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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:
- Highest point: no data.
- Maximum N->S distance: 448 km.
- Maximum E->W distance: 423 km.
Time zone
Kalmykia is located in the Moscow Time Zone (MSK/MSD). UTC offset is +0300 (MSK)/+0400 (MSD).
Rivers
Major rivers include:
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:
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. Kalymag was originally a Tatar and Russian name for the Oyirad confederation of the western Mongols. They controlled a vast area known as Grand Tartary or the Kalmyk Empire to Westerners, which stretched from the Great Wall of China to the River Don, and from the Himalayas to Siberia.
Due to an internal struggle of the Oyirad which was created by the Khoshuud tribe, the Torghuud chief Khoo Örlög decided to moved westward in 1328. He led the Torghuud and some part of the Khoshuud and Dörbed tribes and reached as far as the desert steppes of southeast Europe in 1630, and settled around their capital in Astrakhan on the Volga delta. They still kept a close bond with the Oyirad in their homeland. Allied with Russia, Torghuud flourished there during the reign of Ayuki Khan, who was given the title of Khan by the 6th Dalai Lama.
In the late 18th century, their military advantage receded and they were disillusioned with increasing Russian interference. The Torghuud chief and Ayuki's great-grandson Ubashi decided to return to their homeland. A small number survived the hazardous journey home, 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, who assumed power in 1993.
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. Although some of these Kalmyks are now Muslims, most Kalmyks throughout the world remain Tibetan/Lamaist Buddhists. The Kalmyk culture has seen a resurgence of interest in the last 20 years, and most Kalmyks regard His Holiness the Dalai Lama as their spiritual leader.
There are also small Kalmyk communities in Pennsylvania and New Jersey in the USA. They are descended from those Kalmyks who migrated through Germany, France, and Yugoslavia during the last years of World War II. While some Kalmyks fought on the German side, the German army was already in retreat when the Kalmyks began to arrive in western Europe.
As a consequence of their decade-long migration through Europe, many older Kalmyks are fluent in German, French and Serbo-Croatian, in addition to their native Russian and Kalmyk language (a version of their original Mongolian language). There is a Kalmyk Buddhist temple in Belgrade, Serbia, and several Kalmyk Buddhist temples in Monmouth County, New Jersey, where the vast majority of American Kalmyks reside, as well as a Tibetan Buddhist Learning Center and monastaryin (http://www.njskylands.com/clbuddhist.htm) Washington County, NJ.
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. There are three cultural subgroups within the Kalmyk nation: Turguts, Durbets (Durwets), and Buzavs (Oirats, who joined Russian Cossacks).
The 'Durbets' subgroup includes the Chonos tribe (literally meaning "a tribe of the Wolf", other names - "Shonos", "Chinos", "A-Shino" or "A-Chino"), which is considered to be one of the most ancient tribes in the world, dating back to 6th to 11th century.
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