UFA

     The city of Ufa - the capital of Bashkortostan, a sovereign democratic republic within the Russian Federation - is located in the East of Europe. The city lies upon a peninsula of sorts, occupying an elevated plateau at the foot of the Ural mountains encompassed from the three sides by the Aghidel (the Belaya), the Ufa and the Dyoma rivers. Nature endowed this land with unique beauty. Here, side by side with the mountain ridges are beautiful lowlands stretching far and wide. Large expenses of the steppe alternate with thick wild forests. The charm of the landscape is accented by numerous rivers and lakes, so plentiful in this region. Different kinds of wild animals and birds inhabit this land. Both vegetation and wildlife are extremely rich and diverse here. The beauty of the Bashkirian nature is known far beyond the borders of the republic. People from different corners of country come here to travel on horses, sledges, pontoons or to have walking tours to majestic places of the magnificent scenery. The climate here is continental. Winters are normally snowy and cold (average January temperature is 5 0 F) and summers are hot (average June temperature is 65 0 F).
       Following the collapse of the Kazan Khanate, Bashkiria voluntarily joined the Moscovite Russian State? The Bashkirs approaching Tsar Ivan the Terrible with a request to construct a fortress to protect the land. In summer 1574, a for the high right bank of the Aghidel river was founded. Nearly simultaneously the fortress started to be called "Ufa", most probably, derived from ancient Turkish "ufak", meaning "small". As time went on, Ufa was turning from a service class-inhabited fortress into political administrative and business centre of the area. The town hall as a body of self-administration emerged here. After the Peasant revolt of 1773-75 Ufa`s status of a fortress diminished and in 1802 Ufa became the principal town of the province. The republic is one of the largest industrial centres thanks to the availability of valuable minerals, raw materials. This land is fabulously rich in natural resources. The include among other things: iron-ore, copper, gold, zinc, lead, aluminium, chromium, brown coal, natural gas, manganese and salt. However, the major wealth here is oil. In 1932 the first oil fountain burst forth, thus bringing life to various branches of industry and forming the foundation of the republic's economic potential.
      In 1941-42 more than 40 industrial enterprises were shifted to Ufa. During the war years Ufa became one of the major cities with a multi-industrial economy. In 1949 the Council of Ministers of the republic endorsed the Master Plan for Reconstruction and Development of the capital of Bashkortostan. That date may be considered as the starting point of the present-day Ufa. The city of today consists of a number of detached districts stretching from SW to NE for more than 30 miles occupying the area of approximately 180 sq. mi. The central and the longest (over 6 mi) street in Ufa - October Avenue - link the northern and the southern parts of the city. The city population is over 1,100,000 people. The largest ethnical groups include Russians (55,5%), Bashkirians (10,7%) and Tatars (27,9%).

Улицы города
Ufa streets

Ufa - the capital of Bashkortostan