The Udmurt Republic
The Udmurt Republic is a sovereign republic within the Russian Federation. It is situated in the Western part of the Middle Urals between two great rivers the Kama and the Vyatka.
In 1991 the republic became open for foreign visitors. Since that time Udmurtia has had close and friendly relations with many countries of the world in the fields of culture, education, trade, sport and tourism. The Government of the republic is very much interested in the development of local tourism.
Peoples of various nationalities live in the republic: the Russians, the Udmurts, the Tartars, the Ukrainians and others. The official language is Russian. The Udmurt and Tatar languages are also widely used.
Due to the geographical location the climate of Udmurtia is continental with long cold and snowy winters and relatively short warm summers.
About 44% of the territory of the republic is covered by forests. Among local flora, one can find both European and Siberian vegetation. The animal world of the republic is very rich and various. Local forest animals are the foxes, martens, ermines, badgers, wolves, bears, hears elks, squirrels, etc.
Hunting and fishing are very popular in the republic.
Udmurtia is rich in oil and gas. The republic is also very rich in medical muds and mineral water springs. Very often people call this republic "a spring region". Medical muds and mineral water are widely used for medical purposes in spas.
The national park "Nechkinsky", which spreads along the banks of the river Kama is famous for its beauty and tracts a lot of holiday-makers.
Izhevsk, the capital of the republic, is the industrial, scientific, economic and cultural centre with the population of about 700 thousand people. The city was founded in 1760 on the banks of the river Izh as the settlement attached to the iron producing factory. In 1807 the arms producing factory was set up on the basis of the iron works. Since that times Izhevsk has been one of the most important arms manufacturers in Russia.
There are several theatres, museums and cinemas in Izhevsk as well as the circus (which is considered to be one of the best now) and a philharmonic society. Such folk song and dance groups as "Italmas", "Aikai", "Tanok" are very popular and have a great success both within the country and abroad.
There are beautiful parks and gardens, churches, monuments and a cathedral in Izhevsk.
Izhevsk is a city of students. There are several higher educational institutions in it, including three universities.
The great Russian composer Pyotr Tchaikovsky was born in Udmurtia in a small town of Votkinsk. The house where he was born and spent his childhood is a museum now. Every year in April the Tchaikovsky Musical Festival attracts a lot of admirers of classical music. And also it's famous for Michael Kalashnikov, the greatest constructor of guns, who lives and works there.
Today's world is often called the computer world. We cannot imagine our life without computers. The first computers were developed during the Second World War. They were used to break the codes, used to send secret information.
Our world is really a small world. Modern transport facilities make it possible to reach any part of our planet within a few hours. People have to communicate and solve common problems in all the spheres of political life, economy and culture. Communication is an interaction of cultures. The knowledge of each other's culture and traditions is very often important for successful business and political talks. We, Russians, very often surprise our foreign partners by our behavior and manners.
Unemployment is a very urgent problem today. Years ago when a man left school he learnt some job and did this job all his life. He could be sure that his job would be needed to his dying day. Nowadays he couldn't be sure. Your work may look like a very good job at present, but it may not be needed in 10 years.
Drug addiction is a big problem today. Even 5 years ago this problem did not exist in small towns. We read about drug addicts in the USA and other countries of the West. This problem existed in big cities like Moscow and St. Petersburg. Today different drugs are sold in our city and what is worse they are bought and taken by people, mostly young people. Drugs are ruinous for health and they destroy the personality of those who take them.
We can't call today's world a safe world. Many dangers come from nature, I mean floods, earthquakes and so on. But people are also dangerous for each other. Unfortunately, there are some people who don't stop at anything to achieve their aims. They even think 'the more victims the better'. Our country was one of the first to have terrorist attacks. I mean the attacks in Moscow when two apartment houses were destroyed. There were acts of terrorism in all parts of the world at the end of the 20th century: in Japan, in England and in France.
I'd like to tell you about my native town. Izhevsk is very large industrial town locted in the European part of Russia between the Volga River and the Ural mountains. It has a population of about 700.000. Izhevsk was founded in l760 as a settlement. The industrial development f the history began with the construction of an iron works. In 1918 Izhevsk became a town and since 1921 it has been the capital of Udmurtia.
Science is finding out about things around us. How do you find out about things? One way is to ask questions about them. But suppose no one knows the answers. Then you have to think of ways to find the answers yourself. This usually means doing something to the «thing» to see what happens. Doing something to see what happens is called experimenting. Scientists ask questions about things around us.
When you get up in the morning, you have breakfast and usually listen to the weather forecast. Some of us think it's unnecessary, but some tend to do it.
Fashion and My style of clothes
Fashion is a thing that we have to keep up with, whether you like it or not. Anyway it’s important to look attractive. But it doesn’t mean that you should be a fashion-conscious. It may turn to a waste of money. If a person doesn’t have good taste he is not able to put things together. Trendy people want to stand out in a crowd, but sometimes they don’t look stylish.
Although much has been written about this subject, whenever we are puzzled about it. We ask the question: What is love? Love means different things to different people. Children regard love from their point of view, while they are very young. As we grow older, love grows into different dimensions with our maturing. Love changes constantly, because we change from day to day.