Tatarstan , Tatar Republic , or Tataria , republic (1990 est. pop. 3,660,000), 26,255 sq mi (68,000 sq km), E European Russia, in the middle Volga and lower Kama river valleys. Kazan is the capital; other important cities are Almetevsk, Leninogorsk, and Bugulma. The low, rolling plain that makes up most of the republic's territory yields fodder crops, wheat and other cereals, sugar beets, sunflowers, and flax. The republic is a leading Russian oil and natural-gas producer and the starting point for a pipeline to Eastern Europe. There are also important deposits of brown coal, limestone, gypsum, dolomite, and marl. Lumbering and food, leather, oil refining, and fur processing are major Tatar industries. Manufactures include machinery, chemicals, and pharmaceuticals. The Volga, Kama, Belaya, and Vyatka rivers are important for both transportation and irrigation. There are several hydroelectric stations. Turko-Tatars make up around 50% of the population, and most live in rural areas. Russians, generally urban, constitute some 40%, and there are Chuvash, Udmurt, Mari, and Mordovian minorities. Sunni Islam is the chief religion. Bulgars dominated the region from the 8th to 13th cent., when it was conquered by the Mongols of the Golden Horde ; their Tatar descendants, in turn, gradually replaced or absorbed the Bulgar population. Russian colonization followed the capture (1552) by Czar Ivan IV of the khanate of Kazan, the most powerful of the Tatar states emerging...
Tatarstan , Tatar Republic , or Tataria , republic (1990 est. pop. 3,660,000), 26,255 sq mi (68,000 sq km), E European Russia, in the middle Volga and lower Kama river valleys. Kazan is the capital; other important cities are Almetevsk, Leninogorsk, and Bugulma. The low, rolling plain that makes up most of the republic's territory yields fodder crops, wheat and other cereals, sugar beets, sunflowers, and flax. The republic is a leading Russian oil and natural-gas producer and the starting point for a pipeline to Eastern Europe. There are also important deposits of brown coal, limestone, gypsum, dolomite, and marl. Lumbering and food, leather, oil refining, and fur processing are major Tatar industries. Manufactures include machinery, chemicals, and pharmaceuticals. The Volga, Kama, Belaya, and Vyatka rivers are important for both transportation and irrigation. There are several hydroelectric stations. Turko-Tatars make up around 50% of the population, and most live in rural areas. Russians, generally urban, constitute some 40%, and there are Chuvash, Udmurt, Mari, and Mordovian minorities. Sunni Islam is the chief religion. Bulgars dominated the region from the 8th to 13th cent., when it was conquered by the Mongols of the Golden Horde ; their Tatar descendants, in turn, gradually replaced or absorbed the Bulgar population. Russian colonization followed the capture (1552) by Czar Ivan IV of the khanate of Kazan, the most powerful of the Tatar states emerging...
