Buinsky District

The Buinsky municipal district occupies a total land area of 1543.6 km². It shares borders with the Drozhzhanovsky district in the south-west, with Apastovsky in the north, Tetyushsky in the east, with the Ulyanovsk region in the south, and with Chuvashia in the west.[7]

The terrain of the district is a hilly plain with heights rising to as high as 150-200 meters. The largest river, the Sviyaga, flows between forest-steppe and steppe zones. Its tributaries include the Karla, Bula, Ulema, Tsilna and Malaya Tsilna. Forests cover 9,681 hectares of the region. The local climate is temperate continental which creates favorable conditions for cattle breeding and agriculture. There are 125 archeological monuments on the territory of the region.[8]

The azure and green field is crossed by a thin jagged silver belt; in the azure there is a shining golden sun (without showing its face), and in the greenery there are a bunch of golden sifted wheat placed on the right, followed by a silver scroll with a gold seal on a cord of the same metal coming out on the bottom right and placed on the left.

— Official description of the emblem.[9]

In June 2006, the Council of the Buinsky municipal district approved its new heraldic insignia. The design was carried out by the Heraldic Council under the President of the Republic of Tatarstan together with the Union of Heraldists of Russia. For centuries the territory of the Buinsky district was a natural divide protecting the region from nomadic raids — this is symbolically represented on the canvas by a jagged dividing line.[10] The sifted wheat allegorizes the developed agriculture of the district; the green field indicates the abundance of local nature and health. The gold color is a symbol of rich harvests, wealth, stability and respect. The setting sun emphasizes the border position of the region and its location in the southwest of the republic. The scroll points to the rich history of the Buinsk lands and as the homeland of outstanding writers, poets, artists and politicians. Silver is a symbol of purity, perfection, peace and tolerance. The blue sky signifies the dignity and spirituality of the locals.[11]

The flag is based on heraldic elements of the coat of arms. A rectangular canvas with a width to length ratio of 2:3 is divided horizontally by a white line into green and blue stripes. The rising sun is depicted in the upper band, and a scroll and sifted wheat are placed on the field.[12]

According to available archeological records, the first settlements on the territory of the modern Buinsky district emerged in the Stone Age, that is, approximately X-VI thousand years BC. In the early Middle Ages, the peoples of the Imenkov culture lived here and primarily engaged in agriculture. At the time of Volga Bulgaria, there were already several dozen settlements in this area.[13]

Settlements on the site of the modern town of Buinsk were first mentioned in historical records in the mid-17th century. On September 15, 1780, Empress Catherine the Great granted the village of Buinskoye, also known as Arkhangelskoye, the status of a town.[14]

Until 1921, the territory was part of the Buinsky county (uyezd) of the Simbirsk province. In the 1920s-1930s it belonged to the Buinsky canton. On August 10, 1930, the Presidium of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee adopted a decree on the formation of the district as an independent unit within the Tatar ASSR. In 1959, part of the abolished Tsilninsky district was annexed to the Buinsk district. Four years later the territories of Drozhzhanovsky, Kaibitsky and part of the Apastovsky districts would be joined to the territory, increasing the total area of the canton to 4123 km². In 1966, the Drozhzhanovsky district was again made a separate territory. On January 31, 2005, the Buinsky district was established in its present form by a regional law.[15][16]

Within the framework of administrative divisions, the Buinsky district is one of the forty-three in the republic. The town of Buinsk serves as its administrative center, despite being incorporated separately as a town of republic significance — an administrative unit with status equal to that of the districts.[4]

As a municipal division, the district is incorporated as the Buinsky Municipal District, with the town of republic significance of Buinsk being incorporated within it as the Buinsk urban settlement. In 1998-2007, the district was headed by Aglyam K. Sadretdinov, followed by Rafael K. Abuzyarov from 2007 to 2013.[17] In 2013, Azat K. Aizetullov was elected to the post of head of the municipal district, holding this position until 2017.[18] Aizetullov was subsequently replaced by Marat A. Zyabbarov who occupied this post until September 2020, when he was transferred to another position. Following Zyabbarov, Ranis R. Kamartdinov became the head of the municipal district.[19][20]

In total, 48.2% of the district's population live the town of Buinsk. According to data from the 2010 census, Tatars make up the majority of the population while 20% are Chuvashs, and 13% are Russians.

Nature reserves and wildlife sanctuaries cover a total of 1688 hectares, of which 1509 hectares belong to the Zeya Buylary reserve. Natural monuments in the district include the Sviyaga River, the park of the Decembrist Vasily P. Ivashev’s family estate, the Novo-Tinchalinskaya marmot colony in the valley of the Bolshaya Taurus River and the Utinskaya marmot colony on the steppe slopes of the Karla River valley.[7][30]

The district is served by 42 educational institutions, three vocational schools, 42 kindergartens and two supplementary education establishments. Sports facilities in the district include a stadium for 1,500 seats, the ice palace “Arktika”, a sports complex “Dolphin”, children's and youth sports schools “Arktika”, “Batyr” and “Yunost”, as well as a number of gyms and shooting ranges. The district's cultural resources are represented by the House of Culture, 54 clubs, 36 libraries, 3 museums, and 15 school museums. Since 1919, the regional newspaper “Bayrak” (“Banner”) has been published in Russian and Tatar languages. In 1962, a copy of the newspaper in Chuvash (“Yalav”) began to be published. In 2000, the local TV and radio company “Bua dulkynnnary” was founded.[31]

• Abzalov, L.F. (2010). Buinskaia entciklopediia [Buinsk encyclopedia]. Kazan: Tatmedia.
• Bushuev, A.S.; Salikhov, R.R., ed. (2014). Istoriko-kulturnyi atlas Buinskogo raiona Respubliki Tatarstan [Historical and cultural atlas of Buinsky district of the Republic of Tatarstan]. Kazan: Foliant.CS1 maint: extra text: authors list (link)
• Khasanov, M., ed. (2008). Tatarskie seleniya Iugo-Vostochnogo Zakamia: ochagi prosveshcheniia i kultury [Tatar Settlements of the South-Eastern Zakamye: centers of education and culture]. Kazan: Institut Tatarskoi Entsiklopedii.CS1 maint: extra text: authors list (link)
• Pospelov, E. M. (2003). Geograficheskie nazvaniia mira. Toponimicheskii slovar’ [Geographic names of the world. Toponymic dictionary]. Moscow: Russkie slovari, Astrel, AST.
• Safiullin, N.A.; Faizrakhmanov, D. I.; Savushkina, L. N. (2019). "Sostoianie i faktory effektivnosti razmeshcheniia selskokhoziaistvennogo proizvodstva v Buinskom raione RT [State and efficiency factors for the location of agricultural production in the Buinsky district of the Republic of Tatarstan]". Nauchnye trudy mezhdunarodnoi nauchno-prakticheskoi konferentcii “Selskoe khoziaistvo i prodovolstvennaia bezopasnost: tekhnologii, innovatcii, rynki, kadry”: 742–745.
• Valeev, R.M.; Nogmanov, A.I.; Shaidullin, R.V. (2009). Istoriia Rossii i Tatarstana: itogi i perspektivy entciklopedicheskikh issledovanii [History of Russia and Tatarstan: Results and Prospects of Encyclopedic Research]. Kazan: In-t Tatar. entciklopedii AN RT.