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The Sunnite Islam appeared in the territory of Tatarstan in the beginning of the 10th century. Nowadays it is confessed by half of the population of the republic – the Tatars and the Bashkirs. The Tatars are the most Northern Muslim nation in the world. The Orthodox Christian Church appeared here in the middle of the 16th century after collapse of the Kazan Khanate. Today the other half of the population – the Russians, the Chuvashs, the Mari, the Udmurts, the Mordvinians, and some Tatars shares this religion. At present, about 700 mosques and 200 churches are functioning in the Republic of Tatarstan (Iskhakov, 1993).
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