Mordovia is a republic in the European part of Russia. It is located on a flat area, between the rivers Moksha and Sura. What are the features of the nature of Mordovia? What characterizes its climate, as well as flora and fauna?
A little about the Republic
The Republic of Mordovia belongs to the Volga District of the Russian Federation and is part of the Volga-Vyatka economic region. It is located about 330 kilometers from Moscow. Transport routes pass through Mordovia, connecting the capital of the country with Siberia, the Urals and the Volga region. Its neighbors in the north and east are the Nizhny Novgorod region, Chuvashia and Ulyanovsk region, in the west it borders the Ryazan region, and in the south - the Penza region.
The Republic is inhabited by approximately 800 thousand people, of which more than 62% live in cities. In addition to Russian, the official languages of Mordovia are Erzya and Moksha. They are spoken by representatives of two ethnic groups that originally lived on the territory of the Oka-Sura interfluve.
Now the Mordovian peoples make up the second largest group of the population. So, Russians account for about 53%, Mordovians - about 40% of the population. About5% is the number of Tatars.
The capital of the republic is Saransk with a population of 300,000 people. In 2013, French actor Gerard Depardieu received registration in this city immediately after he became a Russian citizen. In 2018 Saransk will host some matches of the World Cup.
Climate features
The republic is located in temperate latitudes, so all four seasons are pronounced and clearly follow each other. Remoteness from the oceans and seas also contributes, forming the continental type of climate in Mordovia, with large annual temperature amplitudes.
Relatively hot summer in the republic, which lasts exactly according to the calendar: starting in June and ending in the last days of August. July is the hottest month, when the temperature reaches +26-27 °C. During this period, western and northern air masses prevail. Thunderstorms, dry winds, squalls and droughts often occur in summer.
The coldest month of the year is January with an average temperature of -11°C. The winters of Mordovia are cloudy and frosty. But too much frost does not last long and the temperature rarely drops below -15 ° C. The absolute minimum ever recorded in the republic was -47 °C. In winter, air humidity is much higher than in summer. Fog, icy conditions, hoarfrost, blizzards and strong winds are considered typical phenomena in the cold season.
Nature of Mordovia
The Republic is located in the eastern part of the largest plain on the continent - East European. her eastern andthe central part is occupied by the Volga Upland, which in the west passes into the Oka-Don lowland.
The territory is dissected by a dense river network, which contributes to the diversity of the flora and fauna of Mordovia. Local plants are represented by both coniferous and broad-leaved species, as well as all kinds of mosses and meadow grasses. More than 12 types of soils have formed here, including chernozem, gray, gley, podzolic, meadow-chernozem.
The local terrain is not too elevated. The highest elevation reaches only 334 meters. In river valleys, the height decreases to 80-90 meters. The geological structure is dominated by clay-sand formations, as well as alternating layers of limestone and dolomite. The main minerals of Mordovia are building sands, chalk, marl, clay, carbonate rocks, but there are no particularly large deposits in the republic.
Surface waters
An important role for the nature of Mordovia is played by rivers. There are approximately 1525 of them in the republic, and all of them belong to the Volga basin. The rivers of Mordovia are fed by groundwater and precipitation. They are winding and leisurely, with wide valleys and watersheds.
The largest rivers are Moksha and Sura, whose basins cover the entire territory of the republic. The rest of the streams in Mordovia are their tributaries. The Sura River connects directly with the Volga and is its right tributary, the Moksha first flows into the Oka, through it already into the Volga.
There are much fewer lakes in the republic. Basically, they are oxbows formed due tochange in the course of the river. The largest of them is Lake Inerka. Once part of Sura, it is 4 km long and only 200 meters wide.
Plant world
Modern nature of Mordovia was formed after the Ice Age. She was forced to adapt to a radically changing climate, and at the same time to adapt to the economic development of the earth by man. The natural forest and forest-steppe landscapes of the republic are far from being preserved in full. Over the past three centuries, they have been strongly pushed aside by plowed areas.
Local plants are represented by almost all existing departments. There are no red and brown algae here. There are especially many species of flowering plants (1120), mosses (77), lichens (83) and fungi (186) in the nature of Mordovia.
Approximately 27% of the republic's territory is occupied by coniferous and mixed coniferous-deciduous forests. In them there are mainly oaks, pines, lindens, aspens, birches, willows, ash trees. Also in the forests there is hazel, wild rose, euonymus.
Meadow and shrub steppes of Mordovia used to occupy much more space. Now they have survived only where it is difficult to equip arable zones, that is, in ravines, gullies, along the outskirts of forests and on river terraces. Herbs and flowers grow here, such as feather grass, chamomile, pikulnik, field broom, clover, sage. There are sedges, mosses, willows and thickets of horsetail on the banks of the swamps.
Animals of Mordovia
Due to the connection of several natural zones at once, as well as the dense river network, the animal worldrepublic is quite diverse. Quail, hoopoe, kestrel, badger, partridge live in pine forests. Woodpeckers, thrushes, capercaillie, warblers, warblers, wood and yellow-throated mice, dormouse, vipers are found in oak forests and in transitional zones.
Moose, hares, squirrels, martens, weasels, voles, ermines, as well as bears, lynxes, foxes and wolves live in local forests. Jerboas, shrews, ground squirrels live in the steppes. Beavers, muskrats, otters live in rivers and lakes, catfish, pikes, breams, and ides swim. In total, among the animals of Mordovia there are 50 species of mammals, 170 species of birds, 30 species of fish and more than a thousand insects.
