Tuva

Related Topics:
Tuvalu

The Tuva Republic (; Tuvan: Тыва Республика) is a federal subject of Russia (a republic). The direct transliteration of the Russian name of the republic is Respublika Tyva . Since 1993, the republic's official name is Tyva Republic.

Geography

The Republic is located in extreme southern Siberia, at the geographic center of the continent of Asia. The eastern part of the republic is forested and elevated, and the west is a drier lowland.

Area: 170,500 km²
Borders:
- internal: Khakassia (NW/N), Krasnoyarsk Krai (N), Irkutsk Oblast (N/NE), Buryatia (E), Altai Republic (SW/W)
- international: Mongolia (S) (border line length: 1,305 km*Highest point: Mount Mongun-Tayga) (3,970 m)
Maximum N->S distance: 450 km.
Maximum E->W distance: over 700 km.

Time zone

Tuva is located in the Krasnoyarsk Time Zone (KRAT/KRAST). UTC offset is +0700 (KRAT)/+0800 (KRAST).

Rivers

There are over 8,000 rivers in the republic. The area includes the upper course of the Yenisei River. Most of the republic's rivers are Yenisei tributaries. There are also numerous mineral springs in the republic.

Major rivers include:

Bolshoy Yenisei River (also called Biy-Khem or Bii-Khem)
Kantegir River
Khemchik River
Maly Yenisei River (also called Ka-Khem or Kaa-Khem)
Upper Yenisei River (also called Ulug-Khem)

Lakes

There are numerous lakes on the republic's territory, many of which are glacial and salt lakes. Major lakes include:

Todzha Lake, a.k.a. Azas Lake (100 km²)—the largest in the republic
Uvs Nuur - shared with Mongolia and a World Heritage Site
Kadysh Lake
Many-Khol Lake

Mountains

The area of the republic is a mountain basin, ca. 600 m high, encircled by the Sayan and Tannu-Ola ranges. Mountains cover over 80% of the republic's territory. Mount Mongun-Tayga (3,970 m) is the highest point in Siberia.

Natural resources

Major natural resources of Tuva include coal, iron ore, gold, and more.

Climate

Average January temperature: -32°C
Average July temperature: +18°C
Average annual precipitation: 150 mm (plains) to 1,000 mm (mountains)

Administrative divisions

Demographics

As per the 2002 census, Tuvans (or Tuvinians), a group of Turkic people, at 235,313 make up 77% of the population. The rest, primarily in urban areas, mainly consider themselves ethnic Russians (61,442 or 20.1%) although, all in all, 101 distinct ethnic groups are listed for the republic (the only two exceeding 1,000 residents being the Komis, at 1,404, and the Khakas, at 1,219).

Official languages are Tuvan and Russian.

List of Tuvans

Population: 305,510 (2002)
- Urban: 157,299 (51.5%)
- Rural: 148,211 (48.5%)
- Male: 144,961 (47,4%)
- Female: 160,549 (52.6%)
Females per 1000 males: 1,108
Average age: 25.5 years
- Urban: 26.4 years
- Rural: 24.5 years
- Male: 25.2 years
- Female: 27.6 years
Number of households: 82,882 (with 299,510 people)
- Urban: 47,073 (with 152,542 people)
- Rural: 35,809 (with 146,968 people)

History

The historic region of Tannu Uriankhai (), which Tuva is part of, was controlled by the Mongols from the 13th (1207?) to 18th centuries. It established itself as a khanate in the 15th century until 1757 when it was brought under Chinese Manchu rule to 1911.

During the 19th century Russians began to settle in Tuva, resulting in an 1860 Chinese-Russian treaty, in which China allowed Russians to settle providing that they lived in boats or tents. In 1881 Russians were allowed to live in permanent buildings. By that time a sizeable Russian community had been established, whose affairs were managed by an official in Russia (these officials also settled disputes and checked on Tuvan chiefs). Russian interests in Tuva continued into the 20th century. During the 1911 revolution in China, tsarist Russia formed a separatist movement among the Tuvans. Tsar Nicholas II ordered Russian troops into Tuva in 1912, as Russian settlers were being attacked. Tuva became nominally independent as Urjanchai Republic before being brought under Russian protectorate as Uryanay Kray on 17 April 1914. This move was apparently requested by a number of prominent Tuvans, including the High Lama, although it is possible they were actually acting under the coercion of Russian soldiers. A Tuvan capital was established, called Belotsarsk (Белоца́рск; literally, "Town of White Tsar"). Meanwhile, in 1911, Mongolia became independent, though under Russian protection.

