Buryatiya - Атлас этнических региональных автономий - Сеть по исследованию идентичности

Description of the autonomy

One of the 22 republics of the Russian Federation. It is located in the southern part of Eastern Siberia, to the south and east of Lake Baikal.

In 1923, the Buryat-Mongolian Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic was formed, included into the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic. In 1930, it was included in the East Siberian Krai with a center in Irkutsk. In 1936-37 in the course of administrative and territorial reforms and the abolition of the East Siberian Krai, the Buryat-Mongolian ASSR, Ust-Orda and Agin-Buryat Autonomous District were formed. In 1958, the Buryat-Mongolian ASSR was renamed as the Buryat ASSR. In 1990, the Supreme Council of the Buryat ASSR adopted the Declaration on State Sovereignty, in 1992 the ASSR was renamed as the Republic of Buryatia.

The titular ethnic group is Buryats. They differ from the titular nation of the country in language and religion. The Buryat language belongs to the northern group of Mongolian languages. Since the end of the XVI century, the Tibetan Buddhism of the Gelug school has been widely spread among the Buryats. There are also traditional beliefs, which are termed Shamanism or Tengrism.

According to the results of the 2010 All-Russian Population Census, the most numerous ethnic groups in the republic are Russians (66.1%) and Buryats (30.0%).

The situation in interethnic relations in the republic is assessed as stable. Nevertheless, there are points of tension, in particular, on the distribution of positions of power among the ethnic groups, language policy, etc.

Autonomy's characteristics

Year of the creation of the autonomy:

Geographic

Where is the autonomy situated:
Autonomy area: km²
Share of the autonomy in the area of the country: %
Autonomy population:the latest census thousands of people
Share of the autonomy in the population of the country: %

Country's characteristics

Level of economic development of the country:GDP per capita in 2015 in current price in $ in $
Political regime in the country:It is based on the Freedom House Index, 2015. All countries of the world are located on a scale from 1 (most free) to 7 (least free). Countries whose ratings fall between 1.0 and 2.5 are “Free”, between 3.0 and 5.0 are "Partly Free," and those between 5.5 and 7.0 are "Not Free."

Economic

Share of the autonomy in the economy of the country:GRP of the autonomy divided to GDP of the country (%) %
Level of economic development of the autonomy:relative to the country (%): GRP per capita of the autonomy divided to GDP per capita of the country %

Ethnic

Share of the dominant in the country ethnic group in the population of the autonomy:in %: population size of the dominant in the country ethnic group divided to overal population size of the autonomy (the latest census; expert estimations) %
Share of the titular ethnic group in the population of the autonomy:in %: population size of the titular ethnic group of the autonomy divided to overal population size of the autonomy (the latest census; expert estimations) %
Ethnic peculiarity:It indicates a key characteristic of autonomy's ethnic identity - language or religion or both
Diversity of ethnic composition:The presence of other (in addition to the titular group in the autonomy and the dominant group in the country) significant ethnic groups in the population of the autonomy

Political

Degree of self-rule of the autonomy:It is based on the Regional Authority Index project that aims at measuring the powers of all the regions in 81 countries. Here the index "tier_selfrule" (2010) is used. It summarizes five dimensions of self-rule: institutional depth; policy scope; fiscal autonomy; borrowing autonomy; and the extent to which a region has an independent legislature and executive. The index takes value from 0 to 18
Degree of shared-rule of the autonomy:It is based on the Regional Authority Index project that aims at measuring the powers of all the regions in 81 countries. Here the index "tier_sharedrule" (2010) is used. It summarizes five dimensions of shared-rule: participation of a region in national law-making; intergovernmental meetings; the distribution of national tax revenues; borrowing; and constitutional change. The index takes value from 0 to 12
The presence of the "kin-state":"Kin-state" is a state whose main population shares the ethnic characteristics of the titular ethnic group of the autonomy
Linguistic preferences:It indicates how the language of the titular ethnic group of the autonomy is learned in secondary schools in the autonomy
Ethnic conflicts:It indicates whether the serious conflicts between the autonomy and the central government as well as between ethnic groups within the authority take place in 2001-2015. The level of conflict is determined on the basis of the annual reports of Conflict Barometer