the Russian Federation. The city has a well-developed transport system (including air, land, and water).
Udmurtia borders Kirov Oblast to the west and north, Perm Oblast to the east, and the Bashkortostan and Tatarstan Republics to the south.
Climate
The republic has a moderate
continental climate
Continental climates often have a significant annual variation in temperature (warm summers and cold winters). They tend to occur in the middle latitudes (40 to 55 north), within large landmasses where prevailing winds blow overland bringing som ...
, with warm summers and cold, snowy winters. Annual
precipitation
In meteorology, precipitation is any product of the condensation of atmospheric water vapor that falls under gravitational pull from clouds. The main forms of precipitation include drizzle, rain, sleet, snow, ice pellets, graupel and hail. ...
averages 400–600 mm.
Administrative divisions
Demographics
Population:
Although as of 2007 the population was declining, the decline was stabilizing and was more pronounced in urban areas. Out of the 19,667 births reported in 2007, 12,631 were in urban areas (11.86 per 1,000) and 7,036 were in rural areas (14.88 per 1,000). Birth rates for rural areas are 25% higher than that of urban areas. Of the total of 21,727 deaths, 14,366 were reported in urban areas (13.49 per 1,000) and 7,361 were in rural areas (15.56 per 1,000). Natural decline of the population was measured at −0.16% for urban areas and an insignificant −0.07% for rural areas (the average for Russia was −0.33% in 2007).
Settlements
Vital statistics
Source
TFR source
Ethnic groups
According to the
2010 Census,
Russians
, native_name_lang = ru
, image =
, caption =
, population =
, popplace =
118 million Russians in the Russian Federation (2002 ''Winkler Prins'' estimate)
, region1 =
, pop1 ...
make up 62.2% of the republic's population, while the ethnic
Udmurts
The Udmurts ( udm, Удмуртъёс, ) are a Permian ( Finnic) ethnic group in Eastern Europe, who speak the Udmurt language. In the course of history, Russian-speakers have referred to them as ' (), Otyaks, Wotyaks or Votyaks.
Etymology
The n ...
make up only 28%. Other groups include
Tatars
The Tatars ()[Tatar]
in the Collins English Dictionary is an umbrella term for different (6.7%),
Ukrainians
Ukrainians ( uk, Українці, Ukraintsi, ) are an East Slavs, East Slavic ethnic group native to Ukraine. They are the seventh-largest nation in Europe. The native language of the Ukrainians is Ukrainian language, Ukrainian. The majority ...
(0.6%),
Mari (0.6%), and a host of smaller groups, each accounting for less than 0.5% of the republic's total population.
Over two-thirds of the world population of Udmurts live in the republic.
Religious groups
According to a 2012 survey,
33.1% of the population of Udmurtia adheres to the
Russian Orthodox Church
, native_name_lang = ru
, image = Moscow July 2011-7a.jpg
, imagewidth =
, alt =
, caption = Cathedral of Christ the Saviour in Moscow, Russia
, abbreviation = ROC
, type ...
, 5% are
unaffiliated generic
Christians
Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...
, 2% are Eastern Orthodox Christian believers without belonging to any church or members of other
Eastern Orthodox church
The Eastern Orthodox Church, also called the Orthodox Church, is the second-largest Christian church, with approximately 220 million baptized members. It operates as a communion of autocephalous churches, each governed by its bishops via ...
es, 4% are
Muslim
Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...
s, 2% of the population adheres to the
Slavic native faith
The Slavic Native Faith, commonly known as Rodnovery
* bg, Родноверие, translit=Rоdnoverie
* bs, Rodnovjerje
* mk, Родноверие, translit=Rodnoverie
* cz, Rodnověří
* hr, Rodnovjerje
* pl, Rodzimowierstwo; Rodzima ...
(Rodnovery) or to
Udmurt Vos
Udmurt Vos ( Udmurt: Удмурт Вӧсь, literally "Udmurt Faith") is the ethnic religious revival of the Udmurts, a Finnic people inhabiting the republic of Udmurtia in Russia. Among the Udmurts, as in other Finnic republics in the Volga regio ...
(Udmurt native faith), 1% adheres to forms of
Protestantism
Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century against what its followers perceived to b ...
, and 1% of the population are
Old Believers
Old Believers or Old Ritualists, ''starovery'' or ''staroobryadtsy'' are Eastern Orthodox Christians who maintain the liturgical and ritual practices of the Russian Orthodox Church as they were before the reforms of Patriarch Nikon of Moscow bet ...
