Chuvashia

Chuvashia (Russian: Чува́шская Респу́блика choo-VAHSH-skuh-yuh rees-POOB-lee-kuh or Чува́шия choo-VAHSH-ee-yuh) is a sovereign republic in the Upper Volga, bordering Mordovia to the southwest, Nizhny Novgorod Oblast to the west, Mari El to the north, Tatarstan to the east, and Ulyanovsk Oblast to the south.

Chuvashia is in the center of the European part of Russia. The republic is not large, at 18,000 km², but is one of the most densely populated regions in the Russian Federation, with a total population of 1.4 million people. It is bordered to the north and west by the Volga river and its capital, the city of Cheboksary, on the banks of the Volga river, approximately 650 km east of Moscow.

• Yadrin
• 🌍 Cheboksary — the capital is a lovely stop on Volga cruises with lots to see, surprisingly pretty and well maintained city streets, and a populace distinctly more happy than the national average
• 🌍 Novocheboksarsk — a very Soviet satellite city of Cheboksary
• 🌍 Mariinsky Posad — a small town ecological tourism destination, near Chuvashia's national park and nature reserves
• Kozlovka
• 🌍 Kanash — a small industrial city and major railroad junction

• Chuvash Varmane National Park
• Тhe mountain "Bird flight"
• Prisursky Nature Reserve
• The "Gosudareva gora" mountain
• Mokrinsky bridge

Approximately 60 percent of the people of Chuvashia live in urban areas. The largest city is the capital, Cheboksary, followed by its nearby satellite city, Novocheboksarsk.

Within Chuvashia, the Chuvash and Russian nationalities make up about 67 and 27 percent of the population, respectively, giving the region a rich multi-ethnic character. The Chuvash are descendants of the Bulgars who migrated to this region and are Orthodox Christian; they are very closely related with their Muslim Tatar neighbors.

Russian is the language of business and the lingua franca among all residents—you will have no problem getting around if you speak Russian. The Chuvash language, however, is spoken by many, especially in the country. The Chuvash language belongs to the Oghur subgroup of the Turkic language group.

There is also a resurgence of native Chuvash pride and many people are looking back to their Chuvash roots, exploring the culture and heritage and relearning the language. Most building signs, road signs, and announcements are in both Russian and Chuvash.

Ask someone in Russia about Chuvashia and they will likely respond with a comment about beer, as the republic has been a center of hops-growing and beer-brewing for hundreds of years. There are two beer manufacturers in Cheboksary, Buket Chuvashi and Yantar, as well as Russia's only beer museum.