Kalmykia

Republic of Russia in the Volga Region

Republic in Russia

Republic of Kalmykia

Хальмг Таңһч (Oirat)
Республика Калмыкия (Russian)

Republic

Flag

Coat of arms

Anthem:

"Хальмг Таңһчин частр"[1]
"Anthem of the Republic of Kalmykia"

Coordinates: 46°34′N 45°19′E﻿ / ﻿46.567°N 45.317°E﻿ / 46.567; 45.317
Country|  Russia
Federal district| Southern
Economic region| Volga
Capital| Elista[6]
Government

• Type| People's Khural[9]
• Head[2]| Batu Khasikov[3]
Area

• Total

| 74,731 km2 (28,854 sq mi)
Population

(2021 Census)

• Total

|  267,133

* 62.5% Kalmyks
* 25.7% Russians
* 11.8% others/not stated

[4]
• Rank| 78th
• Urban

| 46.7%
• Rural

| 53.3%
Time zone| UTC+3 (MSK[5])
ISO 3166 code| RU-KL
Vehicle registration| 08
Official language(s)| Kalmyk[7] • Russian[8]
Website| kalmregion.ru

Kalmykia,[note 1] officially the Republic of Kalmykia,[note 2] is a republic of Russia, located in the Volga region of European Russia. The republic is part of the Southern Federal District, and borders Dagestan to the south and Stavropol Krai to the southwest; Volgograd Oblast to the northwest and north and Astrakhan Oblast to the north and east; Rostov Oblast to the west and the Caspian Sea to the east. Through the Caspian Depression, the Kuma river forms Kalmykia's natural border with Dagestan. Kalmykia is the only polity within Europe where the Dharmic religion of Buddhism is the predominant religion.[10]

The Kalmykia republic covers an area of 76,100 square kilometres (29,400 square miles), with a small population of about 275,000 residents.[11] The republic of Kalmykia is home of the Kalmyks, a people of Oirat Mongolian origin who are mainly of Tibetan Buddhist faith. The capital of the republic is the city of Elista.

## Geography

[edit]

The republic is located in Southern Russia, lying north of the North Caucasus. A small stretch of the Volga River flows through eastern Kalmykia. Other major rivers include the Yegorlyk, the Kuma, and the Manych. Lake Manych-Gudilo is the largest lake; other lakes of significance include Lakes Sarpa and Tsagan-Khak. The highest point in Kalmykia is Shared, with an elevation of 222 metres (728 ft); it is located in the Yergeni hills.[12]

Kalmykia's natural resources include coal, oil, and natural gas.

### Climate

[edit]

The average January temperature is −5 °C (23 °F) and the average July temperature is 24 °C (75 °F). Average annual precipitation ranges from 170 millimeters (6.7 in) in the east of the republic to 400 millimeters (16 in) in the west. The small town of Utta is the hottest place in Russia. On 12 July 2010, during a significant heatwave affecting all of Russia, an all-time record-high temperature was observed at 45.4 °C (113.7 °F).

### Flora and fauna

[edit]

Bamb Tsetsg (Tulip) Island national park

The republic's wildlife includes the saiga antelope, whose habitat is protected in Chyornye Zemli Nature Reserve.

#### National Parks

[edit]

* Bamb Tsetsg Tulip Island

## History

[edit]

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|

Map of the Republic of Kalmykia. The Golden Temple in Elista

According to the Kurgan hypothesis, the upland regions of modern-day Kalmykia formed part of the cradle of Indo-European culture. Hundreds of kurgans can be seen in these areas, known as the Indo-European Urheimat (Samara culture, Sredny Stog culture, Yamna culture).

Some of the first recorded peoples to move into this territory were the Scythians and Sarmatians from the central Eurasian steppe, bringing their respective religious systems with them. Later on, all three major Abrahamic religions also took root, with the Khazar conversion to Judaism being a notable (if historically contested) episode in the religion's history. The Alans were a major Muslim people group, who faced the invading Mongols and their Tengrist practices, with some of the latter settling permanently. The later Nogais were Muslim, but were replaced by the contemporaneous Mongolian Kalmyks, who practice Tibetan Buddhism. With the annexation of the region by the Russian Empire, there was an influx of the East Slavic-speaking Russian Orthodox settlers. Many religious institutions were suppressed in the wake of the Russian Revolution.

### Kalmyk autonomy

[edit]

The ancestors of the Kalmyks, the Oirats, migrated from the steppes of southern Siberia on the banks of the Irtysh River, reaching the Lower Volga region by the early 17th century. Historians have given various explanations for the move, but generally recognise that the Kalmyks sought abundant pastures for their herds. Another motivation may have involved escaping the growing dominance of the neighbouring Dzungar Mongol tribe.[13] They reached the lower Volga region in or about 1630. That land, however, was not uncontested pastures, but rather the homeland of the Nogai Horde, a confederation of Turkic-speaking nomadic tribes. The Kalmyks expelled the Nogais, who fled to the Caucasian plains and to the Crimean Khanate, areas (at least theoretically) under the control of the Ottoman Empire. Some Nogai groups sought the protection of the Russian garrison at Astrakhan. The remaining nomadic Mongol Oirat tribes became vassals of the Kalmyk Khan.

The Kalmyks settled in the wide-open steppes – from Saratov in the north to Astrakhan on the Volga delta in the south and to the Terek River in the southwest. They also encamped on both sides of the Volga River, from the Don River in the west to the Ural River in the east. Although these territories had been recently annexed by the Tsardom of Russia, Moscow was in no position to settle the area with Russian colonists. This area under Kalmyk control would eventually be called the Kalmyk Khanate.

