Komi Republic

Komi Republic is a region in Northwestern Russia, which borders Kirov Oblast to the southwest, Arkhangelsk Oblast to the west, Nenetsia to the north, Yamalia to the northeast, Khantia-Mansia to the east, Sverdlovsk Oblast to the southeast, and Perm Krai to the south.

Cities

 * &mdash; the capital and the only city in the region that qualifies as a tourist destination for its own sake
 * &mdash; a small city which housed one of the region's many gulags
 * — an old Komi village on the Izhma river, with wooden architecture and rich folk traditions
 * &mdash; a small city on the Pechora river; likely your base for exploring Yugyd Va
 * &mdash; a big industrial city centered around the nearby oilfields
 * &mdash; another oil city
 * — an ancient village on the Pechora River, populated mainly by Russian Old Believers with numerous well-preserved examples of wooden architecture and rich folk traditions
 * &mdash; a coal mining city in the tundra, which hosted one of the USSR's most notorious Stalin-era gulags, and has one of the closest airports to the beautiful but inhospitable polar Ural mountains
 * — an old Komi village near Syktyvkar comprising of seven small villages on seven hills along 15 km of the Sysola River. Tourists and pilgrims go to see unique natural and Orthodox objects. A tourist complex “Finno-Ugric Ethnocultural Park” is being created on the basis of the village.
 * &mdash; a coal mining city in the tundra, which hosted one of the USSR's most notorious Stalin-era gulags, and has one of the closest airports to the beautiful but inhospitable polar Ural mountains
 * — an old Komi village near Syktyvkar comprising of seven small villages on seven hills along 15 km of the Sysola River. Tourists and pilgrims go to see unique natural and Orthodox objects. A tourist complex “Finno-Ugric Ethnocultural Park” is being created on the basis of the village.

Other destinations

 * Virgin Komi Forests &mdash; UNESCO World Heritage Site and largest virgin forest in Europe. The site corresponds to Russia's Pechora-Ilych Nature Reserve and Yugyd Va National Park:
 * &mdash; Europe's largest national park, as well as Russia's second largest after Beringia National Park in Chukotka, is also one of its most beautiful and remote. The place to go in the Urals for nature lovers.
 * — The core of the World Heritage Site Virgin Komi Forests, on the western slopes of the Urals, and home to Manpupuner rock formations

Understand


The Komi Republic is named for the Komi People, a Finno-Ugric group, who comprise a quarter of the region's population (ethnic Russians are the majority).

The region is of interest for two main reasons: its extensive and brutal gulag history and the beautiful Ural mountain and forest areas in its east, especially Yugyd Va National Park.

Talk
Most of the Komi People who live in the region speak Komi, a Finno-Ugric language closely related to Udmurt, but virtually all inhabitants of the Komi Republic are fluent in Russian.

Get in
Flights arrive to Syktyvkar from Moscow and Ufa. Trains arrive to Syktyvkar via Kotlas, Arkhangelsk Oblast.

Get around
Rossiya/Aeroflot Airlines operate flights from Syktyvkar to other far-flung cities in the region.

Go next
In the late summer, boats head north from Pechora to Naryan-Mar, the capital of Nenetsia. Year round, trains pass through the Urals to connect with Salekhard in Yamalia, Siberia.