Buryatia

Republic of Buryatia
Республика Бурятия
Official titular nation transcription(s)
 • BuryatБуряад Улас
Anthem: "Anthem of the Republic of Buryatia"
Location of Republic of Buryatia
Coordinates: 53°48′N 109°20′E / 53.800°N 109.333°E / 53.800; 109.333
CountryRussia
Federal districtFar Eastern
Economic regionFar Eastern
CapitalUlan-Ude
Government
 • TypePeople's Khural
 • HeadAlexey Tsydenov
Area
 • Total351,334 km2 (135,651 sq mi)
Population
 • TotalIncrease 978,588
 • Rank54th
 • Density2.79/km2 (7.2/sq mi)
 • Urban59.1%
 • Rural40.9%
Time zoneUTC+8 (MSK+5)
ISO 3166 codeRU-BU
Vehicle registration03
Official language(s)Buryat; Russian
Websiteegov-buryatia.ru

Buryatia (Russian: Бурятия; Buryat: Буряад Улас), officially the Republic of Buryatia, is a republic of Russia located in the Russian Far East. Formerly part of the Siberian Federal District, it has been administered as part of the Far Eastern Federal District since 2018. It borders Irkutsk Oblast and Lake Baikal, the deepest lake in the world to the north, Zabaykalsky Krai to the east, Tuva to the west and Mongolia to the south. Its capital is the city of Ulan-Ude. It has an area of 351,300 square kilometers (135,600 sq mi) with a population of 978,588 (2021 Census). It is home to the indigenous Buryats.

Geography

View of Lake Baikal in Buryatia
View of the valley of the Uda near the village of Khorinsk
Landscape of southern Buryatia

The republic is located in the south-central region of Siberia along the eastern shore of Lake Baikal.

Rivers

Major rivers include:

Lakes

Mountains

Over 80% of the republic's territory is located in the mountainous region, including the Baikal Mountains on the northern shores of Lake Baikal, the Ulan-Burgas east of the lake, and the Selenga Highlands in the south near the Mongolia–Russia border.

Natural resources

The republic's natural resources include gold, tungsten, zinc, uranium, and more.

Climate

  • Average annual temperature: 0 °C (32 °F)[citation needed]
  • Average January temperature: −17 °C (1 °F)
  • Average July temperature: +25 °C (77 °F)
  • Average annual precipitation: 244 millimeters (9.6 in)

The climate varies, with the capital Ulan-Ude having a humid steppe climate and the north with a humid continental climate.

History

Unusual blue diopsidite skarn from the Dovyren Highlands, Buryatia.

Mongolian people have lived around the area of Lake Baikal since the fifth century, with Mongolic-related Slab Grave cultural monuments found in Baikal territory. Over time, the Mongolic peoples of the regions developed into distinct groups, one of which became the Buryats. Further divisions of the Buryats came from those living on the western shore of Lake Baikal, with better land for agriculture, and those in the east, who practiced nomadism more regularly and continued residing in moveable felt yurts. As a result of the superior farmland, the western side of Lake Baikal was settled by European peasants during the time of the Russian Empire – western Buryats were more exposed to and influenced by the culture, religions, and economy of their European neighbors, whereas the eastern Buryats maintained closer ties to other Mongolic peoples, Buddhism, and Asian civilizations.

The territory of Buryatia has been governed by the Xiongnu Empire (209 BC-93 CE) and Mongolian Xianbei state (93–234), Rouran Khaganate (330–555), First Turkic Khaganate (552-603), Eastern Turkic Khaganate (682-744), Tang dynasty (647–784), Uyghur Khaganate (744-840), Yenisei Kyrgyz Khaganate (840-1208), Mongol Empire (1206–1368), and Northern Yuan (1368–1635). Medieval Mongol tribes such as the Merkit, Bayads, Barga Mongols and Tümeds inhabited in Buryatia.

Imperial Russia

Cossacks and other tsarists officials began moving eastward into the western Buryat lands in 1625, where they estimated 30,000 Buryats were living in southeastern Siberia, collecting tribute from other, small Siberian tribes. The Buryats resisted the incorporation into the Russian Empire's tribute system (yasak) that demanded a yearly supply of furs; it was not until the 1680s that the last of the eastern Buryat lands were forced to participate in the yasak system. In 1666, the fort of Udinskoye was founded. This area later became known as Verkhneudinsk – in 1934, it was renamed Ulan-Ude, the present-day capital of Buryatia.

From 1727 it was the border crossing for the Kyakhta trade between Russia and China. Kyakhta's founder, the Serb Sava Vladislavich, established it as a trading point between Russia and the Qing Empire. The 1820 reforms of Mikhail Speransky established indirect rule over Buryatia by codifying the local clan leaders as official members of the "steppe duma" in order to incorporate them into the existing imperial government.

