KOMI-PERMYAK

autonomous okrug (district), Perm oblast (province), western Russia. It was formed in 1925 for the Komi-Permyaks, a branch of the Finno-Ugric Komi people. It consists of low, rolling morainic hills of the Verkhne (Upper) Kama upland, which is bisected by the Kama River. Apart from the floodplain meadows along the rivers and peat bogs in depressions, the predominant landscape is dense, swampy forest, or taiga, of fir, pine, spruce, and birch. Timber working is the only important economic activity; the poor soils support only limited agriculture, chiefly rye and oats. Communications are few and poor. The only city is the administrative centre, Kudymkar (q.v.), on the Inva River. Area 12,700 square miles (32,900 square km). Pop. (1993 est.) 161,100.