Buinsky District (; ) is a territorial administrative unit and municipality of the Republic of Tatarstan within the Russian Federation. The district is located in the southwest of the republic and occupies a total area of . According to the 2010 census, the municipality had a population of 25,101. As of the beginning of 2020, the population had grown to 41,587. The district currently consists of 98 settlements.
The administrative center of the district, the town of Buinsk, is not included within the administrative structure of the district. The settlement first appeared in historical records dating to 1703. Its name is derived from the Tatar word “bua”, meaning “dam”.
Geography
The Buinsky municipal district occupies a total land area of 1543.6 km². It shares borders with the Drozhzhanovsky district in the south-west, with Apastovsky in the north, Tetyushsky in the east, with the Ulyanovsk region in the south, and with Chuvashia in the west.
The terrain of the district is a hilly plain with heights rising to as high as 150–200 meters. The largest river, the Sviyaga, flows between forest-steppe and steppe zones. Its tributaries include the Karla, Bula, Ulema, Tsilna and Malaya Tsilna. Forests cover 9,681 hectares of the region. The local climate is temperate continental which creates favorable conditions for cattle breeding and agriculture. There are 125 archeological monuments on the territory of the region.
Flag and Coat of Arms
In June 2006, the Council of the Buinsky municipal district approved its new heraldic insignia. The design was carried out by the Heraldic Council under the President of the Republic of Tatarstan together with the Union of Heraldists of Russia. For centuries the territory of the Buinsky district was a natural divide protecting the region from nomadic raids — this is symbolically represented on the canvas by a jagged dividing line. The sifted wheat allegorizes the developed agriculture of the district; the green field indicates the abundance of local nature and health. The gold color is a symbol of rich harvests, wealth, stability and respect. The setting sun emphasizes the border position of the region and its location in the southwest of the republic. The scroll points to the rich history of the Buinsk lands and as the homeland of outstanding writers, poets, artists and politicians. Silver is a symbol of purity, perfection, peace and tolerance. The blue sky signifies the dignity and spirituality of the locals.
The flag is based on heraldic elements of the coat of arms. A rectangular canvas with a width to length ratio of 2:3 is divided horizontally by a white line into green and blue stripes. The rising sun is depicted in the upper band, and a scroll and sifted wheat are placed on the field.
History
According to available archeological records, the first settlements on the territory of the modern Buinsky district emerged in the Stone Age, that is, approximately X-VI thousand years BC. In the early Middle Ages, the peoples of the Imenkov culture lived here and primarily engaged in agriculture. At the time of Volga Bulgaria, there were already several dozen settlements in this area.
Settlements on the site of the modern town of Buinsk were first mentioned in historical records in the mid-17th century. On September 15, 1780, Empress Catherine the Great granted the village of Buinskoye, also known as Arkhangelskoye, the status of a town.
Until 1921, the territory was part of the Buinsky county (uyezd) of the Simbirsk province. In the 1920s-1930s it belonged to the Buinsky canton. On August 10, 1930, the Presidium of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee adopted a decree on the formation of the district as an independent unit within the Tatar ASSR. In 1959, part of the abolished Tsilninsky district was annexed to the Buinsk district. Four years later the territories of Drozhzhanovsky, Kaibitsky and part of the Apastovsky districts would be joined to the territory, increasing the total area of the canton to 4123 km². In 1966, the Drozhzhanovsky district was again made a separate territory. On January 31, 2005, the Buinsky district was established in its present form by a regional law.
Administrative and municipal status
Within the framework of administrative divisions, the Buinsky district is one of the forty-three in the republic. The town of Buinsk serves as its administrative center, despite being incorporated separately as a town of republic significance — an administrative unit with status equal to that of the districts.