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Author Topic: Ufa - Уфа́ - Өфө - Öfö - Өфе - Ӗпхӳ - Ephü - Republic of Bashkortostan  (Read 4690 times)

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Offline mendeleyev

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Ufa (Уфа́)






There is sometimes a perception that outside of Moscow and St Petersburg, life becomes very different in Russia.  And that is very true between the major cities and in Russia's small towns and villages.  This is true, yet to a certain extent some cities in Russia's central and far eastern regions may offer surprises with very modern features.  An example of that is the city of Ufa.





Ufa is one of the industrial centres in the Western Urals area, and is situated at the confluence of the Belaya and the Ufa Rivers. Here are the ways in which one can spell Ufa--Russian: Уфа́; Bashkir: Өфө, Öfö; Tatar Cyrillic: Уфа, Latin: Ufa; Chuvash: Ӗпхӳ, Ephü.  


Frozen Belaya river.


Ufa is the capital of the Republic of Bashkortostan, Russia with a population of 1,036,026. Bashkortostan has a varied landscape that stretches from the steppe lands in the west to the Ural Mountains in the east, one third of the republic is covered by forest, mainly birch, maple and oak.





The beautiful scenery of Bashkortostan is blessed with over eight hundred lakes and six hundred rivers which is home and a multitude of wildlife including bears, moose, foxes, hares and over two hundred species of birds and is therefore a very popular area for activities such as horse trekking, hiking and horse sleigh rides in winter.






Ivan the Terrible founded Ufa in the 16th century as a fort from which to fight off woolly-headed nomads. Stalin gave it a big boost when he moved most of Russia's industry eastward from 1941 to 1942.





Ivan the Terrible founded Ufa in the 16th century as a fort from which to fight off woolly-headed nomads. Stalin gave it a big boost when he moved most of Russia's industry eastward from 1941 to 1942.


Village just outside city.


Ah, if you're walking about town, keep an extra careful eye for traffic.  In Ufa, like other Russian cities, drivers can be known to drive on the sidewalk when the streets are crowded.





Ufa's plans for a metro collapsed with the Soviet Union and updated plans called for construction to begin in 2007 with completion in 2010.  Since construction has yet to start, you'd better take a bus. You can either take an overcrowded tram for about for less than a dollar, or a more comfortable van for just a little more.





Quote from a writer with the Vancouver Courier: "The people in Ufa were the most hospitable I've met anywhere. Once you know one person, you'll soon know dozens, and many will want to take you around, feed you, and generally beam admiringly at you. The few Westerners they encounter are often trying to entice them to join oddball American churches, so an authentically lazy and decadent Westerner is a welcome novelty."




Offline mendeleyev

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Ufa (Уфа́), continued


Ufa bus station.


Branch-lines of the Kuibyshevskaya Railway connect Ufa with all major Russian cities. Ufa Airport has International and a Domestic Terminals with a total capacity of 800 passengers an hour. It is in Ufa where the residence of the President of the Republic of Bashkortostan is located, and the republican executive bodies are concentrated.





The inhabitants of the capital are provided with foodstuffs by two meat-packaging factories, seven bakeries, flourmills, dairy plants, a confectionary, a macaroni plant, a tea-packaging factory, and Bashkir Cold Storage Kombinat. "Alekseyevski" State Farm is one of the largest agribusiness companies in Russia located near the city, it delivers fresh vegetables and fruit to customers in the capital throughout the year.





Medical services to the city's population are rendered by cardiology, burn, laser surgery and reconstructive and plastic gynecology, neurosurgery and orthopedic centers; psychiatric hospital, maternity homes, tuberculosis, oncological and therapeutic physical training clinics. There are 58 therapeutic institutions including 16 hospitals, and 37 out-patient institutions.





There are 217 preschool educational institutions, 170 general education schools, 23 public specialized secondary educational institutions, 21 public institutions of higher education, 6 private institutions of higher education and 18 vocational schools. The city numbers 11 national Sunday schools attended by over one thousand students. 150,000 students are enrolled in the city's universities, institutes and colleges.





The capital also boasts six theatres, Bashkir State Philharmonic Society, Bashkir State Puppet Theatre, museums, culture centers and clubs, a circus, ballet and choreography studios, cinemas, a planetarium, two centralized library networks, children's music and arts schools.


