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Few foreigners get to this remote corner of Siberia but those who do- to trek, climb, rafts its wild rivers or track down its archaeological sites- won't forget its haunting beauty. The turn-of-the-century Russian mystical artist Nikolai Roerich considered this as one of the world's charmed places and captured its drama in many canvases. Foreigners who do come are mostly on organised adventure packages from other countries, but it's quite possible to travel in the Altai on your own-and to find good adventures in Novosibirsk or even locally. June to August are the best months here though it can rain at any time. The Altai Republic's highest country is in the south and east, and the mountains are divided by several river valleys, mostly running south-east to north west. There is a great variety of landscape, from steppe to taiga to glaciers to semidesert, plus 7000 lakes, wild rivers and beautiful waterfalls. The Katun River, flowing down the centre of the republic from the Gebler glacier on Mt Belucha, and the Chulysshman River in the east, flowing into Lake Teleskoye, provide some of Russia's most challenging white-water rafting. The Katun is dotted with rapids all the way from Ust-Koksa in the south-west of the republic to Gorno Altaisk in the north- though here are calmer streches along the way. Altay fauna includes bears, wolves, lynx, mountain goates, elk, deer, even snow leopards, and the flora is equally varied with glorious alpine flowers in summer. Altai republic time is Moscow time plus three hours. History. The Denisova Cave in the Anuy River valley, about 100 km south-west of Gorno Altaisk, was inhabited from the early Paleolithic (Old Stone Age)period, possibly as early as 300,000 BC, to the Middle Ages. Many important finds from different epochs have been made here. The Altai is best known among archaeologists for its seminomadic horse-riding sheep-herding Pazyryk culture of the 6th to the 2nd centuaries BC. Pazyryk s considered part of the Scytho-Siberian clusters of ultures which streched all the way to the steppes north of the Black Sea which were dominated about the same time by the famous Scythians. The Pazyryks and the Scythians had similar art styles. Thanks to the Altay climate and the structure of theirs tombs, built underground beneath mounds (kurgan) many Pazyryk burials have been wonderful preserved. Rain or melting snow would then freeze and remain encased in ice for thousand of years. The Hermitage in St Petersburg displays mumified corpses, a funeral chariot, wood carvings and a wool carpet from a group of Pazyryk chieftains tombs in the Ust Ulagan Valley opened in the 40s by archaeologists from Novosibirsk's russian Institute of Archaeology & Ethnography. The next major Pazyryk find didn't come until 1993, when the Institute'as diggers uncovered a noblewoman's tomb on the bleak Ukok Plateau, 2200 meters high in the far south-west of the Altai Republic. Along with a mumified corps- decorated with tattoos of deer- were found sacrificed horses in regalia, silk and wool clothes,and gilded ornaments. This find is described in detail in the October 1994 National Geographic. Other Pazyryk burial mounds, some in groups, are at Sooru (west of Onguday), near Tuekta and Chemal, and the north-east of Tashanta. Also dotted around the area are several groups of interesting petroglyphs (rock drawings). Their origins are debatable, but there possibly from the Altai's people's old shamanistic nature religion. The Altay was within the northern range of the Turkic peoples who controlled much of southern Siberia and Central Asia from about the 6th century AD, and the modern Altaic language is Turkic. From about the 5th century teh Altai was under the rule of the Oryats or the Dzungarians from western Mongolia until the Oyrats were wiped out by the Chinese in the 1750s. This was folowed by a century of quarrels between Russia and China over the region, until Russia prevailed in 1864. Some Altai people were converted to Orthodox Christianity, but in August 1904 a unique local religion, kmown to Russians as Burkhanism and combining elements of Buddhism, with non-Buddhist Oyrat folk traditions, was born when an Altai shepard called Chet Chlepan learned in a vision that a messianic figure called Oirot would come to lead his people to frewedom. This stimulated anti-Russian feelings and was banned by the communist in 1933, by which time the formerly seminomadic Altai people had been largely collectivised. Whether or o Burkhanism will revive, elements of the old nature religion, such as horse hides hung on branches or sticks, still survive. Formerly the Gorno-Altayskaya Autonomous Region, The Altai republic became full republic within Russia in 1991. People. The Altay republic is sparcely populated with just 200,000 people. About 60% are russians, 28% are native Altai people, and 5% are Kazakhs (mainly Turkic speaking people are mostly village dwellers, but a few are still seminomadic, moving with their herds to different patures according to the season and living in the Yurst in summer. Settled families, still sometimes keep yurts in their gardens as an extra room or kichen for summer use. In remoter areas the horse is still the main means of transport. Watch out for drunks. The mainstays of the rural economy are sheep goats, cattle, yaks and horses. Maral deer- whose antlers are considered to have aphrodisiac properties- and camels are bred only in a few farms.
