# Udmurtia

Udmurtia, officially the Udmurt Republic, is a republic of Russia located in Eastern Europe. It is administratively part of the Volga Federal District. Its capital is the city of Izhevsk.
It was established as the Udmurt (until 1931 — Votskaya) Autonomous Region on November 4, 1920.

## Name

The name Udmurt comes from odo-mort ('meadow people'), where the first part represents the Permic root od or odo ('meadow, glade, turf, greenery'). This is supported by a document dated 1557, in which the Udmurts are referred to as lugovye lyudi ('meadow people'), alongside the traditional Russian name otyaki.
The second part murt means 'person' (cf. Komi mort, Mari mari). It is probably an early borrowing from a Scythian language: mertä or martiya ('person, man'; Sanskrit: Manus or Manushya), which is thought to have been borrowed from the Indo-Aryan term maryá- ('man, mortal, one who is bound to die'. cf. Old Indic márya ('young warrior') and marut ('chariot warrior'), both connected specifically with horses and chariots. The Indo-Europeanists T. Gamkrelidze and V. Ivanov associate this word with horse-riding Altaic tribes in the Bronze Age.
On the other hand, in the Russian tradition, the name 'meadow people' refers to the inhabitants of the left bank of river in particular. Recently, the most relevant is the version of V. V. Napolskikh and S. K. Belykh. They suppose that ethnonym was borrowed either from Indo-Iranian *anta 'outside, close, last, edge, limit, boundary' or Turkic-Altaic *anda/*ant 'oath (in fidelity), comrade, friend'.

## History

On November 4, 1920, the Votyak Autonomous Oblast was formed. On January 1, 1932, it was renamed Udmurt Autonomous Oblast, which was then reorganized into the Udmurt ASSR on December 28, 1934. During World War II, many industrial factories were evacuated from the Ukrainian SSR and western borderlands to Udmurtia.
On October 11, 1991, the Supreme Council of the Udmurt ASSR adopted a law according to which the Udmurt ASSR acquired a new name — the Udmurt Republic.

## Geography

The republic is located to the west of the Ural Mountains and borders Kirov, Perm, Bashkortostan, and Tatarstan.
Udmurtia is a republic in the Russian Federation, located in Central Russia between the branches of the rivers Kama and its right tributary the Vyatka.
The city of Izhevsk is the administrative, industrial, and cultural center of Udmurtia. Geographically, it is located not far from Moscow, the capital and largest city of the Russian Federation. The city has a well-developed transport system (including air, land, and water).
Udmurtia borders Kirov Oblast to the west and north, Perm Oblast to the east, and the Bashkortostan and Tatarstan Republics to the south.

### Climate

The republic has a moderate continental climate, with warm summers and cold, snowy winters. Annual precipitation averages 400–600 mm.
Average temperatures :
| Month | Average temperature |
| January | −14.5 °C (5.9 °F) |
| July | +18.3 °C (64.9 °F) |

## Demographics

Population: 1,452,914 (2021 Census); 1,521,420 (2010 Census); 1,570,316 (2002 Census); 1,609,003 (1989 Soviet census).
Although as of 2007 the population was declining, the decline was stabilizing and was more pronounced in urban areas. Out of the 19,667 births reported in 2007, 12,631 were in urban areas (11.86 per 1,000) and 7,036 were in rural areas (14.88 per 1,000). Birth rates for rural areas are 25% higher than that of urban areas. Of the total of 21,727 deaths, 14,366 were reported in urban areas (13.49 per 1,000) and 7,361 were in rural areas (15.56 per 1,000). Natural decline of the population was measured at −0.16% for urban areas and an insignificant −0.07% for rural areas (the average for Russia was −0.33% in 2007).

### Settlements

Largest cities or towns in Udmurtia 2010 Russian Census :
| | Rank | | Administrative Division | Pop. | |
| Izhevsk Sarapul | 1 | Izhevsk | City of republic significance of Izhevsk | 627,734 | Votkinsk Glazov |
| Izhevsk Sarapul | 2 | Sarapul | City of republic significance of Sarapul | 101,381 | Votkinsk Glazov |
| Izhevsk Sarapul | 3 | Votkinsk | Votkinsky District | 99,022 | Votkinsk Glazov |
| Izhevsk Sarapul | 4 | Glazov | Glazovsky District | 95,854 | Votkinsk Glazov |
| Izhevsk Sarapul | 5 | Mozhga | Mozhginsky District | 47,961 | Votkinsk Glazov |
| Izhevsk Sarapul | 6 | Igra | Igrinsky District | 20,737 | Votkinsk Glazov |
| Izhevsk Sarapul | 7 | Uva | Uvinsky District | 19,984 | Votkinsk Glazov |
| Izhevsk Sarapul | 8 | Balezino | Balezinsky District | 16,121 | Votkinsk Glazov |
| Izhevsk Sarapul | 9 | Kez | Kezsky District | 11,080 | Votkinsk Glazov |
| Izhevsk Sarapul | 10 | Kambarka | Kambarsky District | 11,021 | Votkinsk Glazov |

