The city of Izhevsk with a population of about 650 thousand people is one of the largest cities in Eastern Europe and the Ural region, the capital of the Udmurt Republic. The city is located on the Izh River (Kama basin) with a large artificial reservoir - the Izhevsk Pond, created in the 18th century.

Timezone

In Izhevsk, as well as throughout Udmurtia, time is ahead of Moscow by 1 hour (Samar time).

Relief

The area on which Izhevsk is located has a flat character; there are several elevated areas with absolute heights up to 200 meters and above. In general, the territory of the city gradually decreases in the direction from north to south. The central part of Izhevsk is located on a hill with relatively gentle northern and southern slopes, and in the west it abruptly breaks off to the shore of a pond. The southern part of the city, where the Izh receives a small right tributary of the Pozim, is the lowest; the water's edge at the mouth of the Pozimi is 85 meters.

Izhevsk Pond, built in 1760-1763, is located in the central and northwestern parts of the city and has a total area of ​​12 square kilometers. By its size, it is one of the largest industrial ponds-reservoirs in the Urals. The greatest depth of the pond is 12 meters.

Climatic conditions

The area is located in the temperate continental climate zone with an average annual temperature of +3°C. All four main seasons are pronounced; winters are usually long and frosty, summers are short but warm. The lowest monthly air temperature is in January, the highest is in July.

The Izh River freezes, as a rule, in the second - third week of November, opens in April; the duration of freeze-up is approximately four months. South-westerly winds prevail throughout the year.

origin of name

The modern name of the city is given by the Izh River, on which it is located. In 1984 - 1987 the city was officially called Ustinov, after which the old name was returned to it.

Residents of Izhevsk are Izhevsk residents. In the past, they were traditionally designated by the word "Izhevsk"; according to one widespread version, the replacement that took place in the 20th century took place in the conditions of active support from the Soviet political leadership, which sought to erase the unwanted memory of the participants in the anti-communist Izhevsk-Votkinsk uprising of 1918, who, even after the defeat of the resistance, were known among the people as Izhevsk rebels for a long time .

Tribes and settlements

The first permanent settlements on the territory within the city appeared, probably, at the beginning - the middle of the first millennium of our era. By this time, there are two settlements found and explored in a pine forest near the Metallurg sanatorium. The ancient inhabitants of these settlements, as scientists believe, were the ancestors of modern Udmurts, native speakers of the Permian branch of the Uralic language family. The settlements were surrounded by protective earthen and wooden fortifications.

Traces of another object of that time - the Izhevsk burial ground - have been preserved near the Podborenka River and the Palace of Children's Art. The first items at the ancient burial were discovered by local children; in the same year, the scientist Vladimir Gening organized the first excavations of the archaeological site. Later, already in 1975, when it was decided to build the city's Palace of Pioneers in the lower part of the Podborenka, the expedition led by Taisiya Ivanovna Ostanina conducted a further study of the object, but a full-scale scientific study of the burial ground remained incomplete to this day.

A variety of household items and decorations found in Izhevsk testify to the close cultural and trade ties of the ancient inhabitants of the area with other Finno-Ugric peoples of Eastern Europe, as well as with many other peoples. The same is confirmed by the data of linguistics based on the analysis of toponymy and, in particular, the names of natural objects. Until now, it is impossible to say exactly about the origin of the name of the Izh River; researchers believe that it came from the Permian languages, once common in the vast territory of the Ural region, there are even suggestions about its Ugric (can be compared with the city of Izhak in Hungary) or Slavic origin.

There is almost no reliable information about the early medieval history of the region: the local peoples did not have their own written language, and travelers from neighboring countries rarely visited these lands, which are far from all the major and most significant roads connecting Europe and Asia.

Already in the first half of the last millennium, Russian and Tatar settlements began to appear in the Udmurt region. Mastering new territories in the east, the Slavic rulers sought to subjugate the Permian peoples, including the historical Vyatka land in the Muscovite Rus. At the same time, the southern Udmurts, including those living along the banks of the Izh and its tributaries, fell into the sphere of influence of the Volga Bulgaria, and then the growing strength of the Kazan Khanate. After the capture of Kazan in 1552 by Russian troops, the lands of all the peoples of the Middle Volga and the Urals, including the Cheremis (Mari) and Votyaks (Udmurts), became the possessions of the Russian state. In 1582, the tsar granted the Tatar prince from the family of the Arsk princes Yaushev. In the 18th century, the Yaushevs gave their Udmurt possessions to Alexei Tevkelev, who remained the owner of these lands until the founding of Izhevsk.

Village at the factory

According to the decree of the Senate of October 20, 1757 on the construction of an iron forging plant on the Izh River, on April 10, 1760, the construction of the first dugouts for the builders of the future industrial center of the Urals began. About a thousand peasants were involved in the harvesting and transportation of timber, clay, rubble stone, earthworks - ascribed to Count P.I. Shuvalov (1710-1762), the owner of the Goroblagodatsky factories in the Urals. After 3 years, the new plant produced the first product - bloomery iron.

At the plant, a working settlement grew up, and the city on Izha originates from it.

June 10, 1807 - the day of the second birth of the village on Izha. By decree of Emperor Alexander I, on the basis of the ironworks, the construction of an arms factory for the production of up to 70,000 units of cold steel and firearms begins. The talented mining engineer A.F. Deryabin (1770-1820), the head of the Goroblagodatsky factories, supervised the construction and organization of weapons production. Since that time, Izhevsk has become the military forge of Russia. Today, on the dam of the pond opposite the main factory tower with chimes, there is a bust of the founder of the arms industry, and in 2007 in the upland part of the city on the Armourers Square, a monument to gunsmiths was erected. Nearby is the restored St. Michael's Pillar.

