Rural areas of Bashkiria: Prevailing types and features of transformation in the post-Soviet period[Сельская Местность Башкирии: Преобладающие Типы И Особенности Трансформации В Постсоветский Период]

The article outlines the features of the development of rural areas in the Republic of Bashkortostan in the post-Soviet period, such as the high share of the rural population, developed agricultural sector, institutional support of the village, etc. Based on the statistical data and the results of the field research, the authors identify the dominant types of rural areas in the Republic of Bashkortostan by municipal districts with the predominantly rural population. The key features of the typology are as follows: natural conditions, district’s position in the system ‘center-periphery’, characteristics of population, level of the development of agriculture and public utilities. The results of the cluster analysis and data systematization allowed to identify the following social-economic types of rural areas in the region: suburban rural area, agrarian Bashkiria, and traditional Bashkir rural area. For each type and subtype of rural areas the authors conducted a detailed social-economic analysis and described the trajectories of the rural transformation in the post-Soviet period. Today, the role of the agricultural sector in the life of the rural population is decreasing. In the final section, the authors assess the role of agricultural production in the life of the rural population by types of rural areas. Thus, in agrarian Bashkiria, work on the land still remains the main labor practice (employment in agricultural organizations, personal subsidiary farms), but the life of the significant part of population is poorly connected with the agrarian sector.