Map    The Republic of Bashkortostan is highlighted in green on the map.

The Republic of Bashkortostan is part of the Russian Federation. The area of the republic is 143,000 km² which is approximately equal to 1% of the territory of Russia. Bashkortostan stretches 550 km from north to south and 430 km from east to west. Bashkortostan borders territories with Tatarstan, Udmurtia and Permian region, as well as with Sverdlovsk, Chelyabinsk and Orenburg Regions. The total border length is approximately 2500 km.

The Ural Mountain range, being relatively low, does not prevent the intrusion of cold Siberian winter air in to the Cis-Ural region. Most dramatic are the seasonal temperature changes. During the winter, the temperatures drop to -50°C and in the summer they can rise up to 40°C. The average monthly wind speeds are 3.4-5.2 m/s. Strong wind speeds of 15m/s and greater are frequent in December, January, and March. In winter months, snow fall is typical during strong winds. During this season, the number of snowstorm days is 32-36 and in the northern regions of Bashkir it is 54-62 days. In the western slopes of the Ural range, the average yearly snow precipitation is 640-700 mm, on the eastern slopes it is no more than 300-500 mm and in the western plains of Bashkir region it is 400-500 mm. Out of the yearly amount of precipitation 60-70% is recorded during the warm months of April to October. In summer, the maximum daily amount of precipitation is recorded at 78-86mm. Snow cover and chilly weather typically arrive in the middle of September and last until the middle of April. Typically, the number of snow-cover days is 153-165 and in the mountain regions it can reach 171-177. Snow cover averages at 36cm; sometimes it can reach 55cm, and the maximum record was 126 cm. Average yearly temperature is +0.3°C in the mountains and +2.8°C in the flats. Average temperature in January is -18°C and in July +18°C.

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