Republic of Karelia
|Republic of Karelia
Республика Карелия (Russian)
|— Republic —|
|Established||July 16, 1956|
|Government (as of August 2010)|
|- Head||Alexander Khudilaynen|
|- Legislature||Legislative Assembly|
|Area (as of the 2002 Census)|
|- Total||172,400 km2 (66,600 sq mi)|
|Population (2010 Census)|
|- Density||3.73/km2 (9.7/sq mi)|
|Time zone(s)||MSK (UTC+03:00)|
The Republic of Karelia (Russian: Респу́блика Каре́лия, tr. Respublika Kareliya; IPA: [rʲɪˈspublʲɪkə kɐˈrʲelʲɪ(j)ə]; Karelian: Karjalan Tazavalda; Finnish: Karjalan tasavalta; Veps: Karjalan Tazovaldkund) is a federal subject of Russia (a republic), located in the northwest of Russia. Its capital is the city of Petrozavodsk. Its population in 2010 was 643,548.
- 1 Geography
- 2 Administrative divisions
- 3 History
- 4 Politics
- 5 Demographics
- 6 Economy
- 7 Transportation
- 8 Culture
- 9 See also
- 10 References
- 11 External links
- Area: 172,400 km2 (66,600 sq mi)
- Highest point: 576 m (1,890 ft), the Nuorunen peak.
There are about 27,000 rivers in Karelia. Major rivers include:
- Vodla River (Vodlajoki, 149 km)
- Kem River (Kemijoki, 191 km)
- Kovda River (Koutajoki)
- Shuya River (Suojoki)
- Suna River (Suunujoki) with Kivach Falls (Kivatšun vesiputous)
- Vyg River (Uikujoki)
There are 60,000 lakes in Karelia. The republic's lakes and swamps contain about 2,000 km³ of high-quality fresh water. Lake Ladoga (Finnish: Laatokka) and Lake Onega (Ääninen) are the largest lakes in Europe. Other lakes include:
- Nyukozero (Nuokkijärvi)
- Pyaozero (Pääjärvi)
- Segozero (Seesjärvi)
- Syamozero (Säämäjärvi)
- Topozero (Tuoppajärvi)
- Vygozero (Uikujärvi)
The most part of the republic's territory (148,000 km², or 85%) is composed of state forest stock. The total growing stock of timber resources in the forests of all categories and ages is 807 million m³. The mature and over mature tree stock amounts to 411.8 million m³, of which 375.2 million m³ is coniferous.
The Republic of Karelia is located in the Atlantic continental climate zone. Average temperature in January is −8.0 °C (17.6 °F) and +16.4 °C (61.5 °F) in July. Average annual precipitation is 500–700 mm.
Historically, Karelia was a region to the northwest of Russia, east of present-day Finland, controlled by the Novgorod Republic. From the 13th century and onwards, various parts were conquered by Sweden, and incorporated into Swedish Karelia until they were lost to Russia by the Treaty of Nystad in 1721.
In 1920, the province became the Karelian Labour Сommune. In 1923, the province became the Karelian Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic (Karelian ASSR). From 1940, it was made into the Karelo-Finnish SSR, incorporating the Finnish Democratic Republic which nominally operated in those parts of Finnish Karelia that were occupied by the Soviet Union during the Winter War. Annexed territories were incorporated into Karelo-Finnish SSR, but after the Continuation War the Karelian Isthmus was incorporated into the Leningrad Oblast. Its status was changed back to an ASSR in 1956. During the Continuation War in 1941 Finland occupied large parts of the area but was forced to withdraw in 1944. Though Finland is not currently pursuing any measures to reclaim Karelian lands ceded to Russia, the "Karelian Question" is still a topic present in Finnish politics, but it has never been discussed officially.
The autonomous Republic of Karelia in its present form was formed on November 13, 1991.
The highest executive authority in the Republic of Karelia is the Head of the Republic. As of 2010, the Head of the Republic is Alexander Khudilaynen, who was elected in May 2012.
The parliament of the Republic of Karelia is the Legislative Assembly comprising fifty deputies elected for a four year term.
The Constitution of the Republic of Karelia was adopted on February 12, 2001.
|Average population (x 1000)||Live births||Deaths||Natural change||Crude birth rate (per 1000)||Crude death rate (per 1000)||Natural change (per 1000)||Fertility rates|
According to the 2010 Census, ethnic Russians make up 82.2% of the republic's population, ethnic Karelians 7.4%. Other groups include Belarusians (3.8%), Ukrainians (2%), Finns (1.4%), Vepsians (0.5%), and a host of smaller groups, each accounting for less than 0.5% of the total population.
|1926 census||1939 census||1959 census||1970 census||1979 census||1989 census||2002 census||2010 census1|
|1 25,880 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.|
The Karelian language is close to Finnish, and in recent years, it has been considered by some authorities as a dialect of Finnish. Nevertheless, Eastern Karelian is not completely mutually intelligible with Finnish and could be considered a separate language. Finnish was the second official language of Karelia from the Winter War 1940 up until the 1980s, when perestroika began. Currently Russian is the only official language of the republic, but there is a motion in the republic's government to make Karelian official as well. Finnish has also again been proposed as a second official language for the republic, but the proposal has never been implemented, although Karelian, Veps and Finnish are recognized as "national languages" of the republic.
