| Republic of Mordovia | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Республика Мордовия (Russian) Мордовия Республикась (Mordvin) |
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| — Republic — | |||
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| Anthem: National Anthem of the Republic of Mordovia | |||
| Coordinates: | |||
| Political status | |||
| Country | Russia | ||
| Federal district | Volga[1] | ||
| Economic region | Volga-Vyatka[2] | ||
| Established | January 10, 1930 | ||
| Capital | Saransk | ||
| Government (as of August 2010) | |||
| - Head[3] | Nikolay Merkushkin[4] | ||
| - Legislature | State Assembly[3] | ||
| Statistics | |||
| Area (as of the 2002 Census)[5] | |||
| - Total | 26,200 km2 (10,115.9 sq mi) | ||
| Area rank | 68th | ||
| Population (2010 Census)[6] | |||
| - Total | 834,755 | ||
| - Rank | 60th | ||
| - Density | 31.86 /km2 (82.5 /sq mi) | ||
| - Urban | 60.4% | ||
| - Rural | 39.6% | ||
| Time zone(s) | MSD (UTC+04:00)[7] | ||
| ISO 3166-2 | RU-MO | ||
| License plates | 13, 113 | ||
| Official languages | Russian;[8] Mordvin (Moksha and Erzya)[9] | ||
| http://www.e-mordovia.ru/ | |||
The Republic of Mordovia (Russian: Респу́блика Мордо́вия, Respublika Mordoviya; Moksha/Erzya: Мордовия Республикась,[10] Mordoviya Respublikas), also known as Mordvinia, is a federal subject of Russia (a republic). Its capital is the city of Saransk. Population: 834,755 (2010 Census).[6]
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The republic is located in the eastern part of the East European Plain of Russia. The western part of the republic is situated in the Oka Don Plain; its eastern and central parts in the Volga Elevation.
There are 114 rivers in the republic. Major rivers include:
There are approximately five hundred lakes in the republic.
Natural resources include peat, mineral waters, and others.
Climate is moderately continental.
Earliest archaeological signs of human beings in the area of Mordovia are from the Neolithic era. Finno-Ugric Mordvins are mentioned in written sources in 6th century. Later, Mordvins were under the influence of both Volga Bulgaria and Kievan Rus. Mordvin princes sometimes raided Muroma and Volga Bulgaria, and often despoiled each other's holdings.
The Mongols conquered vast areas of Eastern Europe in the 13th century. They established the khanate of the Golden Horde in 1241, subjugating the area of Mordovia. Mordvins fought against Mongols and later alongside with Russians. Mordvin lands territorially belonged to Mukhsha Ulus. The Golden Horde disintegrated in 1430s, which resulted in some Mordvins becoming subjects of Khanate of Kazan, whereas other were incorporated to the Muscovy.
When Ivan IV of Russia annexed the Khanate of Kazan in 1552, the Mordvin lands were subjugated to the Russian tsars. The Mordvin elite rapidly adopted Russian language and customs, whereas 1821 saw the publication of the New Testament in Erzya to address the non-elite population. In rural areas, Mordvin culture was preserved. Russians started to convert Mordvins to Orthodox Christianity in the mid-18th century. Mordvins gave up their own shamanist religion only slowly, however, and many of shamanist features were preserved as parts of local culture though the population became nominally Christian. Translations of literature to Mordvin languages were mostly religious books. In 18th century, the Latin alphabet was used in writing Mordvin, but from the mid-19th century, Cyrillic was used.
During the Russian revolution and civil war, Mordovia was held mostly by opponents of Bolsheviks. When the Bolsheviks prevailed in the war, Mordovia became a part of the Russian SFSR. In 1925, the Soviet government founded autonomous districts and village councils in the area of Mordvins. During the Soviet era, two written languages were developed: based on the Erzya dialect in 1922 and on the Moksha dialect in 1923, both using Cyrillic script. Mordovian Okrug was founded on July 16, 1928 and it was elevated to the status of autonomous oblast on January 10, 1930. The autonomous oblast was transformed into the Mordovian Autonomous Socialist Soviet Republic on December 20, 1934.
When the Soviet Union disintegrated, the Mordovian ASSR proclaimed itself the Republic of Mordovia in 1990, and remained a part of the Russian Federation. The Republic of Mordovia in its present form has existed since January 25, 1994.