Civil War

In October 1917, Soviet power was established in Izhevsk. By this time, the Bolsheviks already had the support of the majority in the local council, so the October Revolution at the initial stage took place without bloody armed clashes. Taking power into their own hands, the Bolshevik leadership set about creating Red Guard detachments, whose task was to protect the revolutionary achievements in the Middle Volga and the Urals, where the fighting continued.

Receiving weapons from the arsenals of Izhevsk and Votkinsk, the worker-peasant detachments of the Red Army were sent to the front, while in Izhevsk itself there were neither large detachments nor experienced Red commanders. The temporary weakness of the Izhevsk communists, as well as protest moods in connection with the dissolution of the Soviet by the Bolsheviks, were able to take advantage of the opponents of Soviet power, who launched a mass agitation among the workers. On August 8, 1918, the Izhevsk-Votkinsk uprising began with an unexpected attack on the armory, during which the rebels managed to completely take control of a significant part of Udmurtia, along with Izhevsk, Votkinsk and Sarapul. The uprising continued until mid-November, when soldiers of the Red Army division under the command of Vladimir Azin stormed Izhevsk. The surviving rebels joined Kolchak's army.

In 1919, the Kolchak troops advancing to the west again captured the Izhevsk plant and held it until the beginning of June. The battles for the largest weapons production center became one of the key events of the Civil War, and their loss caused serious damage to the combat capability of the White movement and largely predetermined the imminent end of the civil war.

Since the 1920s, when Izhevsk acquired the status of the capital, there has been an explosive population growth due to the growing political role of the city and the active expansion of industry. In 1920 - 1925, at the initiative of local workers, the first serious reorganization of the Izhevsk plant in the post-revolutionary period took place, after which local gunsmiths even managed to get ahead of the Tula ones in many respects. New residential buildings appeared in the city, roads were landscaped with new sidewalks. The conditions of life and economy of Izhevsk residents were improved; in the early 1930s, the first buses appeared in the city, and in 1935 the first tram line was opened.

After receiving the capital status, the city began to quickly turn into a significant center of culture for the entire region. Newspapers and books were published in Izhevsk, Udmurt language courses, Udmurt libraries and schools were opened. The initiators of the reforms were the most famous Udmurt public figures, in particular, the outstanding poet and writer Kuzebay Gerd. In the 1940s - 1960s, Udmurt education in Izhevsk and throughout the republic was largely eliminated, largely with the consent of a significant part of the local population, and educational institutions became Russian-speaking.

The military enterprises of the city played an important role in the war of 1941-1945. They supplied millions of weapons to the front and received production equipment evacuated from the west. To supply the factories with the necessary resources during the war years, a railway line was built that connected the capital of Udmurtia with the Balezino station of the main (northern) direction of the Trans-Siberian Railway.

After the war, the formation of Izhevsk as an industrial center of national importance continued. In 1966, the first car produced by the Izhevsk Automobile Plant was produced. In the 1970s, the Izhevsk plant was reorganized, turning into the Izhmash production association. By the mid-1970s, the population of Izhevsk reached half a million inhabitants.

In 1984, the political leadership decided to rename Izhevsk to Ustinov in honor of Soviet Defense Minister Dmitry Ustinov. However, the introduction of the new name caused significant protests from the people of Izhevsk, and in 1987 the capital of the Udmurt ASSR again became known as Izhevsk.

In 1978 Izhevsk was awarded the Order of the October Revolution. On May 27, 1997, the capital of Udmurtia acquired its coat of arms, and on April 21, 2000, its flag. The author is a creative team consisting of S. L. Bekhterev and N. A. Bykov.

In September 2010, the celebration of the 250th anniversary of the city took place.

During its history, the administrative division of the city has repeatedly undergone changes. For a long time there were 3 districts. There are currently five districts:

• October
• Industrial
• Leninist
• Pervomaisky
• Ustinovsky

The layout of the city of Izhevsk is conditioned by the entire history of the development of the area. The buildings that have survived to our time reflect the historical features of both Izhevsk itself and almost two dozen neighboring villages, which were absorbed by the expanding urban space in the middle and end of the last century.

The geographical and historical center of the city is located near the dam of the Izhevsky Pond, where the Izh River flows out of the reservoir. The center houses the most important administrative, cultural and educational facilities of Izhevsk. The central part consists mainly of rectangular quarters formed by a grid of main streets - Maxim Gorky, Pushkinskaya, Sovetskaya, Kirov Street. One of the most picturesque places in Izhevsk is the pond embankment, reconstructed and opened to Izhevsk residents in 2010. On Maxim Gorky Street, not far from the Alexander Nevsky Cathedral, a whole pre-revolutionary city building has been preserved, in which several remarkable buildings of the nineteenth century stand out. Large areas of low-rise private houses adjoin the center from the south and east.

On the bank of the Izh, opposite from the center, is the Zarechye area, where the main industrial facilities of the city, including NPO Izhmash and OAO Izhstal, are located on a large area adjacent to the pond. A pier has been built near Yuzhnaya Embankment Street and Deryabina Passage.

In the northeast and east, there are new residential areas of Izhevsk with dense multi-storey buildings.

The dam offers an amazing view of the Izhevsk pond. Mirror of the "artificial sea" 24 km 2. It stretches along the valley of the Izh River for 11 km, the maximum width is 2.5 km. During the navigation period, passenger boats ply along the pond.

Within the city, the area near the pond is especially distinguished, on which there are numerous recreation areas with large wooded areas along the entire coast. In the northwestern part of the pond, the most remote from the center, the village of Volozhka stands out, formally representing a distant microdistrict of Izhevsk. Volozhka has beaches and other recreational facilities; the village is connected by transport links by water (river trams) and by rail (near the village there is a railway platform where suburban trains stop).