Following the Russian Revolution of 1917 which ended the imperial autocracy, most of Tuva was occupied from 5 July 1918 to 15 July 1919 by Kolchak's "White" Russian troops (governor was Pyotr Ivanovich Turchaninov), though in the autumn of 1918 the south-western part was occupied by Chinese troops, the southern part by Mongol troops led by Khatan Bator Maksarzhab. From July 1919 to February 1920 the communist Red Army enters Tuva, but 19 February 1920 - June 1921 it was once more re-incorporated into China (governor was Yan Shichao aka Yan Shi-chao). On August 14, 1921 the Bolsheviks (supported by Russia) established a Tuvinian People's Republic, popularly called Tannu-Tuva. In 1926, the capital (Belotsarsk; Khem-Beldyr since 1918) was renamed Kyzyl, meaning "Red"). Tuva was de jure an independent state between the World Wars.

The USSR annexed Tuva outright in 1944, apparently with the approval of Tuva's Little Khural (parliament), though there was no Tuva-wide vote on the issue. Salchak Toka, the leader of Tuvan communists, was given the title of First Secretary of the Tuvan Communist Party and became a de-facto ruler of Tuva. Tuva was made the Tuvan Autonomous Oblast and then became the Tuva ASSR on October 10, 1961. Toka's rule was characterized by a concerted effort to introduce collectivism and to destroy Tuvan culture, especially that of a religious nature. Salchak Toka died in 1973.

In February of 1990, the Tuvan Democratic Movement was founded by Kaadyr-ool Bicheldei, a philologist at Kyzyl University. The party aimed to provide jobs and housing (both were in short supply), and also to improve the status of Tuvan language and culture. Later on in the year there was a wave of attacks against Tuva's sizeable Russian community, resulting in 88 deaths. Russian troops eventually were called in. Many Russians moved out of the republic during this period.

Tuva was a signatory to the March 31, 1992 treaty that created the Russian Federation. A new constitution for the republic was drawn up on October 22, 1993. This created a 32-member parliament (Supreme Khural) and a Grand Khural, which is responsible for foreign policy, ensuring that Tuvan law is given precedence and any possible changes to the constitution. The constitution also allowed for a referendum if Tyva ever sought independence. This constitution was passed by 62.2% of Tuvans in a referendum on December 12, 1993. At the same time the official name was changed from Tuva (Тува) to Tyva (Тыва).

The Republic of China has never officially recognized the Russian claim, and maps made in Taiwan have often included Tuva (along with Outer Mongolia) as part of China. This claim, along with the Taiwanese claim to mainland China, has been largely ignored since the early 1990s.

Politics

The head of the government in Tuva is the Chairman of the Government, who is elected for a four-year term. As of 2005, the Chairman of the Government is Sherig-ool Oorzhak, who was re-elected on March 17, 2002. Tuva's legislature, the Grand Khural, has 162 seats; each deputy is elected to serve a four-year term.

The republic's Constitution was adopted on October 23, 1993.

Economy

Tuva has a developed mining industry (coal, cobalt, gold, and more). Food processing, timber, and metal working industries are also well-developed. Most of the industrial production is concentrated in the capital Kyzyl and in Ak-Dovurak.

Culture

Tuvans are famous for their throat singing.

Khuresh, the Tuvan form of wrestling, is a very popular sport. Competitions are held at the annual Naadym festival at Tos-Bulak.

Sainkho Namtchylak is one of the only singers from Tuva to have an international following. She is also very involved with Tuvan culture. Every year she invites western musicians to perform in Kyzyl and to learn about the country, its culture and its music.

Religion

The people are mainly adherents to Tibetan Buddhism, combined with native Animism (sometimes called Shamanism). The Tuvans' higher than average syphilis infection rate (according to the Moscow Times, 2.5% of the population) has been blamed on a Shamanist tradition of the Republic, which says a woman is more fertile if she has had a large number of sexual partners before marriage. Some human rights groups report problems with religious freedom for Christians and Muslims.

Education

The most important facilities of higher education include the Tuvan State University and the Tuvan Institute of Humanitarian Research, both located in the capital Kyzyl.

Miscellaneous

In the 1920s and 1930s, postage stamps from Tuva were issued. Many philatelists, including famous physicist Richard Feynman, have been fascinated with the far-away and obscure land of Tuva because of these stamps. The stamps were issued mainly during the small period of Tuvan independence, and had many philatelists in a furor, as they did not conform to various standards.
Tuva was featured prominently in the award-winning documentary Genghis Blues.
Sergey Shoygu, Russia's Emergencies minister, is Tuvan.
According to a recent study by Ilya Zakharov, deputy director of Moscow's Vavilov Institute of General Genetics, Tuvans are more closely genetically linked to Native American peoples like the Eskimo, Navajo and Apache than any other group.

Sources and External links