Mari El

Mari El Republic (English) Республика Марий Эл (Russian) Марий Эл Республик (Mari)
Coordinates: n/a
Coat of Arms	Flag
Coat of arms of Mari El	Flag of Mari El
Anthem: National Anthem of the Mari El Republic
Capital	Yoshkar-Ola
Established	November 4, 1920
Political status	Republic
Federal District	Volga[1]
Economic region	Volga-Vyatka[2]
Area[3]	23,200 km2 (8,957.6 sq mi)
- Rank within Russia	72nd
Code ISO 3166-2:RU	12 RU-ME
Population (as of the 2002 Census)
Population[4]	727,979 inhabitants
- Rank within Russia	66th
- Density	31.4 /km2 (81.3/sq mi)
- Urban[4]	63.1%
- Rural[4]	36.9%
Official language(s)	Russian, Mari[5]
Government (as of November 2008)
President[6]	Leonid Markelov[7]
Legislative body	State Assembly[6]
Constitution	Constitution of the Mari El Republic
Official website
http://gov.mari.ru/

Mari El Republic (Russian: Респу́блика Мари́й Эл; Mari: Марий Эл Республик) is a federal subject of Russia (a republic). The direct romanization of the republic's Russian and Mari names are Respublika Mariy El and Marii El Respublik, respectively. The republic is also sometimes called Mariy El or Marii El in English. Its capital is Yoshkar-Ola.

Geography

The Republic is located in the eastern part of the East European Plain of the Russian Federation, along the Volga River. The swampy Mari Depression is located in the west of the republic. 57% of the republic's territory is covered by forests.

• Area: 23,200 km² (9,000 sq mi)
• Internal borders: Nizhny Novgorod Oblast (SW/W/NW/N), Kirov Oblast (N/NE/E), Republic of Tatarstan (SE/S), Chuvash Republic (S)
• Highest point: 278 m^[8]

Time zone

Mari El is located in the Moscow Time Zone (MSK/MSD). UTC offset is UTC+3 (MSK)/UTC+4 (MSD).

Rivers

There are 476 rivers in Mari El. Most of them are considered to be minor: 10-50 m wide and 0.5-1.4 m deep. They usually freeze from mid-November till mid-April. Major rivers include:

• Bolshaya Kokshaga River
• Ilet River
• Kundysh River
• Malaya Kokshaga River
• Maly Kundysh River
• Nemda River
• Rutka River
• Urzhumka River
• Vetluga River (navigable)
• Volga River (navigable)
• Yushut River

Lakes

There are over two hundred lakes in Mari El, most of them with an area less than 1 km² and depth of 1-3 m. Many lakes are located among swamps. Swamps cover large areas (10-70 km², up to 100 km²), and usually freeze in December. Average depth of the swamps is .5-1.5 m (up to 3 m), but they are impassable in fall and spring due to flooding.

Major lakes include:

• Karas Lake
• Kichiyer Lake
• Yalchik Lake
• Tair Lake
• Cheboksary Reservoir

Natural resources

There are virtually no natural resources of industrial significance in the republic. Other resources include peat, mineral waters, and limestone.

Climate

Climate is moderately continental. Winters are moderately cold and snowy. Summers are warm and often rainy.

• Average January temperature: −13 °C (8.6 °F)
• Average July temperature: +19 °C (66.2 °F)
• Average annual precipitation: 450–500 mm

Administrative divisions

Demographics

• Population: 727,979 (2002)
  • Urban: 459,687 (63.1%)
  • Rural: 268,292 (36.9%)
  • Male: 338,485 (46.5%)
  • Female: 389,494 (53.5%)
• Females per 1000 males: 1,151
• Average age: 36.7 years
  • Urban: 36.7 years
  • Rural: 36.7 years
  • Male: 34.0 years
  • Female: 39.0 years
• Number of households: 263,382 (with 717,938 people)
  • Urban: 173,246 (with 455,006 people)
  • Rural: 90,136 (with 262,932 people)
• Vital statistics (2005)
  • Births: 7,475 (birth rate 10.5)
  • Deaths: 12,256 (death rate 17.2)
• Ethnic groups

Though the Mari people have lived in the area for millennia, they did not have a designated territory before Russian Revolution of 1917. According to the 2002 Census only 51.7% of the Mari within Russia live in Mari El, while 17.5% live in Bashkortostan. During the last Soviet Census (1989) 4% of the Mari of the Soviet Union lived outside of Russia.

