The Republic of Tyva or Tuva is a region of the Russian Federation
located in the very center of Asia, in the south of Central Siberia. The
national republic, stretching near the border with Mongolia, surrounded
by the Sayan and Altai mountains on all sides, is one of the most
inaccessible and unpopular tourist destinations in the country.
Geographical isolation made it possible to preserve the national
identity of Tuvans and preserve unique recreational resources. In fact,
ethnographic and natural tourism (fishing, water tourism), with due
diligence, can encourage sophisticated travelers to take an independent
trip, which, due to the harsh climate, is best planned for the summer.
Kyzyl
Ak-Dovurak
Azas Nature Reserve
Chadan
Erzin
Lake Tere-Khol
Shagonar
Uvs Nuur Basin
The official languages are Russian and Tuvan. Tuvan belongs to the
Sayan group of Turkic languages, and is practically incomprehensible to,
say, Tatars, Turks, Kazakhs or Uzbeks.
Despite the fact that
Tuvans make up more than 82% of the republic’s population, almost
everyone understands and speaks Russian, although there may be some
difficulties when communicating with residents from remote areas who do
not speak it well. Don’t be surprised if someone refuses to speak
Russian for ideological reasons, even if they know it.
By plane
There is a small airport in Kyzyl that can accommodate
some types of aircraft. There are daily flights (except Sun)
Kyzyl-Krasnoyarsk-Kyzyl. And Kyzyl-Novosibirsk-Kyzyl on Mon, Wed, Fri.
1 Kyzyl Airport (IATA:KYZ). Kyzyl city airport.
By train
There are no railways on the territory of the republic; the nearest
stations are in Khakassia and the Krasnoyarsk Territory, then by road.
2 Abakan city railway station. Railway station of the city of
Abakan.
By bus
3 Passenger ATP of the city of Kyzyl. Kyzyl
bus station.
By car
Along the M54 “Yenisei” highway from
Khakassia and the Krasnoyarsk Territory. The A162 highway passes through
the territory of the republic.
The main mode of transport in the Republic of Tyva is automobile. The
main highway is the federal highway R-257 “Yenisei” (until December 31,
2017, the previous registration number “M-54” is used at the same time)
- a federal highway (Krasnoyarsk - Abakan - Kyzyl - state border with
Mongolia). The Abakan-Kyzyl section is also known under the historical
name “Usinsky tract”. It is the main transport artery connecting Tyva
with all regions of Russia. Passes through the Sayan Mountains.
In the capital of the republic, the Kyzyl airport is located, through
which air communication is carried out with Moscow (since 2015),
Krasnoyarsk and Novosibirsk, as well as a number of remote areas of
Tuva.
It is assumed that after the upcoming comprehensive
modernization, the airport may receive international status in 2018.
Tuva did not have a railway connection, so the construction of the
Kuragino-Kyzyl railway line in conjunction with the development of
Tuva’s mineral resource base is of great importance for the republic.
The railway line was planned to be put into operation in 2020.
Tuvan cuisine is not for everyone, it is very fatty and high in
calories, and is replete with meat (mainly lamb) and dairy products, of
which there are more than twenty. The most common national drink is
Tuvan tea - green tea with milk and salt.
The list of the most
famous dishes of national cuisine includes:
Tuva Dylgan is a national
dish based on coarsely ground fried wheat (taraa) with sour cream (or
sarzhag, or any other butter), with the addition of sugar, aarzhy (small
fermented milk cheese), and sometimes jam. All this is poured with Tuvan
milk tea and mixed.
izig khan - blood sausage
bydaa - soup with
various grains and potatoes
manchylyg mun - soup with dumplings
byzhyrgan dalgan - fried flatbread
Munchy - dumplings
tsuiwan -
noodles with meat and vegetables
kara mun - lamb offal soup
The republic's nightlife, like the republic itself, is not developed. There are practically no nightclubs and fashionable establishments in cities and villages, except for Kyzyl. In Kyzyl there are quite a lot of nightclubs and establishments of various kinds, where there is a high probability of running into a drunken fight and other setups.
