http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews...el/13811784.htm
QUOTE
The Kalmykian people are originally from the Tibet area; they're ethnically and historically related to the Mongolians and Chinese. Buddhism has been their traditional religion.
Russian republic of Kalmykia has roots in Tibet, Mongolia, China
http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews...el/13811784.htm
http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews...el/13811784.htm
Russian republic of Kalmykia has roots in Tibet, Mongolia, China
By John Bordsen
Charlotte (N.C.) Observer
What's it like to live in a far-off place most of us see only on a vacation? Foreign Correspondence is an interview with someone who has lived in a spot you may want to visit.
Yevgeniya Samtanova, 48, is a biology teacher at Yashkulsk Multi-Field Gymnasium; she lives in Yahskul, in the autonomous Russian republic of Kalmykia, on the northwest edge of the Caspian Sea.
Q. What's your part of Russia like?
A. It is in the south of Russia. The area is flat, like a prairie, but without trees; it's just plains. Yahskul is a village with a population of 15,000 and is 300 km (about 184 miles) from the Caspian Sea.
The climate is continental, so summers are hot and long; winters are rather mild but there may be snow. Winter temperatures are minus 15 to minus 10 Celsius (7 to 14 degrees, Fahrenheit) during the day. Normally there's snow from December until March.
Generally the houses in Yahskul are free-standing cottages. There are also high-rise buildings. One of the most important sites is the Buddhist cathedral.
The city is rather busy. Near the center is the federal Moscow-Astrakhan freeway, so there's a lot of traffic.
Q. A Buddhist cathedral - in European Russia?
A. Yes. The Kalmykian people are originally from the Tibet area; they're ethnically and historically related to the Mongolians and Chinese. Buddhism has been their traditional religion.
They're practically European in their mentality; it's just their appearance that's different.
They've been constructing a Buddhist cathedral; it opened Dec. 28. The Dalai Lama has already visited the site a couple times. It's the biggest Buddhist cathedral in Europe.
Q. What's the ethnic mix of the population there?
A. Most are Kalmykian, but there are Mongolians, Kazakhs, Chechens and people from the Caucasus Mountains there. There are two official languages in the republic: Russian and Kalmykian. Most people speak both, but education is primarily in Russian.
Q. How many languages do you speak?
A. Russian and Kalmykian. Also a little German and English.
Q. The nearest big city is Astrakhan, where the Volga empties into the Caspian Sea. Is that where people in your city vacation?
A. Astrakhan isn't in Kalmykia, but it is a big industrial city. People go there for business or to study. The capital of Kalmykia is Elista.
Q. Kalmykia is on that wide neck that separates the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea. When people in your town go to the coast on vacation, which sea do they head for?
A. Mostly the Black Sea: That area is more developed for tourism; there are many resorts over there. But people also go to the shores of the Volga, about 200 km (about 124 miles) away.
Q. What should you see in Kalmykia?
A. They have an animal called saiga, a kind of endangered deer. It's endangered because it was hunted illegally; besides eating it, people killed them for their antlers, which are a popular nutrient in China. They make some kind of remedy from it.
The saiga live in a nature preserve now. There are only a few left in the wild.
It's definitely one of the things to see in Kalmykia. They were around during the age of the mammoth, and they live in the prairies of Akalnikia, in the Balastia Natural Reserve Black Land.
Q. What's a black land?
A. A type of desert where the sand is very dark. The sand kills most everything else, but the deer live there.
Q. What do saiga look like?
A. They're the same size as the white-tailed deer in America. What's special about them is their longer nose.
Q. Are there other strange animals?
A. Poisonous snakes. And a type of lizard that has round ears
By John Bordsen
Charlotte (N.C.) Observer
What's it like to live in a far-off place most of us see only on a vacation? Foreign Correspondence is an interview with someone who has lived in a spot you may want to visit.
Yevgeniya Samtanova, 48, is a biology teacher at Yashkulsk Multi-Field Gymnasium; she lives in Yahskul, in the autonomous Russian republic of Kalmykia, on the northwest edge of the Caspian Sea.