. In addition, 29% of the population declares to be "
spiritual but not religious
"Spiritual but not religious" (SBNR), also known as "spiritual but not affiliated" (SBNA), is a popular phrase and initialism used to self-identify a life stance of spirituality that does not regard organized religion as the sole or most valuable ...
," 19% is
atheist
Atheism, in the broadest sense, is an absence of belief in the existence of deities. Less broadly, atheism is a rejection of the belief that any deities exist. In an even narrower sense, atheism is specifically the position that there no ...
, and 3.9% follows other religions or did not give an answer to the question.
The local Russian Orthodox Church is the Metropolitanate of Udmurtia, comprising the Eparchy of Izhevsk (founded 1927) under Bishop and Metropolitan Viktorin (Kostenkov) (2015), the Eparchy of Glazov (founded 1889) under Bishop Viktor (Sergeyev) and the Eparchy of Sarapul (founded 1868) under Bishop Anthony (Prostikhin) (2015).
Jews
Udmurt Jews are a special territorial group of the
Ashkenazi Jews
Ashkenazi Jews ( ; he, יְהוּדֵי אַשְׁכְּנַז, translit=Yehudei Ashkenaz, ; yi, אַשכּנזישע ייִדן, Ashkenazishe Yidn), also known as Ashkenazic Jews or ''Ashkenazim'',, Ashkenazi Hebrew pronunciation: , singu ...
, which started to be formed in the residential areas of mixed Turkic-speaking (
Tatars
The Tatars ()[Tatar]
in the Collins English Dictionary is an umbrella term for different ,
Kryashens
Kryashens ( tt-Cyrl, керәшен(нәр), , russian: кряшены; sometimes called ''Baptised Tatars'' (russian: крещёные тата́ры)) are a sub-group of the Volga Tatars, frequently referred to as one of the minority ethnic grou ...
,
Bashkirs
, native_name_lang = bak
, flag = File:Bashkirs of Baymak rayon.jpg
, flag_caption = Bashkirs of Baymak in traditional dress
, image =
, caption =
, population = approx. 2 million
, popplace ...
,
Chuvash people
The Chuvash people ( , ; cv, чӑваш ; russian: чуваши ) are a Turkic ethnic group, a branch of Oghurs, native to an area stretching from the Volga-Ural region to Siberia. Most of them live in Chuvashia and the surrounding areas, a ...
), Finno-Ugric-speaking (
Udmurts
The Udmurts ( udm, Удмуртъёс, ) are a Permian ( Finnic) ethnic group in Eastern Europe, who speak the Udmurt language. In the course of history, Russian-speakers have referred to them as ' (), Otyaks, Wotyaks or Votyaks.
Etymology
The n ...
,
Mari people
The Mari ( chm, мари; russian: марийцы, mariytsy) are a Finnic people, who have traditionally lived along the Volga and Kama rivers in Russia. Almost half of Maris today live in the Mari El republic, with significant populations in the ...
) and Slavic-speaking (
Russians
, native_name_lang = ru
, image =
, caption =
, population =
, popplace =
118 million Russians in the Russian Federation (2002 ''Winkler Prins'' estimate)
, region1 =
, pop1 ...
) population. The
Ashkenazi Jews
Ashkenazi Jews ( ; he, יְהוּדֵי אַשְׁכְּנַז, translit=Yehudei Ashkenaz, ; yi, אַשכּנזישע ייִדן, Ashkenazishe Yidn), also known as Ashkenazic Jews or ''Ashkenazim'',, Ashkenazi Hebrew pronunciation: , singu ...
on the territory of the
Udmurt Republic
Udmurtia (russian: Удму́ртия, r=Udmúrtiya, p=ʊˈdmurtʲɪjə; udm, Удмуртия, ''Udmurtija''), or the Udmurt Republic (russian: Удмуртская Республика, udm, Удмурт Республика, Удмурт ...
first appeared in the 1830s.
[Шумилов Е.Ф., "Евреи: элита инженерная, торговая, медицинская..." Свое дело. 2001. №11. С. 18. ][Карпенко И., "В окрестностях Хаимграда".](_blank)
Лехаим. 2009. №1 (201). [Шумилов Е.Ф., "Евреи на Ижевском оружейном заводе".](_blank)
The Udmurt Jewry had formed the local
variety
Variety may refer to:
Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats
* Variety (radio)
* Variety show, in theater and television
Films
* ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont
* ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...
on the base of the Yiddish of Udmurtia till the 1930s and features of Yiddish of migrants "joined" into it (in the 1930s and 1940s);
[Altyntsev A.V., "The Concept of Love in Ashkenazim of Udmurtia and Tatarstan", Nauka Udmurtii. 2013. no. 4 (66), p. 131. (Алтынцев А.В.]