History: Founded June 1, 1922, until 1948 officially named Oyrot autonomous oblast, until 1991 officially named Gorniy Altay autonomous oblast. Location: Located in the south part of the Altay. Borders on China, Mongolia, the East-Kazakhstan oblast of Kazakhstan, Tyva and Khakass Republics, Altay Kray and Kemerovo oblast. Area: 92,600 square km, the 32nd largest area in Russia. Administrative Divisions: 10 administrative rayons, 1 city, 2 urban-type settlements. Administrative Center: Gorno-Altaysk, pop. 46,000. Founded in 1928, until 1932 officially named Ulala, until 1948 officially named Oyrot-Tura. Major Cities: The only town of the kray is Gorno-Altaysk. Climate: Extreme continental climate. Average temperature in January is -12 to -30 C and in July is +9 to +18 C. Precipitation: 100 mm to 1,000 mm in the mountains. Terrain: High mountain ranges (up to 4506 m above sea-level) are divided by deep valleys and wide basins. Bodies of Water: The main rivers are the Biya and Katun with their tributaries. Teletskoye lake is located on the republic's territory. Soils: Predominantly black and mountain-podzolic soils. Flora: Forests cover 25% of the territory (mainly coniferous forests). Widely distributed types are larch, cedar, fir, silver fir, birch and aspen. Mountain-steppe and semi-desert vegetation with subalpine and alpine meadows in the mountains. Fauna: Mountain goat, maral, elk, sable, squirrel, wolf, bear, fox, rodents, marmot. Ecological Issues: The Altay Republic has the lowest pollution level among the territories of East and West Siberia. The "Altayskiy" and "Katunskiy" forest reserves have been created in the territory of the republic (total area 1,031,000 ha). Natural Resources: Deposits of gold, mercury ores, marble, other building materials.
Population: 198,000, ranked 78th in Russia. Urban Population: 52,000 (26%). Rural Population: 146,000 (74%). Population Density: 2.1 persons per 1 square km. Natality Rate: 14.5 per 1,000 persons. Mortality Rate: 13.3 per 1,000 persons. Growth Rate: 1.2 per 1,000 persons. Migration Ratio: 2.5 per 1,000 (500 people). Ethnic Composition: 31% Altays, 60% Russians, 6% Kazakhs. Health Services: 34.3 doctors and 156 beds per 10,000 persons. Higher Education: 3,000 students were enrolled in 1 university of the kray and 3,000 students were enrolled in 5 specialized schools. Research Centers: The Research Institute of History, Altay language and literature. Culture: Numerous archaeological structures of the kray are well worth a visit. Ranked 73rd in Russia in the per capita GDP (in 1995). Industry: Ranked 78th in Russia in total industrial production. The main industrial center of the kray is Gorno-Altaysk. Food processing: The food industry (35% of total industrial production) provides meat and dairy products, other products. Consumer Goods: The consumer goods industry (30%) provides textiles, footwear, tulle. Mining: The mining industry consists of gold mining. Forestry & Paper: Timber and woodworking industry provides furniture, and wooden articles. Building Materials: The building materials industry provides building brick and ferro-concrete structures and articles. Building industry is of local importance. Ranked 77th in Russia in capital investment. Agriculture: Ranked 71st in Russia in total agricultural production. Farming: Grain (25%), fodder grass (71%), potatoes and vegetables. Animal Husbandry: Dairy and beef cattle-breeding in the valleys of the Biya and Katun rivers, beef cattle-breeding, fine-wool sheep-breeding, maral-breeding are developed in the western part. Yak-breeding is developed in the mountains and camel-breeding in the Chuyskya valley. Exports: Ranked 74th in Russia in the foreign trade sales (in 1995). The kray exports agricultural foodstuffs (73% of total kray's exports), chemicals (10%), textiles (6%). Distance from Moscow: 1,800 miles Water and auto transportation plays the leading role in the kray's economy. Rail: There are no railroad lines in the republic. Gorno-Altaysk is 96 km away from the closest railroad station (Biysk). Auto: There is 1 main highway, the Chuyskiy highway.Travel from Moscow to Administrative Center: No direct rail or air communications. By Auto: via Barnaul (248 km from Barnaul to Gorno-Altaysk). More information Altai Republic (From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia) Official site of Altai republic
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