Sakha (Yakutia) Republic
Республика Саха (Якутия) (Russian) Саха Республиката (Sakha)
—  Republic  —
Flag Coat of arms
Anthem: National Anthem of the Sakha Republic
Coordinates: 66°24′N 129°10′E / 66.4°N 129.167°E / 66.4; 129.167Coordinates: 66°24′N 129°10′E / 66.4°N 129.167°E / 66.4; 129.167
Political status
Country	Russia
Federal district	Far Eastern[1]
Economic region	Far Eastern[2]
Established	April 27, 1922[3]
Capital	Yakutsk[3]
Government (as of August 2010)
- President[4]	Yegor Borisov[5]
- Legislature	State Assembly (Il Tumen)[4]
Statistics
Area (as of the 2002 Census)[6]
- Total	3,103,200 km2 (1,198,152.2 sq mi)
Area rank	1st
Population (2010 Census)[7]
- Total	958,528
- Rank	55th
- Density[8]	0.31 /km2 (0.80 /sq mi)
- Urban	64.1%
- Rural	35.9%
Time zone(s)	YAKT (UTC+10:00)[9]
	VLAT (UTC+11:00)[9]
	MAGT (UTC+12:00)[9]
ISO 3166-2	RU-SA
License plates	14
Official languages	Russian;[10] Sakha; languages of small indigenous peoples of the North are official in places of their concentration[11]
http://www.sakha.gov.ru/

The Sakha (Yakutia) Republic (Russian: Республика Саха (Якутия), tr. Respublika Sakha (Yakutiya); IPA: [rʲɪsˈpublʲɪkə sɐˈxa jɪˈkutʲɪə]; Sakha: Саха Республиката, Sakha Respublikata) is a federal subject of Russia (a republic). Population: 958,528 (2010 Census),^[7] consisting mainly of ethnic Yakuts and Russians.

Comprising half of the Far Eastern Federal District, it is the largest subnational governing body by area in the world at 3,103,200 km² (1,198,200 sq mi)^{[citation needed]} and the eighth largest territory in the world, if the federal subjects of Russia were compared with other countries. It is larger than Argentina and just smaller than India which covers an area of 3,287,240 km². It has a population of fewer than one million inhabitants. Its capital is the city of Yakutsk.

The Sakha Republic is one of the ten autonomous Turkic Republics within the Russian Federation.^[12] Yakutia also fosters close cultural, political, economic and industrial relations with the independent Turkic states through membership in organisations such as the Turkic Council and the Joint Administration of Turkic Arts and Culture.^[13][14][15]

Geography[link]

• Borders:
  • internal: Chukotka Autonomous Okrug (660km)(E), Magadan Oblast (1520km)(E/SE), Khabarovsk Krai (2130km)(SE), Amur Oblast (S), Zabaykalsky Krai (S), Irkutsk Oblast (S/SW), Krasnoyarsk Krai (W).
  • water: Arctic Ocean (including Laptev Sea and Eastern Siberian Sea) (N).
• Highest point: Peak Pobeda (3,003 m), Peak Mus-Khaya (2959 m or 3,011 m)
• Maximum N->S distance: 2,500 km (1,600 mi)
• Maximum E->W distance: 2,000 km (1,200 mi)

Sakha stretches to the Henrietta Islands in the far north and is washed by the Laptev and Eastern Siberian Seas of the Arctic Ocean. These waters, the coldest and iciest of all seas in the northern hemisphere, are covered by ice for 9–10 months of the year. New Siberian Islands are a part of the republic's territory. After Nunavut was separated from Canada's Northwest Territories, Sakha became the largest subnational entity (statoid) in the world, with an area of 3,103,200 square kilometers (1,198,200 sq mi), slightly smaller than the territory of India (3.3 million km²).

Sakha can be divided into three great vegetation belts. About 40% of Sakha lies above the Arctic circle and all of it is covered by permafrost which greatly influences the region's ecology and limits forests in the southern region. Arctic and subarctic tundra define the middle region, where lichen and moss grow as great green carpets and are favorite pastures for reindeer. In the southern part of the tundra belt, scattered stands of dwarf Siberian pine and larch grow along the rivers. Below the tundra is the vast taiga forest region. Larch trees dominate in the north and stands of fir and pine begin to appear in the south. Taiga forests cover about 47% of Sakha and almost 90% of the cover is larch.

The Sakha Republic is the site of Pleistocene Park, a project directed at recreating pleistocene tundra grasslands by stimulating the growth of grass with the introduction of animals which thrived in the region during the late Pleistocene — early Holocene period.

