East or West, Home is Best

East or West, Home is Best

My Yugra.

 Hi, my name is Valeria Borodina. I'm fifteen years old and I live with my mum, dad and little brother in Khanty- Mansi Okrug-Yugra. Have you ever heard of this Okrug? My Okrug is one of the largest within the Russian Federation. It is situated in Syberia.                                                    

In the south- east   there is a settlement   Poykovskiy, where I was born and where I live now.

Our Okrug is a great land. It is the pearl of the Syberia. Our nature is nice and rich. There are many unique places of nature and each is great.

There are a lot of  rivers in Yugra. The main rivers are the Ob, the Irtysh, the Ukonda, the Bolshoy Salym, the Agan. My native settlement is near the river- Poyka.

Yugra is rich in beautiful forests. There are coniferous and deciduous forests. Every day we can enjoy the beauty of these forests especially in autumn, when there are trees with different colours of leaves.

It is impossible to imagine the beauty of Yugra’s nature without visiting it.

The capital of my Okrug is a beautiful city Khanty-Mansisk.  It  is one of the largest cities in Yugra. Nowadays Khanty-Mansisk is a major industrial, scientific and cultural centre of our Okrug.

Khanty-Mansisk is a centre of science and education, too. There are a lot of universities, lyceums, gymnasiums, secondary schools and kindergartens in this city.

You can see many cinemas,  cultural and shopping centres  there. There are many monuments and museums and other places of interest in Khanty-Mansisk.

Our Okrug develops economic relations in the fields of oil-industry with companies from other countries.

We have our own flag, national symbol and anthem. Our national flag has three colours. They are blue, green, and white. These colours have their symbolic meanings. The blue colour means honesty and devotion. The Yugra’s people were always devoted to their friends, families and to the country. The white colour means the nobility and sincerity of the Yugra’s people. The green colour means the earth, freedom, wisdom of people. We have our national anthem.

I am happy because our Okrug  is beautiful, rich and modern, and we have all the opportunities to work and study, to live and rest, to create and enjoy ourselves.

Yugra, my land, my sky,

Your trees are very high.

Yugra, you are rich and dear,

I am free and happy here.

You give us food,

And happy childhood.

You give us your love,

The sky is blue above.

Yugra - my native land,

You always give your helping hand.

Your heart is open for all of us,

For our generous and kind friends.

A lot of nationalities live together in peace and friendship, in a friendly multicultural family. I am proud of the many talented writers, poets, composers, painters and other specialists from here.

I am fond of reading books of  Yugra’s writers and poets. I like Andrey Tarkhanov most of all. His poems teach us to live in friendship and agreement, to be kind and live together in peace,  to respect and understand each other. I like his poem "Blue Rains".

I hope that you liked this story about my homeland Yugra. And I invite everybody to visit this magical, great, beautiful and unique land.

By Valeria Borodina,

 School № 2 of Poykovskiy, Khanty-Mansi Okrug-Yugra.