Mari El

Mari El republic (or simply Mari El) is translated as Mari Land. It is located on the east of Eastern-European Plain and in the middle part of The Volga River basin. The republic has boundaries with Kirov Region on the north and east, it is bordered with Tatarstan and Chuvash republic on the south and with Nizhniy Novgorod region on the west. The length of its frontier is over 1200 kilometers; total area is 23.3 thousand square kilometers.

Native people are Mari, subdivide into "Plain Mari" and "Hilly Mari" with their own (though resembling) languages, culture and traditions. Plain Mari inhabit the left bank of the Volga, the Hilly Mari live on the right one.

The Volga River divides the republic in two unequal parts. On its banks there are Volgsk, Zvenigovo and Kozmodemjansk cities as well as Sheremetjev Castle situated in Yurino village.

There are many other small rivers on the territory of Mari El: the Ilet, the Jushut, the Kokshagas are just a few to mention. But real treasure of the republic are numerous lakes (over 600 total), which attract people by their natural beauty, cool and pure waters. Yalchic, Gluhoe, Bezdonnoe, Karas, Kichier gather many tourists from the region and abroad. The deepest of them is Zryv (56 m). Both lakes and rivers are full of fish and there are many fishermen coming to them all year round. Most lakes are found in the virgin Mari forests and have summer camps, resorts and sanatoriums on their shores.

One of the health resorts is Maple Mountain with such popular places as Green Spring, the oldest oak named Oak of Pugachev (after well-known rebels' leader). The oak is so thick (159 cm in diameter) and tall that can be seen from far away.

Mari El disposes all means of travelling, including airline, river way, railroad, and highway. There are piers in Zvenigovo, Kozmodemjansk and Volgsk cities and Yurino and Kokshaysk settlements. Yoshkar-Ola airport is connected with Moscow, Nizhniy Novgorod and Saratov cities. Railway road stretches to Moscow, Kazan and Yaransk. Highways are built to Cheboksary and Kazan.

Mari El is ecologically clean land with endless forests and great number of lakes and rivers. It attracts tourists from Russia and entire world by its exotic opportunities of having rest: horseback riding, fishing, animal and bird hunting.

Welcome to Mari El! Once here, you will love it forever!

General Description

Republic: Mari El
Capital: Yoshkar-Ola (862 km away from Moscow)
State languages: Mari (Plain and Hilly), Russia
Population: over 760 000 people (census of 2000)

• Mari make 43%
• Russian - 47%
• Tatar - 6%
• Other nationalities - 4%

• 17 railway stations
• 30 bus stations
• 6 river piers

State Government
Legislature: assembly (67 deputies)
Executive Power: president (elected for 4 years by general election)

Cultural activity

• 5 museums and 16 affiliates
• 6 theaters
• 46 musical, arts and theatrical schools

Education

• 7 universities
• 15 technical schools and colleges
• 432 schools of general education
• 324 libraries

Religion

• Orthodox Churches - 66
• Islam - 14 communities
• Paganism - 3 communities
• Protestantism - 32 communities
• Old believers - 4 communities
• Minority religious communities