Chuvash Republic
[key] or Chuvashia, constituent republic, 7,066 sq mi (18,301
sq km), E central European Russia, in the middle Volga valley. Cheboksary is the capital. The region,
consisting largely of the Chuvash plateau, is wooded steppe. There are peat
bogs and deposits of limestone, dolomite, clays, sands, and phosphorites.
Grain, potatoes, flax, hemp, fruit, and sugar beets are grown, and livestock
is raised. With about one third of the area in forests, both lumbering and
woodworking are important occupations. Among the republic's other industries
are oil and natural gas refining, metalworking, railway repair, and food and
flax processing. The Trans-Siberian RR crosses the republic, and secondary
lines from the main track service many towns. Chuvash make up some 70% of
the population and Russians (who are mostly urban) around 25%; there are
Mordovian, Tatar, and Ukrainian minorities. The Chuvash, descendants of the
medieval Bulgars, represent a mixture of Finnish and Mongolian peoples. They
speak a Turkic language and adhere to Orthodox Christianity. Their wood
carving is notable. Conquered by the Mongols in the 13th and 14th cent., the
Chuvash came under Russian rule in 1552. The Chuvash Autonomous Region was
established in 1920; it became an autonomous republic in 1925. It was a
signatory to the Mar. 31, 1992, treaty that created the Russian Federation
(see Russia). It has a
200-member parliament.
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