Regional flags and emblems
PROFILE
Established 22 August 1921
Capital: Syktyvkar
The Komi Republic is part of the Northwestern Federal District
Area 416,800 sq km
Population 721 000 (2024 г.)
Ethnic groups
(2020 National Census, %)
Russian – 69,69
Komi – 22,22
Ukrainian – 1,93
Other – 6,16
Administrative divisions (2024 г.):
Municipal districts − 14
City districts − 6
Rural towns − 14
Rural districts − 143
Geography and climate
The Republic of Komi lies in the northeast of European Russia in the basins of the Pechora, Vychegda and Mezen rivers. The terrain is predominantly a plain. The 450mhigh Timan Ridge passes through the region from the northwest to the southeast.
The region stretches 785 km north to south, 695 km west to east, and 1,275 km southwest to northeast.
The region borders on the Perm Territory, the Kirov, Arkhangelsk and Sverdlovsk regions, and the Nenets, Khanty-Mansi and Yamalo-Nenets autonomous areas.
The main rivers are the Pechora, Mezen and Vychegda. There are over 78,000 lakes, and swamps cover up to 15% of total land area.
The climate is temperate continental. Winters are long and cold, summers are short, warm in the south and cold in the north. January temperatures average at −20°C in the north, and −17°C in the south; July temperatures average 11°C in the north and from 15°C to 17°C in the south. Average precipitation in January is 46 mm and 82 mm in July.
Vegetation: coniferous and small-leaved forests.
Soils: permafrost, fragile, and take a long time to recover vegetation.
Government
The legislative branch is represented by the Supreme Council of the Komi Republic, which is the permanent representative and only body of legislative authority in the region.
The Supreme Council has 30 deputies elected for five years, with 15 of them running in single-member constituencies, and the other 15 in the single electoral district, where winners are identified in proportion to the number of votes cast for lists of candidates nominated by electoral associations.
The current Supreme Council was elected in September 2020. Its term expires in September 2025.
The executive branch is the Head of the Komi Republic, the Government of the Komi Republic and other authorities. The Government of the Komi Republic is a permanent, supreme executive body in the region.
The Head of the Komi Republic is the republic’s highest-ranking official who heads the executive branch of the republic and is elected for a term of five years by the citizens of the Russian Federation permanently residing in the republic. The term of office of the current incumbent expires in September 2025.
Economy and natural resources
The Komi Republic is industry-oriented and nearly completely self-reliant, using materials, power and labour available in the region.
The fuel and energy complex, which is comprised of oil recovery and refining, gas, coal and electricity, is the prevalent industry, responsible for 70% of total output.
The largest plants include Mondi Syktyvkar Timber Plant, Komiteks, Syktyvkar Industry Plant, Komiaviatrans, Lukoil-Ukhtaneftepererabotka, and Vorkutaugol.
Minerals extracted in the republic include oil, gas, coal, oil shale, bauxite, titanium ore, gold, ores of non-ferrous and rare metals, barite, quartz raw materials, salt, minerals and building materials.
There are over 150 oil and gas deposits that are mainly clustered in the Timan-Pechora oil and gas province and the Mezen potential pil and gas basin. Half of free gas is concentrated in the Vuktyl oil and gas condensate field. Up to 95% of current hydrocarbon reserves are located at 70 deposits that are already in or being prepared for development. Development has not been started at 18 deposits.
Non-ferrous metals comprise ores of titanium, manganese, chromium and vanadium. The Yarega and Pizhma deposits of titanium ores are the largest in Russia and neighbouring countries. About ten deposits containing large amounts of bauxites were identified. The alumina production may be accompanied in the future by the extraction of gallium and vanadium, and niobium, rare-earth elements and scandium.
Gold reserves are in prospected placer deposits and gold ores.
Non-metallic minerals (barite, quartz, refractories, basalt), mining and chemical raw materials (potash and rock salt, phosphorites, sapropel, carbonate), crystal and semi-precious stones (diamonds, vein quartz, piezoelectric quartz, rock crystal, amethyst, jadeits, nephrites, coloured chalcedonies, rhodonite of the subpolar-Ural variety, smoky quartz, citrine etc.), construction material (gypsum, glass sands, facing and building stones, carbonates, cement raw materials, silica clay, construction sand, gravel, clay, mineral pigments) are widespread. The Khoilinskoye barite ore deposit is the largest.
Deposits or occurrences of rare metals (niobium, tantalum, molybdenum, tungsten), disseminated ores (galium, scandium), rare-earth elements of the cerium and yttrium groups were identified in the Timan Ridge and the Subpolar Urals.
Ten mineral springs have been developed, of which low-mineral, hydrogen sulphide, high-bromine-content, and ferrous mineral waters are the most common.
The timber industry ranks second in the regional economy and features forestry, logging, wood processing, pulp-and-paper and hydrolysis plants. Logging is concentrated in the basins of the Vychegda, the Sysola and the Mezen rivers. Timber production is concentrated in the Udorsky, Koigorodsky, Ust-Kulomsky, Kortkerossky, Priluzsky, Syktyvdinsky and Sysolsky districts. The Komi Republic is responsible for 5% of the total national timber output. Half of paper products is exported to over 80 countries.
Agricultural production is relatively low due to a harsh climate. Crop production focuses on potatoes, vegetables and fodder, while livestock breeding prioritises dairy and beef production.
The transport system features rail, car, air, pipeline and river transport.
Culture and tourism
The Komi Republic has an extensive network of art and culture institutions including theatres, libraries, museums, leisure establishments and a philharmonic hall. The republic also has specialised centres that provide extracurricular education and vocational training.
The major theatres and concert halls are: The Komi Republic State Opera and Ballet Theatre, the Savin Komi Republic Order of People’s Friendship Academic Drama Theatre, the Komi Republic National Music and Drama Theatre, the Vorkuta State Drama Theatre, and the Komi Republic Philharmonic Hall.
There are 20 museums, including two of the republican significance; these are the Komi Republic National Gallery and the Komi Republic National Museum. Ten museums are in urban areas and ten in rural. Of the total, 17 museums focus on local history and culture. Others include an art museum, a memorial museum and a theatre museum.
Folk crafts include wood carving and painting, birchbark art, weaving with vines and roots, traditional weaving, patterned knitting, lacing, clay, leather and fur processing, embroidery, folk doll manufacturing.
Fans of active tourism like skiing, walking and water-related sports will not be disappointed coming to the region. The Pechora Alps, or the impenetrable pristine taiga forest, attract travellers by their mystique and their being hard to access. Virgin flora and fauna leave an indelible lifetime impression.
The Pechora Reserve located in the region’s southeast, welcomes its visitors with foothills, mountains and plains that are nearly untouched by humans. The limestones have documented the development of local fauna and the history of human settlement to produce an unparalleled landmark.
Eco-tourism destinations in Komi include the large caves of the Iordanskogo ravine, where a late-Neolithic settlement and Northern Europe’s largest site of wildlife remains have been found. There are also virtual plantations of berries, dark coniferous forests on the western slopes of the Urals, pure lakes, rivers and mineral springs and other locations capable of making tourism in Russia more interesting for both Russian and foreign travellers.
Ethnic tourism is especially popular in the winter. Numerous fans of local culture, researchers and travellers come to the Komi Republic that time of year, driven by a desire to closely watch the deer and the way their herders live.
Coming to Komi as a tourist is an opportunity to familiarise oneself with local customs and take in Mansi and Komi reindeer-herder holidays.