Yolvas
07-12-04, 12:09
Republic of Tuva
// GENERAL INFORMATION
The Republic of Tuva (Tyva) is situated in the central part of the Asian continent bounded by Eastern Siberia on the north, Mongolia on the south and east, Irkutsk Region on the northeast, the Buryat Republic on the east, and the Altai Republic on the west. The republic is far from both the warm Atlantic and Pacific oceans and the Arctic Ocean. Four time zones separate Tuva from Moscow and five separate it from Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky on the east coast.
Emblem
A section of the global divide between the basin of the Arctic Ocean and the inland basin regions of Central Asia runs along the edge of the Sengilen Upland and Eastern and Western Tannu-Ola Range. The republic's natural landscapes consist of Siberian taiga and Central Asian desert and steppe; the republic itself is located in a broad belt of mountains and intermontane plains. Natural landscapes range from steppe and dry steppe on the plains to mountain taiga and deciduous forests on the mountain slopes to subalpine, alpine, and mountain tundra on the mountain heights. Nearly half the republic is covered with forests with timber reserves of more than 1 billion m3. The most important rivers are the Verkhny Yenisei (Ulug-Khem) and two tributaries of the Yenisei, the Bii-Khem and Kaa-Khem.
Flag
Tuva has a severe continental climate with cold, windless winters and little snow on the plains. Summers are moderately warm in the mountains and hot on the plains.
Tuva's territory stretches more than 700 km from west to east and 450 km from north to south in the eastern part (100 km in the central part) and covers an area of 170 000 km2.
The most important minerals produced in the republic are nonferrous and rare metal ores, coal, asbestos, iron ore, gold, mercury, and building materials.
Agriculture, particularly livestock herding, is the main economic sector in Tuva. The mining, light, food, and building material industries are also developed. These industries annually produce more than 76 000 tons of asbestos, 20 million bricks, 55 000 m3 of lumber, about 50 000 tons of food products, and about 1 million tons of coal.
The Republic of Tuva is a subject of the Russian Federation and is divided into 17 rural districts and 5 cities. The city of Kyzyl is under republican authority, while the cities of Ak-Dovurak, Turan, Chadaana, and Shagaan-Aryg are under district authority. There are also 3 urban communities (Kaa-Khem, Kyzyl-Mazhalyk, and Khovu-Aksy), 96 rural councils, and 449 rural communities.
The population of the republic is 309 100 people. The capital of Tuva is Kyzyl, which has a population of 84 600.
HISTORY
The first people appeared in what is now Tuva in the Mousterian period between 100 000 and 40 000 B.C. This happened somewhat later than in Old World areas with a warmer climate. The first ancient human sites dating from the Late Paleolithic have mainly been discovered in the southern and central regions. A large number of crudely worked stone implements have been found here, including whetting tools, spear points, and knife-edge chips.
The ancient Tuvan tribes learned how to make more refined polished and finished stone tools, as well as bows and arrows and clay pottery, during the Neolithic period between 5000 and 4000 B.C. Livestock herding, the production of copper and bronze tools, and the appearance of rock paintings equal in their highly artistic content and expressiveness to the world's best examples of the art date from the Bronze Age.
The introduction of iron led to profound changes in ancient Tuvan society. Population growth forced the tribes to change to seminomadic livestock herding. The culture of the ancient Tuvans reached a high level, as shown by specimens of fine ornamental art found burial sites. Some of them combine local features and elements of the Scytho-Siberian animal style. Excavations of a large burial site in the village of Arzhaan turned up a wealth of material for the study of this period. The finds include the famous golden panther now kept in the Hermitage and other gold articles made by ancient craftsmen. The people of this period were of mixed European-Mongolian stock with predominantly European features.
According to ancient accounts dating from the 2nd century B.C. to the 5th century A.D., the territory of Tuva was invaded by conquerors, including the Huns, Syanbiy, and Zhuzhans. The invasion of the Huns gradually changed the material culture and anthropological type of the local inhabitants. They acquired the Central-Asian type of the great Mongolian race.
