It is located in the north of the geographical
centre of the Asian continent in the Middle East and in the Southern Siberia. Its
neighbours can be counted as Kazakhstan in the West, the Russian Federation in the north,
Tuva and Hakas Turkish Republics in the east, and Mongolia, Eastern Turkistan and
Kazakhstan in the south. The native inhabitants that are faithful to the identity of
Turkish have maintained their Turkish identity in these lands considered as the Turkish
homeland of ancestors for thousands of years. Today, it is an autonomous Republic
connected to the Russian Federation.
The surface area of Altay Republic is 92.902 km2 and it is covered with mountains and
forests in the northern regions and the steppes in the southern parts. The height of the
Altay Mountains is 4.000 m and they are covered with glaciers.
On the
south, the Belukha Hill (Three Sumer) is the highest peak with the height of 4506 m. This
is followed by the hill of Maashei Bazhy (Nahşuoy Bajı) with the height of 4173 m. The
biggest glacier is the glacier of Caan Tacı that occupies an area of 35 km2. The most
important rivers are the Katun River and Biga River that springs from the lake of Telets
Koye. There are nearly 7 thousands of lakes in Altay and the biggest lake is the lake of
Telets Koye (Golden). Its surroundings are covered with Talga forests and the highest
mountains and it is the lake that owns the most magnificent sight.
The continental climate reigns in the Altay Republic. The most evident characteristics of
the climate are the winters that are cold with snowfall and the summers that are hot and
arid. The historians, ethnologists, the historians of art and culture and the linguistic
researchers consider the region of Altay as the Homeland of Turks. The researches carried
out in this region have shown the prototype of the warrior Turkish race was the race of
brakisefal that was the representative of Afanasyova (2700-1700 B.C.) and Andronova
(1700-1200 B.C.) cultures, especially the latter one |
 |
.The people, who lived in
tribes until the Century III B.C., got under the dominion of the Huns upon the arrival of
Huns in the region in the beginning of the Century II B.C. Then, Kokturks, Mongols and
Chineses followed them. Altay was under the pre-domination of Uighurs, Khirghizes, Cenghiz
Khan, Chungars, and Chinese-Manchus. In the year of 1865, Altay was reigned under the
Russian domination pursuant to the Chinese-Russian wars. It was established as the
Altayskaya region in the year of 1923, and then its name was changed as Gorno-Nitoyskaya
in the year of 1948. Upon the dissolution of USSR, it gained the status of Autonomous
Republic in 1991 and the status of Federal Republic in the year of 1992.
The forests cover all
around the country in Altay that has a very rich plant cover. There are various plant
types in the forests that cannot be found in any other region of the world. The most
frequent types can be considered as fir tree, cedar, pine, white poplar, and aspen
trees.The population of the Republic is 198.1 thousand and 73.8% of the people live in the
rural areas while 26.2% of them live in the cities. All the undisciplined people were
exiled to this region under the communist order for a period of 70 years and there are 38
types of nations that exist here. The population is composed of Russians with the rate of
60%, Altay Turks (72.000) with the rate of 31%, Kazakh Turks with the rate of 9%,
Ukrainians, Germans and the other nations.
Its capital is
Gorno-Altay. It is divided into 9 administrative regions. The religions of Islam,
Christianity and Shamanism are the common beliefs. Their language is Turkish. The art and
the literature is well developed and the famous artist of the century IV., G.I. Grukin was
from Altay. Their traditional artistic dances and music halls are very famous.
The fundamental means of subsistence in the Republic is the agriculture. There are 24
thousands of farmers. The main branch in the agricultural production is the stockbreeding
carried out by the stock farmers. The arable field farming comes after stockbreeding.
Particularly the stockbreeding and the vegetable selling that constitute the means of
subsistence of the country are well developed. Especially stockbreeding of sheep, goats,
reindeers, and the fishing, hunting and beekeeping can be considered among these means.
There are 192
secondary schools, 3 teknikum (technical academies) and 1 university in the country. 37
books, 1 newspaper and 2 magazines are published in Altay Turkish. The numbers of the
students are divided as 35 thousands in the secondary schools, 43 thousands in technical
academies and 2600 students in the only university of the country. Altay is very rich in
respect of the minerals and the minerals that are extracted in Altay are iron, coal,
silver, tin, tungsten, copper and manganese. "Altindag" (Golden Mountain) that
is the meaning of Altay has taken its name from the rich gold reserves in the country.
The main
commercial goods are tulle and cotton clothes, electrical tools, garments, shoes, timber
and the reinforced concrete. The forestry is developed and the manufacture of the forest
products is of great significance. Altay has good economical relations with particularly
the Russian Federation, and then Japan, New Zealand, Austria and the European
countries.Tourism plays an important role in respect of the economy. With the peerless
beauty of its forests, mountains, lakes and rivers, Altay Republic is the centre of
attraction.The majority of Russians in respect of population has been reflected into the
parliament in Altay Republic that owns its own state president and parliament and the
Russians have an overwhelming superiority.
|
