Chuvashia

The Chuvash Republic (Russian: Чува́шская Респу́блика — Чува́шия, Chuvashskaya Respublika — Chuvashiya; Chuvash: Чăваш Республики, Chăvash Respubliki), or Chuvashia (Russian: Чува́шия Chuvashiya; Chuvash: Чăваш Ен, Chăvash En) for short, is a federal subject of Russia (a republic). It is the homeland of the Chuvash people. Its capital is the city of Cheboksary. As of the 2010 Census, its population was 1,251,619.

Geography

The Chuvash Republic is located in the center of European Russia, in the heart of the Volga-Vyatka economic region, mostly to the west of the Volga River, in the Volga Upland. It borders with the Mari El Republic in the north, Nizhny Novgorod Oblast in the west, the Republic of Mordovia in the southwest, Ulyanovsk Oblast in the south, and the Republic of Tatarstan in the east and southeast. There are over two thousand rivers in the republic—with the major ones being the Volga, the Sura, and the Tsivil—as well as four hundred lakes. Some of the Volga River valley reservoirs are in the north of the republic, and the Sura River flows towards the Volga along much of the republic's western boundary. Climate is moderate continental, with the average temperatures ranging from −13 °C (9 °F) in January to +19 °C (66 °F) in July. Annual precipitation varies between 450 and 700 millimeters (18 and 28 in), but is uneven from one year to another. Natural resources include gypsum, sand, clay, sapropel deposits, phosphorite, and peat. There are oil and natural gas deposits, although their extraction has not yet been commercially pursued. Forests, mostly in the south along the Sura River, cover approximately 30% of the land.