Bashkortostan, the respublic we live in

The foundation of the Bashkir Republic dates back to March 23, 1919 when the historical document on the formation of Soviet Bashkiria, the first Autonomous Republic of the Russian Federation was signed. Today this date has become the birthday of the Bashkir Republic.

Bashkiria is situated in the Southern Foothills of the Ural Mountains, just on the border between Europe and Asia. It is the largest of the autonomous republics and occupies the territory of 143 600 square kilometers. There are 17 cities and towns in the Republic, which is divided into 54 administrative regions. The capital of Bashkortostan is Ufa, a beautiful city on the Belaya river banks outnumbering one million people.

The population of Bashkiria is over 4 million people. It's a multinational republic. Representatives of more than 100 nationalities live and work here: Bashkirs, Tatars, Russians, Ukranians, Byelorussians, Mordovians, Maries and many others.

Bashkiria is characterized by the continental type of climate. Winter is cold here and it's usually hot in summer. The average temperature in January is 15°C below zero and in summer it keeps around 20° above zero. It often rains in spring and autumn, but summer is usually dry. Winter is snowy in Bashkiria and it is windy in February and March.

Rich deposits of coal, gold, copper, zinc and other ores and minerals discovered in the republic made possible a rapid industrial growth of Bashkiria. The main branches of our industry are oil production and refining, fuel and energy industry, machine building, production of ferrous and non-ferrous metals, coal- mining. Oil production has led to the development of refining and chemical industries in our republic.

UFA

Ufa, the capital of the Bashkir Autonomous Soviet Republic, is the biggest Soviet industrial and cultural centre in the Ural foothills. The network of navigable rivers, railway lines, highways, air routes and oil and gas pipelines leads to Ufa. The busy life in the big city is a good indication of the Republic's prosperity.

Ufa was founded in 1574. In 1573 the Bashkirs asked Moscow to erect a fortress to defend land from the devastating raids of the Siberian nomads. The following year, at the confluence of the Belaya, the Ufimka and the Dyoma Rivers, there arose the city fortress of Ufa. Surrounded on three sides by water and steep banks, it was only accessible by land from the north and there an earthen rampart was erected from the Ufimka to the Byelaya Rivers. In 1586 Ufa became a natural fortress impregnable for its time. At first the inhabitants were Russian gunners, streltsi and others sent to build and defend the town.

The fortress consisted of the commander's re­sidence, barracks for the streltsi, an arms and an ammunition depot and food supplies along with stores of furs and honey collected from the local inhabitants.

The tsarist landlords and industrialists cast a greedy eye on Bashkiria's wealth. They seized the fertile land, built plants, cut down forests. Many times the impoverished Bashkirs rose against their oppressors. In the 18th century the Bashkirsled by their national hero Salavat Yulaev supported the Russian peasants. This joint struggle was directed not only against tsarism but also against the local feudal exploiters.

In the revolutionary year of 1905, Ufa Bolsheviks led Bash­kirs in first May Day demonstration. That summer and autumn there were strikes in the town. In December workers clashed with the troops in the yards of the Ufa railroad shops. At that time the Soviet of Workers' Deputies was established in Ufa. Ivan Yakutov, a Bolshevik worker, was one of its main organizers. For the next two years the underground Bolshevik paper " Ufa Wor­ker" was published in Ufa.

Soviet power was established in Ufa on November 8, 1917. The banks, industrial enterprises rail and river transport were nationalized.

But the Bashkirs were unable to proceed peacefully. In July 1913 counter-revolutionaries with the help of local bourgeois nationalists seized power. The town was seized by the whiteguards troops of Admiral Kolchak. The troops were routed on June 9, 1919 by the famous 25th Infant­ry Division commanded by Frunze and Chapayev.

Ufa obtained a sad inheritance from tsarist Russia, an extremely backward economy and poorly or­ganized city management.

But now Ufa is an important industrial centre. During World War II Ufa, which was one of the most conveniently lo­cated cities in the rear (close to the centre and to the Urals) began to develop rapidly a number of big enterprises from temporarily occupied western regions were evacuated to Ufa.

At present over 200 Ufa's industrial enterprises supply the country with oil products, mining equipment, electrical appara­tus, plywood, matches, furniture, clothing, footwear, knitted goods, chemical products and building materials.

Before the October Revolution one-third pf Ufa's populati­on was illiterate. During the Soviet years Ufa has achieved great progress in the field of culture. Today the city with a population over a million has its own Universities, Institutes, colleges, research centres, specialized secondary schools, musical and art schools, libraries, museums, theatres, philarmonic society, a circus, a sport palace, etc.

The Bashkirs, who previously did not oven have their own written language, now have many talented writer©, poets, playwrights. Works by Bashkir bards Mustai Karim, Saifi Kudash, Rashit Nigmati, have been translated into many langu­ages. The Bashkir State Opera and Ballet theatre and the Bashkir Folk Dance Ensemble have delighted audiences in over 20 European and Asian countries.