The process of assuming sovereignty and post-Soviet development of national republics made profound changes in the sphere of national and civil identity. The article is based on the results of All-Russian population censuses of 2002 and 2010 and ethnosociological surveys. It aims is to discover role of the linguistic factor in the formation and development of Russian identity in a multinational republic (Bashkortostan) in the context of national and civil identity display depending on the social and psychological views of respondents. Linguistic factor plays a great role in the formation of identity. The language is a basis which a person is brought up with thus influencing person’s identity. Analysis of the knowledge of languages shows that, in spite of measures to foster native languages in the republic, we can notice vast spread of Russian language. Percentage of people knowing Russian among almost all non-Russian nations is higher than of those knowing language of their nationality. Moreover, this figure is increasing from census to census. According to the data of the population census in Bashkortostan, 98,7% of people stressed that they know Russian. In the sphere of ethno-national relationships where civil identity is being formed and displayed, feeling of community with the citizens of Russia is dominant among Russianspeaking Bashkirs and Tatars. The latter show a greater percentage of those who consider themselves to be representatives of both Bashkortostan and Russia than Bashkir-speaking Bashkirs and Tatar-speaking Tatars.