Since World War Two, more ethnic Russians and Tatars have moved into the area. According to the 2002 Census, Russians make up 47.5% of the republic's population, while the ethnic Mari make up 42.3%. Other groups include Tatars (6.0%), Chuvash (1.0%), Ukrainians (5,097, or 0.7%), and a host of smaller groups, each accounting for less than 0.5% of the total population. 2,911 people (0.4%) did not indicate their nationalities during the Census.

History

Map of Mari El

Ancient Mari tribes were known since the 5th century, though archeologists suspect Mari culture to be much older in its roots. Later their area was a tributary of Volga Bulgaria and the Golden Horde. In the 1440s it was incorporated into the Khanate of Kazan and was occupied by Russia after the fall of Kazan in 1552.

Mari Autonomous Oblast was established on November 4, 1920. It was re-organized into Mari ASSR on December 5, 1936.

In its present form the Mari El Republic was formed on December 22, 1990.

Politics

The head of government in the Mari El Republic is the President. As of 2008, the president is Leonid Markelov, who was elected in January 2001.

The ethnic Mari people are under heavy Russification and Leonid Markelov has ordered many Mari language newspapers to close.^{[citation needed]} Many ethnic Mari activists live under fear of violence. The Mari activist and chief editor Vladimir Kozlov was badly beaten after he published criticism toward Leonid Markelov's politics. Other Mari leaders have been the subjects of violence, legal persecution and intimidation^[9]

The Marla faith of the Mari people has encountered hostility as well. Vitaly Tanakov was charged with inciting religious, national, social and linguistic hatred after publishing the book The Priest Speaks^[10].

International Helsinki Federation for Human Rights (IHF) and Moscow Helsinki Group (MHG) in an exhaustive 2006 report "Russian Federation: The Human Rights Situation of the Mari Minority of the Republic of Mari El," found widespread evidence of political and cultural persecution of Mari people, and of "a broader trend of repression of dissidents in the republic." They note that because of the relative obscurity of the Mari people and culture in the global context, no major NGOs have yet taken up the cause of protecting their rights.^[11]

Economy

The most developed industries are machine construction, metal working, timber, woodworking, and food industries. Most of the industrial enterprises are located in the capital Yoshkar-Ola, as well as in the towns of Kozmodemyansk, Volzhsk, and Zvenigovo

Transportation

Traveling cheaply and quickly to various towns and villages in Mari El is made possible through a network of fifteen train stations, fifty-three bus stations, and numerous marshrutkas. The republic is connected to different regions throughout Russia by daily trains to and from Moscow and Kazan, an airport located near Yoshkar-Ola, and a port on the Volga River in Kozmodemyansk. There are also four other minor river ports in Mari El.

Communication

Telephony, Internet service, and cable television are provided by Volga Telecom.

Culture

There are many museums located throughout the territory of Mari El. The largest ones include the National Museum, the Museum of History, and the Museum of Fine Arts in Yoshkar-Ola; the Museum of Arts and History, the Ethnographic Open-Air Museum, and the Merchant Life Museum in Kozmodemyansk; and the Sheremetevo Castle Museum-reserve in Yurino. There are also museums dedicated to the poet Nikolay Mukhin and the composer Ivan Klyuchnikov-Palantay in Yoshkar-Ola and the house-museum of writer Sergei Chavayn in Chavaynur.

Five theaters are located in Yoshkar-Ola with performances in both the Russian and Mari languages, though it should be noted that the Mari Nationa Theater, a major ethnic institution, was closed by the government. The International Helsinki Federation for Human Rights (IHF) and Moscow Helsinki Group (MHG) in their 2006 report "Russian Federation: The Human Rights Situation of the Mari Minority of the Republic of Mari El, reported "The closure of the Mari National Theater, which had been a key element of Mari cultural life ever since its foundation in 1919, was perceived as a direct attack on Mari culture."

Education

The most important facilities of higher education are Mari State Technical University and Mari State University, both located in Yoshkar-Ola. There are also more than 900 primary and secondary schools located throughout the republic.

For the past few years, the Mari El Republic has been participating in the national project "Education" ("Oбразование"), which is designed to improve education throughout Russia by bringing new technology into the classroom, improving material conditions in schools, and providing financial awards to extraordinary students and teachers.

Despite the fact that Mari language is officially a state language, Mari educators and administrators have been forced from their positions in recent years and Mari-language education has been defunded, according to the U.S. State Department^[12], the European Union and others^[13].