Within twenty-five years of settling in the Lower Volga region, the Kalmyks became subjects of the Tsar of Russia. In exchange for protecting Russia's southern border, the Kalmyks were promised an annual allowance and access to the markets of Russian border settlements. The open access to Russian markets was supposed to discourage mutual raiding on the part of the Kalmyks and of the Russians and Bashkirs, a Russian-dominated Turkic people, but this was not often the practice. In addition, Kalmyk allegiance was often nominal, as the Kalmyk Khans practised self-government, based on a set of laws they called the Great Code of the Nomads (Iki Tsaadzhin Bichig).

The Kalmyk Khanate reached its peak of military and political power under Ayuka Khan (ruled 1672–1724, khan 1690–1724). During his era, the Kalmyk Khanate fulfilled its responsibility to protect the southern borders of Russia and conducted many military expeditions against its Turkic-speaking neighbours. Successful military expeditions were also conducted in the Caucasus. The Khanate experienced economic prosperity from free trade with Russian border towns, with China, with Tibet and with Muslim neighbours. During this era, the Kalmyks also kept close contacts with their Oirat kinsmen in Dzungaria, as well as with the Dalai Lama in Tibet.

### Russian Civil War

[edit]

Kalmyk Khurul Tsagan Aman

After the October Revolution in 1917, many Don Kalmyks joined the White Russian army and fought under the command of Generals Denikin and Wrangel during the Russian Civil War. Before the Red Army broke through to the Crimean Peninsula towards the end of 1920, a large group of Kalmyks fled from Russia with the remnants of the defeated White Army to the Black Sea ports of Turkey.

The majority of the refugees chose to resettle in Belgrade, Yugoslavia. Other, much smaller, groups chose Sofia (Bulgaria), Prague (Czechoslovakia) and Paris and Lyon (France). The Kalmyk refugees in Belgrade built a Buddhist temple there in 1929.

### Soviet period

[edit]

Coat of arms of Kalmyk ASSR

In July 1919, Bolshevik leader Vladimir Lenin issued an appeal[14] to the Kalmyk people, calling for them to revolt and to aid the Red Army. Lenin promised to provide the Kalmyks, among other things, a sufficient quantity of land for their own use. The promise came to fruition on 4 November 1920, when a resolution was passed by the All-Russian Central Executive Committee proclaiming the formation of the Kalmyk Autonomous Oblast. Fifteen years later, on 22 October 1935, the Oblast was elevated to republic status, Kalmyk Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic.

In line with the policy of Korenizatsiya based on the concept of titular nations, the government of the Soviet Union adopted a strategy of national delimitation, while at the same time enforcing the Leninist principle of democratic centralism. According to Dorzha Arbakov, decentralized governing bodies were a tool the Bolsheviks used to control the Kalmyk people:

> ... the Soviet authorities were greatly interested in Sovietizing Kalmykia as quickly as possible and with the least amount of bloodshed. Although the Kalmyks alone were not a significant force, the Soviet authorities wished to win popularity in the Asian and Buddhist worlds by demonstrating their evident concern for the Buddhists in Russia.[15]

After establishing control, the Soviet authorities did not overtly enforce an anti-religion policy, other than through passive means, because it sought to bring Mongolia[16] and Tibet[17] into its sphere of influence. The government also was compelled to respond to domestic disturbances resulting from the economic policies of War Communism and the 1921 famine. The passive measures that were taken by Soviet authorities to control the people included the imposition of a harsh tax to close places of worship and religious schools. The Cyrillic script replaced Todo Bichig, the traditional Kalmyk vertical script.

On 22 January 1922, Mongolia proposed to migrate the Kalmyks during the famine in Kalmykia. Russia refused help; 71–72,000 Kalmyks died during the famine.[18][dubious - discuss] Revolts erupted among the Kalmyks in 1926 and 1930 (on 1942–1943, see the next section). In March 1927, Soviet deported 20,000 Kalmyks to the tundras of Siberia and Karelia.[18]

The Kalmyks of the Don Voisko Oblast were subject to the policies of de-cossackization where villages were destroyed, khuruls (temples) and monasteries were burned down and executions were indiscriminate. At the same time, grain, livestock and other foodstuffs were seized.[citation needed] In December 1927 the Fifteenth Party Congress of the Soviet Union passed a resolution calling for the "voluntary" collectivization of agriculture. The change in policy was accompanied by a new campaign of repression, directed initially against the small farming class. The objective of this campaign was to suppress the resistance of farming peasants to the full-scale collectivization of agriculture.

### World War II

[edit]

On 22 June 1941, the German army invaded the Soviet Union. By 12 August 1942, the German Army Group South captured Elista, the capital of the Kalmyk ASSR. After capturing the Kalmyk territory, German army officials established a propaganda campaign with the assistance of anti-communist Kalmyk nationalists, including white emigre, Kalmyk exiles. The total Jewish dead numbered between 100[19] and upwards of 700, according to documents held in the Kalmyk State Archives.[20] The campaign was focused primarily on recruiting and organizing Kalmyk men into anti-Soviet militia units.

* Kalmüken Verband Dr. Doll (Kalmukian Volunteers)
* Abwehrtrupp 103 (Kalmukian Volunteers)
* Kalmücken-Legion or Kalmücken-Kavallerie-Korps (Kalmukian Volunteers)

The Kalmyk units were extremely successful in flushing out and killing Soviet partisans. But by December 1942, the Soviet Red Army retook the Kalmyk ASSR, forcing the Kalmyks assigned to those units to flee, in some cases with their wives and children in hand.