Time zones[link]

Detailed map of the three timezones in the Sakha Republic (as of September 2011)

Sakha spans three different time zones (no Daylight Saving Time in summer):

1. 
   Yakutsk Time Zone (YAKT, UTC+10). Covers the republic's territory to the west of the Lena River as well as the territories of the districts located on the both sides of the Lena River.
2. 
   Vladivostok Time Zone (VLAT, UTC+11). Covers most of the republic's territory located between 127°E and 140°E longitude.
3. 
   Magadan Time Zone (MAGT, UTC+12). Covers most of the republic's territory located east of 140°E longitude.

Rivers[link]

Amga River

Navigable Lena River (4,310 km), as it moves northward, includes hundreds of small tributaries located in the Verkhoyansk Range. Other major rivers include:

• Vilyuy River (2,650 km) Lena River tributary
• Olenyok River (2,292 km)
• Aldan River (2,273 km) Lena River tributary
• Kolyma River (2,129 km)
• Indigirka River (1,726 km)
• Alazeya River (1,590 km)
• Amga River (1,462 km) Aldan River tributary
• Olyokma River (1,320 km) Lena River tributary
• Markha River (1,181 km) Vilyuy River tributary
• Tyung River (1,092 km) Vilyuy River tributary
• Maya River (1,053 km) Aldan River tributary
• Anabar River (939 km)
• Yana River (872 km)
• Morkoka River (812 km) Markha River tributary
• Uchur River (812 km) Aldan River tributary
• Linde River (804 km) Lena River tributary
• Nyuya River (798 km) Lena River tributary
• Selennyakh River (796 km) Indigirka River tributary

Lakes[link]

There are over 800,000 lakes in the republic.^[16] Major lakes and reservoirs include:

• Lake Mogotoyevo
• Lake Nedzheli
• Lake Nerpichye
• Vilyuyskoye Reservoir

Mountains[link]

Sakha's greatest mountain range, the Verkhoyansk Range, runs parallel and east of the Lena River, forming a great arc that begins the Sea of Okhotsk and ends in the Laptev Sea.

The Chersky Range runs east of the Verkhoyansk Range and has the highest peak in Sakha, Peak Pobeda (3,147 m). The second highest peak is Peak Mus-Khaya reaching 3,011 m.

The Stanovoi Range borders Sakha in the south.

Udachnaya pipe

Natural resources[link]

Sakha is well endowed with raw materials. The soil contains large reserves of oil, gas, coal, diamonds, gold, silver, tin, tungsten and many others. 99% of all Russian diamonds are mined in Sakha, accounting for over 25% of the world's diamond production.^{[citation needed]}

Climate[link]

Sakha is known for its climate extremes, with the Verkhoyansk Range being the coldest area in the northern hemisphere. Winters here are extremely cold. Some of the lowest natural temperatures ever recorded have been here. The Northern Hemisphere's Pole of Cold is at Verkhoyansk, where the temperatures reached as low as −67.8 °C (−90.0 °F) in 1892, and at Oymyakon, where the temperatures reached as low as −71.2 °C (−96.2 °F) in 1926.

• Average January temperature: −28 °C (−18 °F) (coast) to −47 °C (−53 °F) (Pole of Cold).
• Average July temperature: +2 °C (36 °F) (coast) to +19 °C (66 °F) (central parts). However, it gets very hot during the day in Yakutsk in July (record = +38.3 °C (100.94 °F)).
• Average annual precipitation: 200 mm (central parts) to 700 mm (mountains of Eastern Sakha).

Administrative divisions[link]

History[link]

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (March 2010)

Early history[link]

The Turkic Sakha people or Yakuts probably settled in the area in the 13th and 14th centuries, migrating north from the Lake Baikal area to the middle Lena. According to their own traditional accounts, the Sakha were driven out of their earlier homeland by the Buryats. From their new center along the middle Lena they gradually expanded northeast and west beyond the Lena basin towards the Arctic Ocean.

The name Sakha is of Turk origin, "Saqa-Saha" meaning "Cue, Bat". The term Yakut is a Turk word, probably a corruption of zhaqut - yakut "semi-precious stone". The Sakha displaced earlier, much smaller populations who lived on hunting and reindeer herding, introducing the pastoralist economy of Central Asia. The indigenous populations of Paleosiberian and Tungusic stock were mostly assimilated to the Sakha by the 17th century.^[17]

Russian conquest[link]

The Tsardom of Russia began its conquest of the region in the 17th century, moving east after the defeat of the Khanate of Sibir. Tygyn, a king of the Khangalassky Yakuts, granted territory for Russian settlement in return for a military pact that included war against indigenous rebels of all North Eastern Asia (Magadan, Chukotka, Kamchatka and Sakhalin). Kull, a king of the Megino-Khangalassky Yakuts, began a Sakha conspiracy by allowing the first stockade construction.^{[citation needed]}

In August 1638, the Moscow Government formed a new administrative unit with the administrative center of Lensky Ostrog (Fort Lensky), the future city of Yakutsk, which had been founded by Pyotr Beketov in 1632.