Population

The total population of Izhevsk in 2017 is about 650 thousand inhabitants, the density is 2.1 thousand people per square kilometer. In terms of population, Izhevsk ranks 20th in the Russian Federation and 8th in the Volga Federal District (after Nizhny Novgorod, Kazan, Samara, Ufa, Perm, Saratov and Tolyatti). In the middle of the twentieth century, from the 1920s to the 1970s, the population of the capital of Udmurtia increased almost tenfold, reaching a maximum value of 655 thousand people by the end of the 1990s, and steadily decreased over the next ten years; Since the 2010s, the city's population has begun to increase again.

Modern geographers and sociologists often use the term "Izhevsk agglomeration", applied to Izhevsk and the suburban countryside around the city, as well as - more generally - to the entire densely populated part of the south of Udmurtia, which gravitates towards the capital of the republic in socio-economic and transport terms. In this case, it can be argued that the total population of the agglomeration exceeds 900 thousand people. On the other hand, such a designation is considered controversial: at present, Izhevsk is the only large and steadily developing settlement in the region, and even the second largest city in the southern part of the republic - - has a population of less than 100 thousand people, and its population has been declining in recent years.

The growth in the number of residents of Izhevsk occurs simultaneously with housing construction, especially massive over the past few years. According to statistics, Izhevsk accounts for almost half of the housing stock commissioned in the Udmurt Republic, and about 90% of it is multi-apartment housing.

Izhevsk is characterized by the predominance of the female population over the male: according to the Federal State Statistics Service, men make up approximately 45% of the city's residents, women - almost 55%. The working-age population is 60.4%, younger - 17.7%, older - 21.9%.

In linguistic terms, the majority are Russians (70% of the total population); among other peoples - Udmurts (about 15%), Tatars, Mari. The largest religious communities are Sunni Muslims and Orthodox Christians; there are more than ten Orthodox churches in the city, the most important of which can be considered the Mikhailovsky Cathedral (on Red Square) and the Alexander Nevsky Cathedral (on Maxim Gorky Street), and three mosques - in Leninsky, Pervomaisky and Ustinovsky districts.

There are about 100 secondary schools and several universities (including both public and private) in the city. There are 72 libraries of various profiles in Izhevsk.

Local government

The City Duma consists of 42 deputies elected for a five-year term; The Duma is engaged in the adoption of normative documents, the approval of the city budget, territorial planning, controls the work of officials, and organizes municipal elections. The deputies elect the chairman of the Duma by a majority of votes, who directs its activities.

The head of the municipality, elected by the City Duma from among the deputies, is the head of the city; his duties include the approval and promulgation of legal acts adopted by the Duma, the appointment of heads of structural divisions that form the city administration, and the organization of regular interaction between local authorities and the population.

Izhevsk is divided into five administrative districts - Industrial, Leninsky, Oktyabrsky, Pervomaisky, Ustinovsky. All districts have approximately equal number of inhabitants. Each district has its own administration dealing with local issues, the head of which is appointed by the Head of the city.

Economy

The basis of the economy of Izhevsk is a developed industry. The key areas of industrial production in Izhevsk include the production of cars, machine tools and equipment, equipment for the GLONASS navigation system, ferrous metallurgy, woodworking, chemical and food industries. Of particular importance in economic activity is the military industry, including the production of small arms, air defense systems, and radio-electronic military equipment.

The most important manufacturing enterprises include Izhmash (since 2013 - Kalashnikov Concern), Izhevsk Plastics Plant, Izhneftemash OJSC (production of equipment for oil production), Kupol OJSC (military products), Izhstal OJSC (metallurgical production of various profiles), OAO Milkom (dairy products). A feature of the modern economic organization has become the predominance of large companies that combine individual production facilities into diversified complexes that produce a large number of different types of products.

There are 2.3 thousand retail trade enterprises in Izhevsk. Recently, objects have appeared in the city that sell goods from large retail chains that operate and are widely known in many large cities of the Russian Federation - Auchan, Eldorado, M-Video, Karusel; Food chains include Pyaterochka, Magnit, Dixy and others.

There are more than forty hotels and about five hundred catering points in the city.

Transport

Izhevsk is one of the largest transportation hubs in the Ural region.

The main highway passing through Izhevsk is the Yelabuga - Perm highway, which is part of the M7 Volga federal highway and is an entrance from its main direction (Kazan - Ufa) to Izhevsk and Perm. To unload the streets located in the central part of the city, a bypass road was built, known as the Western Half Ring; it passes mainly through suburban areas on the territory of the Zavyalovsky district of Udmurtia, bypassing the Izhevsk pond from the northwest. In subsequent years, it is planned to launch the Izhevsk Ring Road on its basis, which will connect all the outlying districts of the city and create convenient detour opportunities for transit transport.

In 2017, the Government of the Udmurt Republic adopted a resolution on the implementation of the Izhevsk Urban Agglomeration program aimed at modernizing the road infrastructure of Izhevsk and the suburban area of ​​the city. As part of the implementation of the adopted program, it is planned to repair and reconstruct existing roads, as well as (after the completion of the main repair work) the construction of new routes and interchanges. The Izhevsk Urban Agglomeration program is designed until 2025.

Most long-distance bus trips depart from the Central Bus Station, located in the city center on Krasnoarmeyskaya Street. From Izhevsk you can get directly to Kazan, Samara, Chelyabinsk, Cheboksary, Perm, Ufa. Another important point of departure is the South Bus Station, with frequent flights to many nearby settlements, including the regional centers of Agryz (Republic of Tatarstan), Vavozh and Kiyasovo.

To travel around the city, passengers use a network of tram, trolleybus and bus routes. The first buses and trams passed through the streets of Izhevsk in the 1930s, trolleybus traffic was launched in 1968. In recent years, the idea has sometimes been expressed about the possibility of future construction of new transport systems at the expense of private owners, in particular, an elevated rail line.

