Tatarstan - 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 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.

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