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The Republic of Karelia () is a Federal Subject of the Russian Federation (a Republic ). The direct Transliteration of the republic's name is ''Respublika Kareliya''. In Karelian , the Republic is called ''Karjalan Tazavalla''.
Geography The Republic is located in the north-western part of the Russian Federation, taking intervening position between the basins of White and Baltic Sea s. The White Sea shore line is 630 km. The most part of the republic's territory (148,000 km&2, or 85%) is comprised of state forest stock. The total growing stock of timber resources in the forests of all categories and ages is 807 million m³. The mature and overmature tree stock amounts to 411.8 million m³, of which 375.2 million m³ is coniferous.
Time zone The Republic of Karelia is located in the Moscow Time Zone (MSK/MSD). UTC offset is +0300 (MSK)/+0400 (MSD). Rivers and South Karelia lie in Finland and the Karelian Republic in Russia . The Karelian Isthmus is now part of the Leningrad Oblast .]] There are 27,000 rivers in Karelia. Major rivers include: Lakes There are 60,000 lakes in Karelia. Republic's lakes and swamps contain about 2,000 km³ of high-quality fresh water. Lake Ladoga (''Laatokka'') and Lake Onego (''Ääninen'') are the largest lakes in Europe . Other lakes include:
Natural resources Fifty useful minerals are found in Karelia, located in more than 400 deposits and orebearing layers. Natural resources of the republic include iron ore, Diamond s, Vanadium , Molybdenum , and others. Administrative divisions See Also: Administrative divisions of the Republic of Karelia Demographics Karelia is populated chiefly by Russians (73.6% of the population) and ( Ethnic ally Finnic ) Karelians (10.0%). Other ethnic groups include Belarusians (7.0%), Ukrainians (3.6%), and Finns (2.3%).
The Karelian Language is close to Finnish, and in recent years, it has been considered by some authorities as a Dialect of Finnish. Nevertheless, far Eastern Karelian might not be completely mutually intelligible with Finnish and could be considered a proper language. Russian is currently the only Official Language of the republic, but there is a motion in the republic's government to make Karelian official as well. History Historically Karelia was a region to the northwest of Russia , east of present-day Finland , controlled by the Novgorod Republic . From the 13th Century and onwards various parts were conquered by Sweden , and incorporated into Swedish Karelia until they were lost to Russia by the Treaty Of Nystad in 1721 . In 1923 the province became the Karelian Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic (Karelian ASSR). From 1940 it was made into the Karelo-Finnish SSR , incorporating the Finnish Democratic Republic created during the Winter War . Occupied territories were incorporated into Karelo-Finnish SSR after the Winter War but after the Continuation War the Karelian Isthmus was incorporated into the Leningrad Oblast . Name was changed back to a ASSR in 1956 . During the Continuation War in 1941 Finland occupied large parts of the area but was forced to withdraw in 1944 . The autonomous ''Republic of Karelia'' in its present form was formed on November 13 , 1991 . Politics The highest executive authorityin the Republic of Karelia is the Head of the Republic. As Of 2006 , the Head of the Republic is Sergey Leonidovich Katanandov , who was elected in May of 2002 . The Parliament of the Republic of Karelia is the Legislative Assembly comprising 50 deputies elected for a four year term. The Constitution Of The Republic Of Karelia was adopted on February 12 , 2001 . Culture in 1911 .]] Karelia is sometimes called "the songlands" in the Finnish culture, as Karelian poems constitute most of the Finnish national epic Kalevala . Religion The Karelians have been traditionally Russian Orthodox , known in Finland for their small chapels called ''tsasouna''. However, Lutheranism was brought to the area by the Finnish immigrants during Sweden's conquest of Karelia. Notes Russian is currently the only official language of the Republic of Karelia. Although the Karelian Language does not have official status at present, a motion has been set in place to grant it a place alongside Russian in the republic's government. See also External links
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