The railway transport of Izhevsk is represented by the lines Agryz - Izhevsk and Izhevsk - Balezino, which run in the meridional direction and connect the capital of the Udmurt Republic with two directions of the Trans-Siberian Railway - southern (through Agryz) and northern (through Balezino and Glazov). Transportation is served by the Gorky railway.

The main passenger station is located in the south of the city, in the Leninsky district; besides it, there are several passenger platforms in various parts of Izhevsk. Izhevsk is connected by direct rail links with St. Petersburg, Moscow, Yekaterinburg, cities of the Krasnodar Territory. Suburban communication is well developed across the territory of Udmurtia, with the Kirov region (Vyatskiye Polyany) and Tatarstan (to Kazan and Naberezhnye Chelny). Another line, running from east to west, connects the capital with the regional center Uva; an electric train runs along this branch from Izhevsk to Alas 1-2 times a day.

Air passenger traffic is carried out by Izhevsk Airport, located on the territory of the Zavyalovsky district near the village of Staroe Martyanovo, 15 kilometers east of the center of Izhevsk. During the day, he sends and receives several flights, most from Moscow, and planes fly to Yekaterinburg, Ufa, Penza, Sochi, St. Petersburg, Samara, Nizhny Novgorod. You can get from Izhevsk to the airport by suburban bus number 331.

A special mode of transport, characteristic of the capital of the Udmurt Republic and one of the most widely known attractions for travelers, is navigation along the factory pond. During the navigation period - from May to October - small ships (river trams) go from the pier near the dam to Volozhka, a remote microdistrict located near the western shore of the pond. The river tram makes several stops along the way.

Temples of Izhevsk

Izhevsk emerged as a working settlement. But it has always been famous for its temples. According to the project of the first architect of the city, S. E. Dudin, the Trinity Cemetery Church was built (1814, three reconstructions took place), according to the project of another architect, A. D. Zakharov, St. Alexander Nevsky Cathedral was erected (1820-1823). The architect I. A. Charushin also left his mark on the city on Izha. He is the author of the Intercession Church (1903, restored in 1991-1996), St. Michael's Cathedral (1906), Assumption Church (1916). In 1885, in the upland part of the future city (modern Shiroky Lane), the Exaltation of the Cross Chapel appeared, built in memory of the liberation of artisans from compulsory labor.

The temple in honor of the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God (1996-2001) next to St. Michael's Cathedral, St. Panteleimon Church (2002) on Udmurtskaya Street, the Church of the Holy Royal Martyrs at the Northern Cemetery (2005) have become a real decoration of modern Izhevsk. The mosque on Azina Street is never empty either.

The Chekeril ski resort is located 6 kilometers southwest of the village of Mashinostroiteley. It includes 8 different tracks - one of them is illuminated for evening skiing. Trails with a total length of about 5 kilometers, where both beginners (training trail) and experienced skiers (sports trail) feel comfortable.

For extreme snowboarders, a snowboard park of increased complexity with artificial obstacles-figures is equipped. Three tubing tracks of varying difficulty will definitely please children.

Izhevsk is developing, becoming more and more beautiful. In the year of the 250th anniversary of the capital of Udmurtia (2010), an original monument-talisman of Izhevsk, a pretty Izhik, appeared on the Central Square of the city, for the installation of which the inhabitants of the city collected more than 80 thousand old keys with a total weight of over 180 kg.

It should be noted that there are already several original stelae and monuments in the city:

• this is a dumpling at the Pozim cafe (2004);
• a crocodile in a green caftan at the crossroads of Sovetskaya and Kommunarov streets (2005);
• iron goat in Birch Grove (2006);
• astronaut dog Zvyozdochka in the area of ​​the Old Airport (2006);
• bronze wolf Akela at the entrance to the zoo (2008) and others.

Udmurtia is like Kazantip. Also a republic, also part of Russia,
and only strange people aspire to get there, too.

One very funny person

According to some narrow-minded people, Udmurtia is something distant and dense, where shamans live, and every evening people bring gifts to the god of rain on the sacrificial altar. It wasn't there. Udmurtia is not as far from Moscow as many might think. The capital of the republic, Izhevsk, is only 1200 km from the Mother See. In the evening I boarded the train, and in the morning you are already in Moscow.

The first permanent settlements on the territory of modern Udmurtia appeared 8-6 thousand years before our era. Thanks to excavations, the archaeologist managed to find out that several cultures associated with modern Udmurts existed at this place - Chepetsk, Pomskaya, Ananyinskaya and Pyanoborskaya (it seems that the Pyanoborskaya culture is still strong on the territory of Russia). At the turn of the 1st-2nd millennium AD, the Slavs called the Udmurts Votyaks or Otyaks (as they were called by those who did not pronounce the letter “v”).

Izhevsk. Photo by Borisych (http://fotki.yandex.ru/users/kab-ts/)

The northern Udmurts were the first to enter Russia, the southerners were still part of the Kazan Khanate, but Ivan the Terrible annexed everyone to his kingdom in one fell swoop. Mass baptism of the Udmurts into Christianity began 2 centuries after the accession. Only in 1731 was a commission of newly baptized cases established, which operated on the territory of the Nizhny Novgorod and Kazan diocese, and massively converted the Udmurts to Orthodoxy.

Baptism had a negative impact on the people of Udmurtia. In 1774-1775, the Udmurts supported Emelyan Pugachev during the peasant war. Further, until the beginning of the twentieth century, nothing interesting happened in the life of Udmurtia. Unless they founded an arms production (the very thing that gave the world the famous Kalashnikov assault rifle), and laid a railway in 1899. In 1920, Lenin granted autonomy to the Udmurts. True, at first the territory was called Votskaya Autonomous Region (from the English What). In 1932, the hands of the Bolsheviks reached Udmurtia, and they renamed it again. This time to the Udmurt Autonomous Region.