Can you tell this is a Muslim school?


Ufa is justly proud of the National Library named after Akhmet-Zaki Validi which houses about 2 million volumes in various languages, 200 manuscripts of the 15th and 16th centuries, editions of Russian classical writers printed during their lifetime.





Residents of Ufa have about a thousand sports facilities at their disposal, including Tennis Palace, 6 stadiums, 13 closed-door swimming pools, a closed-door horse riding school, a shooting center, 254 gyms, mountain ski routes, biathlon and ski jumping facilities. "Akbuzat" Republican Race Course was opened on July 19, 1982, which is the center of horse breeding and equestrian sport in the Republic.





Ufa bus stops aren't always marked so if you don't see a sign just start looking for a group of people who appear to be looking for something to come along the street.  That would usually be a surefire way to find an unmarked bus stop in Russia.   :)



Offline Chris

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For anyone wanting to see some non professional pictures of UFA here are some from my trip there in March 2007. They are labelled to tell you where they are and what they are of.

http://ruadventures.com/forum/index.php?topic=454.0

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Offline mendeleyev

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Ufa, people


Some of the most beautiful people can be found in the Ufa area! 





The blend of Asian and European features can be beautifully stunning.








This young couple is excitedly waiting for a new baby!


Such lovely eyes!





Notice the blending of Asian and Euro facial features.


Very pretty lady.


Happy children at play!

Offline mendeleyev

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Ufa, miscellaneous

Headline from New York Times
20 January 1919
BOLSHEVIKI CAPTURE UFA, IN THE URALS
OMSK, Siberia, Jan. 20, (Associated Press.)--Ufa has fallen to the Bolsheviki, the reverse to the Russian and Czechoslovak forces there being said to be chiefly due to the failure of arms to arrive from Vladivostok.


Ethnic wedding celebration.


A couple stops at a local landmark for photos.


Islam is the majority religion.


School for Muslim women.





Orthodox church.


Orthodox baptism.


River traffic is important to the economy.


Where is the car going? Why are buses facing each other?


Salavat Yulayev summer house.


Salavat Yulayev (Bashkir: Салауат Юлаев; Russian: Салават Юлаев) is perhaps the most famous Ufa hero.  Born on 16 June 1754, he was a Bashkir national hero who participated at Pugachev's rebellion. His home village of Tekeyevo no longer exists, because it was burned in 1775. Yulayev is also famous as a poet.  Many things in modern-day Bashkortostan are named after Yulayev including a town, a hockey team, and the republic's State Prize.

The Republic of Bashkortostan is a semi-autonomous republic with it's own president and Parliament.  It is a member of the Russian Federation of states.



Moderator's note:  RUA would like to thank the Bashkortostan Republic administration for information and many of the photos provided.  http://www.ufacity.info/en/ufa and the Russian language section: http://www.ufacity.info/  Special thanks to Ufa City Administrator Pavel Kachkaev and his assistants Mr. Iskander E. Sirayev and Mr. Anwar A. Makhmoutov who hope you will include Ufa is one of your upcoming Russia visits! 

Offline Chris

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A few more pictures from Ufa

Krillan and Bashkortostan Dancing

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Offline Chris

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Offline Chris

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Some pictures of Victory Park - Ufa

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Offline Chris

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Mausoleum - Ufa

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Offline Chris

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A few general scenes

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Offline mendeleyev

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Excellent photos, Chris!  I noticed a couple of English signs along with Russian Cyrillic and wanted to ask if you remember if those were scattered infrequently, or were there enough English words to help you with general directions, etc?