The rise of feudalism in Tuva dates to the 6th and mid-7th centuries when it was part of the Turkic Kaganat. The main occupation was nomadic livestock herding combined with farming, with the simultaneous development of mining, metallurgy, crafts, and decorative art. The ancient Turkis and local Tuvan tribes had their own written language. Archeological finds in the region include stone tablets and 85 stone monuments with ancient Turkic inscriptions.
In the early 7th century, the Turkic Kaganat split into the East Turkic and West Turkic kaganats as a result of internal wars. In its turn, the Eastern Kaganat to which Tuva belonged collapsed under assaults by warlike Uighur tribes. Tuva's time as part of the kaganat had important consequences that affected the economic activity, way of life, and material culture of the Tuvan people.
Between 750 and 840 Tuva was ruled by the Uighurs, who tried to fortify it by creating an entire system connected by stone walls and ramparts. These structures were joined into a single defense complex of 15 Uighur fortresses. A total of 17 Uighur settlements have been discovered in the region, along with the remains of defensive dikes on the Uyuk, Turan, Demir-Sur, and other rivers. Feudalism continued to strengthen during the period of Uighur rule in Tuva.
In 840, the Kyrgyz, with the support of the Tuvan and Altaic tribes, inflicted a crushing defeat on the Uighurs, driving them out and destroying their fortresses. Tuva became part of the ancient Kyrgyz state. The Kyrgyz played an important role in the subsequent formation of the Tuvan people. The ancient Tuvan Kyrgyz stock derives from them.
At the same time, close ethnic ties formed between the Sayano-Altai tribal groups. The most important achievement of these related tribes was their own written language, the Yenisei variant of ancient Turkic writing.
In the early 13th century, Tuva was under the authority of Genghis Khan's forces, which exacted tributes from the local population. This lasted up to the collapse of the Mongol Empire in 14th century. The mingling of local tribes with the Mongols contributed to the development of the Central-Asian physical type characteristic of modern-day Tuvans.
// GENERAL INFORMATION
The Republic of Tuva (Tyva) is situated in the central part of the Asian continent bounded by Eastern Siberia on the north, Mongolia on the south and east, Irkutsk Region on the northeast, the Buryat Republic on the east, and the Altai Republic on the west. The republic is far from both the warm Atlantic and Pacific oceans and the Arctic Ocean. Four time zones separate Tuva from Moscow and five separate it from Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky on the east coast.
Emblem
A section of the global divide between the basin of the Arctic Ocean and the inland basin regions of Central Asia runs along the edge of the Sengilen Upland and Eastern and Western Tannu-Ola Range. The republic's natural landscapes consist of Siberian taiga and Central Asian desert and steppe; the republic itself is located in a broad belt of mountains and intermontane plains. Natural landscapes range from steppe and dry steppe on the plains to mountain taiga and deciduous forests on the mountain slopes to subalpine, alpine, and mountain tundra on the mountain heights. Nearly half the republic is covered with forests with timber reserves of more than 1 billion m3. The most important rivers are the Verkhny Yenisei (Ulug-Khem) and two tributaries of the Yenisei, the Bii-Khem and Kaa-Khem.
Flag
Tuva has a severe continental climate with cold, windless winters and little snow on the plains. Summers are moderately warm in the mountains and hot on the plains.
Tuva's territory stretches more than 700 km from west to east and 450 km from north to south in the eastern part (100 km in the central part) and covers an area of 170 000 km2.
The most important minerals produced in the republic are nonferrous and rare metal ores, coal, asbestos, iron ore, gold, mercury, and building materials.
Agriculture, particularly livestock herding, is the main economic sector in Tuva. The mining, light, food, and building material industries are also developed. These industries annually produce more than 76 000 tons of asbestos, 20 million bricks, 55 000 m3 of lumber, about 50 000 tons of food products, and about 1 million tons of coal.