### Vital statistics

Source
| | Average population (× 1,000) | Live births | Deaths | Natural change | Crude birth rate (per 1,000) | Crude death rate (per 1,000) | Natural change (per 1,000) | Total fertility rate |
| 1970 | 1,421 | 23,286 | 13,265 | 10,021 | 16.4 | 9.3 | 7.1 |
| 1975 | 1,459 | 26,497 | 14,666 | 11,831 | 18.2 | 10.1 | 8.1 |
| 1980 | 1,508 | 27,601 | 16,862 | 10,739 | 18.3 | 11.2 | 7.1 |
| 1985 | 1,562 | 29,343 | 17,553 | 11,790 | 18.8 | 11.2 | 7.5 |
| 1990 | 1,614 | 24,345 | 15,816 | 8,529 | 15.1 | 9.8 | 5.3 | 2.04 |
| 1991 | 1,619 | 22,213 | 16,002 | 6,211 | 13.7 | 9.9 | 3.8 | 1.90 |
| 1992 | 1,623 | 20,074 | 18,063 | 2,011 | 12.4 | 11.1 | 1.2 | 1.73 |
| 1993 | 1,622 | 17,126 | 21,923 | −4,797 | 10.6 | 13.5 | −3.0 | 1.48 |
| 1994 | 1,619 | 16,874 | 24,183 | −7,309 | 10.4 | 14.9 | −4.5 | 1.45 |
| 1995 | 1,615 | 15,484 | 22,445 | −6,961 | 9.6 | 13.9 | −4.3 | 1.32 |
| 1996 | 1,610 | 14,877 | 20,641 | −5,764 | 9.2 | 12.8 | −3.6 | 1.26 |
| 1997 | 1,606 | 15,368 | 19,881 | −4,513 | 9.6 | 12.4 | −2.8 | 1.30 |
| 1998 | 1,603 | 16,130 | 19,080 | −2,950 | 10.1 | 11.9 | −1.8 | 1.36 |
| 1999 | 1,598 | 15,793 | 20,745 | −4,952 | 9.9 | 13.0 | −3.1 | 1.32 |
| 2000 | 1,592 | 16,256 | 21,852 | −5,596 | 10.2 | 13.7 | −3.5 | 1.36 |
| 2001 | 1,583 | 16,636 | 22,810 | −6,174 | 10.5 | 14.4 | −3.9 | 1.38 |
| 2002 | 1,572 | 17,746 | 24,520 | −6,774 | 11.3 | 15.6 | −4.3 | 1.46 |
| 2003 | 1,561 | 17,982 | 24,571 | −6,589 | 11.5 | 15.7 | −4.2 | 1.47 |
| 2004 | 1,552 | 18,238 | 23,994 | −5,756 | 11.7 | 15.5 | −3.7 | 1.47 |
| 2005 | 1,543 | 17,190 | 24,006 | −6,816 | 11.1 | 15.6 | −4.4 | 1.38 |
| 2006 | 1,535 | 17,480 | 22,011 | −4,531 | 11.4 | 14.3 | −3.0 | 1.40 |
| 2007 | 1,529 | 19,667 | 21,727 | −2,060 | 12.9 | 14.2 | −1.3 | 1.57 |
| 2008 | 1,525 | 20,421 | 21,436 | −1,015 | 13.4 | 14.1 | −0.7 | 1.65 |
| 2009 | 1,523 | 21,109 | 20,227 | 882 | 13.9 | 13.3 | 0.6 | 1.71 |
| 2010 | 1,522 | 21,684 | 21,100 | 584 | 14.3 | 13.9 | 0.4 | 1.78 |
| 2011 | 1,519 | 21,905 | 20,358 | 1,547 | 14.4 | 13.4 | 1.0 | 1.83 |
| 2012 | 1,518 | 23,225 | 19,526 | 3,699 | 15.3 | 12.9 | 2.4 | 1.98 |
| 2013 | 1,517 | 22,138 | 19,332 | 2,806 | 14.6 | 12.7 | 1.9 | 1.92 |
| 2014 | 1,517 | 22,060 | 19,461 | 2,599 | 14.5 | 12.8 | 1.7 | 1.96 |
| 2015 | 1,517 | 22,195 | 19,533 | 2,662 | 14.6 | 12.9 | 1.7 | 2.01 |
| 2016 | 1,517 | 21,024 | 19,090 | 1,934 | 13.8 | 12.6 | 1.2 | 1.96 |
| 2017 | 1,515 | 17,954 | 18,130 | −176 | 11.9 | 12.0 | -0.1 | 1.72 |
TFR source