The impetus for the industrial development of Udmurtia, regrettably, was given by the Great Patriotic War. More than 40 enterprises were evacuated here. The famous Izhavto plant was built after the war, during the economic boom. In those years, new production facilities were opened everywhere in the country, and the Stakhanovites gave out five times the norm per day.

The automobile plant in Izhevsk was built with the help of French specialists from Renault. The first car that rolled off the IzhAvto assembly line was the famous Izh-Combi, the first Soviet hatchback. Usually, the products of domestic car factories are not even famous for their poor build quality, but for the fact that they become obsolete even before designers come up with them. Unfortunately, IzhAvto is no exception. Now Russified foreign cars are being produced at the plant's facilities: KiaSorento, Huyndai Elantra, Huyndai Sonata and others.

IzhAvto. Photo by yan-gorev (http://fotki.yandex.ru/users/yan-gorev/)

Geographically e position

Udmurtia is located on the territory of the East European Plain, in the basins of the Kama and Vyatka rivers. From west to east, the region stretches for 180 kilometers, and from north to south - for 270. Udmurtia is part of the Volga Federal District. In the north and west, the republic borders on the Kirov region. In the east, the Perm Territory is a neighbor, and in the south - Tatarstan and Bashkortostan.

Population

As many as 100 nationalities live in small Udmurtia. The majority of the republic's population is Russian. Their 62%. Udmurts themselves are only 28%, Tatars - 7%. The remaining 3% of the total number of inhabitants account for 97 nations. In total, 1,517,050 inhabitants live in the region, of which 65% are city dwellers. The average population density is 36.07 people/km2. There are few conflicts on interethnic grounds, since there are many Russians and the Udmurts do not want to argue with them. In general, outwardly, few people can distinguish an Udmurt from a Russian.

The cultural level of the inhabitants of Udmurtia, unfortunately, leaves much to be desired. The republic is impoverished, about 20% of the local population is below the poverty line, and in such a situation it does not feel like talking about Shakespeare at all. The outskirts of Izhevsk, as well as all sorts of small settlements, are teeming with dubious personalities. It is better not to walk alone here along the dark streets. Girls in the evenings are also not safe. There is even such a joke: “The Miss Udmurtia contest ended in failure. Wolves came to the smell of females.

Izhevsk crocodile. Photo by borisbusorgin (http://fotki.yandex.ru/users/borisbusorgin/)

Crime

Udmurtia is a criminal region. It was like this in the 1990s, and it still is. Due to the poverty of the inhabitants, domestic crimes and the usual gop-stop prevail. There are many drug addicts and drug dealers in the republic. Through Izhevsk, for example, part of the drug traffic to the western regions of the country passes. Drugs are mainly traded by Asians and visitors. Local bandits, who have become respectable people, are engaged in the collapse of enterprises.

Unemployment rate

The Udmurt industry is going through hard times. There are few jobs in factories. Some businesses have even switched to a three or four day work day to avoid paying people money for downtime.

If in production it is very difficult to find a good position with a good salary, then in the trade of offers there are a dime a dozen, however, most of them are designed for low-skilled labor. The average salary in the region is about 20 thousand rubles, but even that is not easy to earn. Most Udmurt employers pay salaries to employees in envelopes.

Real estate value

Compared to neighboring regions, real estate in Udmurtia is inexpensive. Prices for one-room apartments in Izhevsk start from one and a half million rubles. More or less decent living space can be taken for 1800 thousand rubles. In regional centers, for example, Sarapul, the cost of housing starts from a million rubles. For 500 thousand there you can buy a hotel in a residential condition.

Climate

Due to the remoteness of the seas, the climate in Udmurtia is severe. The region is characterized by hot summers and cold, snowy winters. The average annual temperature fluctuates around 1 °C. The absolute minimum registered on the territory of the Udmurt Republic is −50 °C. It was recorded in 1978. Negative temperatures in the region begin in late October and end in early April. Snow lies for almost five months.

Udmurt landscape. Photo by shandi (http://fotki.yandex.ru/users/shandi/)

Cities of Udmurtia

Capital of Udmurtia. About 700 thousand people live here. The city does not stand out in the Russian open spaces. Previously, the chimneys of factories smoked here, now the situation is not so rosy, but nevertheless, people manage to survive. About 20% of the inhabitants of Izhevsk are below the poverty line.

Industrial city. The city-forming enterprise is Chepetsky Mechanical Plant OJSC, which, among other things, is engaged in the processing of uranium and zirconium. The ecology of Glazov leaves much to be desired. Young people are trying to leave here. Basically, children go to study at universities and never come back.

The administrative center of the Votkinsk region, which is part of the Udmurt Republic. The city-forming enterprise of Votkinsk is OAO Votkinsky Zavod. Votkinsk is very similar to Glazov, the problem of ecology is not so acute here, but it is also boring.

A typical small Russian town. Sarapul exists thanks to JSC "Sarapulsky Electricity Generator Plant" and JSC "Sarapulsky Radio Plant". The people here do not live in poverty, but they do not look like cheese in butter either. About a hundred thousand people live in Sarapul.

