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Where is it? The Republic of Tatarstan is located about 500 miles east of Moscow on the European side of Russia. It is bordered by the Kirov, Orenburg, Samara and Ulyanovsk regions, as well as the republics of Udmurtia, Baskortostan, Chuvashia and Mari El. It is in the Moscow time zone. Though it is called a republic and it has its own president, Tatarstan is not fully independent from Russia.
What’s the biggest city? Kazan, whose population was 1.1 as of the 2002 census, out of some 3.8 million inhabitants in the region at large. The city has a world-renowned kremlin, built at the behest of Ivan the Terrible. It includes both Russian Orthodox churches and a mosque.
Who lives here? Ethnic Tatars outnumber ethnic Russians by about two to one. The Tatars are the descendants of Turkic nomads who crossed through the region hundreds of years ago. They speak their own language, called Tatar, which is related to the language now spoken in Turkey. You can listen to Tatar by clicking on some of the video reports on the region’s Web site. All signs in Tatarstan must be in Russian and Tatar. Most Tatars are Sunni Muslims.
What do they do here? Tatarstan has a broadly diversified industrial base, with companies building machinery, trucks and more.
Does it have any English-language news sources? The region’s English-laguage Web site has news, but it is geared mostly to the business community. Kazan also has news in English.
How do I see what it looks like? Kazan has some beautiful images on its official Web site. Flickr has some shots that show signs in both Tatar and Russian.
How do I get here? The fastest train will get you here from Moscow in a little over 10 hours. Kazan International Airport is just a 90-minute flight from Moscow on Aeroflot, S7 Airlines or UTAir.
Which adoption agencies work here? Alliance for Children and the World Association for Children and Parents (WACAP). Firefly, a U.S.-based non-profit that works to help disabled children living in Russian orphanages, has a program in Tatarstan.
Which Russian adoption bloggers have been here? Adoption.com member jflan adopted a son from Kazan in 2002 and a daughter in 2004. Bloggers Faith and Stan adopted their two sons in 1996. Lauren and Marco started out in Kazan before switching to Moscow District. There is also a small Yahoo! group, Kazan_Kids.
Truly trivia: The great ballet dancer Rudolf Nureyev was an ethnic Tatar, as was the pianist Sergei Rachmaninoff, but both were born outside this region. Kazan did leave its mark on the opera world at the turn of the century: Feodor Chaliapin was born in the city in 1873. There are several English translations of the works of the region’s signature poet, Musa Jalil, on the Web site of the republic’s National Library.
Need more information? “Way To Russia” has a few pages on Kazan, including recommendations on where to go to sample Tatar cuisine. The city’s official English-language Web site is here. Kommersant isn’t of much help here. The weather is a bit on the chilly side.