The Kalmyk units retreated westward into unfamiliar territory with the retreating German army and were reorganized into the Kalmuck Legion, although the Kalmyks themselves preferred the name Kalmuck Cavalry Corps. The casualty rate also increased substantially during the retreat, especially among the Kalmyk officers. To replace those killed, the German army imposed forced conscription, taking in teenagers and middle-aged men. As a result, the overall effectiveness of the Kalmyk units declined.

By the end of the war, the remnants of the Kalmuck Cavalry Corps had made their way to Austria where the Kalmyk soldiers and their family members became post-war refugees.

Those who did not want to leave formed militia units that chose to stay behind and harass the oncoming Soviet Red Army.

Although a number of Kalmyks chose to fight against the Soviet Union, the majority by and large did not, fighting the German army in regular Soviet Red army units and in partisan resistance units behind the battlelines throughout the Soviet Union. Before their removal from the Soviet Red Army and from partisan resistance units after December 1943, approximately 8,000 Kalmyks were awarded various orders and medals, including 21 Kalmyk men who were recognized as a Hero of the Soviet Union.[21]

Memorial to the deportation in Troitskoye

On 27 December 1943, Soviet authorities declared that "many Kalmyks" were guilty of cooperation with the German Army[22] and cited that as a justification to order the deportation of the entire Kalmyk population, including those who had served with the Soviet Army, to various locations in Central Asia and Siberia. In conjunction with the deportation, the Kalmyk ASSR was abolished and its territory was split between adjacent Astrakhan, Rostov and Stalingrad Oblasts and Stavropol Krai. To completely obliterate any traces of the Kalmyk people, the Soviet authorities renamed the former republic's towns and villages.[23]

### Post-war Kalmykia

[edit]

Elista, the capital of Kalmykia, 9 May 2015.

Due to their widespread dispersal in Siberia, their language and culture suffered a possibly irreversible decline. Khrushchev finally allowed their return in 1957, when they found their homes, jobs, and land occupied by imported Russians and Ukrainians, who remained.[citation needed] On 9 January 1957, Kalmykia again became an autonomous oblast, and on 29 July 1958, an autonomous republic within the Russian SFSR.

In the following years, bad planning of agricultural and irrigation projects resulted in widespread desertification. On orders from Moscow, sheep production increased beyond levels that the fragile steppe could sustain, resulting in 1.4 million acres (5666 km2) of the artificial desert.[24] To ramp up output, economically nonviable industrial plants were constructed.

After the dissolution of the USSR, Kalmykia kept the status of an autonomous republic within the newly formed Russian Federation (effective 31 March 1992).

## Politics

[edit]

Parliament of Kalmykia in Lenin Square, Elista.

The head of the government in Kalmykia is called "The Head of the Republic". After a reform in 2006 that made the governors of the federal subjects appointable by the President, the President of Russia selected a candidate for the Head of the Republic position and presented it to the Parliament of Kalmyk Republic, the People's Khural, for approval. If a candidate was not approved, the President of the Russian Federation could dissolve the Parliament and set up new elections. Since the reform was revoked in 2011, the Head of the Republic has been elected by a direct vote, the first such election happening in 2014.

Flag of Kalmykia in 1992–1993

From 1993 to 2010, the Head of the Republic was Kirsan Nikolayevich Ilyumzhinov. He also was the president of the world chess organization FIDE until 2018. He has spent much of his fortune on promoting chess in Kalmykia—where chess is compulsory in all primary schools—and also overseas, with Elista, the capital of Kalmykia, hosting many international tournaments.

In the late 1990s, the Ilyumzhinov government was alleged to be spending too much government money on chess-related projects. The allegations were published in Sovietskaya Kalmykia, the opposition newspaper in Elista. Larisa Yudina, the journalist who investigated these accusations, was kidnapped and murdered in 1998. Two men, Sergei Vaskin and Tyurbi Boskomdzhiv, who worked in the local civil service, were charged with her murder, one of them having been a former presidential bodyguard. After prolonged investigations by the Russian authorities, both men were found guilty and jailed, but no evidence was discovered that Ilyumzhinov himself was in any way responsible.[25][26][27]

On 24 October 2010, Ilyumzhinov was replaced by Alexey Orlov as the new Head of Kalmykia. Since September 2019 the acting President of Kalmykia is Batu Khasikov.[28]

Since 2008, Anatoly Kozachko has been President of the Parliament, the People's Khural. The current[when?] Prime Minister of Kalmykia is Lyudmila Ivanovna. All the three top politicians belong to the Kremlin's "United Russia" Party.[29]

The Oirat-Kalmyk People's Congress has been convening since 2015 and supporting certain people in the People's Khural of Kalmykia elections, as well as pushing for political change inside Kalmykia.[30][31] It is now part of the Free Nations League, an organization which advocates the dissolution of the Russian Federation.[32]

## Administrative divisions

[edit]

Main article: Administrative divisions of the Republic of Kalmykia

Republic of Kalmykia is administratively divided into 13 districts, 3 cities or towns and 111 selsoviets.[33]

## Demographics

[edit]

Life expectancy at birth in Kalmykia

Population: 267,133 (2021 Census);[34] 289,481 (2010 Census);[11] 292,410 (2002 Census);[35] 322,589 (1989 Soviet census).[36]