Udmurtia - Spring Territory (official nickname) - is located in the east of the East European Plain, in the Urals, between the river and its tributary Vyatka. The relief of the republic is determined by hilly plains, elevated in the north (Verkhnekamsk upland) and south (Mozhginskaya and Sarapulskaya uplands), swampy in some places in the west, in the basin of the Kilmez River. 46.8% of the republic's territory is occupied by forests.
Modern science knows the main milestones in the history of the Finno-Ugric ethnos Votas, or Udmurts, starting from antiquity. Traces of the first human settlements on the land, today called Udmurtia (northern and middle Kama and Cis-Urals), date back to 8-5 millennia BC. e. The ancestors of the Udmurts (Votiaks) and Komi (Zyryans, Permyaks) were part of the Proto-Permian community that arose in the 8th-3rd centuries. BC e. The process of isolation of the Udmurt ethnos within this community began in the 6th-7th centuries, when settlements arose along the banks of the Cheptsa, Kilmez, Izh and Vala rivers. The paths of the Udmurts and Komi finally parted ways in the 15th-16th centuries: the Komi went north. The Russians called the Udmurts Votyaks, the Bashkirs called Arzars, and the Mari called Odos. What is behind the self-name "Udmurts" is not entirely clear. If “murt” in many Finno-Ugric languages ​​means “man”, “man”, then there are several versions with the etymology of “ud”. Most likely, the meaning of “ud” (or “odo”) is a meadow, in which case “ud-murts” are “meadow people” (this is how the votyaks who lived on the meadow bank of the Vyatka were named in the charter of Ivan the Terrible in 1557) . Voty sowed rye, wheat, oats, flax, planted rutabaga, cabbage, from the end of the 18th century. - potatoes, bred cows, pigs, sheep, birds. Home crafts and crafts were at a very high level: processing wood and leather, wool and linen. Udmurt craftswomen-weavers were famous throughout the district. A special place in the life of the Udmurts has always been occupied by the forest - as a breadwinner (hunting, fishing, beekeeping, gathering), as a sacred place (the Udmurts revered the sacred grove "lud"), as the last refuge...
In the middle of the VIII century. Turkic tribes came to the Kama region from the Sea of ​​\u200b\u200bAzov, which formed in the 9th century. the state of Volga Bulgaria, whose subjects were the Udmurts. From the 13th century the southern Udmurts were under the control of the Golden Horde, then - the Kazan Khanate. Arsky town was considered the center of the South Udmurt (Bulgarian) lands. In Russian letters and other documents of the XV-XVII centuries. Votyak and Besermen courts are called Tatar, although outwardly (anthropological type, clothing), and in faith (paganism), and in their way of life, they are completely different peoples. The largest center (craft, cult and administrative) of the northern Udmurts who retained their independence in the Middle Ages was the settlement of the 9th-13th centuries. Indakar near the modern city of Glazov, where the museum-reserve of the Chepetsk culture "Indakar" was opened in 1997.
Russian settlements appeared on the Vyatka River in the 12th-13th centuries, and the merchant village of Sarapul was founded on the Kama by Novgorodians earlier than the city of Vyatka, in 1174 (it was mentioned in 1596 as a fortress of the Zasechnaya line on the Kama, received the status of a city in 1708 G.). Over time, first the north, and after the capture of Kazan by Ivan IV the Terrible (1530-1584) in 1552 and the south of Udmurtia became part of the Russian state. But even after the fall of the Kazan Khanate, the Arsk (Korinsky) Murzas continued to "know and judge the Belyaks, Votyaks and Chuvashs and to have a duty from them." It was only in 1587 that the Votyaks were obliged to directly transport dues in convoys to Moscow. Judging by the royal charter of 1637, the Udmurts had benefits and carried 7 times less duties than the Russians, and the local authorities were instructed to “protect them in everything and not make any offense.” But the Udmurts did not want to obey Moscow, they rebelled and whole villages went into the forests. The Udmurts took part in the uprising of the Bashkirs in 1662-1664. and in the Peasant War led by Stepan Razin in 1670-1671. After in 1717 the Votyaks were first registered by household, and the following year the poll tax was introduced, the resettlement of the Votyaks in the Malmyzh and Glazov forests became even more massive, as evidenced by the proverb of that time: the Votyak flees from the Russian, like a mouse from a cat. They fled from bondage, not from the people: Votyaks willingly accepted fugitive Russian serfs into their communities.
By the middle of the XVIII century. Demidov mining plants in the Urals began to lack forest resources. It was decided to build new factories operating on imported ore, where there are many rivers and forests. Udmurtia was perfect for this.
In 1756, the Bemyzhsky copper-smelting plant appeared, a little later, the iron-working plants - Pudemsky and Botkinsky (1759), Izhevsky (1760) and Kambarsky (1761). In 1757, Count P. I. Shuvalov received permission from Elizaveta Petrovna (1709-1762) to build the Botkinsky and Izhevsk ironworks, which, after his death, Catherine II signed off to the treasury to cover the Shuvalov family debts and they became state enterprises. At the Botkinsky plant, the first iron was obtained in the fall of 1759. Over time, the village at the plant grew into the city of Votkinsk (since 1935). Hard labor in Kama factories, to which thousands of peasants were assigned by entire villages, forced Christianization, unbearable taxes and duties pushed the Udmurts to take an active part in the Peasant War led by Emelyan Pugachev of 1773-1775. In 1773, peasant unrest broke out spontaneously, and in 1774 Pugachev appeared in the Kama region. On June 24, his detachments captured Votkinsk, on June 27 - Izhevsk, and from there moved to Kazan. The Izhevsk plant in 1774 was looted and partially burned, and all the factory authorities (42 people) were executed. However, after the execution of Pugachev and the brutal reprisals against the rebels, the peasant uprisings did not stop. In 1822-1824, 1828, 1831, 1842 Udmurt uprisings were noted, most often these were the so-called potato riots (against the forcible introduction of potato plantings).
The newly rebuilt Izhevsk plant in 1807 was reequipped by decree of Alexander I, becoming the second weapons center in Russia after Tula. In the 1840s The Botkinsky plant turns from a metallurgical plant into a machine-building plant, here they begin to cast anchors for the fleet, rails and railway bridges for the Great Siberian Route (the historical name of the Trans-Siberian Railway). In 1847, the production of steamships began, in 1868 - steam locomotives. In 1858, this plant received a prestigious order for the manufacture of the frame of the spire of the Peter and Paul Fortress. In 1871, the second open-hearth furnace in Russia and the first in the Ural region was put into operation in Votkinsk. In the second half of the XIX century. the industry and cultural life of the region are rapidly developing: new factories, workshops, banks, partnerships, gymnasiums, schools, theaters, libraries are opening. There are many defense enterprises in modern Udmurtia, some of which were based on factories evacuated to Udmurtia during the Great Patriotic War. After the abandonment of the arms race and later, after the collapse of the USSR, defense and machine-building enterprises experienced a period of crisis. Today, the pace of pre-crisis development has been restored.
Representatives of about 100 nationalities live on the Udmurt land. In the villages, the indigenous population predominates: they are mostly Udmurts, and on the borders of the regions, the so-called striped villages have long become familiar: Udmurt, Russian, Tatar, Chuvash, Mari. In small towns, such a division may take place along the streets or blocks. Until 1917, the Udmurt region was part of the Kazan and Vyatka provinces. Not all local proletarians accepted the October Revolution: on August 8, 1918, an uprising broke out in the Kama region. The dissatisfaction of the workers of the Izhevsk and Botkinsk factories was caused by the ban on free trade and lower wages, attempts to mobilize workers into the army; the peasants rebelled against the food policy of the Soviet government. On November 12, the uprising was crushed by the Red Army.
On February 27, 1921, the Votskaya Autonomous Region was formed. In 1932 it was renamed the Udmurt Autonomous Region, and in 1934 it was transformed into the Udmurt Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic. Since 1991 - the Udmurt Republic.