The republic has an increased level of murders and other crimes. Tyva
is one of the most criminally dangerous regions of Russia. Here, in
addition to murders, thefts and robberies, fights, and rapes are not
uncommon. Avoid moving under your own power in the dark, and on the
outskirts and in industrial zones even during daylight hours, especially
if you look like a Tuvan. Use official taxis, and even there, take a
closer look at the drivers. Try to look and dress “normally.” There are
especially many homophobes here (even among young people); dyed hair in
unusual colors, a non-standard hairstyle and even an innocent earring, a
T-shirt with a wide neckline, torn jeans or cuffs can cause attacks.
However, information about Tuvan nationalism is exaggerated by the
media; just avoid communicating with drunk, antisocial and aggressive
people.
After the Mongolian National Revolution of 1911, the Tuvan princes
were divided into three groups: some supported independence, others
proposed to become part of Mongolia, and the rest proposed to become
part of the Russian Empire.
After the Xinhai Revolution in China
(1911-1912), the Tuvan noyons ambyn-noyon Kombu-Dorzhu, Chamzy Khamby
Lama, noyon Daa-khoshun Buyan-Badyrgy and others several times appealed
to the tsarist government with a request to accept Tuva under the
protectorate of the Russian Empire. It was decided to grant the request,
and thus in 1914 Tuva voluntarily entered under the protectorate of
Russia under the name Uriankhai Territory as part of the Yenisei
province with the transfer of political and diplomatic affairs in Tuva
to the Irkutsk Governor-General. In the same year, construction began on
the capital of the region, which was named Belotsarsk in honor of the
“White Tsar,” that is, the Russian emperor.
On June 18, 1918, a joint meeting of the Russian and Tuvan congresses
took place in the Uriankhai region, at which the Treaty on the
self-determination of Tuva, friendship and mutual assistance of the
Russian and Tuvan peoples was unanimously adopted.
From July 7,
1918, the Uriankhai region was almost entirely occupied by Kolchak’s
troops. On June 14, 1919, the troops of the Badzhei Soviet Republic
under the command of A.D. Kravchenko and P.E. Shchetinkin moved from the
territory of Kansk and Krasnoyarsk counties to the Uriankhai region. On
July 18, they captured the capital of the Uriankhai region, Belotsarsk.
In mid-1921, Tuvan revolutionaries, supported by the RSFSR, decided
to proclaim the national sovereignty of Tuva, and the independent
People's Republic of Tannu-Tuva was formed. The Constitution, flag, coat
of arms were adopted, the gold reserves, budget and plenipotentiary
representations in the USSR and the Mongolian People's Republic were
approved.
Since 1926 - Tuvan People's Republic. The state was
recognized by the USSR in 1924 and the Mongolian People's Republic in
1926, but was not recognized by China and most countries of the world,
which considered Tuva part of China.
In 1932, an agreement was
signed on the border between the TPR and the MPR, which provided for the
transfer to the TPR of part of the disputed territories south of the
Tannu-Ola ridge (modern Mongun-Taiginsky, Ovursky, Tes-Khemsky and
Erzinsky kozhuuns). This agreement, concluded through the mediation of
the USSR, was received ambiguously in Mongolia and was not ratified by
it. In 1937, the Mongolian side declared the 1932 border agreement
“unfair” and concluded under pressure from the USSR and repeatedly
proposed to revise it, including after the accession of the TPR to the
USSR. However, all these proposals were rejected by the Tuvan-Soviet
side.
On June 25, 1941, the Tuvan People's Republic entered World War II on
the side of the USSR, declaring war on Nazi Germany, and became the
first state to officially ally the Soviet Union in the fight against the
aggressor.