Life expectancy:[37][38]

| 2019  | 2021

|
|

Average:  | 74.8 years  | 71.4 years
Male:  | 69.3 years  | 67.3 years
Female:  | 80.3 years  | 75.4 years

### Vital statistics

[edit]

Vital statistics

Source: Russian Federal State Statistics Service Archived 12 April 2008 at the Wayback Machine
|  | Average population (x 1000)  | Live births  | Deaths  | Natural change  | Crude birth rate (per 1000)  | Crude death rate (per 1000)  | Natural change (per 1000)  | Fertility rates

|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|

1970  | 269  | 4,801  | 1,661  | 3,140  | 17.8  | 6.2  | 11.7  |
1975  | 283  | 5,923  | 2,228  | 3,695  | 20.9  | 7.9  | 13.1  |
1980  | 299  | 7,062  | 2,735  | 4,327  | 23.6  | 9.1  | 14.5  |
1985  | 314  | 7,945  | 2,832  | 5,113  | 25.3  | 9.0  | 16.3  |
1990  | 326  | 6,828  | 2,669  | 4,159  | 20.9  | 8.2  | 12.7  | 2,66
1991  | 327  | 6,369  | 2,755  | 3,614  | 19.5  | 8.4  | 11.1  | 2,58
1992  | 323  | 5,865  | 2,806  | 3,059  | 18.2  | 8.7  | 9.5  | 2,57
1993  | 319  | 5,027  | 3,167  | 1,860  | 15.8  | 9.9  | 5.8  | 2,30
1994  | 317  | 4,684  | 3,226  | 1,458  | 14.8  | 10.2  | 4.6  | 2,20
1995  | 316  | 4,321  | 3,359  | 962  | 13.7  | 10.6  | 3.0  | 2,03
1996  | 314  | 3,929  | 3,232  | 697  | 12.5  | 10.3  | 2.2  | 1,82
1997  | 313  | 3,845  | 3,072  | 773  | 12.3  | 9.8  | 2.5  | 1,77
1998  | 311  | 3,858  | 3,279  | 579  | 12.4  | 10.5  | 1.9  | 1,76
1999  | 309  | 3,598  | 3,356  | 242  | 11.6  | 10.8  | 0.8  | 1,62
2000  | 308  | 3,473  | 3,439  | 34  | 11.3  | 11.2  | 0.1  | 1,55
2001  | 302  | 3,530  | 3,357  | 173  | 11.7  | 11.1  | 0.6  | 1,57
2002  | 295  | 3,729  | 3,637  | 92  | 12.7  | 12.3  | 0.3  | 1,70
2003  | 291  | 3,874  | 3,437  | 437  | 13.3  | 11.8  | 1.5  | 1,77
2004  | 291  | 3,923  | 3,184  | 739  | 13.5  | 11.0  | 2.5  | 1,77
2005  | 290  | 3,788  | 3,350  | 438  | 13.1  | 11.5  | 1.5  | 1,69
2006  | 289  | 3,820  | 3,207  | 613  | 13.2  | 11.1  | 2.1  | 1,69
2007  | 289  | 4,146  | 3,141  | 1,005  | 14.3  | 10.9  | 3.5  | 1,83
2008  | 289  | 4,354  | 2,976  | 1,378  | 15.1  | 10.3  | 4.8  | 1,93
2009  | 289  | 4,270  | 3,115  | 1,155  | 14.8  | 10.8  | 4.0  | 1,81
2010  | 289  | 4,432  | 3,191  | 1,241  | 15.3  | 11.0  | 4.3  | 1,88
2011  | 288  | 4,194  | 2,920  | 1,274  | 14,5  | 10,1  | 4.4  | 1,81
2012  | 286  | 4,268  | 2,870  | 1,398  | 15,0  | 10,1  | 4.9  | 1,89
2013  | 283  | 4,126  | 2,805  | 1,321  | 14,6  | 9,9  | 4.7  | 1,88
2014  | 281  | 3,969  | 2,787  | 1,182  | 14,1  | 9,9  | 4.2  | 1,85
2015  | 280  | 3,823  | 2,743  | 1,080  | 13,6  | 9,8  | 3.8  | 1,83
2016  | 278  | 3,492  | 2,709  | 783  | 12.5  | 9.7  | 2.8  | 1.72(e)
2017  | 277  | 3,028  | 2,755  | 273  | 10.9  | 9.9  | 1.0  |
2018  | 275  | 3,043  | 2,649  | 394  | 11.0  | 9.6  | 1.4  |
2019  |  | 2,814  | 2,561  | 253  | 10.3  | 9.4  | 0.9  |
2020  |  | 2,758  | 3,013  | -255  | 10.2  | 11.1  | -0.9  |
2021  |  | 2,650  | 3,633  | -983  | 9.8  | 13.5  | -3.7  |
2022  |  | 2,434  | 2,778  | -343  | 9.1  | 10.4  | -1.3  |
2023  |  | 2,403  | 2,517  | -114  | 9.1  | 9.5  | -0.4  |

Historical populationYear| Pop.| ±%

|
|

1926| 161,176| —
1959| 184,857| +14.7%
1970| 267,993| +45.0%
1979| 293,528| +9.5%
1989| 322,589| +9.9%
2002| 292,410| −9.4%
2010| 289,481| −1.0%
2021| 267,133| −7.7%
Source: Census data

### Ethnic groups

[edit]

Main article: Demographics of Russia § Peoples of the Caucasus

According to the 2021 Census, Kalmyks make up 62.5% of the republic's population. Other groups include Russians (25.7%), Dargins (2.8%), Kazakhs (1.7%), Turks (1.6%), Chechens (1.1%), Avars (1.0%), and Koreans (0.4%).[39]

