Verkhnesalimovo (Russian: Верхнесалимово; Bashkir: Үрге Сәлим, Ürge Sälim) is a rural locality (a village) in Matrayevsky Selsoviet, Zilairsky District, Republic of Bashkortostan, Russia.
Geography
The village is located on the right bank of the Buzavlyk River, approximately 60 km east of the district administrative centre Zilair by road. The nearest rural locality is Balapan. It lies in the foothills of the southern Ural Mountains at an elevation of approximately 600 metres above sea level. The village operates in the Yekaterinburg Time Zone (YEKT, UTC+5:00).
History
Verkhnesalimovo was established between 1870 and 1900 as a vyselok (outlying settlement) by Bashkirs from the nearby village of Salimovo in the Tungaur Volost of Orenburg Governorate. The name "Verkhnesalimovo" means "Upper Salimovo," reflecting its position upstream from the original Salimovo (later known as Nizhnesalimovo, which ceased to exist in the early 1960s). By 1900, the village had a wooden mosque and a mekteb (religious school). It was officially recognized as a separate village between 1908 and 1911.
During the Soviet period, collectivization led to the formation of the kolkhoz "Kamysh-Uzyak" in 1928–1929, which later merged into the sovkhoz "Novy Mir" (from 1959, Zernosovkhoz "Bashkirskiy"). The village's mosque was closed in the 1930s and converted to a club, while a primary school opened in the same decade.
Demographics
According to the 2010 Russian Census, the population of Verkhnesalimovo was 174 residents (83 males, 91 females). This represented a decline from 187 residents recorded in the 2002 Census. Bashkirs form the predominant ethnic group in the village. The primary languages spoken are Bashkir and Russian.
Infrastructure
The village has four streets. A feldsher-obstetric station (FAP) provides basic healthcare services. The local economy is predominantly agrarian, centred on livestock herding and crop farming, with forestry providing seasonal employment. The village is connected to the district centre of Zilair by a 60-kilometre road consisting primarily of gravel and dirt surfaces.
