Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization

March 25, 2008

Buryatia

STATISTICS

Status: Unrepresented People
Population: 981,238 (2002)
Capital City: Ulan-Ude
Area: 351,300 km 2.
Language: Russian and Buryat.
Ethnic Groups: Buryats

UNPO REPRESENTATION
The National Khural (Parliament) of the Buryat Republic is the republic's representative and legislative body. The National Khural is elected by the citizens of the Buryat Republic for a four-year term on the basis of universal, equal, and direct suffrage by secret ballot. They joined UNPO on February 3, 1996.

OVERVIEW
Geography
The Republic of Buryatia is located along the South Eastern shore of Siberia, along the eastern shore of Lake Baikal. Bordering Mongolia, the region’s highest point is Mount Munku-Sardyk. The Republic’s Capital, Ulan-Ude, was founded in 1666. Its total square area is 351,300 km 2.

Population
The population of Buryatia is approximately 981,238 (2002). Buryats comprise the second largest ethnic group by proportion, but the region is also inhabited by Russians, Ukranians, Tatars and Belarusians (Census, 1989). Roughly 60% of the population is urban, and the ratio of females to males is 1:1.

Economy
Buryatia’s principle source of production is in agriculture. Farming products include wheat, vegetables, and potatoes. Mineral resources in the region include coal-bearing basins, deposits of tungsten and molybdenum, nickel, beryllium, zinc, iron and lead. Gold has also been found and developed in the northern parts of Buryatia. 93% of Buryatia’s citizens live below the poverty line, evidence that the region’s striking mineral wealth is not effectively used.

Environment & Environmental Problems
Buryatia has an extraordinary diversity of animal and plant species as well as natural resources within its borders. Nonetheless, the region has been struck by a series of environmental disasters that have, in turn, resulted in public health crises. Violent forest fires raged in 2000; the same year, a drought destroyed thousands of hectares of crops. Lake Baikal faces serious environmental challenges. High rates of disease place additional stress on the public health system.

POLITICAL SITUATION
For 2005, Buryatia’s current president is Leonid Vasilyevich Potapov, who was elected to office in 1994, 1998, and again in 2002, with over 67% of the votes.

The National Khural (Parliament) of the Buryat Republic is the republic's representative and legislative body. The National Khural is elected by the citizens of the Buryat Republic for a four-year term on the basis of universal, equal, and direct suffrage by secret ballot. It consists of 65 deputies elected on the basis of both territorial and federal representation.The Chairman of the National Khural of the Buryat Republic and his deputy preside over sessions of the National Khural; manage the work routine of the National Khural; supervise the preparation and consideration of questions to be discussed by the National Khural; and, within the limits of their authority, issue decrees.

Deputies of the National Khural, the President of the Buryat Republic, the Government of the Buryat Republic, as well as the Constitutional Court, Supreme Court, and Superior Court of Arbitration of the Buryat Republic, have the right to initiate legislation on questions of their jurisdiction. Bills are introduced into the National Khural; however, bills on the imposition or abolition of taxes, tax exemption, government loan issues, and changes in the government's financial obligations are considered only at the decision of the Government of the Buryat Republic.The Government of the Buryat Republic exercises executive authority in the republic. The Government is headed by the President, who is simultaneously the Chairman of the Government. The Government consists of the First Deputy and Deputy Chairmen, an executive officer, ministers, and chairmen of government committees.

The Government issues resolutions and decrees on the basis and in pursuance of the laws of the Buryat Republic and decrees of the President of the Buryat Republic and monitors their fulfillment. Government resolutions and decrees are binding everywhere in the territory of the Buryat Republic.

The Government consolidates and directs the work of ministers, government committees, other agencies under its jurisdiction, and local administrations. Ministers, government committees, and other government administrative agencies of the Buryat Republic manage the corresponding sectors of the administration and carry out intersectoral management under the direction of the President of the Buryat Republic.

Judicial authority in the Buryat Republic resides only in the courts and is exercised through constitutional, civil, administrative, and criminal court proceedings. The establishment of emergency courts is not permitted. The judicial system of the Buryat Republic is established in accordance with the Constitutions of the Russian Federation and the Buryat Republic and federal constitutional law.The legal status of judges established in federal law of the Russian Federation applies fully to judges in the Buryat Republic.

The Constitutional Court of the Buryat Republic is the highest judicial authority on matters of protecting the republic's constitutional structure. The authority and manner of formation and activities of the Constitutional Court are prescribed by republican law.

Other Organizations
Other organizations active in the region include the Buryat State Academy of Agriculture, which strives to manage agro-ecosystems and the development of rural lands using modern technologies, and the East Siberian State Academy of Arts and Culture, which is active in the preservation of Buryat culture. The Buryat Cultural Heritage association similarly works to preserve Buryat traditions and culture.