The Karelians have traditionally been Russian Orthodox, known in Finland for their small chapels called tsasouna (variant spelling of Russian "часовня" "chasovnya", chapel) associated with villages or graveyards. However, Catholicism and later, Lutheranism, was brought to the area by the Finnish immigrants during Sweden's conquest of Karelia and some Lutheran parishes remain in Karelia.
According to a 2012 official survey 27% of the population of Karelia adheres to the Russian Orthodox Church, 2% are unaffiliated generic Christians, and 1% adheres to forms of Protestantism. In addition, 44% of the population deems itself to be "spiritual but not religious", 18% is atheist, and 8% follows other religions or did not give an answer to the question.
Karelia's Gross regional product (GRP) in 2007 was 109.5 billion rubles. This amounts to 151,210 rubles per capita, which is somewhat lower than the national average of 198,817 rubles. The Karelian economy's GRP in 2010 was estimated at 127733.8 million rubles.
Industrial activity in Karelia is dominated by the forest and wood processing sector. Timber logging is carried out by a large number of small enterprises whereas pulp and paper production is concentrated in five large enterprises, which produce about a quarter of Russia's total output of paper. Three largest companies in the pulp and paper sector in 2001 were: OAO Kondopoga (sales of $209.4 mln in 2001), Segezha Pulp and Paper Mill ($95.7 mln) and OAO Pitkjaranta Pulp Factory ($23.7 mln).
In 2007, extractive industries (including extraction of metal ores) amounted to 30% of the republic's industrial output. There are about 53 mining companies in Karelia, employing more than 10,000 people. One of the most important companies in the sector is OAO Karelian Pellet, which is the 5th largest of Russia's 25 mining and ore dressing enterprises involved in ore extraction and iron ore concentrate production. Other large companies in the sector were OAO Karelnerud, Mosavtorod State Unitary Enterprise and Pitkjaranta Mining Directorate State Unitary Enterprise.
Processing industries contributed 56,4% of the overall production in 2007. The latter figure includes pulp-and-paper (23.6%), metals and metal-working (7.9%), woodworking (7.1%), foodstuffs (5.8%) and machine-building (3.9%). Production and distribution of electricity, natural gas and water made up 13.6% of the region's output.
There is a federal railway (see Murmansk Railway) across Karelia that connects Murmansk Region with St. Petersburg, Moscow, the center of Russia and with Finland. The railroad crosses Petrozavodsk, Kondopoga.
Karelia has a relatively well developed network of transport infrastructure. Water communications connect Karelia with the Barents, Baltic, Black and Caspian Seas through the system of rivers, lakes and canals. A federal railway (see Murmansk Railway) and automobile highways cross Karelia and connect Murmansk Region and Murmansk sea port with St. Petersburg, Moscow, the center of Russia and with Finland. Regular airline service connects Petrozavodsk with Joensuu and Helsinki in Finland. A fast fibre-optic cable link connecting Finnish Kuhmo and Karelian Kostomuksha was built in 2007, providing fast telecommunications.
The Republic's main export partners in 2001 were Finland (32% of total exports), Germany (7%), Netherlands (7%) and the United Kingdom (6%). Main export products were lumber (over 50%), iron ore pellets (13-15%) paper and cardboard (6-9%) and sawn timber with (5-7%). Many of Karelia's companies have received investments from Finland.
Karelia is sometimes called "the songlands" in the Finnish culture, as Karelian poems constitute most of the Karelo-Finnish epic Kalevala.
- Президент Российской Федерации. Указ №849 от 13 мая 2000 г. «О полномочном представителе Президента Российской Федерации в федеральном округе». Вступил в силу 13 мая 2000 г. Опубликован: "Собрание законодательства РФ", №20, ст. 2112, 15 мая 2000 г. (President of the Russian Federation. Decree #849 of May 13, 2000 On the Plenipotentiary Representative of the President of the Russian Federation in a Federal District. Effective as of May 13, 2000.).
- Госстандарт Российской Федерации. №ОК 024-95 27 декабря 1995 г. «Общероссийский классификатор экономических регионов. 2. Экономические районы», в ред. Изменения №5/2001 ОКЭР. (Gosstandart of the Russian Federation. #OK 024-95 December 27, 1995 Russian Classification of Economic Regions. 2. Economic Regions, as amended by the Amendment #5/2001 OKER. ).