The arrival of the Russian settlers at the remote Russkoye Ustye in the Indigirka delta likely also dates to the 17th century.^[18]

The Siberian Governorate was established as part of the Russian Tsardom in 1708.

Russian Empire[link]

1821 map of Yakutsk Oblast

In an administrative reform of 1782, Irkutsk Governorate was created. In 1805, Yakutsk Oblast was split from Irkutsk Governorate.

Yakutsk Oblast in the early 19th century marked the easternmost territory of the Russian Empire, including such Far Eastern (Pacific) territories as were acquired, known as Okhotsk Okrug within Yakutsk Oblast. With the formation of Primorskaya Oblast in 1856, the Russian territories of the Pacific were detached from Yakutia.

The Russians established agriculture in the Lena River basin. The members of religious groups who were exiled to Sakha in the second half of the 19th century began to grow wheat, oats, and potatoes. The fur trade established a cash economy. Industry and transport began to develop at the end of the 19th century and in the beginning of the Soviet period. This was also the beginning of geological prospecting, mining, and local lead production. The first steam-powered ships and barges arrived.

Yakutia's remoteness, even compared to the rest of Siberia, made it a place of exile of choice for both Czarist and Communist governments of Russia. Among the famous Tsarist-era exiles were the democratic writer Nikolay Chernyshevsky, Doukhobor conscientious objectors (whose story was told to Leo Tolstoy by Vasily Pozdnyakov), and the Socialist Revolutionary and writer Vladimir Zenzinov, who left an interesting account of his Arctic experiences.

Soviet era[link]

On April 27, 1922, former Yakutsk Oblast was proclaimed the Yakut ASSR, although in fact the eastern part of the territory, including the city of Yakutsk, was controlled by the White Russians (see Yakut Revolt).

In 1992, after the fall of the Soviet Union, Yakutia was recognized in Moscow as the Sakha (Yakutia) Republic under the jurisdiction of the Russian Federation. Yakutia is historically part of Russian Siberia, but since the formation of the Far Eastern Federal District in 2000, it is administratively part of the Russian Far East.

Demographics[link]

Breakdown of population changes, 1939–2002

Population: 958,528 (2010 Census);^[7] 949,280 (2002 Census);^[19] 1,081,408 (1989 Census).^[20]

Vital statistics[link]

Source: Russian Federal State Statistics Service

Ethnic groups[link]

According to the 2010 Census, the ethnic composition is:^[7]

• 466,492 Yakuts (49.9%)
• 353,649 Russians (37.8%)
• 20,341 Ukrainians (2.2%)
• 21,080 Evenks (2.2%)
• 15,071 Evens (1.6%)
• 8,122 Tatars (0.9%)

Historical population figures are shown below:

Languages[link]

The official languages are both Russian and Sakha, also known as Yakut, which is spoken by approximately 60% of the population. The Yakut language is Turkic with Mongolian influence and some borrowings from Sakha's Paleosiberian indigenous peoples.

Religion[link]

Before the arrival of the Russian Empire, the majority of the local population believed in Tengrianism common to Turkic-language people of Central Asia, or in Paleoasian indigenous shamanism with both 'light' (community leading) and 'dark' (healing through spirit journey) shamans.^{[clarification needed]} Under the Russians, the local population was converted to the Russian Orthodox Church and required to take Orthodox Christian names, but in practice generally continued to follow traditional religions. During the Soviet era, most or all of the shamans died without successors.

Currently, while Orthodox Christianity maintains a following (however, with very few priests willing to be stationed outside of Yakutsk), there is interest and activity toward renewing the traditional religions. As of 2008, Orthodox leaders described the world view of the republic's indigenous population (or, rather, those among the population who are not completely indifferent to religion) as dvoyeverie (dual belief system), or a "tendency toward syncretism", as evidenced by the locals sometimes first inviting a shaman, and then an Orthodox priest to carry out their rites in connection with some event in their life.^[22]

According to the Information Center under the President of Sakha Republic (Информационный центр при Президенте РС(Я)), the religious demography of the republic was as follows:^[23]

• Orthodoxy: 44.9%
• Shamanism: 26.2%
• Non-religious: 23.0%
• New Religious Movements: 2.4%
• Islam: 1.2%
• Buddhism: 1.0%
• Protestantism: 0.9%
• Catholicism: 0.4%

Politics[link]

The head of government in Sakha is the President. The first president of the Sakha Republic was Mikhail Yefimovich Nikolayev.^[24] As of 2010, the president is Yegor Borisov, who took office on May 31, 2010; his vice president is Evgeniya Mikhailova.

