The Mari language, formerly known as the Cheremiss language, spoken by approximately 400,000 people, belongs to the Uralic language family. It is spoken primarily in the Mari Republic of the Russian Federation, as well as in the area along the Vyatka river basin and eastwards to the Urals. Mari speakers, known as the Mari, are found also in the Tatarstan, Bashkortostan, Udmurtia, and Perm regions.
The Udmurts are a Permian (Finno-Ugric) ethnic group in Eastern Europe, who speak the Udmurt language. They mainly live in the republic of Udmurtia in Russia.
Udmurtia, officially the Udmurt Republic, is a republic of Russia located in Eastern Europe. It is administratively part of the Volga Federal District. Its capital is the city of Izhevsk.
Chuvashia, officially known as Chuvash Republic — Chuvashia, is a republic of Russia located in Eastern Europe. It is the homeland of the Chuvash people, a Turkic ethnic group. Its capital is the city of Cheboksary. As of the 2010 Census, its population was 1,251,619.
Mari El, officially the Mari El Republic, is a republic of Russia. It is in the European region of the country, along the northern bank of the Volga River, and administratively part of the Volga Federal District. The republic has a population of 696,459. Yoshkar-Ola is the capital and largest city.
Yoshkar-Ola is the capital city of Mari El, Russia. Yoshkar-Ola means “red city” in Mari and was formerly known as Tsareovokokshaysk (Царевококшайск) before 1919, as Krasnokokshaysk (Краснококшайск) between 1919 and 1927 both after the Malaya Kokshaga River and Charla (Чарла), by the Mari people.
The Mari are a Finno-Ugric people in Eastern Europe, who have traditionally lived along the Volga and Kama rivers in Russia. Almost half of Maris today live in the Mari El republic, with significant populations in the Bashkortostan and Tatarstan republics. In the past, the Mari have also been known as the Cheremisa or the Cheremis people in Russian and the Çirmeş in Tatar.
Merya or Meryanic is an extinct Finno-Ugric language, which was spoken by the Meryans. Merya began to be assimilated by East Slavs when their territory became incorporated into Kievan Rus' in the 10th century. However some Merya speakers might have even lived in the 18th century. There is also a theory that the word for "Moscow" originates from the Merya language. The Meryan language stretched to the western parts of Vologda Oblast and Moscow.
Of all the languages of Russia, Russian, the most widely spoken language, is the only official language at the national level. There are 25 other official languages, which are used in different regions of Russia. These languages include; Ossetic, Ukrainian, Buryat, Kalmyk, Chechen, Ingush, Abaza, Adyghe, Cherkess, Kabardian, Altai, Bashkir, Chuvash, Crimean Tatar, Karachay-Balkar, Khakas, Nogai, Tatar, Tuvan, Yakut, Erzya, Komi, Hill Mari, Meadow Mari, Moksha, and Udmurt. There are over 100 minority languages spoken in Russia today.
Kazan Governorate was an administrative-territorial unit (Governorate) of the Tsardom of Russia, the Russian Empire, and the Russian SFSR from 1708 to 1920, with its capital in Kazan.
Hill Mari or Western Mari is a Uralic language closely related to Northwestern Mari and Meadow Mari, in which Hill Mari forms a Western Mari group with the former. Hill Mari is spoken in the Gornomariysky, Yurinsky and Kilemarsky districts of Mari El, Russia. It is written using the Hill Mari Cyrillic script and is co-official with Russian as well as Meadow Mari in the Mari El Republic.
The Mari Autonomous Oblast was created on November 4, 1920, as a region of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic. In 1936 it was re-established as the Mari Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic, which dissolved in 1990, then developing into the modern Mari El Republic within Russian Federation.
The Mari Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic was an autonomous republic of the Russian SFSR, succeeding the Mari Autonomous Oblast. When the Soviet Union disintegrated, the Mari ASSR became the Mari El Republic, a federal subject of the Russian Federation.
The State Anthem of the Republic of Mari El is the regional anthem of Mari El, a federal subject of Russia. The anthem has lyrics in three languages: the two versions of Mari, and Russian. The melody was composed by Yuri Toyvars-Yevdokimov, the lyrics by Davlet Islamov. The Russian lyrics were written by Vladimir Panov.
The Volga Finns are a historical group of peoples living in the vicinity of the Volga, who speak Uralic languages. Their modern representatives are the Mari people, the Erzya and the Moksha Mordvins, as well as speakers of the extinct Merya, Muromian and Meshchera languages.
Celestial Wives of the Meadow Mari is a 2012 Russian erotic drama film directed by Aleksei Fedorchenko. The film was shot in Mari language and tells 23 different tales influenced by the Mari folklore. Each of these stories represents the specific approach to sexuality of "the last authentic pagans in Europe". In view of this, the film could be considered a Mari "Decameron".
Northwestern Mari is a Uralic language variety closely related to Hill Mari and Meadow Mari. With the first of them Northwestern Mari joins as a dialect group of Western Mari language. Northwestern Mari is the language of Northwestern Mari people, who live in Russia in the Yaransky, Tuzhinsky, Kiknursky, Sanchursky districts of Kirov Oblast, Tonshayevsky, Sharangsky and Tonkinsky districts of Nizhny Novgorod Oblast and partly in Kilemarsky and Medvedevsky districts of Mari El. It is written using the Northwestern Mari Cyrillic script, but doesn't have an official status in any subjects of Russian Federation.
The Northwestern Mari are a subgroup of the Mari people and the indigenous people of the Kirov and Nizhny Novgorod oblasts of Russia. As with other Mari subgroups, they are Volga Finns. Their native language is Northwestern Mari, one of the four surviving members of the Mari branch of the Uralic language family.
Mari Ushem is a Russian non-governmental organization, whose activity is dedicated to preservation of the Mari culture.