Population: 834,755 (2010 Census results);[6] 888,766 (2002 Census);[11] 964,132 (1989 Census).[12]
| Births | Deaths | Birth rate | Death rate | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1970 | 15,423 | 9,048 | 15.0 | 8.8 |
| 1975 | 14,983 | 9,689 | 14.9 | 9.7 |
| 1980 | 14,320 | 10,287 | 14.6 | 10.5 |
| 1985 | 15,123 | 11,152 | 15.7 | 11.6 |
| 1990 | 12,910 | 11,018 | 13.4 | 11.4 |
| 1991 | 11,537 | 11,079 | 12.0 | 11.5 |
| 1992 | 10,215 | 11,574 | 10.6 | 12.0 |
| 1993 | 9,276 | 13,217 | 9.7 | 13.8 |
| 1994 | 8,916 | 14,748 | 9.3 | 15.4 |
| 1995 | 8,589 | 13,460 | 9.0 | 14.1 |
| 1996 | 7,883 | 13,579 | 8.3 | 14.4 |
| 1997 | 7,493 | 13,631 | 8.0 | 14.5 |
| 1998 | 7,469 | 13,116 | 8.0 | 14.1 |
| 1999 | 6,994 | 14,200 | 7.6 | 15.4 |
| 2000 | 7,148 | 14,838 | 7.8 | 16.2 |
| 2001 | 7,049 | 14,200 | 7.8 | 15.7 |
| 2002 | 7,131 | 14,918 | 8.0 | 16.7 |
| 2003 | 7,433 | 15,170 | 8.4 | 17.2 |
| 2004 | 7,689 | 14,768 | 8.8 | 16.9 |
| 2005 | 7,394 | 14,823 | 8.6 | 17.2 |
| 2006 | 7,367 | 13,981 | 8.6 | 16.4 |
| 2007 | 7,728 | 13,320 | 9.2 | 15.8 |
| 2008 | 8,215 | 13,167 | 9.8 | 15.7 |
| 2009 | 8,103 | 13,027 | 9.7 | 15.6 |
| 2010 | 7,974 | 13,106 | 9.5 | 15.7 |
The Mordvin people are a Finnic group speaking two related languages, Moksha and Erzya. The Mordvins identify themselves as separate ethnic groups [13]: the Erzya and Moksha. Only one third of all Mordvinic languages speakers live in the Republic of Mordovia. During the Soviet period, school textbooks were published in each language.[14]
According to the 2010 Census,[6] Russians make up 53.4% of the republic's population, while ethnic Erzya and Moksha are only 40%. Other groups include Tatars (5.2%), Ukrainians (0.5%), and a host of smaller groups, each accounting for less than 0.5% of the total population.
| Ethnic group |
1939 Census | 1959 Census | 1970 Census | 1979 Census | 1989 Census | 2002 Census | 2010 Census1 | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Number | % | Number | % | Number | % | Number | % | Number | % | Number | % | Number | % | |
| Mordvins | 405,031 | 34.1% | 357,978 | 35.8% | 364,689 | 35.4% | 338,898 | 34.2% | 313,420 | 32.5% | 283,861 | 31.9% | 333,112 | 40.0% |
| Russians | 719,117 | 60.5% | 590,557 | 59.0% | 606,817 | 58.9% | 591,212 | 59.7% | 586,147 | 60.8% | 540,717 | 60.8% | 443,737 | 53.4% |
| Tatars | 47,386 | 4.0% | 38,636 | 3.9% | 44,954 | 4.4% | 45,765 | 4.6% | 47,328 | 4.9% | 46,261 | 5.2% | 43,392 | 5.2% |
| Ukrainians | 7,586 | 0.6% | 6,554 | 0.7% | 6,033 | 0.6% | 5,622 | 0.6% | 6,461 | 0.7% | 4,801 | 0.5% | 4,801 | 0.5% |
| Others | 8,884 | 0.7% | 6,468 | 0.6% | 7,069 | 0.7% | 8,012 | 0.8% | 10,148 | 1.1% | 13,126 | 1.5% | 11,361 | 1.4% |
| 1 3,153 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.[15] | ||||||||||||||
The prevailing confession is the Russian Orthodox Church. Sunni Islam, practiced mostly by Tatars, is the biggest religious minority.
The head of the government in the Republic of Mordovia is the Head of the Republic. As of 2004[update], the head of the republic is Nikolay Merkushkin, who was elected in 1995.
The State Assembly is the legislature of the republic.
The most developed industries are machine building, chemical, woodworking, and food industries. Most of the industrial enterprises are located in the capital Saransk, as well as in the towns of Kovylkino and Ruzayevka, and in the urban-type settlements of Chamzinka and Komsomolsky.
There are many museums in the republic. The largest ones include the Mordovian Republican United Museum of Regional Studies and the Museum of Mordvinian Culture in Saransk.
The National Library of the Republic of Mordovia is the largest library in the republic.
The State Puppet Theater of the Republic of Mordovia, located in Saransk, is well-known in Russia. Most of the plays played in this theater are Russian fairy-tales.
Erzya literature experienced a renaissance in the 1920s and 1930s.
The most important facilities of higher education include Mordovian State University and Mordovian State Pedagogical Institute in Saransk.
The Mordvinic languages,[16] alternatively Mordvin languages,[17] or Mordvinian languages, (Russian: Mordovskie yazyki, the official Russian term for the language pair)[18] are a subgroup of the Uralic languages, comprising the closely related Erzya language and Moksha language.[19] Previously considered a single "Mordvin language",[20] it is now treated as a small language family. Due to differences in phonology, lexicon, and grammar, Erzya and Moksha are not mutually intelligible, to the extent that Russian language is often used for intergroup communications .[21]
The two Mordvinic languages also have separate literary forms. The Erzya literary language was created in 1922 and the Mokshan in 1923.[22]
Phonological differences between the two languages include:[20]
The medieval Muromian language may have been Mordvinic, or close to Mordvinic.
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