Census year  | Kalmyks  | Russians  | Others

|
|
|

# | %  | # | %  | # | %
1926  | 107,026 |

75.6%

| 15,212 |

10.7%

| 19,356 |

13.7%

1939  | 107,315 |

48.6%

| 100,814 |

45.7%

| 12,555 |

5.7%

1959  | 64,882 |

35.1%

| 103,349 |

55.9%

| 16,626 |

9.0%

1970  | 110,264 |

41.1%

| 122,757 |

45.8%

| 34,972 |

13.0%

1979  | 122,167 |

41.5%

| 125,510 |

42.6%

| 46,850 |

15.9%

1989  | 146,316 |

45.4%

| 121,531 |

37.7%

| 54,732 |

17.0%

2002  | 155,938 |

53.3%

| 98,115 |

33.6%

| 38,357 |

13.1%

2010  | 162,740 |

57.4%

| 85,712 |

30.2%

| 35,239 |

12.4%

2021[a] | 159,138 |

62.5%

| 65,490 |

25.7%

| 30,135 |

11.8%

1. ^ 12,370 people were registered from administrative databases, and could not declare an ethnicity. It is estimated that the proportion of ethnicities in this group is the same as that of the declared group.[40]

Ethnic map of Caucasus

The population of Kalmyks in the Russian Empire, Soviet Union and Russian Federation:

[41] year  | population

|

1897  |

190,648

1926  |

128,809

1939  |

129,786

1959  |

100,603

1970  |

131,318

1979  |

140,103

1989  |

165,103

2002  |

174,000

2010  |

183,372

2021  |

179,547

### Religion

[edit]

Religion in Kalmykia (2012)[42]

Tibetan Buddhism (47.6%)

Russian Orthodoxy (18%)

Other and undeclared (9.6%)

Spiritual but not religious (8.2%)

Atheist (8%)

Islam (4.8%)

Tengrism and Shamanism (3%)

Other Christians (0.8%)

Tibetan Buddhism is the traditional and most popular religion among the Kalmyks, while ethnic Russians in the country practice predominantly Russian Orthodoxy. A minority of Kalmyks practice pre-Buddhist shamanism or Tengrism (a contemporary revival of the Turkic and Mongolic shamanic religions). Many people are unaffiliated and non-religious.

According to a 2012 survey,[43] 47.6% of the population of Kalmykia adhere to Buddhism, 18% to the Russian Orthodox Church, 4.8% to Islam, 3% to Tengrism or Kalmyk shamanism, 1% are unaffiliated Christians, 1% are either Orthodox Christian believers who do not belong to a church or are members of non-Russian Orthodox churches, 0.4% adhere to forms of Hinduism, and 9.0% follow other religions or did not give an answer to the survey. In addition, 8.2% of the population declared themselves to be "spiritual but not religious" and another 8% to be atheist.[43]

### Education

[edit]

Kalmyk State University is the largest higher education facility in the republic.

## Economy

[edit]

Kalmykia has a developed agricultural sector. Other developed industries include the food processing and oil and gas industries.

As most of Kalmykia is arid, irrigation is necessary for agriculture. The Cherney Zemli Irrigation Scheme (Черноземельская оросительная система) in southern Kalmykia receives water from the Caucasian rivers Terek and Kuma via a chain of canals: water flows from the Terek to the Kuma via the Terek-Kuma Canal, then to the Chogray Reservoir on the East Manych River via the Kuma–Manych Canal, and finally into Kalmykia's steppes over the Cherney Zemli Main Canal, constructed in the 1970s.[44]

The government of Kalmykia spends about $100 million annually. Its annual oil production is about 1,270,000 barrels.

## Emigration and culture

[edit]

Traditional instruments include the dombra.

The Kalmyks of Kyrgyzstan live primarily in the Karakol region of eastern Kyrgyzstan. They are referred to as Sart Kalmyks. The origin of this name is unknown. Likewise, it is not known when, why and from where this small group of Kalmyks migrated to eastern Kyrgyzstan. Due to their minority status, the Sart Kalmyks have adopted the Kyrgyz language and culture of the majority Kyrgyz population.

Although many Sart Kalmyks are Muslims, Kalmyks elsewhere, by and large, remain faithful to the Gelugpa Order of Tibetan Buddhism. In Kalmykia, for example, the Gelugpa Order with the assistance of the government has constructed numerous Buddhist temples. In addition, the Kalmyk people recognize Tenzin Gyatso, 14th Dalai Lama as their spiritual leader and Erdne Ombadykow, a Kalmyk American, as the supreme lama of the Kalmyk people. The Dalai Lama has visited Elista on a number of occasions.

The Kalmyks have also established communities in the United States, primarily in Pennsylvania and New Jersey. The majority are descended from those Kalmyks who fled from Russia in late 1920 to France, Yugoslavia, Bulgaria, and, later, Germany. Many of those Kalmyks living in Germany at the end of World War II were eventually granted passage to the United States.

As a consequence of their decades-long migration through Europe, many older Kalmyks are fluent in German, French, and Serbo-Croatian, in addition to Russian and their native Kalmyk language. There are several Kalmyk Buddhist temples in Monmouth County, New Jersey, where the vast majority of American Kalmyks reside, as well as a Tibetan Buddhist Learning Center and monastery in Washington Township, New Jersey. At one point during the 20th century, there was a Kalmyk Buddhist temple in Belgrade, Serbia.

