Udmurtian Republic
The Republic of Udmurtia is located between the Kama and Vyatka Rivers and has an area of 42,100 sq km. Its population stood at 1,526,000 as of January this year.
Udmurtia is one of the few Russian regions that reported a natural population increase in 2009.
The Republic's population consists of Russians (60%), Udmurts (29%), Tatars (7%) and representatives of more than a hundred other nationalities. The capital is Izhevsk (pop.611,000). Other major cities are Sarapul (98,800), Glazov (97,100), Votkinsk (96,900) and Mozhga (49,700).
The main natural resources are timber and oil: there are 114 discovered oilfields which produce over 10 million tons of oil a year.
Nearly half of Udmurtia's territory is covered in forests, 50% of which are coniferous. Commercial timber reserves are estimated at over 2.3 million cubic metres.
The Republic also has resources of peat, nitric-methane deposits, and produces quartz sand, aluminum and limestone.
The Gross Regional Product in 2009 was about 226 billion roubles, with industrial output exceeding 200 billion roubles.
The industrial core is enterprises that produce defense goods, from Kalashnikov automatic rifles and Yarygin pistols to satellites and Topol-M intercontinental missiles.
This year the republic has seen its industrial output grow. Output in January-April 2009 rose 3.1% on the same period of last year. In the first four months of 2010 it shipped goods and performed services worth 67,362 million roubles (up 11.2% on the same period last year), and built 102,900 square metres of housing (up 17.5% on the same period last year).
Incomes have grown both in nominal and real terms. In April the nominal per capita income was 12,777 roubles a month (up17.8% on the April 2009 level). Real income per capita increased by 9.3% on April 2009.
In spite of the overall trend of positive development, there are some drawbacks. For example, wage arrears which stood at 91.1 million roubles on January 1, 2010, increased to 107 million roubles by May 1, 2010.
Unemployment among the economically active population also increased from 2.96% at the beginning of May last year to 3.2% at the beginning of May this year.
Agriculture accounts for about 10% of gross regional product. Udmurtia is self-sufficient in the main livestock products and exports some of its produce.
In terms of science and education infrastructure, the republic has five higher educational establishments, as well as the Udmurtian Research Centre of the Urals Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences which comprises five institutions, laboratories and a scientific and education centre.
The major cultural centres are the Chaikovsky Museum-Estate and the Kalashnikov Small Arms Museum and Exhibition Centre.