Buddhism was recognized as an official religion of the Russian Empire by Empress Elizabeth in 1741, with the first Pandito Khambo Lama, the spiritual leader of Buryat Buddhists, elected in 1764. The first person to serve in this role was Damba Dorzha Zaiaev (1711–1776). At the time of the Bolshevik Revolution, Dashi-Dorzho Itigilov served as the 12th Pandito Khambo Lama of Eastern Siberia from 1911 to 1917. Itigilov stepped down in 1917 at the time of the revolution and later encouraged his students to flee to Mongolia, though he refused to flee himself.

Soviet Buryatia

National movements, including that of Buryatia, began to foment after the February Revolution in 1917. From March 1917, the leading Buryat intelligentsia organized a number of conferences in cities such as Petrograd, Chita, Irkutsk, and Verkhneudinsk (present-day Ulan-Ude) and invited representatives from Buryat administrative districts of the Irkutsk and Transbaikalia regions. The culmination of these conferences was the first All-Buryat Congress in April 23–25, 1917 in Chita, where activists advocated for a self-governing Buryat Autonomous Region, based on the models of Poland and Finland, with an elected body, the Buryat National Duma, that all Buryats, men and women, over the age of 18 and without criminal convictions, would participate in. This Duma would elect a permanent executive body, the Buryat National committee, which would take on responsibilities such as organizing the elections, assembling the Buryat Duma, and publishing works in the Buryat language. Among other topics discussed at the Congress were the establishment of an Education Council to create Buryat schools, trained educators, and curricula that included the history of the Buryats and Mongols and Buryat studies.

After the November Revolution in 1917, the Buryats bid for independence was complicated by the arrival of a Japanese expeditionary force into Buryatia in 1918. The Buryat national leaders saw the Japanese as potential and critical allies in assisting the independence movement, but the cooperation ultimately failed due to the conflicting agendas. The Red Army advanced in Buryatia in 1920 and continued to Outer Mongolia in 1921. Attracted to the promises of self-determination and territorial autonomy by the Bolsheviks, and having lost the cooperation of the Japanese, the Buryat leaders embraced the idea of building a Buryat nation with the new Soviet state. In 1923, the Buryat Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic (Buryat: Буряадай Автономито Совет Социалис Республика; Russian: Бурятская Автономная Советская Социалистическая Республика) was created as a result of the merger of State of Buryat and Buryat Oblast and promised territorial autonomy. In 1929, a revolt was suppressed in Buryatia, caused by collectivisation and repression of Buddhism. In 1937, Aga Buryatia and Ust-Orda Buryatia were detached from the Buryat-Mongolian ASSR and merged with Chita and Irkutsk Oblasts, respectively. In 1958, the name "Mongol" was removed from the name of the republic as it was fitting and simply became the Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic of Buryatia within the vast multi-ethnic, diverse Soviet Union.

The Ivolginsky Datsan was opened in 1945 as the only Buddhist spiritual centre of the USSR, home to the Central Spiritual Board of Buddhists of the USSR, the state-controlled sangha.

The Buryat intelligentsia were active throughout Buryatia and beyond, into Tibet and Mongolia. At the turn of the 20th century, Buryats leaders, such as Batu-dalai Ochirov and Mikhail Bogdanov, began actively writing political articles about the threat to Buryatia and Buryat existence from Russia. Despite their noted influence from 1900 to 1930, most of them were purged, killed outright or sent to concentration camps, in the 1930s.

The leader of the Buryat ASSR from 1962 to 1984 was Andrei Urupkheevich Modogoev. In the 1970s, Soviet authorities began two major industrial projects in Buryatia: the Gusinoozerskii power station to the south of Ulan-Ude and the construction of the Baikal–Amur Mainline railway in northern Buraytia. The construction of both projects, particularly the railway, required recruiting campaigns to bring workers from other parts of the country to Buryatia. Towns developed along the railroad, and the urban population in northern Buryatia doubled between 1979 and 1989. In addition to the Russians who moved to Buryatia for work, Buryats from other parts of southern Siberia also migrated to the Buryat ASSR, particularly Ulan-Ude and other cities for jobs and educational opportunities. Prior to World War II, less than 10% of Buryats lived in urban areas, compared to almost half at the time of the fall of the Soviet Union. By 1989, one-third of the Buryat population of the Buryat ASSR was living in Ulan-Ude.

