Steady rural development is a most important factor of the improvement of rural standard of living. Prolonged period of socio-economic reforms in the Russian Federation led to some negative changes in the economic life of rural zones: 1) within the space of a number of years the salary of rural workers remains the lowest compared with the other branches of the economy; 2) rural poverty is rising; 3) negative tendencies in the social sphere of rural areas still take place; 4) demographic situation is growing progressively worse; the birthrate is on decline; 5) the chain of social infrastructure institutions in rural areas is being reduced. Our society is more and more aware of the necessity of purposeful and steady development of rural areas. The Federal law "On agriculture development" has been recently enacted; the Conception devoted to the steady development of the Russian Federation rural areas for the period till 2020 is passed. Great attention to this issue is paid in the state program devoted to the agriculture development as well as to the regulation of agricultural produce, raw material and foodstuffs markets for the period from 2008 to 2012. It should be emphasized that many highly developed countries are engaged in the working out of the strategies and programmes connected with steady rural development by taking various methodological approaches as a basis for their research and by choosing different degree of detailed elaboration.

As it is noted in the Conception devoted to the steady development of the Russian Federation rural areas for the period till 2020 the rural areas development is a complex problem and the it is possible under the condition of: 1) macroeconomic stability and an increase in gross domestic product; 2) economic growth in rural areas; 3) achievement of social conditions of getting profits and social benefits on the equal footing with urban areas; 4) formation of civic society institutes which ensure the protection of economic and social interests of different groups of rural sector; 5) realization of programs devoted to the improvement of ecological situation in rural areas; 6) stimulation of the development of ecologically safe industries; 7) development of the rural sector social security system, etc. The aim of the Conception is: to slow down depopulation process and improve demographic situation in rural areas; to raise birthrate and decrease death rate; to reduce the number of rural population having incomes below living wage by improving their welfare; to promote employment of able-bodied villagers; to improve transport service, consumer and social services [2].

In order to create conditions necessary for rural municipalities transition to steady and comprehensive socio-economic development, there must be worked out a long-term strategy of steady development for each of them. The strategy is worked out (formulated) on the basis of the assessment of rural areas existing problems and possible ways of their solving as well as on the basis of thorough analysis of economic, structural, ecological and social situations still taking place in rural areas; their development potential should be given an unbiased estimation. Special importance is attached to the formulation of main goals the primary of which is to improve the quality of life of rural sector. For this purpose it is necessary to preserve and modernize rural infrastructure, to renovate and develop villages, to improve natural and cultural heritage.

The issue of rural municipalities' budgets formation has a great importance for the strategy formulation of rural areas development and its realization. The solution to this problem depends directly on:

- size of rural population and its standard of living;

- availability of actively functioning agro-industrial complexes;

- efficient and rational use of land, forest, water, mineral and raw material resources;

- constant improvement of interbudgetary relations between organs of local government of various levels;

- degree of development of agricultural cooperative society and credit cooperation, etc.

At the same time availability of budgetary funds would allow rural municipalities to create social infrastructure facilities all by themselves or by attracting investment. All this would improve considerably rural standard of living. It should be emphasized that rural areas development is a capital-intensive process demanding constant state support and large-scale investment especially in the case of formulation and introduction of innovative strategic approaches.

It is obvious that at present a methodology of strategic management of rural areas must be developed but taking into account the fact that these areas are differentiated it is expedient to draw their typology.

1. Typology will favour the revealing of rural social development regularities, i.e. it will help to diagnose the reaction of a territorial entity and its elements (rural authorities, branches of rural economics, etc.) to the influence of some external factors connected with the whole socio-economic environment. As a result it becomes possible to forecast crisis situations and to take timely measures for their removal which is one of the adaptable objectives of areas development management.

2. The matter, connected with the integration of local territories strategies into comprehensive strategic plans of the country and its regions development, is not worked up enough in Russian scientific practice. Vast majorities of rural areas do not have development strategies (conceptions or long-term programs). So, while realizing national or regional programs (either on the level of the economic entities of the Russian Federation or municipal areas) socio-economic situation remains there all the same. From this point of view typology allows to differentiate development indices for each type of rural zones, to determine system-forming branches and corresponding parameters of national policy as well as to suggest an adequate set of tools for each area self-development by taking into account its strong and weak points.