The supreme legislative body of state authority in Sakha is a unicameral State Assembly known as the Il Tumen. The government of the Sakha (Yakutia) Republic is the executive body of state authority.

Economy[link]

Unusual gold specimen from Bulun District, Lena River basin. Weight is about 6 grams.

Industry generates slightly above 50%^{[citation needed]} of the gross national product of Sakha, stemming primarily from mineral exploitation. Industrial enterprises are concentrated in the capital Yakutsk, as well as in Aldan, Mirny, Neryungri, Pokrovsk, and Udachny. The diamond, gold and tin ore mining industries are the major focus of the economy. Uranium ore is beginning to be mined. Turkic-language Sakha are in politics, government, finance, economy and cattle-breeding (horses and cows for milk and meat). The Paleoasian indigenous peoples are hunters, fishermen, and reindeer herders. As of 2008, Sakha Republic is the 19th most developed federal subject in Russia.

Transportation[link]

Water transport ranks first for cargo turnover. There are six river ports, two sea ports (Tiksi and Zelyony Mys). Four shipping companies, including the Arctic Sea Shipping Company, operate in the republic. The republic's main waterway is the Lena River, which links Yakutsk with the rail station of Ust-Kut in Irkutsk Oblast.

Air transport is the most important for transporting people. Airlines connect the republic with most regions of Russia. Yakutsk Airport has an international terminal.

Two federal roads pass the republic. They are Yakutsk–Bolshoy Never and Yakutsk–Magadan. However, due to the presence of permafrost, use of asphalt is not practical, and therefore the roads are made of clay. When heavy rains blow over the region, the roads often turn to mud, sometimes stranding hundreds of travellers in the process.^[25]

The Berkakit–Tommot railroad is currently in operation. It links the Baikal Amur Mainline with the industrial centers in South Yakutia. Construction of the Amur-Yakutian Railway continues northward; the plans are for it to reach Yakutsk by 2012.

Education[link]

The most important facilities of higher education include Yakutsk State University and Yakutsk State Agricultural Academy.

See also[link]

• Cuisine of Sakha
• Music of Sakha
• The Lena Pillars
• Pleistocene Park

Notes[link]

References[link]

• Верховный Совет Республики Саха (Якутия). 4 апреля 1992 г. «Конституция (основной закон) Республики Саха (Якутия)», в ред. Конституционного закона №581-З 53-IV от 22 июля 2008 г. (Supreme Council of the Sakha (Yakutia) Republic. April 4, 1992 Constitution (Basic Law) of the Sakha (Yakutia) Republic, as amended by the Constitutional Law #581-Z 53-IV of July 22, 2008. ).

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Sakha

• (Russian) Official website of the government of Sakha Republic
• (Russian) Sakhalife – Live news
• (Russian) Photo gallery at the site of the Ministry of Construction of the Sakha Republic with pictures of residential buildings, schools, colleges, hospitals, theaters, stadiums, etc. constructed in Yakutia
• (English) (Russian) Official website of the Ministry of Foreign Relations of Sakha (in development)
• (Yakut) Orto Doydu — Samples of music, songs and video in Sakha
• (Yakut) Kyym — weekly newspaper
• Yakutia Organized — Independent Travelogues, Photo Blogs, General Info
• (Russian) Official website of the Yakutsk State University
• Information on Sakha from Scott Polar Research Institute
• (Russian) History of Yakutia
• Anthem of Sakha
• Ask Yakutia
• eYakutia – English Yakutia – Blog about the life in Yakutia
• Independent guide on Yakutia

v t e Turkic-speaking regions Federal subjects of Russia shown in italics.     Western Turkic  Azerbaijan1  Bashkortostan (Russia)  Chuvashia (Russia)  Northern Cyprus Eastern Turkic  Altai Republic (Russia)  Khakassia (Russia)  Gagauzia (Moldova)  Kabardino-Balkaria (Russia)  Karachay-Cherkessia (Russia)  Karakalpakstan (Uzbekistan)  Sakha Republic (Russia)  Tuva (Russia)  Kazakhstan  Kyrgyzstan  Tatarstan (Russia)  Turkey  Turkmenistan  Uzbekistan  Xinjiang (China) 1 Includes the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic.

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