The Gorno-Altai Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic (russian: Горно-Алтайская Автономная Советская Социалистическая Республик) was an autonomous republic within the Russian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic of the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

. It was formed on 1 June 1922 as the Oyrot Autonomous Region and became the Gorno-Altai Autonomous Oblast on 7 January 1948. It was upgraded to the level of

Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic An Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic (ASSR, russian: автономная советская социалистическая республика, АССР) was a type of administrative unit in the Soviet Union (USSR) created for certain nat ...

on 25 October 1990, and was declared a Soviet Socialist Republic on 3 July 1991, although it was not recognised as one. It became the Altai Republic on 31 March 1992. Its capital was

Gorno-Altaysk Gorno-Altaysk (russian: Го́рно-Алта́йск, a=Горно-Алтайск.ogg, r=Gorno-Altaysk, p=ˈgornə ɐlˈtajsk; ; historically, pre-1932: Ulala) is the capital town of the Altai Republic, Russia. The population stands at around ...

. Agriculture is the main occupation for most of the inhabitants. Like the modern Altai Republic, the Gorno-Altai ASSR shared its international border with the

People's Republic of China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

. The

Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic The Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic, Russian SFSR or RSFSR ( rus, Российская Советская Федеративная Социалистическая Республика, Rossíyskaya Sovétskaya Federatívnaya Soci ...

and some of the other republics also contained administrative subdivisions with boundaries drawn according to

nationality Nationality is a legal identification of a person in international law, establishing the person as a subject, a ''national'', of a sovereign state. It affords the state jurisdiction over the person and affords the person the protection of the ...

language Language is a structured system of communication. The structure of a language is its grammar and the free components are its vocabulary. Languages are the primary means by which humans communicate, and may be conveyed through a variety of ...

. The three kinds of such subdivisions included twenty

autonomous republics An autonomous republic is a type of administrative division similar to a province or state. A significant number of autonomous republics can be found within the successor states of the Soviet Union, but the majority are located within Russia. Man ...

, eight autonomous oblasts, and ten

autonomous okrug Autonomous okrugs ( rus, автономный округ, ''avtonomnyy okrug''; more correctly referred to as "autonomous districts" or "autonomous areas") are a type of federal subject of the Russian Federation and simultaneously an administrati ...

History

From 1922 to 1947 Gorno-Altai was called the Oyrot Autonomous Oblast. It was renamed to the Gorno-Altai Autonomous Oblast in 1948 and was renamed again to the Gorno-Altai Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic in 1990. It was renamed to the Gorno-Altai Republic on 3 July 1991 and became the Altai Republic on 31 March 1992. It is now a federal subject of the

Russian Federation Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eig ...

. When the region became the Oyrot Autonomous Region in 1922, the region's capital was originally called Ulala. In 1928 Ulala was renamed to Oyrot-Tura in 1932. However, in 1948 the state changed the name of the region to the Gorno-Altai Autonomous Oblast. With it, Ulala was again renamed, this time to Gorno-Altaysk.

Education

The Gorno-Altaisk State University was founded in 1949, with only 10 teachers. In 1993 it became a classical university.

Demographics

Ethnic groups

The 1989 census states that ethnic

Russians , native_name_lang = ru , image = , caption = , population = , popplace = 118 million Russians in the Russian Federation (2002 '' Winkler Prins'' estimate) , region1 = , pop1 ...

make up 60.4% of Gorno-Altai's population, with the ethnic

Altai people The Altai people ( alt, Алтай-кижи, Altai-kizhi), also the Altaians ( alt, Алтайлар, Altailar), are a Turkic ethnic group of indigenous peoples of Siberia mainly living in the Altai Republic, Russia. Several thousand of the Alta ...

at 31.0%. Other groups include Kazakhs (5.6%) and several smaller groups, accounting for less than 5% of the population when put together. Comparing it to the 2002 census, the ethnic Altais have significantly increased in numbers.

Religion

Some Altai people converted to

Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. It is the world's largest and most widespread religion with roughly 2.38 billion followers representing one-third of the global pop ...

, but in 1904 a new religion,

Burkhanism Burkhanism or Ak Jang ( alt, Ак јаҥ "the White Faith") is a indigenist new religious movement that flourished among the Altai people of Russia's Altai Republic between 1904 and the 1930s. The Russian Empire was suspicious of the movement ...

(the "white faith"), had pervaded the community of native Altaians. Burkhanism helped to encourage

anti-Russian Anti-Russian sentiment, commonly referred to as Russophobia, is dislike or fear of Russia, the Russians, Russian culture. or Russian policy. The Collins English Dictionary defines it as intense and often irrational hatred of Russia. It is the ...

feelings and was consequently banned by the Communist Party in the 1930s.

Government

This table includes the heads in the time period of Gorno-Altai being an ASSR.

References

{{Authority control Politics of the Altai Republic Former socialist republics 1990 establishments in the Soviet Union 1992 disestablishments in Russia Autonomous republics of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic History of the Altai Republic