Post-Soviet Buryatia

The Buryat ASSR declared its sovereignty in 1990 and adopted the name Republic of Buryatia in 1992. However, it remained an autonomous republic within the Russian Federation. On 11 July 1995 Buryatia signed a power-sharing agreement with the federal government, granting it autonomy. This agreement was abolished on 15 February 2002.

Following the dissolution of the Soviet Union, autonomous republics such as Buryatia did not have the right to secede. However they retained considerable autonomy, with a separate legislature and president. However this autonomy has been curtailed following the 2004 law passed by Vladimir Putin that decreed regional governors and presidents were to be appointed, rather than directly elected.

Politics

Modern Buryat home with instruments, scrolls, and weapons typical of Buryatia.

The head of the Republic is the Head (formerly President), who the voters of the republic elect for a four-year term. From 2004 to 2012 the head of Buryatia (along with all other heads of regions in Russia) was nominated directly by the Russian President.

Between 1991 and 2007, the President was Leonid Vasilyevich Potapov, who was elected on July 1, 1994, re-elected in 1998 (with 63.25% of votes), and then re-elected again on June 23, 2002 (with over 67% of votes). Prior to the elections, Potapov was the Chairman of the Supreme Soviet of the Republic—the highest post at that time.

The current Head of the Republic is Alexey Tsydenov, who was elected by popular vote on 10 September 2017. Prior to this he was acting Head, having been appointed by Russian President Vladimir Putin in February 2017.

The Republic's parliament is the People's Khural, popularly elected every five years. The People's Khural has 66 deputies and is currently dominated by the country's ruling party, United Russia, with 45 seats. Vladimir Anatolyevich Pavlov has been Chairman of the People's Khural since September 2019.

The Republic's Constitution was adopted on February 22, 1994.

Administrative divisions

Demographics

Population: 972,021 (2010 Census); 981,238 (2002 Census); 1,041,119 (1989 Census).

Settlements

Map of Buryatia.
Historical population
YearPop.±%
1926388,900—    
1939545,766+40.3%
1959673,326+23.4%
1970812,251+20.6%
1979900,812+10.9%
19891,041,119+15.6%
2002981,238−5.8%
2010972,021−0.9%
2021978,588+0.7%
Source: Census data
Census date 1926 1939 1959 1970 1979 1989 2002 2010
Total population 491,236 545,766 673,326 812,251 899,398 1,038,252 981,238 972,021
Average annual population growth +1.7% +1.1% +1.5% −0.4% −0.1%
Males 248,513 467,984
Females 242,723 513,254
Females per 1000 males 977 1,097
Proportion urban 9.3% 59.6%
Territory (km2) 368,392 351,334 351,334 351,334 351,334 351,334 351,334 351,334
Population density/km2 1.3 1.6 1.9 2.3 2.6 3.0 2.8 2.8

Vital statistics

Dzharun Khashor, the largest stupa in the Republic of Buryatia.
Buddhist temple in Gegetuy.
Source: Russian Federal State Statistics Service
Year Average population (thousands) Live births Deaths Natural change Crude birth rate (per 1000) Crude death rate (per 1000) Natural change (per 1000) Fertility rates
1970 816 14,766 6,301 8,465 18.1 7.7 10.4
1975 862 17,751 7,586 10,165 20.6 8.8 11.8
1980 921 19,859 8,734 11,125 21.6 9.5 12.1
1985 993 23,975 9,529 14,446 24.1 9.6 14.5
1990 1,050 19,185 9,602 9,583 18.3 9.1 9.1 2.18
1991 1,052 16,868 9,753 7,115 16.0 9.3 6.8 2.03
1992 1,049 13,944 10,347 3,597 13.3 9.9 3.4 1.87
1993 1,043 11,981 12,388 −407 11.5 11.9 −0.4 1.65
1994 1,039 12,327 13,650 −1,323 11.9 13.1 −1.3 1.66
1995 1,035 12,311 12,588 −277 11.9 12.2 −0.3 1.60
1996 1,031 12,159 12,441 −282 11.8 12.1 −0.3 1.57
1997 1,025 11,555 12,111 −556 11.3 11.8 −0.5 1.51
1998 1,017 11,746 11,481 265 11.6 11.3 0.3 1.53
1999 1,009 11,468 13,114 −1,646 11.4 13.0 −1.6 1.42
2000 1,001 11,654 13,155 −1,501 11.6 13.1 −1.5 1.42
2001 992 11,678 13,858 −2,180 11.8 14.0 −2.2 1.44
2002 983 12,830 14,404 −1,574 13.1 14.7 −1.6 1.52
2003 977 13,177 15,056 −1,879 13.5 15.4 −1.9 1.51
2004 973 13,399 14,868 −1,469 13.8 15.3 −1.5 1.49
2005 969 13,551 15,144 −1,593 14.0 15.6 −1.6 1.41
2006 966 14,193 13,930 263 14.7 14.4 0.3 1.41
2007 965 15,460 12,802 2,658 16.0 13.3 2.8 1.60
2008 966 16,372 12,948 3,424 16.9 13.4 3.5 1.68
2009 968 16,729 12,466 4,263 17.3 12.9 4.4 2.03
2010 972 16,535 12,386 4,149 17.0 12.7 4.3 1.99
2011 972 16,507 12,299 4,208 17.0 12.7 4.3 2.03
2012 972 17,006 12,064 4,942 17.5 12.4 5.1 2.14
2013 973 17,108 11,479 5,629 17.6 11.8 5.8 2.21
2014 976 17,093 11,182 5,911 17.5 11.5 6.0 2.26
2015 980 16,981 11,152 5,829 17.3 11.4 5.9 2.28
2016 983 16,128 11,047 5,081 16.4 11.2 5.2 2.21(e)
2017 984 14,315 10,445 3,870 14.5 10.6 3.9
2018 984 13,892 10,347 3,545 14.1 10.5 3.6
2019 12,471 10,844 1,627 12.7 11.0 1.7
2020 12,682 11,786 896 12.9 12.0 0.9
Ulan-Ude
The village of Baikalskoe on the northern shores of Lake Baikal
The peninsula of Svyatoy Nos, Lake Baikal.

