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Kalmykia

The Republic of Kalmykia (Russian: Респу́блика Калмы́кия; Kalmyk: Хальм Тангч) is a federal subject of the Russian Federation (a republic). The direct transliteration of the republic's name is Respublika Kalmykiya.

Geography

• Area: 76,100km².
• Borders:
  • internal: Rostov Oblast (W), Volgograd Oblast (NW/N), Astrakhan Oblast (N/NE/E), Republic of Dagestan (SE/S), Stavropol Krai (SW/W).
  • water: Caspian Sea (SE).
• Highest point: no data
• Maximum N->S distance: 448 km
• Maximum E->W distance: 423 km

Rivers

Major rivers include:

• Kuma River
• Manych River

Lakes

Kalmykia is located on the shores of the Caspian Sea. In general, there are very few lakes on the territory of the republic. The biggest lakes include:

• Manych-Gudilo Lake
• Sarpinskoye Lake
• Sostinskiye Lakes
• Tsagan-Khak Lake

Natural Resources

Kalmykia's natural resources include coal, oil, and natural gas.

Climate

Kalmykia has continental climate, with very hot and dry summers and cold winters with little snow.

• Average January temperature: -7°C
• Average July temperature: +24°C
• Average annual precipitation: 170 mm (eastern parts) to 400 mm (western parts)

Administrative division

Main article: Administrative division of Kalmykia

Demographics

• Population: 292,410 (2002)
  • Urban: 129,539 (44.3%)
  • Rural: 162,871 (55.7%)
  • Male: 140,097 (47.9%)
  • Female: 152,313 (52.1%)
• Females per 1000 males: 1,087
• Average age: 33.0 years
  • Urban: 32.0 years
  • Rural: 33.8 years
  • Male: 31.2 years
  • Female: 34.7 years
• Number of households: 90,464 (with 289,816 people)
  • Urban: 40,885 (with 128,564 people)
  • Rural: 49,579 (with 161,252 people)
• Average life expectancy:
  • Male: 59.6 years (exceeding Russia's average of 59.0 years)
  • Female: 72.4 years (exceeding Russia's average of 72.2 years)

History

What sets Kalmykia apart from its neighbors is the fact that it is the only Buddhist state in Europe. The Kalmyk people, of nomadic Mongols, originated in Central Asia as borderland nomads in Chinese Turkestan, the homeland they call Jungaria. Their ancestors controlled a vast area known as Grand Tartary or the Kalmyk Empire, stretching from the Great Wall of China to the River Don, and from the Himalayas to Siberia.

Following a particularly bloody offensive by the Chinese emperor, who suspected that they might ally themselves with the Russians against him, they reached as far as the desert steppes of southeast Europe in the 17th century, and settled around their capital in Astrakhan on the Volga delta. A century later, growing disillusioned with increasing Russian interference, the Kalmyks decided to return to Jungaria in Xinjiang province in China - a small number survived the hazardous journey home and are now called Oirats, while some others did not manage to cross the Volga to join the return to Asia.

The Kalmyk people then aligned themselves with Russian rule, first under the tsars, and later under the communists. They gradually created fixed settlements with houses and temples, instead of their transportable round felt yurts, this process lasting until well after the Russian Revolution.

Kalmykia was granted the status of an autonomous oblast on November 4, 1920, and was elevated to the status of autonomous republic within RSFSR on October 22, 1935. In 1943 the republic status was recalled as Kalmykia was put directly under control of the central government.

Forced collectivization was a social, economic and cultural disaster, unsuited to the Kalmyk temperament and the dry treeless landscape. During the Second World War Stalin, suspicious of their loyalty due to their dissatisfaction with their conditions, deported the whole Kalmyk nation without notice to Siberia in cattle trucks in midwinter. Half of their number perished during the journey and in the following years of exile, an ethnic cleansing unknown to the outside world to this day.

Due to their widespread dispersal in Siberia their language and culture suffered possibly irreversible decline. Khrushchev finally allowed their return in 1957, when they found their homes, jobs and land occupied by imported Russians and Ukrainians, who remained. On January 9, 1957, Kalmykia again became an autonomous oblast, and on July 29, 1958—an autonomous republic within RSFSR.

In the following years bad planning of agriculture and irrigation projects resulted in widespead desertification, and economically unviable industrial plants were constructed. With the collapse of the Soviet regime the economy also disintegrated, causing widespread social hardship and increasing depopulation of rural areas lacking in resources and facilities.

After dissolution of the USSR, Kalmykia kept the status of an autonomous republic within newly formed Russian Federation (March 31, 1992).

Politics

The head of government in Kalmykia is the President. As of 2004, the president is Kirsan Nikolayevich Ilyumzhinov.

Economy

Kalmykia has a developed agricultural sector. Other developed industries include food processing and oil and gas industries.

Education

Kalmyk State University is the biggest higher education facility in the republic.

Miscellaneous

There is a small Kalmyk minority living within eastern Kyrgyzstan, especially in villages in the Karakol region. These Kalmyks are those who remained when the bulk of the nation moved westwards in the early 16th century. The Kalmyk language and their traditions are dying out rapidly due to small numbers and majority pressures. Most are now Muslims, not Buddhists, and there is no public display of Kalmyk culture. There is also a small Kalmyk community in Pennsylvania in the USA. They are descended from those Kalmyks who fought on the German side in World War II.

The word Kalmyk means 'Those who remained', a reference to the return to Jungaria of a large part of the population in the 18th century.