Ufa

Ufa (Russian :Уфа́; Bashkir :Өфө, Öfö; Tatar :Өфе; Chuvash :Ӗпхӳ, Ephü) is the capital of the Republic of Bashkortostan, Russia Ufa is the one of the largest cities of Russia, administrative, political, economic, scientific and cultural center of the republic. Population: 1,021,500 (2008 est.); 1,042,437 (2002 Census). In terms of ethnic composition is dominated by Russian (54.2% of the population), but in recent years showing increased number of Tatars and Bashkir due to their intensive migration from rural areas. The city is also home to other minorities - Azeris, Armenians, Belarusians, Kazakhs , Vietnamese, Koreans, Latvians, Maris, Mordvinians, Germans, Udmurt, Jews, Ukrainians, Chuvash. An inhabitant of the city is called an "ufimets". Ufa is famous for its oil, gas, minerals, Bashkir honey. Bashkir honey is one of the best varieties of honey in Russia and is one of "the visit cards" of Bashkortostan. The distance from Moscow by train 1567 km. Estimated travel time by car is 32 hours (1357 km from Moscow). Estimated travel time by flight is 2 hours (from Moscow).

Geography

Ufa is situated in eastern Europe near its land boundary with Asia, at the confluence of the Belaya and the Ufa rivers, on low hills to the west of southern Urals.

History

The city began as a fortress built on the orders of Ivan IV in 1574, and originally bore the name of the hill it stood on, Tura-Tau. The city began to be called Ufa, meaning "small" in Turkic, by locals and the name stuck. In 1802, Ufa became the principal city of Bashkiria.

In 1918, Ufa was the residence of the Provisional All-Russian Government.

Education

Educational institutions include: Bashkir State University,
Bashkir State Teachers Training University named after M.Akmulla,
Ufa State Aviation Technical University,
Ufa State Petroleum Technological University,
Ufa Architectural University,
Ufa Agricultural University,

and others.

Famous Natives

Famous natives of Ufa include : Sergey Aksakov, writer;
Vladimir Spivakov, musician;
Salawat Yulayev, rebel;
Mirsaid Sultangaliev, muslim bolshevik,
Mikhail Nesterov, artist;
Rudolf Nureyev, dancer;
Vera Timanova, pianist;
Andrei Zyuzin, Alexander Semak and Igor Kravchuk, NHL ice hockey players;
Zemfira, musician;
Valerian Albanov, navigator of ill-fated Arctic ship St. Anna;
Yuri Shevchuk, musician, and his rock band DDT were Ufa residents for some time.
Mukhamedzyanov Vitaliy, director of video studio "The Fly" ("Muha" "Муха"), clipmaker, artist, producer.
Ernest Muldashev,DMS, professor, Director of the Russian Eye and Plastic Surgery Center (Ufa, Russia), higher category surgeon, honorable consultant of the Louisville University (USA), member of the American Academy of Ophthalmology, certificated ophthalmologist of Mexico, member of the International Academy of Science, three times Champion of the USSR in sport tourism

Economy

There are some important enterprises in Ufa: UMPO (Ufa Engine Industrial Association) (Russian :ОАО «Уфимское моторостроительное производственное объединение»): founded in 1925 whose main products are jet engines
Bashneft (Russian :ОАО «АНК «Башнефть»»): oil and gas company
UFNC (Ufaneftekhim) (Russian :ОАО «Уфанефтехим»): oil and petrochemical company

Ufa is famous for its oil, gas, minerals, Bashkir honey, kumis. Bashkir honey is one of the best varieties of honey in Russia and is one of "the visit cards" of Bashkortostan.

Transport

Ufa is linked by railways to the rest of Russia, having a railway station on a historic branch of Transsib. The M7 motorway links the city to Kazan and Moscow and the M5 motorway links Ufa to Moscow and to the asian part of Russia.

Ufa International Airport has international flights to Turkey, Greece, Egypt, Azerbaijan, Uzbekistan, as well as domestic flights to many russian cities and towns.

Sport

Ufa's football club is FC Bashinformsvyaz-Dynamo Ufa play in the Russian Second Division. The city ice hockey club Salavat Yulaev Ufa play in the Kontinental Hockey league (KHL) and were five-time champions of the Russian Major League. The Ural Volleyball club are also based in Ufa.

Sister Cities

Ankara, Turkey.
Halle, Germany.
Las Pinas, Philippines.
Orenburg, Russia.
Paldiski, Estonia.

Translation

The word "Ufa" occurs as such in the following languages: English, Bosnian, Czech, Danish, Estonian, Esperanto, Croatian, Indonesian, Icelandic, Latvian, Lithuanian, Hungarian, Malay, Norwegian (Nynorsk), Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Quechua, Slovak, Finnish, Swedish, Tagalog, Turkish, Volapük, Waray-Waray.

Translation(s) in other languages: Sakha: Өфө, Bashkir: Өфө (ҡала), Afrikaans: Oefa, Arabic: أوفا, Belarusian: Горад Уфа, Belarusian (Taraškievica): Уфа, Breton: Oufa (kêr), Bulgarian: Уфа, Buryat (Russia): Уфа, Catalan: Ufà, Chuvash: Ĕпхӳ, German: Ufa (Stadt), Spanish: Ufá, Persian: اوفا, French: Oufa, Korean: 우파 (도시), Hindi: ऊफ़ा, Ossetian: Уфа, Italian: Ufa (città), Hebrew: אופה (עיר), Georgian: უფა, Kazakh: Үфі, Komi: Уфа, Dutch: Oefa, Japanese: ウファ, Norwegian (Bokmål): Ufa (by), Russian: Уфа, Old Church Slavonic: Оу́фа, Serbian: Уфа, Tatar: Уфа, Tajik: Уфа, Ukrainian: Уфа, Chinese: 烏法.