Demographics for 2007

Source:

District Births Deaths Growth Pop (2007) BR DR NGR
The Republic of Buryatia 12,337 9,833 2,504 960,000 17.13 13.66 0.35%
Ulan-Ude 4,260 3,517 743 373,300 15.22 12.56 0.27%
Bichursky District 339 318 21 26,900 16.80 15.76 0.10%
Dzhidinsky District 512 309 203 30,800 22.16 13.38 0.88%
Yeravninsky District 244 191 53 18,600 17.49 13.69 0.38%
Zaigrayevsky District 714 630 84 48,700 19.55 17.25 0.23%
Zakamensky District 492 322 170 30,400 21.58 14.12 0.75%
Ivolginsky District 498 320 178 31,000 21.42 13.76 0.77%
Kabansky District 702 779 −77 64,400 14.53 16.13 −0.16%
Kizhinginsky District 303 192 111 18,700 21.60 13.69 0.79%
Kyakhtinsky District 629 393 236 40,500 20.71 12.94 0.78%
Mukhorshibirsky District 338 319 19 28,000 16.10 15.19 0.09%
Pribaykalsky District 423 357 66 28,900 19.52 16.47 0.30%
Selenginsky District 628 522 106 47,500 17.63 14.65 0.30%
Tarbagataysky District 205 216 −11 16,900 16.17 17.04 −0.09%
Tunkinsky District 304 249 55 23,000 17.62 14.43 0.32%
Khorinsky District 314 222 92 19,200 21.81 15.42 0.64%
Barguzinsky District 367 272 95 25,600 19.11 14.17 0.49%
Bauntovsky Evenkiysky District 126 92 34 10,500 16.00 11.68 0.43%
Kurumkansky District 232 129 103 15,600 19.83 11.03 0.88%
Muysky District 179 112 67 15,600 15.30 9.57 0.57%
Okinsky District 73 37 36 5,100 19.08 9.67 0.94%
Severo-Baykalsky District 196 161 35 15,200 17.19 14.12 0.31%
Severobaykalsk 259 174 85 25,600 13.49 9.06 0.44%

Ethnic groups

According to the 2021 Census, ethnic Russians make up 64% of the republic's population, while the ethnic Buryats comprise 32.5% of the population. Other groups include Soyots (0.5%) and a host of smaller groups, each accounting for less than 0.5% of the total population.