Religion

The most common religions in Mari El include Russian Orthodoxy, Old Believers, and Islam. The traditional Mari pagan faith is still practiced to some degree by many Mari people, as is the Marla faith, which is a combination of these traditional beliefs and modern Christianity. The Mari religious practices have come under increasing pressure, according to human rights groups^[14].

Tourism

Mari El is one of the more ecologically pure areas of the European part of Russia with numerous lakes, rivers, and forests. As a result, it is a popular destination for tourists looking to enjoy nature. One of the most popular destinations is Marii Chodra national park in the Ilet valley, where visitors can enjoy various activities such as boating, horseback riding, fishing, and mushrooming. Another is the Bolshaya Kokshaga National Reserve, where visitors can walk through virgin forests and observe local wildlife.

Mari El is also the site of several mineral springs, many of which are located in the Ilet valley. Many small resorts and children's camps are also located on the various lakes throughout the republic.

Crime

This article may contain original research or unverified claims. Please improve the article by adding references. See the talk page for details. (January 2008)

There have been allegations that Mari El, and in particular its capital city Yoshkar-Ola, is a centre of operation for a number of international criminal gangs who obtain money from people by fraudulent means.

A number of dating scams are said to originate in Mari El, whereby criminals will place profiles on dating sites, often using fake identities and photographs (although the profiles will typically state that they come from a variety of locations in Russia and other former Soviet Union states). Young women typically establish a correspondence with people, "fall in love" in a very short time, and then attempt to obtain money on various pretexts.^[15]

Reports vary as to the extent of the problem, with some sources indicating that as many as 50% of the male and 90% of the female profiles on dating sites are bogus. Other sources are more conservative, however, and estimate that only about 10% of the profiles are false. The extent of fraud will vary from site to site, as some dating sites carry out more stringent checks and vetting procedures than others.

Arrests

13 September 2006

More than a hundred people were detained in the course of a special police operation, which had been held on September 13, 2006 by the Federal Security Service Department of Mari El. The operation was aimed at capturing the Internet scammers who posted introduction profiles on different sites, portraying themselves as women who wanted to get married to foreigners. In those profiles they used other people's photos illegally. Such Mari "fiancees" regularly tapped money from their men, motivating this with the necessity to learn English or paying for the driving lessons.

According to the special services, this criminal business was built on the following scheme. Organizers rented apartments in the quietest districts of Yoshkar-Ola, turned them into small offices, equipping them with satellite Internet access and several computers. The role of "fiancees" corresponding with the foreigners were mostly played by students, who received 10 or 15% of the amount they managed to tap from the clients.

August 2006

It was the application from a German citizen, who had transferred 26,000 euros to his future fiancee's bank account in Yoshkar-Ola, that helped the police officers from "K" department to find the traces of the criminals. "The scammer did not appear to meet her future husband, she also never returned the money, and stopped corresponding. Later it was found out that the German citizen was sent a photo of a famous Russian ballet dancer instead of a picture of his possible fiancee", informs the press center.

Having checked up the information, officers of "K" department, Ministry of Internal Affairs of Mari El republic found out that the correspondence was carried on from a so-called "office" settled in an apartment in Yoshkar-Ola, where the seven members of the criminal group were arrested. Also, the police established the identity of the two organizers of the criminal business and the two women with a good knowledge of English, who helped with phone talks with foreigners.

During the search there were found 16 computers, a large amount of money, correspondence in foreign languages, bank tickets about money transfers from foreign citizens and other exhibits.

References

Sources

• 24 июня 1995 г. «Республика Марий Эл. Конституция», в ред. Закона №38-З от 5 августа 2008 г. (June 24, 1995 Mari El Republic. Constitution, as amended by the Law #38-Z of August 5, 2008. ).

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Category:Mari El

• (Russian) Official website of the Mari El Republic
• (Russian) Website of the Yoshkar-Ola and Mari El
• (Russian) Industry in Mari El Republic
• (English) Mari El Republic nature views and sceneries
• (English) A short Meadow Mari-English dictionary at http://www.uta.fi/~km56049/mari/mariengvocab.html
• (Russian) Meadow Mari-Russian-Japanese dictionary at http://www.kmatsum.info/mari/mardic/mar0Aa.html
• (English) Kimberli Mäkäräinen's Meadow Mari Grammar at http://www.uta.fi/~km56049/mari/indexmari.html

Further reading

• Daniel Kalder. Lost Cosmonaut: Observations of an Anti-tourist