Take a map of Russia and find the blue ribbon denoting the Volga River. In its central reaches, on the left-hand bank you can find Yoshkar-Ola, the capital of Marl El. It was called Marl El on October the 22, 1990. It is included in the Russian Federation. Marl El is situated in the eastern part of the East European Plain in the basin of the middle flow of the Volga river. The Volga divides it into two parts: the Left-Bank Lowland and the Right-Bank Highland which occupies the lesser area. The Lowland is covered with sand and it is rich in lakes. The relief of the Right-Bank Highland is hilly.
    The Republic has a favourable geographical position among such industrial centres as Nizhni Novgorod, Kazan and Kirov. The territory of the Republic stretches for 275 km from west to east and for 150 km from north to south. The total length of its borders is about 1,200 km. Mari El borders on the Nizhegorodsky Region in the west, on the Kirov Region in the north, on the Republic of Tatarstan in the south-west and on the Chuvash Republic in the south. The territory of Mari El is 23.3 thousand square kilometres. There are 14 administrative regions, four towns (Yoshkar-Ola, Volzhsk, Kozmodenyansk, Zvenigovo), 19 settlements in the republic.
   The population consists of Maris, Russians, Udmurts, Chuvashes and people of other nationalities. The native population is Mari. The basic and predominant population is Russians. The capital of the Republic of Mari El is Yoshkar-Ola (290 thousand people).
   The republic is characterized by the temperate-continental climate, we have a long cold winter and a warm summer. Summer usually begins in the first half of June when the temperature reaches 15 degrees. Summer lasts about 80 days.The hottest month is July and the temperature reaches 35-38 degrees. Summer is moderately hot and humid. People grow different crops, vegetables and fruit in summer.
   Autumn usually comes at the end of August and lasts 60 days. In September the temperature reaches zero, small rivers and lakes begin to freeze. Autumn is cool, with constant rains and frosts.
   The first snow comes at the end of October. In the middle of November the earth is covered with snow, all the rivers freeze. Winter lasts about 160 days. The average monthly temperature is 13 degrees below zero, the frosts reach 50 degrees. The layer of snow is 35-45 cm. Children like to ski and to skate on the rivers and lakes when they are frozen.
     Spring is rather cool. It lasts 60 days. It begins in the last decade of March. In the middle of April rivers break up. At that time birds come back. At the end of April winter crops begin to grow and field work begins. Bears, bats and reptiles wake up after winter sleep.
   There are about 476 rivers in our republic. The total length of all the rivers is 7,144 km. The longest river is the Volga which runs across the territory of our republic for 155 km. Almost all large rivers are the tributaries of the Volga - the Vetluga, the Sura, the Kokshaga, the Kundysh, the Ilet.
   Cleaned river water is used for everyday needs. The important sources of water supply are underground water. There are also mineral waters in the valleys of the Ilet and Yashut, they are used in health resorts.
   Our republic is called the lake land. We have about 200 lakes. Many of them are situated in picturesque places and in the: forests in the Lowland. The biggest and deepest lake is the Yalchik. Its depth is 34 metres. It is famous for its clean water and rich vegetation. The Yalchik has become a resort and many people have a good rest on the lake in summer.
   A few hundred years ago the territory of our republic was covered with wild forests. Now the forests cover only half of it. They are the main treasure of Marl El and Russia. There are about 70 kinds of trees here. The most common trees are pine, birch, fir, maple, oak and lime trees. The forests are the places of living for many animals such as hare, fox, wolf, bear, lynx, beaver and some others. There are 181 kinds of birds in our forests and 47 kinds of fish in our rivers and lakes.