### Ethnic groups

According to the 2021 Census, Russians make up 67.7% of the republic's population, while the ethnic Udmurts make up only 24.1%. Other groups include Tatars (5.5%), Mari (0.5%), Ukrainians (0.3%), and a host of smaller groups, each accounting for less than 0.5% of the republic's total population.
| Ethnic group | 1926 Census | 1926 Census | 1970 Census | 1970 Census | 1979 Census | 1979 Census | 1989 Census | 1989 Census | 2002 Census | 2002 Census | 2010 Census | 2010 Census | 2021 Census | 2021 Census |
| Ethnic group | Number | % | Number | % | Number | % | Number | % | Number | % | Number | % | Number | % |
| Udmurts | 395,607 | 52.3% | 484,168 | 34.2% | 479,702 | 32.1% | 496,522 | 30.9% | 460,584 | 29.3% | 410,584 | 28.0% | 299,874 | 24.1% |
| Besermyan | 9,200 | 1.2% | 484,168 | 34.2% | 479,702 | 32.1% | 496,522 | 30.9% | 2,998 | 0.2% | 2,111 | 0.1% | 1,903 | 0.2% |
| Russians | 327,493 | 43.3% | 809,563 | 57.1% | 870,270 | 58.3% | 945,216 | 58.9% | 944,108 | 60.1% | 912,539 | 62.2% | 841,581 | 67.7% |
| Tatars | 17,135 | 2.3% | 87,150 | 6.1% | 99,139 | 6.6% | 110,490 | 6.9% | 109,218 | 7.0% | 98,831 | 6.7% | 67,964 | 5.5% |
| Others | 6,781 | 0.9% | 36,794 | 2.6% | 43,061 | 2.9% | 53,435 | 3.3% | 53,408 | 3.4% | 42,558 | 2.9% | 31,540 | 2.5% |
| $^1$ 210,052 people were registered from administrative databases, and could not declare an ethnicity. It is estimated that the proportion of ethnicities in this group is the same as that of the declared group. |||||||||||||||
Over two-thirds of the world population of Udmurts live in the republic.

### Religious groups

Religion in Udmurtia as of 2012 (Sreda Arena Atlas) :
| Russian Orthodoxy | Russian Orthodoxy | 33.1% | 33.1% |
| Other Orthodox | Other Orthodox | 2.4% | 2.4% |
| Old Believers | Old Believers | 0.9% | 0.9% |
| Protestantism | Protestantism | 1.4% | 1.4% |
| Other Christians | Other Christians | 5.3% | 5.3% |
| Islam | Islam | 4.3% | 4.3% |
| Rodnovery and other native faiths | Rodnovery and other native faiths | 1.5% | 1.5% |
| Spiritual but not religious | Spiritual but not religious | 29% | 29% |
| Atheism and irreligion | Atheism and irreligion | 19.1% | 19.1% |
| Other and undeclared | Other and undeclared | 3% | 3% |
According to a 2012 survey, 33.1% of the population of Udmurtia adheres to the Russian Orthodox Church, 5% are unaffiliated generic Christians, 2% are Eastern Orthodox Christian believers without belonging to any church or members of other Eastern Orthodox churches, 4% are Muslims, 2% of the population adheres to the Slavic native faith (Rodnovery) or to Udmurt Vos (Udmurt native faith), 1% adheres to forms of Protestantism, and 1% of the population are Old Believers. In addition, 29% of the population declares to be "spiritual but not religious," 19% is atheist, and 3.9% follows other religions or did not give an answer to the question.
The local Russian Orthodox Church is the Metropolitanate of Udmurtia, comprising the Eparchy of Izhevsk (founded 1927) under Bishop and Metropolitan Viktorin (Kostenkov) (2015), the Eparchy of Glazov (founded 1889) under Bishop Viktor (Sergeyev), and the Eparchy of Sarapul (founded 1868) under Bishop Anthony (Prostikhin) (2015).

#### Jews

Udmurt Jews are a special territorial group of the Ashkenazi Jews, which started to be formed in the residential areas of mixed Turkic-speaking (Tatars, Kryashens, Bashkirs, Chuvash people), Finno-Ugric-speaking (Udmurts, Mari people) and Slavic-speaking (Russians) population. The Ashkenazi Jews on the territory of the Udmurt Republic first appeared in the 1830s. The Udmurt Jewry had formed the local variety on the base of the Yiddish of Udmurtia till the 1930s and features of Yiddish of migrants "joined" into it (in the 1930s and 1940s); as a result up to the 1970s and 1980s the Udmurt variety of Yiddish (Udmurtish) was divided into two linguistic subgroups: the central subgroup (with centers Izhevsk, Sarapul, and Votkinsk) and the southern subgroup (with centers Kambarka, Alnashi, Agryz, and Naberezhnye Chelny). One of the characteristic features of the Udmurtish is a noticeable number of Udmurt and Tatar loan words.

## Culture

Udmurt folklore is understood both in a broad sense (kalyk oner, kalyk todon-valan, kalyk viz - folk knowledge, folk wisdom), and in a narrower one (kalyk kylos, kalyk kylburet - folk poetry, oral poetry). In everyday life, folklore is not divided into genres, it is perceived in unity with material culture, with religious, legal, and ethical aspects. Popular terms-definitions have incorporated the ritual action (syam, nerge, yilol, kiston, kuyaskon, syuan, madiskon), symbolically figurative and magically forming words (madkyl, vyzhykyl, tunkyl, kylbur), musical and choreographic behavior (krez, gur, shudon-serekyan, thatchan, ecton).