Q. What's your part of Russia like?
A. It is in the south of Russia. The area is flat, like a prairie, but without trees; it's just plains. Yahskul is a village with a population of 15,000 and is 300 km (about 184 miles) from the Caspian Sea.
The climate is continental, so summers are hot and long; winters are rather mild but there may be snow. Winter temperatures are minus 15 to minus 10 Celsius (7 to 14 degrees, Fahrenheit) during the day. Normally there's snow from December until March.
Generally the houses in Yahskul are free-standing cottages. There are also high-rise buildings. One of the most important sites is the Buddhist cathedral.
The city is rather busy. Near the center is the federal Moscow-Astrakhan freeway, so there's a lot of traffic.
Q. A Buddhist cathedral - in European Russia?
A. Yes. The Kalmykian people are originally from the Tibet area; they're ethnically and historically related to the Mongolians and Chinese. Buddhism has been their traditional religion.
They're practically European in their mentality; it's just their appearance that's different.
They've been constructing a Buddhist cathedral; it opened Dec. 28. The Dalai Lama has already visited the site a couple times. It's the biggest Buddhist cathedral in Europe.
Q. What's the ethnic mix of the population there?
A. Most are Kalmykian, but there are Mongolians, Kazakhs, Chechens and people from the Caucasus Mountains there. There are two official languages in the republic: Russian and Kalmykian. Most people speak both, but education is primarily in Russian.
Q. How many languages do you speak?
A. Russian and Kalmykian. Also a little German and English.
Q. The nearest big city is Astrakhan, where the Volga empties into the Caspian Sea. Is that where people in your city vacation?
A. Astrakhan isn't in Kalmykia, but it is a big industrial city. People go there for business or to study. The capital of Kalmykia is Elista.
Q. Kalmykia is on that wide neck that separates the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea. When people in your town go to the coast on vacation, which sea do they head for?
A. Mostly the Black Sea: That area is more developed for tourism; there are many resorts over there. But people also go to the shores of the Volga, about 200 km (about 124 miles) away.
Q. What should you see in Kalmykia?
A. They have an animal called saiga, a kind of endangered deer. It's endangered because it was hunted illegally; besides eating it, people killed them for their antlers, which are a popular nutrient in China. They make some kind of remedy from it.
The saiga live in a nature preserve now. There are only a few left in the wild.
It's definitely one of the things to see in Kalmykia. They were around during the age of the mammoth, and they live in the prairies of Akalnikia, in the Balastia Natural Reserve Black Land.
Q. What's a black land?
A. A type of desert where the sand is very dark. The sand kills most everything else, but the deer live there.
Q. What do saiga look like?
A. They're the same size as the white-tailed deer in America. What's special about them is their longer nose.
Q. Are there other strange animals?
A. Poisonous snakes. And a type of lizard that has round ears
Is Kalmykia the only Asian Republic in European Russia ?
QUOTE(moviez @ Oct 7 2006, 04:53 PM) 
Is Kalmykia the only Asian Republic in European Russia ?
no.. it is Russian Republic with european Kalmyks.
Kalmykia is not in Asia..
QUOTE(danoc @ Oct 7 2006, 06:03 PM)
no.. it is Russian Federation Republic with european Kalmyks.
Kalmykia is not in Asia..
"European Kalmyks" ???? They have roots in Tibet, China and Mongolia.
QUOTE
A. Yes. The Kalmykian people are originally from the Tibet area; they're ethnically and historically related to the Mongolians and Chinese. Buddhism has been their traditional religion.
QUOTE(moviez @ Oct 7 2006, 05:09 PM)
"European Kalmyks" ???? They have roots in Tibet, China and Mongolia.
we all have "roots" in ethiopia..
are you african?
------------------------------
Kalmyks are more as 400 years europeans.. kalmyks are a part of russian nation and majority of kalmyks are a lamaistic buddhists..
"to have roots in tiebet, china and mongolia" mean only that majority of people of this ethnic did lived in those areas many time ago..
Wow interesting infos. Can anyone post any pics of this unknown republic ? yes i would like to check
how a saiga looks like too.
how a saiga looks like too.
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