Short answers, pulled from the story.
Bashkortostan is a republic of Russia located between the Volga River and the Ural Mountains in Eastern Europe. It covers 143,600 square kilometers and borders Perm Krai, Sverdlovsk Oblast, Chelyabinsk Oblast, Orenburg Oblast, Tatarstan, and Udmurtia. Its capital is Ufa.
The name Bashkortostan translates as "land of the Bashkirs." The most prominent theory holds that the first part combines the Turkic words baş, meaning head or chief, and qurt, meaning wolf, an animal regarded as sacred to Turkic peoples. The suffix -stan is Persian.
The Bashkir Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic was established on the 20th of March 1919, making it the first autonomous republic created within the Russian Soviet Federated Socialist Republic. It was renamed the Republic of Bashkortostan on the 25th of February 1992.
Bashkortostan produces more crude oil than any other region of Russia, approximately 26 million tons annually, and supplies 17% of the country's gasoline and 15% of its diesel fuel. Its gross regional product in 2016 was 1.34 trillion rubles, ranking it ninth among all Russian federal subjects.
According to the 2021 Census, Russians make up 36.89% of the population, Bashkirs 31.01%, and Volga Tatars 23.82%. A 2012 survey estimated that 58% of the population is Muslim and 17% identifies with the Russian Orthodox Church. Russian is spoken by 97% of the population, Bashkir by 23%, and Tatar by 20%.
Rudolf Nureyev began his dancing career in Ufa, the capital of Bashkortostan. As a child he was encouraged to take part in Bashkir folk performances, and it was that experience in Ufa that launched his path to becoming a world-renowned ballet dancer.