general information

Subject of the Russian Federation, part of the Volga Federal District, part of the Ural Economic Region.
Location: in the east of the East European Plain, in the Middle Urals.

Official name: Udmurt republic, or Udmurtia (equivalent).

Capital: Izhevsk - 628,000 people (2011).

Administrative-territorial division: 25 municipal districts (2 urban and 309 rural settlements), 5 urban districts (cities of republican significance).

Languages: Russian, Udmurt (official), Bashkir, Tatar.
Ethnic composition: Russians - 58%, Udmurts - 31%, Tatars - 7%, others - 4%.

Religions: Orthodoxy, Islam, local beliefs (up to 30% of Udmurts call themselves "double believers", that is, they profess Christianity and paganism at the same time).

Largest cities: Izhevsk, Sarapul, Votkinsk, Glazov.
Major rivers: Kama, its tributaries Vyatka (tributaries of Kilmez and Cheptsa), Izh and others.

The largest reservoirs and ponds: Votkinsk reservoir, Izhevsky pond on the Izh river, Kambarsky pond on the Kambarka river, Pudemsky pond on the Pudem river.

Major airport: Izhevsk airport (in 2012 an application was submitted for obtaining the status of an international airport).

Numbers

Area: 42,061 km2.

Population: 1,521,420 (2010).

Population density: 36.2 people / km 2.

Urban population: 69% (2001).

Udmurt-speaking population (in Russia): 324,000 people (2010).

highest point: 332 m (Kama Upland).
lowest point: 51 m (in the floodplain of the Vyatka River).
Length: from west to east - 180 km, from north to south - 270 km.

Climate and weather

Moderate continental.

January average temperature:-14.1°C.

July average temperature:+18°С.

Average annual rainfall: 450-600 mm.
Relative humidity: 78%.

Economy

GRP: RUB 264.4 billion (2010).

GRP per capita: RUB 157,000 (2008).
Minerals: oil, natural gas, peat, quartz sands, clays, limestones.
Industry: ferrous metallurgy, engineering (space technology, cars and motorcycles, drilling, medical, packaging equipment), weapons (guns, pistols, machine guns), oil, chemical, glass, building materials, forestry and woodworking, pulp and paper, printing , light, food.
Agriculture: cultivation of cereals (forage value) and fiber flax, animal husbandry: meat and dairy, sheep breeding, pig breeding, poultry farming.

Shipping (on the Kama).

Service sector: transport services, tourism.

Attractions

■ Izhevsk: Cathedral of the Holy Trinity (built in 1814 on the site of a burned-out wooden church in 1782), Alexander Nevsky Cathedral (erected at the beginning of the 19th century at the personal expense of Alexander I, since 1994 returned to the church), St. Michael's Cathedral ( built in 1907 with the money of the workers of the Izhevsk plant, destroyed in 1937, restored in 2007); Museum of the History of OAO Izhmash, Museum and Exhibition Complex of Small Arms named after M. T. Kalashnikov, Armourers Square: an observation deck and a monument (two figures in long caftans with galloons, which used to be given out to the best craftsmen); National Museum of the Udmurt Republic. Kuzebaya Gerda (ethnographic, in the building of the "Izhevsk Kremlin" - the former Arsenal (XIX century); The monument "Forever with Russia" (1972) - in the form of a double stele with figures, popularly nicknamed "Kulakova's skis" (Olympic champion Galina Alekseevna Kulakova, born in 1942 in the village of Italmas); Architectural and Ethnographic Museum-Reserve "Ludorvay" (10 km from the city).
■ Sarapul: observation deck on the Ural mountain; churches - Pokrovskaya (late 18th century) and Peter and Paul (early 19th century); Xenia of St. Petersburg (1911, Old Believer), architecture of a merchant city of the 19th century. in the Art Nouveau style (about 150 buildings in total), including the house (1904) and the dacha (1911) of the timber merchant Bashenin; Museum of History and Culture of the Middle Kama Region.
■ Votkinsk: Cathedral of the Annunciation (1819), wooden Tatar mosque (1892), Panteleymonovskaya church (1895), Botkinskaya dam (1758, length about 1 km). Monument to the 8K-14 ballistic missile at the entrance of the Botkinsky Zavod JSC, the Museum-Estate of P. I. Tchaikovsky (XIX century, a museum since 1940), the Red Hospital (1906).
■ Glazov: Historical and cultural museum-reserve "Indakar" on the site of the medieval settlement of the Chepetsk culture of the IX-XIII centuries. n. e., Church of the Transfiguration (1887).
■ Underground water sources, including mineral ones (Varzi-Yatchinsky source - sulfate-calcium waters; Novo-Izhevsky, Kiznersky and Uvinsky - iodine-bromine waters).
■ Nechkinsky National Park on the Kama, natural parks Sharkan and Ust-Belsk, state nature reserves "Kok-mansky" and "Andreevsky pine forest".

