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// Republics
// Adygea, Republic of >>
// Altai (Gorno-Altai), Republic of >>
// Bashkortostan, Republic of >>
// Buryatia, Republic of >>
// Chechnya, Republic of >>
// Chuvashia, Republic of >>
// Dagestan, Republic of >>
// Ingushetia, Republic of >>
// Kabardino-Balkaria, Republic of >>
// Kalmykia, Republic of >>
// Karachayevo-Cherkessia, Republic of >>
// Karelia, Republic of >>
// Khakassia, Republic of >>
// Komi, Republic of
// Mari El, Republic of >>
// Mordovia, Republic of >>
// North Ossetia, Republic of >>
// Sakha (Yakutia), Republic of >>
// Tatarstan, Republic of >>
// Tuva, Republic of >>
// Udmurtia, Republic of >>
// Territories (Krai)
// Altai Territory >>
// Khabarovsk Territory >>
// Krasnodar Territory >>
// Krasnoyarsk Territory >>
// Primorye (Maritime) Territory >>
// Stavropol Territory >>
// Regions
// Amur Region >>
// Arkhangelsk Region >>
// Astrakhan Region >>
// Belgorod Region >>
// Bryansk Region >>
// Chelyabinsk Region >>
// Chita Region >>
// Irkutsk Region >>
// Ivanovo Region >>
// Kaliningrad Region >>
// Kaluga Region >>
// Kamchatka Region >>
// Kemerovo Region >>
// Kirov Region >>
// Kostroma Region >>
// Kurgan Region >>
// Kursk Region >>
// Leningrad Region >>
// Lipetsk Region >>
// Magadan Region >>
// Moscow Region >>
// Murmansk Region >>
// Nizhny Novgorod Region >>
// Novgorod Region >>
// Novosibirsk Region >>
// Omsk Region >>
// Orel Region >>
// Orenburg Region >>
// Penza Region >>
// Perm Region >>
// Pskov Region >>
// Rostov Region >>
// Ryazan Region >>
// Sakhalin Region >>
// Samara Region >>
// Saratov Region >>
// Smolensk Region >>
// Sverdlovsk Region >>
// Tambov Region >>
// Tomsk Region >>
// Tula Region >>
// Tver Region >>
// Tyumen Region >>
// Ulyanovsk Region >>
// Vladimir Region >>
// Volgograd Region >>
// Vologda Region >>
// Voronezh Region >>
// Yaroslavl Region >>
// Federal Cities
// Moscow >>
// St. Petersburg >>
// Autonomous Areas (Okrugs)
// Agin-Buryatia Autonomous Area >>
// Chukotka Autonomous Area >>
// Evenk Autonomous Area >>
// Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Area >>
// Komi-Permyak Autonomous Area >>
// Koryak Autonomous Area >>
// Nenets Autonomous Area >>
// Taimyr (Dolgan-Nenets) Autonomous Area >>
// Ust-Ordynsky Buryat Autonomous Area >>
// Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Area >>
// Autonomous Regions
// Jewish Autonomous Region >>
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Komi Republic
// GENERAL INFORMATION
The Komi Republic is situated in the far northeast of the European part of the Russian Federation within the boundaries of the Pechora and Mezen-Vychegda plains, the Central and Southern Timan, and the western slopes of the Urals (Northern, Subpolar, and Polar Urals).
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The territory of the republic extends from the Northern Urals in the south to the Pai-Khoi in the northeast (between 59° 12' and 68°25' north latitude) and from the area between the Pinega and Mezen rivers in the west to the watershed of the Pechora and Ob rivers, which follows along the Urals, in the east (between 45° 25' and 66°10' east longitude).
The geographic center of the Komi Republic is located at the intersection of the line of 63°53' north latitude and the meridian of 54° 16' east longitude not far from the village of Vis, Sosnogorsky District.
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The Komi Republic is bordered on the west, northwest, and north by Arkhangelsk Region and the Nenets Autonomous District of Arkhangelsk Region; on the east by the Yamalo-Nenets and Khanty-Mansi autonomous districts of Tyumen Region; on the southeast by Sverdlov Region; on the south by Perm Region and the Komi-Permyak Autonomous District of Perm Region; and on the southwest by Kirov Region. The total length of the republic's boundaries is 4415 km. The border with Arkhangelsk Region (2170 km, including 870 km along the boundary with the Nenets Autonomous District) accounts for almost half this length. The length of the boundary with Tyumen Region is 1050 km (including 480 km with the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous District and 570 km with the Khanty-Mansi Autonomous District); with Sverdlov Region, 35 km; with Perm Region, 645 km (including 335 km with the Komi-Permyak Autonomous District); and with Kirov Region, 515 km.
The Komi Republic covers an area of 416 800 sq. km. It extends up to 1275 km from southwest to northeast, 785 km from north to south, and 695 km from west to east.