- "Карельский государственный архив новейшей истории. Путеводитель". Приложение "Административно-территориальное устройство Республики Карелия". 2003.
- Constitution, Article 46.
- Constitution, Article 32
- Федеральная служба государственной статистики (Federal State Statistics Service) (2004-05-21). "Территория, число районов, населённых пунктов и сельских администраций по субъектам Российской Федерации (Territory, Number of Districts, Inhabited Localities, and Rural Administration by Federal Subjects of the Russian Federation)". Всероссийская перепись населения 2002 года (All-Russia Population Census of 2002) (in Russian). Federal State Statistics Service. Retrieved 2011-11-01.
- Russian Federal State Statistics Service (2011). "Всероссийская перепись населения 2010 года. Том 1" [2010 All-Russian Population Census, vol. 1]. Всероссийская перепись населения 2010 года (2010 All-Russia Population Census) (in Russian). Federal State Statistics Service. Retrieved June 29, 2012.
- The density value was calculated by dividing the population reported by the 2010 Census by the area shown in the "Area" field. Please note that this value may not be accurate as the area specified in the infobox is not necessarily reported for the same year as the population.
- Правительство Российской Федерации. Федеральный закон №107-ФЗ от 3 июня 2011 г. «Об исчислении времени», в ред. Федерального закона №248-ФЗ от 21 июля 2014 г. «О внесении изменений в Федеральный закон "Об исчислении времени"». Вступил в силу по истечении шестидесяти дней после дня официального опубликования (6 августа 2011 г.). Опубликован: "Российская газета", №120, 6 июня 2011 г. (Government of the Russian Federation. Federal Law #107-FZ of June 31, 2011 On Calculating Time, as amended by the Federal Law #248-FZ of July 21, 2014 On Amending Federal Law "On Calculating Time". Effective as of after sixty days following the day of the official publication.).
- Official on the whole territory of Russia according to Article 68.1 of the Constitution of Russia.
- "Republic of Karelia". Russia: All Regions Trade & Investment Guide. CTEC Publishing LLC. 2003.
- Russian Federal State Statistics Service (May 21, 2004). "Численность населения России, субъектов Российской Федерации в составе федеральных округов, районов, городских поселений, сельских населённых пунктов – районных центров и сельских населённых пунктов с населением 3 тысячи и более человек" [Population of Russia, Its Federal Districts, Federal Subjects, Districts, Urban Localities, Rural Localities—Administrative Centers, and Rural Localities with Population of Over 3,000] (XLS). Всероссийская перепись населения 2002 года [All-Russia Population Census of 2002] (in Russian). Retrieved August 9, 2014.
- Demoscope Weekly (1989). "Всесоюзная перепись населения 1989 г. Численность наличного населения союзных и автономных республик, автономных областей и округов, краёв, областей, районов, городских поселений и сёл-райцентров" [All Union Population Census of 1989: Present Population of Union and Autonomous Republics, Autonomous Oblasts and Okrugs, Krais, Oblasts, Districts, Urban Settlements, and Villages Serving as District Administrative Centers]. Всесоюзная перепись населения 1989 года [All-Union Population Census of 1989] (in Russian). Институт демографии Национального исследовательского университета: Высшая школа экономики [Institute of Demography at the National Research University: Higher School of Economics]. Retrieved August 9, 2014.
- Arena - Atlas of Religions and Nationalities in Russia. Sreda.org
- 2012 Survey Maps. "Ogonek", № 34 (5243), 27/08/2012. Retrieved 24-09-2012.
- The Republic of Karelia in 2007 Helsinki School of Economics
- Валовой региональный продукт на душу населения Федеральная служба государственной статистики
- Regional characteristics. Republic of Karelia Helsinki School of Economics
- "Mining industry of the republic has summed up its work in the first six months of the year". Republic of Karelia. Retrieved 2009-08-03.
- The Republic of Karelia
- Верховный Совет Карельской АССР. №473-ЗРК 30 мая 1978 г. «Конституция Республики Карелия», в ред. Закона №1314-ЗРК от 16 июля 2009 г «О внесении изменений в Конституцию Республики Карелия». Опубликован: отдельной брошюрой. (Supreme Soviet of the Karelian ASSR. #473-ZRK May 30, 1978 Constitution of the Republic of Karelia, as amended by the Law #1314-ZRK of July 16, 2009 On Amending the Constitution of the Republic of Karelia. ).
|Wikimedia Commons has media related to Republic of Karelia.|
- (English) (Russian) (Finnish) Official website of the Republic of Karelia
- (English) (Russian) (Finnish) Karelia.ru web server
- (English) (Russian) (Finnish) Heninen.net - various information about Karelia
- (English) Information about Karelians
- (English) Tracing Finland's eastern border-thisisFINLAND
- (English) Saimaa Canal links two Karelias-thisisFINLAND
- (English) ProKarelia (also available in other languages)