One of the 22 republics of the Russian Federation. It is located in the east of the East European Plain, at the confluence of the two largest rivers (the Volga and Kama rivers). One of the most economically developed regions of Russia (sixth place in terms of GRP). The industrial profile of the republic is determined by the oil and gas chemical complex, large machine-building enterprises,
The Tatar Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic was established in 1920. In 1990, the Declaration on State Sovereignty of the Republic was adopted. Tatarstan did not sign the Federal Treaty of 1992 and achieved the signing in 1994 of a bilateral treaty with the Russian Federation, making a precedent to this practice in relations between the Federal Center and the subordinate entities of the Russian Federation. It was the only region of Russia that managed to renew this agreement in 2007. This put Tatarstan in a special position in comparison to other subjects of the Russian Federation. However, after the expiration of the contract in 2017, the new contract was not concluded.
The titular ethnic group is the Tatars. They are the second most populous people in the Russian Federation after the Russians. They are divided into three main ethnoterritorial groups: Volga Tatars, Siberian Tatars and Astrakhan Tatars. The defining markers of their differences from the titular nation of the country are language and religion. The Tatar language belongs to the Kipchak–Bulgar subgroup of the Turkic family of languages. Tatar and Russian languages as state languages of the Republic of Tatarstan are studied in equal measure within the framework of state educational standards. Tatars are mostly Sunni Muslims, although there are Orthodox among them.
According to the results of the All-Russia Population Census of 2010, the Tatars make up 53.2% of the population, while the Russians - 39.7%.
The situation in interethnic relations is generally calm, but there is tension, connected primarily to language policy. The Russian-speaking part of the population expresses dissatisfaction with the fact that all school-age children are required to study the Tatar language. In addition, ideas of radical Islam developed in a certain part of the population.