"Чувство любви в понимании евреев-ашкенази Удмуртии и Татарстана".
Наука Удмуртии. 2013. №4. С. 131: Комментарии.) as a result up to the 1970s and 1980s the Udmurt variety of Yiddish (''
Udmurtish
Yiddish dialects are variants of the Yiddish language and are divided according to the region in Europe where each developed its distinctiveness. Linguistically, Yiddish is divided in distinct Eastern and Western dialects. While the Western diale ...
'') was divided into two linguistic subgroups: the central subgroup (with centers
Izhevsk
Izhevsk (russian: Иже́вск, p=ɪˈʐɛfsk; udm, Ижкар, ''Ižkar'', or , ''Iž'') is the capital city of Udmurtia, Russia. It is situated along the Izh River, west of the Ural Mountains in Eastern Europe. It is the 21st-largest city i ...
,
Sarapul
Sarapul ( Udmurt and russian: Сара́пул) is a city and a river port in the Udmurt Republic, Russia, located on the right bank of the Kama River, southeast of Izhevsk, the capital of the republic. Population:
History
Sarapul is one of t ...
, and
Votkinsk
Votkinsk (russian: Во́ткинск; udm, Вотка, ''Votka'') is an industrial town in the Udmurt Republic, Russia. Population:
History
It was established in April 1759, initially as a center for metallurgical enterprises, and the economic ...
) and the southern subgroup (with centers
Kambarka
Kambarka (russian: Камбарка) is a town and the administrative center of Kambarsky District of the Udmurt Republic, Russia, located on the Kambarka River (Kama's basin), southeast of Izhevsk. Population:
History
It was founded as a ...
,
Alnashi
Alnashi (russian: Алнаши, udm, Алнаш, ''Alnaš'') is a ''selo'' (larger village) in Alnashsky District, Udmurt Republic, Russia
Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Euro ...
,
Agryz
Agryz (russian: Агры́з; tt-Cyrl, Әгерҗе, ''Ägerce'') is a town and the administrative center of Agryzsky District in the Republic of Tatarstan, Russia, located on the Izh River (Volga's basin), east of Kazan. As of the 2010 Census ...
and
Naberezhnye Chelny
Naberezhnye Chelny ( rus, На́бережные Челны́, p=ˈnabʲɪrʲɪʐnɨjə tɕɪlˈnɨ; tt-Cyrl, Яр Чаллы, ''Yar Çallı'', IPA: jar ɕɑlːɤ̆ is the second largest city in the Republic of Tatarstan, Russia. A major indus ...
).
One of the characteristic features of the Udmurtish is a noticeable number of
Udmurt and
Tatar
The Tatars ()[Tatar]
in the Collins English Dictionary is an umbrella term for different loan words.
[Гольдберг-Алтынцев А.В., "Краткий этнографический обзор группы ашкеназских евреев в Алнашском районе Удмуртской Республики / пер. с англ. яз. А.Й. Каца."](_blank)
Jewish studies in the Udmurt Republic: Online. Part 1. Edited by A. Greenberg. February 27, 2015 published. P. 3.
Culture
Udmurt folklore is understood both in a broad sense (, , - folk knowledge, folk wisdom), and in a narrower one (, - folk poetry, oral poetry). In everyday life, folklore is not divided into genres, it is perceived in unity with material culture, with religious, legal and ethical aspects. Popular terms-definitions have incorporated the ritual action (, , , , , , ), symbolically figurative and magically forming words (, , , ), musical and choreographic behavior (, , , , )
References
Notes
Sources
*
*"СССР. Административно-территориальное деление союзных республик. 1987." (''USSR. Administrative-Territorial Structure of the Union Republics. 1987'') / Составители В. А. Дударев, Н. А. Евсеева. — М.: Изд-во «Известия Советов народных депутатов СССР», 1987. — 673 с.
Further reading
*Kalder, Daniel. ''Lost Cosmonaut: Observations of an Anti-tourist''. Scribner Book Company. .
*
External links
Official website of the Udmurt Republic
{{Use mdy dates, date=October 2014
Russian-speaking countries and territories
Regions of Europe with multiple official languages
States and territories established in 1990
1990 establishments in Russia
1990 establishments in the Soviet Union