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.

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 mountain and forest areas in its east, most of all Yugyd Va National Park.

• Syktyvkar — the capital and the only city in the region that qualifies as a tourist destination for its own sake
• Inta — a small city which housed one of the region's many gulags
• Pechora — a small city on the Pechora river; likely your base for exploring Yugyd Va
• Ukhta — a big industrial city centered around the nearby oilfields
• Usinsk — another oil city
• Vorkuta — 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

• Virgin Komi Forests — UNESCO World Heritage Site and largest virgin forest in Europe:
  • Yugyd Va National Park — The World's seventh and Russia's largest national park is also one of its most beautiful and remote—the place to go in the Urals for nature lovers
  • Pechora-Ilych Nature Reserve

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.

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

Komiinteravia Airlines operate flights from Syktyvkar to other far-flung cities in the region.

• Mt.Narodnaya – Climbing the highest top of the Ural Mountains

In the late summer, boats head north from Pechora to Naryan-Mar, the capital of Nenetsia.