Bashkortostan was an UNPO member between 1996 and 1998. 

The Republic of Bashkortostan, also historically known as Bashkiria, is a federal subject of Russia. It is located between the Volga River and the Ural Mountains.  

After the collapse of the Soviet Union, Bashkortostan, like many other republics, sought greater control over its own affairs. In 1990, it declared sovereignty and later signed a power-sharing treaty with Moscow in 1994 that granted it significant self-governance. However, this autonomy was increasingly undermined as the central Russian government began reasserting control over regional authorities in the mid-90s. Ethnic and linguistic issues played a major role in its decision to join UNPO: although Bashkirs were the titular nationality, they were a minority within the republic, and concerns grew over the marginalisation of the Bashkir language and culture amid dominant Russian and Tatar influences. Additionally, local leaders feared that economic resources, especially revenues from oil and natural gas, were being unfairly managed by Moscow without adequate benefit to the republic. 

Bashkortostan’s identity is shaped by an interplay between its Turkic roots, Indigenous customs, Islam, and its multi-ethnic composition. The Bashkir language, part of the Turkic branch, carries dialectal varieties influenced by interaction with Tatar, Russian, Persian, Arabic, and even Finno‑Ugric or Iranian elements.

Religious belief is another pillar: the majority of Bashkirs are Sunni Muslims, specifically of the Hanafi school, though many pre-Islamic beliefs, especially those connected with nature, epic mythology, also persist in folklore and rituals. Folklore, myths, and oral epic play key roles. Stories such as Ural‑Batyr, Akbuzat, Idukay, Muradym, and others transmit moral values, cosmological views, the relationship between humans and nature, and national history. They are still retold, performed, staged, or recited in festivals. The epic Ural‑Batyr in particular is recognized not just as heritage but as a symbol of Bashkir literary and spiritual identity.

Festivals, seasonal rituals, and communal celebrations are another dimension: Sabantuy (a plough‑holiday) is among the most important, combining agricultural rituals, folk games, horse racing, wrestling (kuresh), communal feasting, and displays of national costume. Other ceremonies revolve around weddings, funeral rites, family traditions, the annual Kurultay (national congresses), cultural centers, etc.

However, Bashkir identity also faces pressing challenges. Russian is dominant in many public spheres; the use of Bashkir in education and media has fluctuated and been reduced in many areas. Intergenerational transmission of language is threatened. There is concern among cultural activists that some traditions are fading, or becoming folklorised (reduced to tourist/cultural performance rather than lived practice). 

Bashkortostan, homeland of the Bashkir people, lies between the Volga River and the Ural Mountains. The Bashkirs are a Turkic-speaking people, known to Arab and Persian geographers as early as the 9th century. Islam began to spread among the Bashkirs from the 10th century onward, though traditional beliefs remained strong in folklore and rituals.

In 1557, the Bashkirs entered into a treaty-based agreement with the Russian Tsardom, voluntarily joining in exchange for protection, land rights, and local autonomy. Over time, these promises were violated by Russian authorities, sparking several major uprisings, particularly in the 17th and 18th centuries. Despite repression, the Bashkirs maintained their identity through oral tradition, clan structure, and Islamic institutions. Following the 1917 Russian revolution, Bashkortostan became the first ethnic autonomous republic within Soviet Russia in 1919. During the Soviet era, it was heavily industrialised—especially in oil, chemicals, and manufacturing—but this came at the cost of linguistic and cultural erosion due to Russification and urban migration. 

After the collapse of the USSR, Bashkortostan declared sovereignty in 1990 and signed a power-sharing treaty with Moscow in 1994, securing broad autonomy over language, resources, and governance. However, since the 2000s—the treaty was unilaterally abolished in 2005—federal reforms have significantly reduced this autonomy, including limitations on Bashkir-language education and local political control.