Elista in the context of "Republic of Kalmykia"

Kalmykia, officially the Republic of Kalmykia, is a republic of Russia, located in the Volga region of European Russia. The republic is part of the Southern Federal District, and borders Dagestan to the south and Stavropol Krai to the southwest; Volgograd Oblast to the northwest and north and Astrakhan Oblast to the north and east; Rostov Oblast to the west and the Caspian Sea to the east. Through the Caspian Depression, the Kuma river forms Kalmykia's natural border with Dagestan. Kalmykia is the only polity within Europe where the Dharmic religion of Buddhism is the predominant religion; the majority of Kalmyk people are Vajrayana Tibetan Buddhists of the Gelug and Kagyu lineages.

The Kalmykia republic covers an area of 76,100 square kilometres (29,400 square miles), with a small population of about 275,000 residents. The republic of Kalmykia is home of the Kalmyks, a people of Oirat Mongolian origin who are mainly of Tibetan Buddhist faith. The capital of the republic is the city of Elista.

A khurul (Kalmyk: хурул, romanized: khurul; Mongolian: хурэ / хүрээ, romanized: khure / khüree or hure or küriye) is a Buddhist monastery (temple, abode) in Kalmyk (Mongol-Oirat) Lamaism. Some of the most famous Kalmyk khuruls are the Burkhan Bakshin Altan Sume (contemporary) in Elista, Republic of Kalmykia, Russia, and the Khosheutovsky khurul (which was originally in the Kalmyk AO / Kalmyk ASSR, but is now located in Astrakhan Oblast, Russia).

Kalmyk Oirat (Хальмг Өөрдин келн, IPA: [xalʲmə́k ɵːrd̥íɴ kʰelə́ɴ]), also known as the Kalmyk language (Хальмг келн) and formerly anglicized as Calmuck, is a variety of the Oirat language, natively spoken by the Kalmyk people of Kalmykia, a federal subject of Russia. In Russia, it is the standard form of the Oirat Mongolian (based on the Torgut dialect), which belongs to the Mongolic language family. The Kalmyk people of the Northwest Caspian Sea of Russia claim descent from the Oirats from Eurasia, who have also historically settled in Mongolia and Northwest China. According to UNESCO, the language is "definitely endangered". According to the Russian census of 2021, there are 110,000 speakers out of an ethnic population consisting of 178,000 people.

The Burkhan Bakshin Altan Sume ("The Golden Abode of the Buddha Sakyamuni", Kalmyk: Бурхн Багшин алтн сүм, romanized: Burxn Bagşin altn süm, [burˈxən baxˈʃin aɫˈtən syˈmə]; Russian: Золотая обитель Будды Шакьямуни, romanized: Zolotaya obitel Buddy Shakyamuni) is a Gelug Buddhist monastery in Elista, the capital of the Republic of Kalmykia, a federal subject of the Russian Federation. The temple is the largest Buddhist temple in Russia and Europe, and it contains the third largest Buddha statue in Europe — 9 m (30 ft), with only the 10 m (33 ft) tall Miró Buddha in Paris and the 12.5 m (41 ft) tall Buddha in Lagan being bigger.

It was opened on December 27, 2005, at the site of a former factory. More than 5,000 people attended the opening ceremony, including representatives of Tibetan Buddhist communities from Moscow, Volgograd and Saratov.

The Kalmyk Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic (Russian: Калмыцкая Автономная Советская Социалистическая Республика; Kalmyk: Хальмг Автономн Советск Социалистическ Республик, romanized: Xaľmg Avtonomn Sovetsk Soţialistiçesk Respublik, [xalʲˈmək aftɐˈnomnə sɐˈvʲɛt͡sk sɐt͡sialʲɪsˈtit͡ʃəsk rʲɪsˈpublʲɪk]) was an autonomous republic of the Russian SFSR that existed at two periods of time. Its administrative center was Elista.

The Kalmyk ASSR was first established when the Kalmyk Autonomous Oblast (established 4 November 1920) had its status increased on 22 October 1935. On 27 December 1943 in conjunction with the deportation of over 93,000 Kalmyks to various locations in Central Asia and Siberia, the Kalmyk ASSR was abolished and its territory was split between adjacent Astrakhan, Rostov and Stalingrad Oblasts and Stavropol Krai. Soviet authorities renamed the former republic's towns and villages.