 The Chuvash Republic is situated in the mid-Volga region. It borders the Mordovo Republic, the Mari Republic, the Republic of Tatarstan, and the Nizhni-Novgorod and Uljansk district of the Russian Federation. Area: 183,000 km2. Capital: Shupashkar.
Population:
Chuvash are descendants of the Bulgar people. The population of Chuvash Republic is 1,4 million, of which Chuvash make up 68%. Other groups are Russians (26,7%), Tatars (2,7%) and Mordovians (1,4%). The total number of Chuvash is 2 million in the former Soviet Union of which 48% of them live in Chuvash.
Languages:
The Chuvash language belongs to the Turkic group of languages, said to be the only remaining branch of the Old-Bulgaric language.
Organisations:
Chuvash is represented by Chuvash National Congress in UNPO. Its goal is the revival of the Chuvash culture and the maintenance of the national identity of the Chuvash people.
Economy:
Important natural resources are minerals: gypsum, phosphor, carbonates, sand and clays. One third of the area of the republic is forest giving lumber, sawmilling  and wooden articles. Chuvash exports agricultural and industrial products and consume goods including hop, potatoes, knit-wear, hosiery, textiles, leather goods and plastics.
Brief History:
1868 Being a part of the Russian Empire from 16th century, the revival of the Chuvash culture began.
1920 Chuvash became an Autonomous Republic within the former Soviet Union. The efforts to revive, sustain and safeguard the Chuvash culture were suppressed.
1989 The Chuvash Public Cultural Centre was founded.
Current situation:
An agreement was signed between the Chuvash and the Russian governments about the rebuilding of the Chuvash economy, the development of the regional agriculture and destruction of chemical weapons on Chuvash territory. Among the Chuvash there is much concern about the situation in Chechenia. Chuvash, together with Mari, Udmurt and Tatarstan publicly declared their opposition to the Chechen war and called on their citizens to refuse to serve in the conflict.
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