VYATKA, or Viatka, a government of north-eastern Russia, with Vologda on the N., Perm on the E., Ufa and Kazan on the S., and Nijni Novgorod and Kostroma on the W., has an area of 59,124 square miles. It has on its northern boundary the flat water-parting which separates the basins of the Northern Dwina and Volga, and its surface is an undulating plateau of from 800 to 1400 feet above sealevel, deeply grooved by rivers and assuming a hilly aspect on their banks, broken up as they are by ravines. Permian sandstones, marls, and limestones cover it; over these is boulder clay, with extensive forests and marshes. The Kama rises in the north-east, and, after making a wide sweep through Perm, flows along its south-eastern boundary, while the whole of the government is watered by the Vyatka and its numerous tributaries. Both the Kama and the Vyatka are navigable, as also are several of their tributaries; the Izha and Votka, which flow into the latter, have important iron-works on their banks. As many as 1,700,000 cwts. of corn, iron, hides, leather, tallow, timber, and wooden wares were loaded in 1883 at the landingplaces of Vyatka, while the traffic on the Kama is still more important. There are no railways, but the province is traversed by the great highway to Siberia, and two other roads by which goods from the south are transported to loading-places on the Vytchegda and the Yug to be shipped farther north to Archangel. Lakes are numerous, and vast marshes are met with everywhere, especially in the north; three-quarters of the area are under forests. The climate is very severe, the average yearly temperature being 36° F. at Vyatka (January, 8°·2; July, 67° ∙0), and 35° at Slobodskoi (January, 3° ∙5; July, 65°∙3)....
The population (2,859,000 in 1883, as against 2,170,221 in 1861), though sparse on the average, is somewhat dense in the better-situated valleys. The bulk consists of Great Russians (81 per cent.), but there are also considerable remains of the aboriginal Votiaks (250,000), Tcheremisses (about 150,000), Tartars, Tepters, Permians, and even Bashkirs. Mohammedans number about 100,000, and pagans (Tcheremisses and Votiaks) about 11,000. The Votiaks (Otiaks), a Finnish stem of the Permian group, call themselves Ot, Ut, or Ud, and the Tartars call them Ar, so that it is supposed that they may be akin to the Ars of the Yenisei. They are middle-sized, with fair hair and eyes, often red-haired; and the general structure of the face and skuli is Finnish. By their dialect they belong to the same branch as the Permians. They are excellent agriculturists, very laborious, and excel in bee-keeping.
The soil is fertile, especially in the valleys of the south; rye, barley, oats, buckwheat, and to some extent wheat are grown. The crops of 1885 were—rye, 4,006,000 quarters; oats, 3,957,000; barley, 734,000; wheat, 98,000; potatoes, 231,000 quarters. Com is exported to the Kama or to the north, as also are flax and hemp. There is no want of natural meadows in the south, and cattle-rearing prospers. The Vyatka horses, a fine breed, though rather small, are well known throughout Russia. There were in 1883 706,600 horses, 925,100 cattle, and 1,446,400 sheep. Attempts are being made to introduce finer breeds of cows and sheep.
Industries are developing steadily, there having been in 1884 684 establishments, which employed 9700 workmen, and showed a yearly return of £1,510,000. They include distilleries (£885,600), iron-works, chemical works, tanneries, soap and glass works, and cotton and paper mills. Votkinsk (q.v.) has a considerable yearly production of agricultural machinery and steam-engines. The crown manufactory of guns at Izhevsk works up yearly 10,000 cwts. of steel. Domestic trades give occupation to more than 40,000 persons, and their returns in 1884 reached £706,800. The manufacture of wooden vessels, window frames, doors, furniture, sledges, and carts supplies a considerable export trade to the steppe provinces of the lower Volga. Domestic weaving produces, it is estimated, about 5,400,000 yards of linen every year. Many peasants have nevertheless to leave their homes in search of work, either as “burlaki” for shipping and dragging boats or as porters; hunting and bird-catching still have some importance in the forest tracts.
Trade is considerable,—iron, copper, tar, pitch, glass, leather, paper, timber, and wooden wares, as also corn, hides, flax, linseed, honey, and other raw produce being exported to Nijni Novgorod, Orenburg, and Siberia; while groceries and various manufactured goods are imported.
Vyatka is one of those few governments of Russia where the zemstvo, consisting to a great extent of representatives of the peasantry, has succeeded in creating a series of educational institutions without incurring the displeasure of the Government. It distinguishes itself very favourably by its schools, libraries, surgeons, and hospitals in villages, and by its elaborate house-to-house statistical descriptions of several districts, and statistical publications. There were in 1884 641 primary and 22 secondary schools.
Vyatka is divided into eleven districts—those of Vyatka (24,480 inhabitants in 1885); Elabuga (9750); Głazoff (1945); Kotelnitch (4490); Małmyzh (3400); Nolinsk (3990); Orloff (3380); Sarapul (12,370); Slobodskoi (9225); Urzhum (5100); Yaransk (2855). Votkinsk (q.v.) has 15,480 inhabitants, and Izhevsk has 21,500.
VYATKA, capital of the above government, is situated on the Vyatka river, 653 miles to the north-east of Moscow. It is built mostly of wood, on the steep hills which rise above the river, as well as on their slopes and at their base. Its old walls have been demolished, and its old churches built anew. Two public gardens, a small public library, and the usual educational institutions of a Russian provincial town are all that it can boast of. Its manufactures are insignificant, but its trade in corn, leather, tallow, candles, soap, wax, paper, and furs (exported), and in all kinds of manufactured and grocery wares (imported), is important. The population in 1885 was 24,480.
Vyatka was founded in 1181 by the Novgorodians, under the name of Khłynoff, for the purpose of maintaining their dominion among the Votiaks, Tcheremisses, and Tartars. The squirrel and beaver furs, especially the latter (beaver being then common in the region), and the Vyatka horses, as also wax aud honey, were the chief attractions for trade; and, notwithstanding the dangers then encountered on the route to Vyatka and Perm, via Vologda, the Novgorod merchants and ukshuiniki (plundering merchants) willingly visited Vyatka and settled there. The town soon grew around the fort, and had to be enclosed within new walls. In 1391 it was plundered by the Tartars, and again in 1477. The power of Novgorod was decaying, and the Moscow princes, always pursuing the same policy of intrigue, and showing themselves ready to take up the cause of the poorer classes against the richer merchants, made advantageous use of internal struggles, and annexed Khłynoff to Moscow in 1489. It received the name of Vyatka in 1780.
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