Distances from Ufa to other cities:
Russia - Naberezhnye Chelny 251 km 156 miles 136 nm  WNW
Russia - Izhevsk  289 km 179 miles 156 nm  NWbN
Russia - Orenburg  331 km 206 miles 179 nm  SbW
Russia - Chelyabinsk  352 km 219 miles 190 nm  EbN
Russia - Perm  364 km 226 miles 197 nm  N
Russia - Yekaterinburg  373 km 232 miles 201 nm  NE
Russia - Samara  414 km 258 miles 224 nm  WSW
Russia - Kazan  446 km 277 miles 241 nm  WNW
Russia - Tol'yatti 450 km 280 miles 243 nm  WbS
Russia - Ul'yanovsk 494 km 307 miles 267 nm  W
Kazakstan - Aqtobe  504 km 313 miles 272 nm  SbE
Russia - Tyumen  654 km 407 miles 353 nm  ENE
Russia - Penza  740 km 460 miles 399 nm  WbS
Russia - Saratov 763 km 474 miles 412 nm  WSW
Russia - Nizhny Novgorod  774 km 481 miles 418 nm  WNW
Russia - Volgograd  1033 km 642 miles 558 nm  SWbW
Russia - Ryazan  1043 km 648 miles 563 nm  WbN
Russia - Astrakhan 1089 km 677 miles 588 nm  SWbS
Russia - Lipetsk  1107 km 688 miles 597 nm  WbS
Russia - Omsk  1114 km 692 miles 602 nm  EbN
Kazakstan - Astana  1115 km 693 miles 602 nm  EbS
Russia - Moscow  1169 km 726 miles 631 nm  WbN
Kazakstan - Aqtau  1209 km 751 miles 653 nm  SSW
Kazakstan - Karaganda 1284 km 798 miles 694 nm  ESE
Russia - Rostov 1406 km 874 miles 759 nm  SWbW
Russia - Novgorod 1559 km 969 miles 842 nm  WNW
Russia - Krasnodar  1622 km 1008 miles 876 nm  SWbW
Russia - Saint-Petersburg  1630 km 1013 miles 880 nm  NWbW
Azerbaijan - Baku  1662 km 1033 miles 897 nm  SSW
Georgia - Tbilisi  1665 km 1035 miles 899 nm  SWbS
Russia - Novosibirsk 1718 km 1068 miles 928 nm  EbN
Finland - Joensuu  1737 km 1079 miles 938 nm  NW
Ukraine - Kiev  1780 km 1106 miles 961 nm  W
Uzbekistan - Tashkent  1789 km 1112 miles 966 nm  SEbS
Russia - Tomsk  1822 km 1132 miles 984 nm  ENE
Belarus - Minsk  1843 km 1145 miles 995 nm  WbN
Uzbekistan - Samarkand  1867 km 1160 miles 1008 nm  SEbS
Turkmenistan - Ashgabat  1875 km 1165 miles 1012 nm  SbE  
Ukraine - Simferopol  1902 km 1182 miles 1027 nm  WSW
Russia - Murmansk  1965 km 1221 miles 1061 nm  NNW
Kazakstan - Almaty  1977 km 1229 miles 1068 nm  SEbE
Ukraine - Odesa  1990 km 1237 miles 1075 nm  WSW




Above: Ufa Kino (Cinema) Center

Offline Chris

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Excellent photos, Chris!  I noticed a couple of English signs along with Russian Cyrillic and wanted to ask if you remember if those were scattered infrequently, or were there enough English words to help you with general directions, etc?

Actually Jim I don't recall seeing ANY English signs in Ufa at all, but maybe there are some.  ???
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Offline Chris

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Just curious, its been awhile but I think there were a few along the lines of "restaurant" and "stop."  And some product names such as coke, but not too much in the way of directions.

I maybe remember the odd Coke sign, but not restaurant etc, however, it is 18 months ago so maybe there are some there, I just don't remember now though. Mirror will be able to confirm this one way or the other no doubt, or I know an English guy who still works/lives in Ufa, I could ask him next time we talk.
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Historical Center of Ufa (Marx and Lenin st.) "Real Russia" ep.79

Offline mendeleyev

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For those who have followed Real Russia over the past two years, Sergei and Sergei moved back to Ufa after suffering several setbacks in their move to Moscow. Sergei Grom has left the partnership, but Sergei Baklakov will continue with a new camera operator.  To add to the stress of events, Sergei broke his leg. Now he is on the mend, and back to making videos.

In Episode #78 you'll see Sergei's new apartment in Ufa and take a tour of a new and modern Russian living space. He will also introduce his new camera operator in this episode.



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Amusement Park For Children. (Ivan Yakutov Park?? ???) "Real Russia" ep.81