From June 1941 to August 1944, the Tuvan People's
Republic supplied 50 thousand horses to the USSR, as well as about 750
thousand heads of cattle, of which almost 650 thousand were free of
charge. Thus, from each Tuvan family, which, as a rule, had an average
of 130 heads, 10-100 heads of cattle were supplied to the USSR. During
the war, Tuva supplied the Soviet army with 52 thousand pairs of skis,
10 thousand sheepskin coats, 19 thousand pairs of mittens, 16 thousand
pairs of felt boots, 67 tons of wool, 400 tons of meat, rye, barley
flour and melted butter, as well as tens of tons of honey, fruits and
vegetables. canned berries and concentrates, fish products, tons of
dressing bandages, alternative medicine, wax and resin, and
approximately 90% - free of charge; Also, at the end of the war, 30
thousand cows were transferred to the Ukrainian SSR, from which the
post-war revival of livestock farming in the de-occupied territories
began. The entire gold reserve of the republic was transferred to the
disposal of the USSR, and the production of Tuvan gold, in total,
amounted to 35 million rubles (at that time).
In 1942, the USSR
government allowed to accept volunteers from Tuva for military service.
Previously, the mobilization of Russian-speaking citizens into the Red
Army was announced. The first volunteers joined its ranks in May 1943
and were enlisted in the 25th separate tank regiment (since February
1944, a regiment as part of the 52nd Army of the 2nd Ukrainian Front),
which took part in hostilities on the territory of Ukraine, Moldova,
Romania, Hungary and Czechoslovakia.
In September 1943, the
second group of volunteers (206 people) was enlisted in the 8th Cavalry
Division, where they took part in a raid on the German rear in western
Ukraine. In total, during the war years, up to 8 thousand residents of
the Tuvan People's Republic and Soviet Tuva served in the ranks of the
Red Army, many of them were awarded orders and medals of the USSR and
the Tuvan People's Republic for military merits.
On August 17, 1944, the VII session of the Small Khural of the Tuvan
People's Republic adopted a declaration on the entry of the TPR into the
Union of Soviet Socialist Republics and petitioned the Supreme Soviet of
the USSR to accept the Tuvan People's Republic into the USSR as an
autonomous region of the RSFSR.
By Decree of October 11, 1944,
the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR granted the petition and
invited the Supreme Council of the RSFSR to accept the Tuvan People's
Republic into the RSFSR as an autonomous region.
By the Decree of
the Presidium of the Supreme Council of the RSFSR of October 14, 1944
“On the admission of the Tuvan People's Republic into the Russian Soviet
Federative Socialist Republic,” the Tuvan People's Republic was admitted
to the RSFSR as the Tuvan Autonomous Region.
On October 10, 1961,
the region was transformed into the Tuva Autonomous Soviet Socialist
Republic.
On December 17, 1961, elections to the Supreme Council
of the Tuvan Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic of the first
convocation took place.
In 1978, the first constitution of the
Tuvan Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic was adopted since joining the
USSR.
On December 12, 1990, the Supreme Council of the Tuvan
Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic adopted the Declaration of State
Sovereignty of the Soviet Republic of Tuva.
On May 24, 1991, the
Congress of People's Deputies of the RSFSR transformed the Tuvan
Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic into the Tuvan SSR, amending Art.
71 of the Constitution of the RSFSR.
After the August Putsch in
the USSR, on August 28, 1991, the Tuvan Autonomous Soviet Socialist
Republic was renamed the Republic of Tuva by the Supreme Council of the
Republic. This name was enshrined in the Constitution of the RSFSR as
amended on April 21, 1992.
In December 1991, the post of
President of Tuva was introduced, who is also the head of the government
of the Republic of Tuva.
In 1993, a version of the 1993 Constitution of the republic was
adopted with a new name for the republic: the Republic of Tuva (the
Tuvan language was specified as the “Tuva language”). The Constitution
of the Russian Federation, which came into force 2 months later,
established the name “Republic of Tyva”.
In the currently valid
Constitution of the Republic of 2001, the names “Republic of Tyva” and
“Tuva” have become equivalent. The Constitution, adopted in a referendum
on May 6, 2001, did not contain any mention of sovereignty and equalized
the rights of the Russian and Tuvan languages. Also, the 2001
Constitution abolished the post of president of the republic, and the
head of the region was declared to be the chairman of the government,
appointed by the president of Russia.