The Republic of Tuva is a subject of the Russian Federation and is divided into 17 rural districts and 5 cities. The city of Kyzyl is under republican authority, while the cities of Ak-Dovurak, Turan, Chadaana, and Shagaan-Aryg are under district authority. There are also 3 urban communities (Kaa-Khem, Kyzyl-Mazhalyk, and Khovu-Aksy), 96 rural councils, and 449 rural communities.
The population of the republic is 309 100 people. The capital of Tuva is Kyzyl, which has a population of 84 600.
HISTORY
The first people appeared in what is now Tuva in the Mousterian period between 100 000 and 40 000 B.C. This happened somewhat later than in Old World areas with a warmer climate. The first ancient human sites dating from the Late Paleolithic have mainly been discovered in the southern and central regions. A large number of crudely worked stone implements have been found here, including whetting tools, spear points, and knife-edge chips.
The ancient Tuvan tribes learned how to make more refined polished and finished stone tools, as well as bows and arrows and clay pottery, during the Neolithic period between 5000 and 4000 B.C. Livestock herding, the production of copper and bronze tools, and the appearance of rock paintings equal in their highly artistic content and expressiveness to the world's best examples of the art date from the Bronze Age.
The introduction of iron led to profound changes in ancient Tuvan society. Population growth forced the tribes to change to seminomadic livestock herding. The culture of the ancient Tuvans reached a high level, as shown by specimens of fine ornamental art found burial sites. Some of them combine local features and elements of the Scytho-Siberian animal style. Excavations of a large burial site in the village of Arzhaan turned up a wealth of material for the study of this period. The finds include the famous golden panther now kept in the Hermitage and other gold articles made by ancient craftsmen. The people of this period were of mixed European-Mongolian stock with predominantly European features.
According to ancient accounts dating from the 2nd century B.C. to the 5th century A.D., the territory of Tuva was invaded by conquerors, including the Huns, Syanbiy, and Zhuzhans. The invasion of the Huns gradually changed the material culture and anthropological type of the local inhabitants. They acquired the Central-Asian type of the great Mongolian race.
The rise of feudalism in Tuva dates to the 6th and mid-7th centuries when it was part of the Turkic Kaganat. The main occupation was nomadic livestock herding combined with farming, with the simultaneous development of mining, metallurgy, crafts, and decorative art. The ancient Turkis and local Tuvan tribes had their own written language. Archeological finds in the region include stone tablets and 85 stone monuments with ancient Turkic inscriptions.
In the early 7th century, the Turkic Kaganat split into the East Turkic and West Turkic kaganats as a result of internal wars. In its turn, the Eastern Kaganat to which Tuva belonged collapsed under assaults by warlike Uighur tribes. Tuva's time as part of the kaganat had important consequences that affected the economic activity, way of life, and material culture of the Tuvan people.
Between 750 and 840 Tuva was ruled by the Uighurs, who tried to fortify it by creating an entire system connected by stone walls and ramparts. These structures were joined into a single defense complex of 15 Uighur fortresses. A total of 17 Uighur settlements have been discovered in the region, along with the remains of defensive dikes on the Uyuk, Turan, Demir-Sur, and other rivers. Feudalism continued to strengthen during the period of Uighur rule in Tuva.
In 840, the Kyrgyz, with the support of the Tuvan and Altaic tribes, inflicted a crushing defeat on the Uighurs, driving them out and destroying their fortresses. Tuva became part of the ancient Kyrgyz state. The Kyrgyz played an important role in the subsequent formation of the Tuvan people. The ancient Tuvan Kyrgyz stock derives from them.
At the same time, close ethnic ties formed between the Sayano-Altai tribal groups. The most important achievement of these related tribes was their own written language, the Yenisei variant of ancient Turkic writing.
In the early 13th century, Tuva was under the authority of Genghis Khan's forces, which exacted tributes from the local population. This lasted up to the collapse of the Mongol Empire in 14th century. The mingling of local tribes with the Mongols contributed to the development of the Central-Asian physical type characteristic of modern-day Tuvans.