To draw a typology of rural areas let us study their variety in the Mordovian Republic. By January 1st 2011 rural population had been 39,5 %. As there is no detailed and complete municipal statistics as applied to each separate area, while analyzing there were used not separate localities but municipal areas as a whole. Within the framework of the research there were used statistical records of the territorial organ of the Federal service of national statistics, some schemes of territorial planning, municipalities' passports, as well as reports devoted to the assessment of local self-government organs activity in municipal areas. These reports are published all over the country in accordance with the RF President's decree issued in April 28th 2008, № 607. In our Republic the assessment system in reports consists of 148 isolated indices which reflect economic situation, social sphere and demographic trends, budget management and budget costs effectiveness. The part of these indices can characterize rural areas development.

In our opinion small towns and urban settlements with a population of not more than 10 thousand people can be numbered among rural areas. As a rule, they are economic, administrative, financial and cultural centers of rural areas; moreover they are centers of agri-foodstuffs industry. These small towns and urban settlements of our Republic are rural areas themselves; they are built over with one- or two-storey houses and are covered in kitchen and market gardens. On the basis of the above-said we consider it appropriate to include in the subject of our research only 17 municipal areas out of 23 areas excluding Saransk district. Considering that localities with a population of more than 10 thousand people are eliminated, Zubovo-Polyanskiy, Kovylkinskiy, Krasnoslobodskiy, Ruzaevskiy, Chamzinskiy municipal areas and Saransk district will not go in the research.

It is obvious that rural localities can be classified on the basis of large amount of signs. One of the essential characteristics of any localities is their populousness as it reflects important qualitative features of settlements. In Mordovia there are 1248 rural settlements (98,8 %), 214 settlements (17 %) number less than 10 people, 387 settlements (31 %) are small localities which number about 100 people. In such localities social services are not realized and for the most part they depend on the nearest larger settlements. Such facilities as primary schools, first-aid posts, recreation and reading rooms or clubhouses, village general stores can be set up (built) only selectively (i.e. in one small settlement for the whole territorial group). Moreover, they are all small-sized. Considering that some localities do not have concrete / paved roads, the villagers are deprived of vital medical and public services.

Each settlement with a population of 200-500 people (22,4 % of all rural localities) can have the above-mentioned minimum set of small-sized consumer service establishments which provide villagers with medical, cultural and public services in limited quantities. An agricultural settlement of such size in organizational and economic respect can be a basis for a certain production unit (for example, a team, a branch factory or a large farm of an agricultural enterprise).

In localities with a population of 1-2 thousand people (2,5 % of all rural localities) -which are considered to be large in Mordovia - it is possible to enlarge the range of consumer service establishments and their technical equipment. When a rural sector numbers 3-5 thousand people (less than 1 % of all rural localities) there can be favourable opportunities to improve rural settlements culture and welfare service by building large type design schools, clubhouses, medical institutions, specialized commercial / retail networks etc. Being centres of large (farm) enterprises such settlements are quite optimum in production terms. They contain a high percentage of manpower and production buildings. It should be noted that there formed a certain anti-polar territory stratification the component parts of which are the centres of development and the periphery (the outlying districts) which, in its turn, includes almost 2/3 of all rural localities [1].

The most important sign of rural areas typology is their socio-economic development, the level of which differs greatly too. Singling out types according to this sign is also important for the assessment of potential possibilities and competitive edge necessary for working out state-controlled revival programmes aimed at improving rural settlements. For example, according to the level of entrepreneurship development (calculations are made by the number of entities of small and medium size business at the population of 10 thousand people) municipal areas of the republic differ from one another more than twice: from 362,2 units in Bolsheignatovskiy region to 175 units in Tengushevskiy region.

The level of socio-economic development of rural areas can be well assessed on the basis of cluster analysis in accordance with the system of indices which is shown below.

Table. The mean of cluster indices made according to the socio-economic development of Mordovia municipal rural areas.

Clustering of the municipal areas of the Mordovian Republic by a method of single connection allowed to identify three clusters each containing a group capable of developing quite steadily (cluster 1 consisting of 4 regions). The group of unsteady development is in the cluster 2 (8 regions) and the group of problem regions is in the cluster 3 (5 regions). The data shown in the above table indicate that depending on the clusters mean indices differ substantially. So, judging by budget incomes on the basis of 1 person, the first cluster regions are 40 % better provided than the third cluster ones, as far as the volume of investments into basic capital on the basis of 1 person is concerned, they are 2,3 times better provided than the third cluster regions.

2. Conception of the Russian Federation rural areas steady development for the period till 2020. / Site of the Russian Federation Ministry of Agriculture. [Electronic resource]. – Access mode : http://www.mcx.ru/documents/file_document/show/4248.136.htm

3. Main indices of municipalities’ socio-economic development. Statistical (year)book № 102 (12). – Saransk : Mordoviyastat, 2011. – 206 p.