Curious facts

■ On the coat of arms of the Udmurt Republic, approved in 1994, in a round shield there is a white man-bird (swan) and ancient solar symbols known to many peoples.

■ The Botkinsky plant was built on the shallow river Votka, 12 km in a straight line from the full-flowing Kama, and until 1916, when a railway line reached the plant, the enterprise sent its impressive products on barges “on high water” to the nearest railway station. A special dam was erected on the territory of the enterprise to create a small storage pond. In the spring, water filled the pond and loaded barges (and from the 1840s, ships built at the local shipyard) went along the Votka to the Siva, along it to the Kama and the Volga.

The Udmurt Republic is located in the east of the East European Plain, in the place where this plain gradually passes into the Western Cis-Urals, in the interfluve of the Kama and Vyatka. Udmurtia is located inside the Eurasian continent, far from the seas and oceans. The nearest sea is the Caspian, located from Izhevsk at a distance of almost 1100 km, to the White Sea (near Arkhangelsk) - 1150 km, to the Gulf of Finland (near St. Petersburg) - 1300 km, almost the same to the Barents Sea, to the Sea of ​​Azov - 1350 km , to the Black Sea - 1700 km, to the Baltic Sea - 1800 km. The Arctic Ocean is located at a distance of 1700 km from Izhevsk, but it, like the seas listed above, saturates the atmosphere with moisture a little. Moisture enters the territory of Udmurtia mainly from the Atlantic Ocean, although it is over 3000 km away. This is due to the prevailing direction of the winds that bring moisture from the Atlantic to the continental parts of Eurasia. Largely due to the moisture of the Atlantic, the climate on the territory of Udmurtia is formed.

The intake of solar radiation ranges from 85 kcal/sq. cm in the north of the republic up to 89 kcal/sq. see south.

Previously, Udmurtia was in the third time zone - the Volga. Compared to Moscow time in Udmurtia, the time was 1 hour ahead, and 1 hour behind Ural time.

But over the past few years, the time has changed so often: either the time zone of Udmurtia - they made the time the same as in Moscow, then they canceled the transition to winter time, then they changed everything back, that now it’s hard to say which time zone Udmurtia is in, and it’s not spinning whether the clock hand is counterclockwise.

The geographical position of Udmurtia on a powerful shipping route - on the Kama, between the Urals and the Volga region, is economically favorable.

The republic occupies 42.1 thousand square meters. km. The size of Udmurtia exceeds the territory of Belgium, the Netherlands, Switzerland and is almost equal to Denmark. We will not give a list of countries to which the Udmurt Republic is inferior in terms of territory, otherwise it would take up a lot of space.

Udmurtia is located between the parallels 56°00" and 58°30" north latitude, meridians 51°15" and 54°30" east longitude. The northernmost point of Udmurtia is located near the village of Shalashi, Glazovsky District, the southernmost point is near the village of Zuevy Klyuchi, Karakulinsky District, the western one is near the village of Vasyuki, Syumsinsky District, and the eastern one is near the village of Novokreschenskoye, Kambarsky District.

In the west and north, Udmurtia borders on the Kirov region: the western border runs along the Privyat plains from the Kochetlo railway siding to the north, towards the confluence of the Kilmezi and Vala rivers, along the wooded lowland plains of the Lumpun River basin. Then it goes north through the fields and copses to the Nizhnyaya Sada junction of the Gorky railway, crosses the Cheptsa River and comes to the source of the Vyatka River.

The northern border of the republic goes in a latitudinal direction along the wooded Verkhnekamsk upland, north of the source of the Vyatka to the east, to the confluence of the Kama and Kampyzepa rivers.

The eastern border with the Perm region stretches from north to south across the fields from the sources of the Yus River to the Shnyry junction and the Kama village of Stepanovo, along the Kama. At the village of Povarenki, the border crosses the Kama, where they go to the Bolshaya Piz River.

In the southeast, the republic borders on Bashkiria along the valleys of the Buy and Kama rivers.

In the south, the border of Udmurtia runs along the territory of Tatarstan along the valleys of the Belaya and Kama rivers, to the village of Zuev Klyuchi, which is the southernmost point of Udmurtia, and to the west, the border bypasses the Agryz wedge, near the Golyushurma tract it comes to the Izh river. Then it goes west along the Kama hilly plains to the mouth of the Umyak River, along Vyatka and Lubyanka along the Privyat lowland - again to the Kochetlo junction.

The total length of the borders of the Udmurt Republic is 1800 km, that is, equal to the distance from Moscow to Yekaterinburg.

The outlines of the boundaries have a rectangle elongated meridionally. The length of the territory from north to south is 320 km, and from west to east - 200 km.

Administratively, Udmurtia is divided into 25 districts. It has 6 cities: Izhevsk, Sarapul, Votkinsk, Kambarka, Glazov, Mozhga. The capital of the republic is Izhevsk.