Short answers, pulled from the story.
Buryatia is a republic of Russia located in the Russian Far East, in the south-central region of Siberia along the eastern shore of Lake Baikal. It borders Mongolia to the south, Irkutsk Oblast and Lake Baikal to the north, Zabaykalsky Krai to the east, and Tuva to the west.
The capital of Buryatia is Ulan-Ude. The city was founded as the fort of Udinskoye in 1666, later renamed Verkhneudinsk, and received its current name in 1934.
The indigenous people of Buryatia are the Buryats, a Mongolic people who have lived around Lake Baikal since at least the fifth century. According to the 2021 Census, Buryats make up 32.5 per cent of the republic's population, while ethnic Russians make up 64 per cent.
Tibetan Buddhism and Russian Orthodox Christianity are the two most widespread religions in Buryatia. A 2012 survey found 19.8 per cent of the population adhering to Tibetan Buddhism and 27.4 per cent to the Russian Orthodox Church. Shamanism, including Yellow shamanism and Black shamanism, is also practiced, and in 2003 the Local Religious Organization of Shamans, Tengeri, was officially registered in the republic.
The Buryat Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic was created in 1923, formed through the merger of the State of Buryat and the Buryat Oblast. It declared sovereignty in 1990 and adopted the name Republic of Buryatia in 1992.
Buryatia has an area of 351,300 square kilometres and a population of 978,588 according to the 2021 Census. The republic is divided into 21 districts, 6 cities or towns, 16 urban-type settlements, and 238 selsoviets and somons as of 2013.