Yavas

Yavas Явас
Work settlement[1]
Other transcription(s)
• Moksha	Яваз
Location of Yavas
Yavas Location of Yavas Show map of Russia Yavas Yavas (Republic of Mordovia) Show map of Republic of Mordovia
Coordinates: 54°25′N 42°51′E / 54.417°N 42.850°E / 54.417; 42.850
Country	Russia
Federal subject	Mordovia[1]
Administrative district	Zubovo-Polyansky District[1]
Work Settlement	Yavas Work Settlement[1]
Founded	1931
Population  (2010 Census)[2]
• Total	7,941
Administrative status
• Capital of	Yavas Work Settlement[1]
Municipal status
• Municipal district	Zubovo-Polyansky Municipal District[3]
• Urban settlement	Yavasskoye Urban Settlement[3]
• Capital of	Yavasskoye Urban Settlement[3]
Time zone	UTC+3 (MSK [4])
Postal code(s)[5]	431160
OKTMO ID	89621180051

Yavas (Russian: Ява́с; Moksha: Яваз, Javaz) is an urban locality (a work settlement) in the Zubovo-Polyansky District of the Republic of Mordovia, Russia. As of the 2010 Census, its population was 7,941.^[2] It is the location of women's prison corrective colony No. 2, Mordovia.

It was founded in 1931 as the headquarters of the fast-paced camp system for prisoners, dubbed Temlag (named after the town of Temnikov) of the Gulag system, later transferred to Dubravlag (Asherah camp). The settlement retains its value as one of the centers of the Russian penitentiary system. There are these penal institutions:

• LC-385/2 (for women)
• LC-385/11 (for men)
• LC-385/8 (for males and females, the colony-settlement).

The status of urban-type settlement was assigned to the settlement by the decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Council of the Autonomous Republic of Mordovia on April 9, 1959.^{[citation needed]}

Located on Yavas River, 42 kilometres (26 mi) north from the district center Zubova Polyana and 36 kilometres (22 mi) from the railway station Potma. Founded in 1930 on the railway line Potma – Barashevo, it served as an area for harvesting industrial wood and firewood for Moscow. At the beginning of the 1930s, the village became the center of the CTI network opened here ("Dubravlag"). 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, and the House of Culture was renovated.

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 (an administrative division of the district).^[1] As a municipal division, Yavas Work Settlement is incorporated within Zubovo-Polyansky Municipal District as Yavasskoye Urban Settlement.^[3]

It is the birthplace of the Soviet/Russian cosmonaut Vladimir Dezhurov (1962). Brittney Griner, a US basketball player, was imprisoned at Female Penal Colony IK-2 in Yavas, in 2022.^[9]

• Государственное Собрание Республики Мордовия. Закон №7-З от 23 марта 1998 г. «О порядке решения вопросов административно-территориального устройства Республики Мордовия», в ред. Закона №44-З от 15 июня 2015 г. «О внесении изменений в пункт 25 Приложения к Закону Республики Мордовия "О порядке решения вопросов административно-территориального устройства Республики Мордовия"». Вступил в силу со дня официального опубликования. Опубликован: "Известия Мордовии", №54, 25 марта 1998 г. (State Assembly of the Republic of Mordovia. Law #7-Z of March 23, 1998 On the Procedures of the Administrative-Territorial Structure of the Republic of Mordovia, as amended by the Law #44-Z of June 15, 2015 On Amending Item 25 of the Appendix to the Law of the Republic of Mordovia "On the Procedures of the Administrative-Territorial Structure of the Republic of Mordovia". Effective as of the official publication date.).
• Государственное Собрание Республики Мордовия. Закон №12-З от 7 февраля 2005 г. «Об установлении границ муниципальных образований Зубово-Полянского муниципального района, Зубово-Полянского муниципального района и наделении их статусом сельского поселения, городского поселения и муниципального района», в ред. Закона №37-З от 25 мая 2012 г. «О внесении изменений в Закон Республики Мордовия "Об установлении границ муниципальных образований Зубово-Полянского муниципального района, Зубово-Полянского муниципального района и наделении их статусом сельского поселения, городского поселения и муниципального района"». Вступил в силу по истечении 10 дней со дня официального опубликования. Опубликован: "Известия Мордовии", №22-2, 16 февраля 2005 г. (State Assembly of the Republic of Mordovia. Law #12-Z of February 7, 2005 On Establishing the Borders of the Municipal Formations of Zubovo-Polyansky Municipal District, of Zubovo-Polyansky Municipal District, and on Granting Them the Status of a Rural Settlement, Urban Settlement, and Municipal District, as amended by the Law #37-Z of May 25, 2012 On Amending the Law of the Republic of Mordovia "On Establishing the Borders of the Municipal Formations of Zubovo-Polyansky Municipal District, of Zubovo-Polyansky Municipal District, and on Granting Them the Status of a Rural Settlement, Urban Settlement, and Municipal District". Effective as of the day which is 10 days after the day of the official publication.).