Ethnic
group
1926 Census1 1939 Census 1959 Census 1970 Census 1979 Census 1989 Census 2002 Census 2010 Census 2021 Census2
Number % Number % Number % Number % Number % Number % Number % Number % Number %
Buryats 214,957 43.8% 116,382 21.3% 135,798 20.2% 178,660 22.0% 206,860 23.0% 249,525 24.0% 272,910 27.8% 286,839 30.0% 295,273 32.5%
Soyots 161 0.0% 2,739 0.3% 3,579 0.4% 4,316 0.5%
Russians 258,796 52.7% 393,057 72.0% 502,568 74.6% 596,960 73.5% 647,785 72.0% 726,165 69.9% 665,512 67.8% 630,783 66.1% 581,764 63.9%
Tatars 3,092 0.6% 3,840 0.7% 8,058 1.2% 9,991 1.2% 10,290 1.1% 10,496 1.0% 8,189 0.8% 6,813 0.7% 4,035 0.4%
Evenks 2,808 0.6% 1,818 0.3% 1,335 0.2% 1,685 0.2% 1,543 0.2% 1,679 0.2% 2,334 0.2% 2,974 0.3% 2,995 0.3%
Ukrainians 1,982 0.4% 13,392 2.5% 10,183 1.5% 10,769 1.3% 15,290 1.7% 22,868 2.2% 9,585 1.0% 5,654 0.6% 2,007 0.2%
Others 9,440 1.9% 17,277 3.2% 15,384 2.3% 14,186 1.7% 17,630 2.0% 27,519 2.7% 19,969 2.0% 18,360 1.9% 19,325 2.1%
1 In 1926, the Buryat-Mongolian ASSR included Aga-Buryatia, Ust-Orda Buryatia, and Olkhonsky District. These territories were transferred to Chita and Irkutsk Oblasts in 1937. Consequently, the results of the 1926 census cannot be compared to the results of the censuses of 1939 and later.

2 68,873 people were registered from administrative databases, and could not declare an ethnicity. It is estimated that the proportion of ethnicities in this group is the same as that of the declared group.

Religion

Religion in Buryatia as of 2012 (Sreda Arena Atlas)
Russian Orthodoxy
27.4%
Other Orthodox
1.2%
Protestantism
0.6%
Other Christians
4.2%
Buddhism
19.8%
Tengrism and Yellow shamanism or Black shamanism
1.8%
Spiritual but not religious
24.8%
Atheism and irreligion
13.4%
Other and undeclared
6.8%
Dmitry Medvedev at a Buddhist temple in Buryatia

Traditionally, Buryats adhered to belief systems that were based on the deification of nature, belief in spirits, and the possibility of their magic influence on the surroundings. They were led by shamans, who systematized tribal beliefs and cults. From the second half of the 17th century, beliefs and cults in the shamanic form were displaced by Buddhism, which became widespread in ethnic Buryatia. By the end of the 19th century, the majority of Buryats were part of the Buddhist tradition. A synthesis of Buddhism and traditional beliefs that formed a system of ecological traditions has constituted a major attribute of Buryat culture. In 2003, the Local Religious Organization of Shamans, Tengeri was officially registered as a religious organization in Buryatia.

As of a 2012 survey 27.4% of the population adheres to the Russian Orthodox Church, 19.8% to Buddhism, 2% to the Slavic Native Faith, Tengrism or Buryat shamanism, 4% declares to be unaffiliated Christian (excluding Protestants), 1% are Orthodox Christian believers without belonging to churches or are members of other Orthodox churches, 1% are members of Protestant churches. In addition, 25% of the population declares to be "spiritual but not religious", 13% to be atheist, and 10.8% follows another religion or did not give an answer to the survey.

Tibetan Buddhism and Orthodox Christianity are the most widespread religions in the republic. Many Slavs, who constitute around 67% of the population, are Russian Orthodox. Since the breakup of the USSR in 1991, a small number have converted to various Protestant denominations or to Rodnovery, also known as the Slavic native faith. There are also some Catholics among the Slavs. Most of the Germans (0.11% of the population) are also Orthodox, so are some other non-European groups like Armenians (0.23%), Georgians (0.03%), and Soyot (0.37%). Buryats constitute 30.04% of the total population.

Most urban Buryats are either Buddhist or Orthodox, while those in the rural areas often adhere to Yellow shamanism, a mixture of shamanism and Buddhism, or to Black shamanism. There are also Tengrist movements. Siberian Tatars are around 0.7% of the population. However, due to isolation from the main body of Tatars, many of them now are either non-religious or Orthodox. Islam is followed by immigrant groups like Azeris and Uzbeks, who constitute another 0.7% of the population.

Education

The higher education institutions of the republic include Buryat State University, Buryat State Academy of Agriculture, East Siberian State Academy of Arts and Culture, and East Siberia State University of Technology and Management.

Economy

The republic's economy is composed of agricultural and commercial products including wheat, vegetables, potatoes, timber, leather, graphite, and textiles. Fishing, hunting, fur farming, sheep and cattle farming, mining, stock raising, engineering, and food processing are also important economic generators. The unemployment rate of Buryatia was 11% in 2020.

GDP pro person nominal in 2018 was 3,650 USD and PPP in 2009 was 11,148 USD.

Tourism

Lake Baikal is a popular tourist destination, especially in summer.

See also


This page was last updated at 2024-03-21 15:10 UTC. Update now. View original page.

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