Mordovia is a republic in the European part of Russia. It is located on a flat terrain, 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 bit about the republic
The Republic of Mordovia belongs to the Volga region of the Russian Federation and is included in the Volga-Vyatka economic region. It is located about 330 kilometers from Moscow. Through Mordovia are transport routes 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 the Ulyanovsk region, in the west it borders with Ryazan, 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 Oksko-Sur interfluve.
Now Mordovian peoples make up the second largest group of the population. So, Russians account for about 53%, Mordvinians - about 40% of the population. Approximately 5% is the number of Tatars.
The capital of the republic is Saransk with a population of 300, 000 people. In 2013, the French actor Gerard Depardieu received registration in this city immediately after he became a citizen of Russia. In 2018, some matches of the World Cup will be held in Saransk.
Climate features
The republic is located in temperate latitudes, so all four seasons are pronounced and clearly replace each other. Remoteness from the oceans and seas also contributes, forming the continental type of climate of Mordovia, with large annual temperature amplitudes.
The republic has a relatively hot summer, 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. In summer, thunderstorms, dry winds, squalls and droughts often arise.
The coldest month of the year is January, with an average temperature of -11 ° C. The winters of Mordovia are cloudy and frosty. But frosts that are too large do not last long and temperatures rarely drop below -15 ° C. The absolute minimum that has ever been registered in the republic was -47 ° C. In winter, humidity is much higher than in summer. Typical phenomena in the cold season are fogs, ice, frost, snowstorms and strong winds.
The nature of Mordovia
The republic is located in the eastern part of the largest plain on the continent - the East European. Its eastern and central part is occupied by the Volga Upland, which in the west passes into the Oka-Don Lowland.
The territory is divided 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, and all kinds of mosses and meadow grasses. More than 12 soil types have formed here, including chernozem, gray, gley, podzolic, meadow chernozem soils.
The local topography is not too raised. The highest elevation reaches only 334 meters. In river valleys, the height decreases to 80-90 meters. Clay-sand formations, as well as alternating layers of limestone and dolomites, predominate in the geological structure. The main mineral resources of Mordovia are construction sands, chalk, marl, clay, carbonate rocks, but there are no particularly large deposits in the republic.
Surface water
An important role for the nature of Mordovia is played by rivers. There are about 1525 of them in the republic, and all of them belong to the Volga basin. The rivers of Mordovia feed on groundwater and sediment. They are winding and unhurried, with wide valleys and watersheds.
The largest rivers are Moksha and Sura, whose basins cover the entire territory of the republic. The remaining flows in Mordovia are their tributaries. The Sura River connects directly with the Volga and is its right tributary, Moksha first flows into the Oka, through it into the Volga.
Lakes in the republic are much smaller. Basically they are old women, formed due to a change in the riverbed. The largest of them is Inerka Lake. Being a part of the Sura in the past, it stretched for 4 km in length and reaches a width of only 200 meters.
Vegetable world
The 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 land by man. The natural forest and forest-steppe landscapes of the republic are far from fully preserved. Over the past three centuries they have been pushed back by plowed areas.
Local plants are represented by almost all existing departments. There is only red and brown algae here. Species of flowering plants (1120), mosses (77), lichens (83) and mushrooms (186) are especially abundant in the nature of Mordovia.
About 27% of the republic’s territory is occupied by coniferous and mixed coniferous-deciduous forests. They are mainly found in oaks, pines, lindens, aspen, birch, willow, ash. Also in the forests there is hazel, rosehip, euonymus.
The meadow and shrub steppes of Mordovia used to occupy much more space. Now they are preserved 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, for example, feather grass, chamomile, pikulnik, field metelica, clover, sage. Sedges, mosses, willows and horsetail thickets are found on the banks of swamps.