The word Kalmyk means 'those who remained'. Its origin is unknown but this name was known centuries before a large part of the Kalmyks moved back from the Volga River to Dzhungaria in the 18th century.

There are three cultural subgroups within the Kalmyk nation: Turguts, Durbets (Durwets), and Buzavs (Oirats, who joined the Russian Cossacks), as well as some villages of Hoshouts and Zungars. The Durbets subgroup includes the Chonos tribe (literally meaning "a tribe of the wolf", also called "Shonos", "Chinos", "A-Shino", or "A-Chino").

Kalmykia staged the 2006 World Chess Championship between Veselin Topalov and Vladimir Kramnik.[45]

Most of the Republic of Kalmykia lies in the Caspian Depression, a low-lying region down to 27 meters (89 ft) below sea level.

## See also

[edit]

* Buddhism in Kalmykia
* Music of Kalmykia
* Geden Sheddup Choikorling Monastery
* Burkhan Bakshin Altan Sume
* Kumykia

## References

[edit]

### Notes

[edit]

#### Explanatory notes

[edit]

1. ^ /kɑːlˈmiːkiə/ kahl-MEEK-ee-ə; Russian: Калмыкия, romanized: Kalmykiya, lit. 'Land of the Kalmyks', Russian pronunciation: [kɐlˈmɨkʲɪjə]; Kalmyk: Хальмг, romanized: Khalmg, IPA: [χalʲˈməq]
2. ^ Russian: Республика Калмыкия, IPA: [rʲɪsˈpublʲɪkə kɐlˈmɨkʲɪjə]; Kalmyk: Хальмг Таңһч, Khalmg Tanghch IPA: [χalʲˈməq tʰaɴʁə̆ˈt͡ɕʰɪ̃]

#### Citations

[edit]