HISTORICAL BACKGROUND
The Transbaikal area has been part of the Central Asian historical and cultural region since the depths of antiquity. The region's people have been involved directly or indirectly in the sweeping historical events in this part of the world. The most interesting chapter in the history of Transbaikal region is the Hunnish period from the end of the 3rd century B.C. to the end of the 1st century A.D. The Hunnish state was home to diverse tribes, mainly Proto-Mongolian and to some extent Proto-Tungus and Proto-Iranian tribes. According to historical evidence, the Huns created a powerful nation of Central Asian nomads that lasted for three centuries. Successive nomad states came and went over a period of millennia until Genghis Khan established the Mongol Empire in 1206, uniting all the main Mongolian tribes. As subjects of the empire, the people of Transbaikal took part in the campaigns of conquest of Genghis Khan and his successors. After the collapse of Genghis Khan's empire, the Mongol state continued to exist, although it was rent by feudal strife. The nomadic tribes of Transbaikal and Predbaikal (the region west of Lake Baikal) remained part of it throughout.
With the fall of the Mongolian Empire, the Manchu people (to the east) began to take control of the Chinese Empire, and, encouraged by the weakened state of Mongolia, added much of this region to their Empire. Although Buryat Mongolia was not officially annexed to Russia, it remained a Russian protectorate.

The Cossacks (who administered Russian authority in much of Siberia) raided Mongolian settlements and seized land belonging to Buryats. Two anti-Russian revolts followed in 1695 and 1696. Russian forces attempted to “Christianize” the predominantly Buddhist and Shaman population. However even in the hands of the Russian protectorate, the feudal system of Western Russia was never imposed. Some of the Buryat elite even attended schools and universities under the auspices of the Russian regime, and would later play an important role in the Republic. At the onset of the 20th century, Mongolian nationalism was revived in all Mongolian areas. Buryat intellectuals played a critical role in uniting the population against the Russian authorities, who attempted to suppress the rise in Mongolian culture through forced Russianization.

In the Revolution that followed World War One, the Buryats were largely neutral. Many Buryat intellectuals allied themselves with a Mongolian rebel leader who had the support of the Bolsheviks.  In 1923, the Buryat-Mongolian Autonomous Soviet Republic- this was the first move toward independence for the Republic, though it remained under the rule of the Communist Government in Moscow. The period of Stalin’s rule marked a bloody time in Buryat history. The program of collectivization was imposed upon all peoples, and with the purges of 1937, dreams of an independent state collapsed. The Buryat’s Buddhist and Shamanist traditions came under attack with the forced atheism that was propagated within the Stalinist state. As well, an influx of Russians resulted in the fragmentation of Buryat culture. Though Buryat soldiers served in the Red Army during WWII, the Russian attempts to destroy Buryat culture resumed in 1948. But with the toppling of the communist regime in 1990, suppression of Mongolia- and the Buryats- came to an end. On October 8, 1990, Buryatia proclaimed national sovereignty as the Buryat Soviet Socialist Republic and renounced its status as an autonomous republic. On March 27, 1991, the Parliament of Buryatia removed the designations "Soviet" and "Socialist" from the republic's name and it became known as the Buryat Republic. As a sovereign republic, Buryatia has its own Constitution, adopted in 1994, and legislative and executive bodies. The first president in the history of Buryatia was elected in 1994. In 1996 the Russian Parliament passed a bill concerning legislation of the State National Policy of the Russian Federation. Since then, there has been a revival of Shamanism, Buryat nationalism, and Buryat culture.

CULTURE AND ENVIROMENT
Culture and Religion
Ethnically, the Buryats are a mixture of Mongol, Turkic, Tunguz, Samoyed, and other peoples. Buryats do not only inhabit the Republic of Buryatia; about one half of the total Buryat population resides in the neighboring regions of Mongolia and Inner Mongolia. The Book of Prohibitions (published in 1206) represents the national code of conduct practiced amongst the nomadic peoples, who today comprise the population of Buryatia. Tibetan Buddhism (Lamaism), Shamanism, and Orthodox Christianity co-exist in the Republic. Ancient pagan perceptions of the nomads merged with Buddhist principles creating a comprehensive social-religious system that defines the Buryat Republic. While Buddhism is the dominant religion, Shamanism has been on the rise in recent years. Buryatia is the center of Buddhism in Russia and is the site of the country's first Buddhist convent. Buddhist monasteries (datsans) are found in every district. The form of Buddhism practiced here is Lamaism. The best-known datsans are Ivolginsky (the center of Buddhism in Russia), Tamchinsky (one of the oldest), and Atsagatsky. There is a strong movement toward reclaiming the Buryat culture. Organizations such as the UNPO Member- the All-Buryat Association for the Development of Culture- strive to preserve the Buryat language, which is in danger of extinction, as well as traditional art forms. Today there are five theaters in Ulan-Ude, consolidating the Republic’s reputation as one of the cultural centers of East Siberia.

Language
The predominant languages spoken in Buryatia are Russian and Buryat.

Links
Minorities at Risk (on Buryats): http://www.cidcm.umd.edu/mar/assessment.asp?groupId=36533

Republic of Buryatia: http://www.buryatia.ru/buryatia/index_e.html

Official Website of the Republic of Buryatia: http://egov-buryatia.ru:8081/