Autonomous republic in the south Urals bordered by Tartarstan, the Udmort Republic and the Russian provinces Perm, Yekaterinburg,Cheliabinsk and Orenburg. Its area is 143,6000 square kilometers and its capital is Ufa. Otherwise known as the Bashkir Republic.
One third of the people are Bashkirs (who are Sunni Muslim), the others being Russian, Chuvash, Udmurt and Mari. Russian is the official language. Bashkir is a Turkic language and is also spoken by some in the neighbouring Russian provinces. The Bashkir ethnic identity contains elements of Mongol and Finno-Ugric-Hungarian.
In 1921, it was declared an autonomous Soviet Republic. In 1990 it declared its own sovereignty and Russia granted them a greater level of autonomy. Bashkortostan is a member of UNPO.
One third of the land is forested and timber is the principal export. The resources of the region include oil, gas, copper, iron and chromium and manganese.
The Bashkir Curly Horse originate from the southern urals.