1. ^ Law #44-I-Z
2. ^ Steppe Code (Constitution) of the Republic of Kalmykia, Article 25
3. ^ Official website of the Head of the Republic of Kalmykia. Alexey Maratovich Orlov Archived 16 February 2019 at the Wayback Machine (in Russian)
4. ^ "Оценка численности постоянного населения по субъектам Российской Федерации". Federal State Statistics Service. Retrieved 1 September 2022.
5. ^ "Об исчислении времени". Официальный интернет-портал правовой информации (in Russian). Archived from the original on 22 June 2020. Retrieved 19 January 2019.
6. ^ Steppe Code (Constitution) of the Republic of Kalmykia, Article 19
7. ^ Steppe Code (Constitution) of the Republic of Kalmykia, Article 17: Государственными языками в Республике Калмыкия являются калмыцкий и русский языки. [The official languages of the Republic of Kalmykia are the Kalmyk and Russian languages.]
8. ^ Official throughout the Russian Federation according to Article 68.1 of the Constitution of Russia.
9. ^ Steppe Code (Constitution) of the Republic of Kalmykia, Article 33
10. ^ Nikolay Shevchenko (21 February 2018). "Check out Russia's Kalmykia: The only region in Europe where Buddhism rules the roost". Russia Beyond. Retrieved 29 November 2020.
11. ^ a b Russian Federal State Statistics Service (2011). Всероссийская перепись населения 2010 года. Том 1 [2010 All-Russian Population Census, vol. 1]. Всероссийская перепись населения 2010 года [2010 All-Russia Population Census] (in Russian). Federal State Statistics Service.
12. ^ Google Earth
13. ^ Robert L. Worden; Andrea Matles Savada. "Caught Between the Russians and the Manchus". Mongolia a Country Study. GPO for the Library of Congress. Retrieved 13 February 2011.
14. ^ Isvestia, Moscow, 24 July 1919
15. ^ Dorzha Arbakov, 'The Kalmyks' in Nikolai Dekker and Andrei Lebed, (Eds) Genocide in the USSR, Chapter II, Complete Destruction of National Groups as Groups, Series I, No. 40, (Institute for the Study of the USSR, 1958), p. 90.
16. ^ Bawden, C.R. The Modern History of Mongolia, Frederick A. Praeger, Publishers, New York, (1968).
17. ^ Meyer, Karl E. and Brysac, Shareen Blair. Tournament of Shadows, Counterpoint, Washington, D.C., (1999)
18. ^ a b XX зууны 20, 30-аад онд халимагуудын 98 хувь аймшигт өлсгөлөнд автсан Archived 2013-10-31 at the Wayback Machine (Mongolian)
19. ^ "Freitag 03 – eine Karawanserei". www.freitag.de. Archived from the original on 24 November 2005. Retrieved 2 February 2022.
20. ^ "USHMM Receives Lost Archives from Kalmyk Republic of the Russian Federation Detailing Previously Unknown Atrocities". United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. 22 December 2000. Archived from the original on 2 April 2015. Retrieved 9 March 2015.
21. ^ "Регистрация в букмекерской конторе Винлайн с телефона и компьютера". postomania.ru.
22. ^ "Указ Президиума ВС СССР от 27.12.1943 о ликвидации Калмыцкой АССР и образовании Астраханской области в составе РСФСР — Викитека". ru.wikisource.org.
23. ^ Polian, P.M.; Pobol', N.L., eds. (2005). Stalinskie deportatsii 1928–1953. Rossiia. XX vek. Dokumenty (in Russian). Moscow: Mezhdunarodnyi fond "Demokratiia"; Maternik. pp. 410–34\. ISBN 5-85646-143-6. OCLC 65289542.410-34&rft.pub=Mezhdunarodnyi+fond+"Demokratiia";+Maternik&rft.date=2005&rft_id=info:oclcnum/65289542&rft.isbn=5-85646-143-6&rfr_id=info:sid/en.wikipedia.org:Kalmykia" class="Z3988">
24. ^ National Geographic Society, "Caspian Sea." March 1999.
25. ^ World Press Freedom Review Archived 9 March 2007 at the Wayback Machine
26. ^ "In Russia, many conform, few resist". Archived from the original on 10 January 2014. Retrieved 25 February 2007.
27. ^ Kalder. Lost Cosmonaut, p70.
28. ^ "Republic of Kalmykia » Batu Khasikov won the election of the head of Kalmykia". Retrieved 28 February 2021.
29. ^ [1] – See the web site of the Government of Kalmykia with links.
30. ^ "Обращение Исполкома Съезда ойрат-калмыцкого народа" [Address of the Executive Committee of the Congress of the Oirat-Kalmyk people]. Элистинский Курьер. Retrieved 25 May 2022.
31. ^ "Kalmykia: Russia's Emerging Powder Keg?". Jamestown Foundation. Retrieved 25 May 2022.
32. ^ ""Я обязательно выучу названия этих 34 государств" В Европейском парламенте прошел "Форум свободных народов России". Его участники хотят разделить страну на несколько десятков государств. Репортаж "Медузы"". Meduza (in Russian). Retrieved 16 April 2023.
33. ^ Государственный комитет Российской Федерации по статистике. Комитет Российской Федерации по стандартизации, метрологии и сертификации. №ОК 019-95 1 января 1997 г. «Общероссийский классификатор объектов административно-территориального деления. Код 85», в ред. изменения №278/2015 от 1 января 2016 г.. (State Statistics Committee of the Russian Federation. Committee of the Russian Federation on Standardization, Metrology, and Certification. #OK 019-95 January 1, 1997 Russian Classification of Objects of Administrative Division (OKATO). Code 85, as amended by the Amendment #278/2015 of January 1, 2016. ).
34. ^ Russian Federal State Statistics Service. Всероссийская перепись населения 2020 года. Том 1 [2020 All-Russian Population Census, vol. 1] (XLS) (in Russian). Federal State Statistics Service.
35. ^ Federal State Statistics Service (21 May 2004). Численность населения России, субъектов Российской Федерации в составе федеральных округов, районов, городских поселений, сельских населённых пунктов – районных центров и сельских населённых пунктов с населением 3 тысячи и более человек [Population of Russia, Its Federal Districts, Federal Subjects, Districts, Urban Localities, Rural Localities—Administrative Centers, and Rural Localities with Population of Over 3,000] (XLS). Всероссийская перепись населения 2002 года [All-Russia Population Census of 2002] (in Russian).
36. ^ Всесоюзная перепись населения 1989 г. Численность наличного населения союзных и автономных республик, автономных областей и округов, краёв, областей, районов, городских поселений и сёл-райцентров [All Union Population Census of 1989: Present Population of Union and Autonomous Republics, Autonomous Oblasts and Okrugs, Krais, Oblasts, Districts, Urban Settlements, and Villages Serving as District Administrative Centers]. Всесоюзная перепись населения 1989 года [All-Union Population Census of 1989] (in Russian). Институт демографии Национального исследовательского университета: Высшая школа экономики [Institute of Demography at the National Research University: Higher School of Economics]. 1989 - via Demoscope Weekly.
37. ^ "Демографический ежегодник России" [The Demographic Yearbook of Russia] (in Russian). Federal State Statistics Service of Russia (Rosstat). Retrieved 28 June 2022.
38. ^ "Ожидаемая продолжительность жизни при рождении" [Life expectancy at birth]. Unified Interdepartmental Information and Statistical System of Russia (in Russian). Archived from the original on 20 February 2022. Retrieved 28 June 2022.
39. ^ "Национальный состав населения". Federal State Statistics Service. Retrieved 30 December 2022.
40. ^ Перепись-2010: русских становится больше. Perepis-2010.ru (2011-12-19). Retrieved on 2013-07-28.
41. ^ "Демоскоп Weekly – Приложение. Справочник статистических показателей". www.demoscope.ru.
42. ^ "Арена: Атлас религий и национальностей" [Arena: Atlas of Religions and Nationalities] (PDF). Среда (Sreda). 2012. See also the results' main interactive mapping and the static mappings: "Religions in Russia by federal subject" (Map). Ogonek. 34 (5243). 27 August 2012. Archived from the original on 21 April 2017. The Sreda Arena Atlas was realised in cooperation with the All-Russia Population Census 2010 (Всероссийской переписи населения 2010), the Russian Ministry of Justice (Минюста РФ), the Public Opinion Foundation (Фонда Общественного Мнения) and presented among others by the Analytical Department of the Synodal Information Department of the Russian Orthodox Church. See: "Проект АРЕНА: Атлас религий и национальностей" [Project ARENA: Atlas of religions and nationalities]. Russian Journal. 10 December 2012.
43. ^ a b "Arena: Atlas of Religions and Nationalities in Russia". Sreda, 2012.
44. ^ ""What Kalmykia's economy is based on"". Archived from the original on 26 May 2007.
45. ^ Rohrer, Finlo (2006) "Game of kings takes centre stage"

### General sources

[edit]