Forests and shrubs cover 72.7% of the land in the republic; swamps, 9.8%; tundra, 9.5%; water, 1.5%; farmland, 1.1%; and other lands, 5.7%. As of November 1 1990, lands of forestry enterprises accounted for 65% of the republic's total land area; lands of agricultural enterprises, for 30.9%; lands of industry, transport, resorts, nature preserves, as well as lands used for other nonagricultural purposes, for 5.1%; state-owned pasture lands, for 0.9%; and population centers, for 0.1%.
The size and continental extent of the Komi Republic, the influence of the Arctic and Atlantic oceans, and the natural barrier of the Urals on the east create variable climatic conditions from southwest to northeast. Frequent intrusions of cold Arctic air, relatively warm Atlantic air, and air masses from temperate latitudes are typical here. This causes increased air circulation, a predominance of cyclonic weather, sharp drops in air pressure and temperature, rapid changes in wind speed and direction, and abundant precipitation in the form of rain and snow.
The republic's location in the subarctic (far north and northeast) and temperate (most of the republic's territory) climatic zones results in a climate with long, severe winters and short, comparatively cool summers. The average annual air temperature in most of the republic is negative, decreasing from +1°C in the south to -6.3°C in the northeast. Average annual precipitation is 625 mm, 60-70% of which falls during the warm season.
HISTORY
The republic was initially formed on August 22, 1921, as the Komi (Zyryan) Autonomous Region. In 1929, the region became part a new political unit called the Northern Territory with its capital in Arkhangelsk. In 1935, the Northern Territory was reorganized into the Northern Region and a separate Komi Autonomous Region. The region was transformed into the Komi Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic (Komi ASSR) on December 5, 1936, into the Komi Soviet Socialist Republic (Komi SSR) in September 1990, and finally into the Komi Republic in June 1992.
RESOURCES
The republic possesses a unique combination of mineral resources in terms of reserves, deposition conditions, variety, and quality. Experts have estimated the gross value of the republic's mineral reserves at $11 trillion US, or 8% of Russia's probable potential.
The republic's mineral resources include coal, oil, gas, bauxite, titanium ores, salts, gold, diamonds, ores of nonferrous and rare metals, fluorite, shale oil, mineral waters, and building materials. Fuel and energy resources are of special importance (up to 97% of the total potential) and will continue to dominate in the near future. The Pechora coalfields and the Timan-Pechora oil and gas province have been fairly extensively developed. A number of ore deposits of the Timan Ridge and the Northern and Polar Urals are ready for development, and a search for mineral resources is being carried out in the Vychegda Basin.
The republic's bioclimatic resources allow intensive agriculture in the south and deer-farming and trapping in the north. Much of the economic activity in the Komi Republic is associated with forests. According to various estimates, forest reserves are as much as 2.8 billion cu. m.
The low ecological capacity of the natural systems is a limiting factor in development, especially in the northern part of the republic. Specialists estimate that half the territory of the Komi Republic is drawn into economic activity. Much of it acts as an ecological reserve that preserves the genetic fund of the taiga and tundra.
The government is carrying out an active policy of preservation and renewal of the republic's natural resource potential, especially vital resources such as land, water, fish, and flora.
The republic's natural systems are also of interest for recreational and therapeutic purposes and tourism.
Specially protected natural areas cover 15% of the Komi Republic's territory. This is where oxygen that all of Europe breathes is generated. The Pechora-Ilych nature preserve is a unique part of the world. Such virgin forests untouched by human activity no longer exist in Europe. Therefore, the preserve was deservedly included in the list of biospheres in 1985. Ten years later, by a decision of UNESCO, the Pechora-Ilych preserve, along with protected and buffer zones, and Yugyd Va National Park were united under the common name of "Virgin Forests of Komi" and added to the list of World Cultural and Natural Heritage Sites. According to a statement of the UNESCO Intergovernmental Committee, the sites on this worldwide list represent a priceless possession of all of humanity.
Scientists of the Komi Science Center of the Ural Division of the Russian Academy of Sciences have been working with the preserve for more than 40 years. In the 1990s, Swedish, Norwegian, and Finnish biologists often visited the region between the Pechora and Ilych rivers. They were especially interested in the primeval forest ecosystems that have almost completely disappeared in Scandinavia today. The preserve covers an area of 3.3 million hectares, making it the largest remaining tract of virgin forest in Europe.
The regions bordering on the Ural Mountains are unique in themselves. There are many protected natural areas here, each one of them distinctive in its own way. However, the Pechora-Ilych preserve occupies a special place. The preserve organically combines mountains and plains and old-growth, almost undisturbed forests and has a rich flora and fauna of European and Siberian species, many of which are listed in the Red Books of the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources, the Russian Federation, and the Komi Republic. The Pechora-Ilych preserve was also the site of the world's first experimental moose farm.
AUTHORITIES
The highest representative and legislative body is the State Council of the Komi Republic. It consists of 50 deputies and is elected for a 4-year term.
Executive power is exercised by the head of the Komi Republic and the government as well as by local administrations.
Official Site of the Komi Republic Administration: http://www.rkomi.ru/
Komi Republic Information site: http://www.komi.com/
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