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Buryat Republic (English) Республика Бурятия (Russian) Буряад Республика (Buryat)
Location of the Buryat Republic in Russia
Coat of Arms	Flag
Coat of arms of Buryatia	Flag of Buryatia
Anthem: National Anthem of the Buryat Republic
Capital	Ulan-Ude
Established	May 30, 1923
Political status Federal district Economic region	Republic Siberian East Siberian
Code	03
Area
Area - Rank within Russia	351,300 km² 15th
Population (as of the 2002 Census)
Population - Rank within Russia - Density - Urban - Rural	981,238 inhabitants 56th 2.8 inhab. / km² 59.6% 40.4%
Official languages	Russian, Buryat
Government
President	Vyacheslav Nagovitsyn
Chairman of the Government	Vyacheslav Nagovitsyn
Legislative body	People's Khural
Constitution	Constitution of the Buryat Republic
Official website
http://egov-buryatia.ru/

Buryat Republic (Russian: Респу́блика Буря́тия; Buryat: Буряад Республика) is a federal subject of Russia (a republic). The direct romanization of the republic's name is Respublika Buryatiya in Russian and Buryaad Respublika in Buryat.

Contents 1 Geography 1.1 Time zone 1.2 Rivers 1.3 Lakes 1.4 Mountains 1.5 Natural resources 1.6 Climate 2 Administrative divisions 3 Demographics 4 History 5 Politics 6 Economy 7 Education 8 Religion 9 Tourism 10 Miscellaneous 11 See also 12 Further reading 13 External links

Buryatia is located in the South-Central region of Siberia along the eastern shore of Lake Baikal.

• Area: 351,300 km².
• Borders:
  • internal: Irkutsk Oblast (W/NW/N), Chita Oblast (NE/E/SE/S), Tuva (W).
  • international: Mongolia (S/SE).
  • water: Lake Baikal (N).
• Highest point: Mount Munku-Sardyk (3,491 m).

Buryatia is located in the Irkutsk Time Zone (IRKT/IRKST). UTC offset is +0800 (IRKT)/+0900 (IRKST).

Major rivers include:

• Barguzin River
• Irkut River
• Kitoy River
• Oka River
• Selenga River
• Uda River
• Upper Angara River
• Vitim River

• Lake Baikal - Buryatia is sixty percent of the lake's shore line.
• Lake Gusinoye

Over 80% of republic's territory is located in the mountainous region, including the Baikal Mountains on the northern shoes of Lake Baikal.

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

• Average annual temperature: -1.6°C
• Average January temperature: -22°C
• Average July temperature: +18°C
• Average annual precipitation: 244 mm

Main article: Administrative divisions of Buryatia

• Population: 981,238 (2002)
  • Urban: 584,970 (59.6%)
  • Rural: 396,268 (40.4%)
  • Male: 467,984 (47.7%)
  • Female: 513,254 (52.3%)
• Females per 1000 males: 1,097
• Average age: 31.6 years
  • Urban: 31.2 years
  • Rural: 32.2 years
  • Male: 29.4 years
  • Female: 33.9 years
• Number of households: 322,289 (with 958,402 people)
  • Urban: 197,651 (with 566,755 people)
  • Rural: 124,638 (with 391,647 people)
• Vital statistics (2005)
  • Births: 13,551 (birth rate 14.0)
  • Deaths: 15,144 (death rate 15.7)

Birth rate was 15.2 in the first half of 2007. [1]

• Ethnic groups

According to the 2002 Census, ethnic Russians make up two thirds of the republic's population, while the ethnic Buryats are only 27.8%. Other groups include Ukrainians (1.0%), Tatars (0.8%), and a host of smaller groups, each accounting for less than 0.5% of the total population.

	census 1926 1	census 1939	census 1959	census 1970	census 1979	census 1989	census 2002
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%)
Soyots	161 (0.0%)						2,739 (0.3%)
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%)
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%)
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%)
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%)
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%)

1. In 1926, the Buryat-Mongolian ASSR included Aga Buryatia, Ust-Orda Buryatia and the Olkhon district. These territories were transferred to the 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.

The area of the modern day Buryatia was first colonized in the 1600s by Russians in search of wealth, furs and gold. In 1923, the Buryat-Mongolian Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic was created through the union of the Buryat-Mongol and Mongol-Buryat Oblasts. In 1937, Aga Buryatia and Ust-Orda Buryatia were detached from the Buryat-Mongolian ASSR and merged with the Chita and Irkutsk oblasts, respectively. Besides, the Olkhon district was transferred from the Buryat-Mongolina ASSR to the Irkutsk oblast.

The head of government in Buryatia is the President, who is elected for a four-year term. As of 2006, the President is 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 Republic's parliament is the People's Khural, popularly elected every four years. The People's Khural has 65 deputies.

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

The republic's economy is composed of important 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 higher education institutions of the republic include Buryatia State University, Buryat State Academy of Agriculture, East Siberian State Academy of Arts and Culture, and East Siberian State Technological Institute.

Tibetan Buddhism, Shamanism, and Orthodox Christianity are the most widespread religions in Buryatia.

Lake Baikal is a popular tourist destination.

The Republic uses the postage stamps of Russia, so it does not issue its own postage stamps. Stamps of Buryatia or Buriatia offered on eBay are fakes.

• Buryats
• Music of Buryatia
• Buryat Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic

• Leisse, Olaf; Utta-Kristin Leisse (September 2007). "A Siberian Challenge: Dealing with Multiethnicity in the Republic of Buryatia". Nationalities Papers 35 (4): 773-788. 

• (English) Official website of the Buryat Republic.
• (Russian) Official website of the Buryat Republic.
• Official website of the Buryat Republic (in Buryat).

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Oblasts	Amur · Arkhangelsk · Astrakhan · Belgorod · Bryansk · Chelyabinsk · Chita1 · Irkutsk2 · Ivanovo · Kaliningrad · Kaluga · Kemerovo · Kirov · Kostroma · Kurgan · Kursk · Leningrad · Lipetsk · Magadan · Moscow · Murmansk · Nizhny Novgorod · Novgorod · Novosibirsk · Omsk · Orenburg · Oryol · Penza · Pskov · Rostov · Ryazan · Sakhalin · Samara · Saratov · Smolensk · Sverdlovsk · Tambov · Tomsk · Tula · Tver · Tyumen · Ulyanovsk · Vladimir · Volgograd · Vologda · Voronezh · Yaroslavl
Federal cities	Moscow · St. Petersburg
Autonomous oblasts	Jewish
Autonomous okrugs	Aga Buryatia1 · Chukotka · Khantia-Mansia · Nenetsia · Ust-Orda Buryatia2 · Yamalia
Federal districts Central · Far Eastern · Northwestern · Siberian · Southern · Urals · Volga 1 On March 1, 2008, Chita Oblast and Agin-Buryat Autonomous Okrug are due to merge to form Zabaykalsky Krai. 2 On January 1, 2008, Ust-Orda Buryat Autonomous Okrug is due to merge into Irkutsk Oblast.