* Конституционное Собрание Республики Калмыкия. 5 апреля 1994 г. «Степное Уложение (Конституция) Республики Калмыкия», в ред. Закона №358-IV-З от 29 июня 2012 г. «О внесении изменений в отдельные законодательные акты Республики Калмыкия по вопросам проведения выборов Главы Республики Калмыкия». Вступил в силу со дня официального опубликования в газетах "Хальмг Унн" и "Известия Калмыкии". Опубликован: "Известия Калмыкии", №60, 7 апреля 1994 г. (Constitutional Assembly of the Republic of Kalmykia. April 5, 1994 Steppe Code (Constitution) of the Republic of Kalmykia, as amended by the Law #358-IV-Z of June 29, 2012 On Amending Various Legislative Acts of the Republic of Kalmykia on the Issues of Organization of the Elections of the Head of the Republic of Kalmykia. Effective as of the day of the official publications in the "Khalmg Unn" and "Izvestiya Kalmykii" newspapers.).
* Народный Хурал (Парламент) Республики Калмыкия. Закон №44-I-З от 14 июня 1996 г. «О государственных символах Республики Калмыкия», в ред. Закона №152-IV-З от 18 ноября 2009 г. «О внесении изменения в Закон Республики Калмыкия "О государственных символах Республики Калмыкия"». Вступил в силу с момента опубликования. Опубликован: "Ведомости Народного Хурала (Парламента) Республики Калмыкия", №2, стр. 113, 1997 г. (People's Khural (Parliament) of the Republic of Kalmykia. Law #44-I-Z of 14 June 1996 On the Symbols of State of the Republic of Kalmykia, as amended by the Law #152-IV-Z of 18 November 2009 On Amending the Law of the Republic of Kalmykia "On the Symbols of State of the Republic of Kalmykia". Effective as of the moment of publication.).
* Президиум Верховного Совета СССР. Указ от 29 июля 1958 г. «О преобразовании Калмыцкой автономной области в Калмыцкую Автономную Советскую Социалистическую Республику». (Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR. Decree of 29 July 1958 On the Transformation of Kalmyk Autonomous Oblast into the Kalmyk Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic. ).

## Further reading

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* Arbakov, Dorzha. Genocide in the USSR, Chapter II, "Complete Destruction of National Groups as Groups, The Kalmyks", Nikolai Dekker and Andrei Lebed, Editors, Series I, No. 40, Institute for the Study of the USSR, Munich, 1958.
* Balinov, Shamba. Genocide in the USSR, Chapter V, "Attempted Destruction of Other Religious Groups, The Kalmyk Buddhists", Nikolai Dekker and Andrei Lebed, Editors, Series I, No. 40, Institute for the Study of the USSR, Munich, 1958.
* Bethell, Nicholas. The Last Secret, Futura Publications Limited, Great Britain, 1974.
* Corfield, Justin. The History of Kalmykia: From Ancient times to Kirsan Ilyumzhinov and Aleksey Orlov, Australia, 2015. The first major history of Kalmykia in English, heavily illustrated, and drawing on interviews with Kirsan Ilyumzhinov, Nicholas Ilyumzhinov and Aleksey Orlov amongst others.
* Epstein, Julius. Operation Keelhaul, Devin-Adair, Connecticut, 1973.
* Grousset, René. The Empire of the Steppes: A History of Central Asia, Rutgers University Press, 1970.
* Halkovic, Stephen A. Jr. The Mongols of the West, Indiana University Uralic and Altaic Series, Volume 148, Larry Moses, Editor, Research Institute for Inner Asian Studies, Indiana University, Bloomington, 1985.
* Hoffmann, Joachim: Deutsche und Kalmyken 1942 bis 1945, Rombach Verlag, Friedberg, 1986.
* Kalder, Daniel. Lost Cosmonaut: Observations of an Anti-tourist
* Muñoz, Antonio J. The East Came West: Muslim, Hindu and Buddhist Volunteers in the German Armed Forces, 1941–1945, Chapter 8, "Followers of 'The Greater Way': Kalmück Volunteers in the German Army", Antonio J. Muñoz, Editor, Axis Europa Books, Bayside, New York, 2001.
* Tolstoy, Nikolai. The Secret Betrayal, 1944–1947, Charles Scribner's Sons, New York, 1977.

## External links

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VisitKalmykia.com Kalmykia Business Directory Multilingual

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Kalmykia.

Wikivoyage has a travel guide for Kalmykia.

* Official website of the Republic of Kalmykia Archived 24 February 2018 at the Wayback Machine (in Russian)
* News from Kalmykia (in English)
* News from Kalmykia (in German)
* News from Kalmykia (in Spanish)
* Official website of the Kalmyk diplomatic representation at the President of the Russian Federation (in English and Russian)
* Tourism in Kalmykia
* News about life in Kalmykia (in Russian)
* Official website of the Kalmyk State University (in Russian)
* News Agency of the Republic of Kalmykia (in English and Russian)
* Ethnologue report on Kalmyk language
* Forum of Kalmyk Internet Community Archived 2020-08-02 at the Wayback Machine
* Kalmyk Portal
* Web-Portal of the Interregional Not-for-Profit Organization "The Leaders of Kalmykia"
* Mistaken Foreign Myths about Shambhala
* The man who bought chess, The Observer 29 October 2006
* The Buddhist hordes of Kalmykia, The Guardian 19 September 2006
* Kalmyk Buddhist Temple in Belgrade (1929–1944)
* Czech republics, New Humanist November–December, 2007
* Lagansky Express free bulletin board of the city Lagan
* Caspian fish City Lagan
* The nature of Kalmykia Archived 2012-07-11 at the Wayback Machine Video
* hotographs of Buddhist sites in Kalmykia and in Central Asia

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