Yavas


Yavas is an urban locality in Zubovo-Polyansky District of the Republic of Mordovia, Russia. As of the 2010 Census, its population was 7,941.

History

Founded in 1931 as the headquarters of fast-paced camp system for prisoners, dubbed Temlag of the Gulag system, later Dubravlag. The settlement retains its value as one of the centers of Russian penitentiary system, there are institutions:
The status of urban-type settlement assigned to settlement by the decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Council of Autonomous Republic of Mordovia on April 9, 1959.
Located on Yavas River, 42 km from the district center, Zubova Polyana and 36 km from the railway station Potma. Founded in 1930 on the railway line Potma – Barashevo that served area for harvesting of industrial wood and firewood for Moscow. At the beginning of the 1930s, the village became the center of the CTI network open here. A factory for wood processing was built in 1941-1945. By the mid-1950s, a school, hotel, bath, residential buildings and a stadium were built, as well as renovated House of Culture.

Administrative and municipal status

Within the framework of administrative divisions, the work settlement of Yavas, together with three rural localities, is incorporated within Zubovo-Polyansky District as Yavas Work Settlement. As a municipal division, Yavas Work Settlement is incorporated within Zubovo-Polyansky Municipal District as Yavasskoye Urban Settlement.

Notable people

It is a birthplace of the Soviet/Russian cosmonaut Vladimir Dezhurov.