The capital city of Khakassia is Abakan, and the region covers an area of about 61,900 square kilometres (23,900 sq mi). The population of Khakassia is approximately 537,000 people, with the majority of the population living in urban areas.
The region is known for its natural beauty, with numerous rivers, lakes, and mountains. The Khakassky Nature Reserve is located in the region, and it is home to a wide variety of wildlife, including brown bears, wolves, and sable. The region is also known for its traditional crafts, such as woodworking and embroidery, and for its traditional festivals and celebrations.
Geography
The republic is located in the southwestern part of Eastern Siberia and borders Krasnoyarsk Krai in the north and east, the Tuva Republic in the southeast and south, the Altai Republic in the south and southwest, and Kemerovo Oblast in the west and northwest. It stretches for 460 kilometers (290 mi) from north to south and for 200 kilometers (120 mi) from east to west. Mountains (eastern slopes of Kuznetsk Alatau and the Abakan Range) cover two-thirds of the republic's territory and serve as the natural boundaries of the republic. The highest point is Kyzlasov Peak. The remaining territory is flat, with the Minusinsk Hollow being the most prominent feature. The Yenisei is the largest river in the republic. Other significant rivers include the Abakan, Tom’, Bely Iyus, Black Iyus, and the Chulym (between the Yenisei and the eastern mountains), with all except the Abakan part of the Ob river basin. There are over three hundred lakes in the republic, both salt- and fresh-water. The climate is continental, with the average annual temperature of 0 °C (32 °F). Natural resources are abundant and include iron, gold, silver, coal, oil, and natural gas. Molybdenum deposits are the largest in Russia. Forests cover the south and the west of the republic.
The territory of modern Khakassia formed the core of the Yenisei Kirghiz state from the 6th century AD In the 13th century, following defeat by the Mongols, the majority of the Kyrgyz people migrated southwest to Central Asia to the area of present-day Kyrgyzstan. Modern Khakas people regard themselves as the descendants of those Kyrgyz who remained in Siberia. Khakassia was incorporated into the Russian state under Peter the Great (r. 1682–1725).[15]
This incorporation was confirmed in a treaty - the Treaty of Burya [ru] - between Russia and China in 1729. As it was common to deport convicted criminals from European Russia to Siberia, forts were quickly constructed in Khakassia (1707 and 1718). Many prisoners remained even after release. Many of the indigenous Khakas people converted to the Russian Orthodox faith and gradually abandoned their nomadic way of life.
By the time of the 1917 Russian Revolution, Russians made up approximately half of the population. Under Soviet rule, autonomy was granted on 20 October 1930, when the Khakas Autonomous Oblast was established. The borders of the autonomous oblast are the same as the borders of the modern Khakas Republic.
During the 1920s and 1930s, the Soviet authorities resettled an estimated quarter of a million Russians in the region. These were followed by 10,000 Volga Germansdeported during World War II. By the time of the 1959 Census, ethnic Khakas people represented little more than 10% of the population of the Khakas oblast.
Until 1991, the Khakas Autonomous Oblast was administratively subordinated to Krasnoyarsk Krai. In July 1991, it was elevated in status to that of a Soviet socialist republic within the Russian Federation, and in February 1992 it became the Republic of Khakassia.
The highest legal act of the region is the Constitution of the Republic of Khakassia.[16] It was adopted on 25 May 1995 by the Supreme Council of the Republic.
The highest official of the republic, heading the executive power in the region, is the head of the Republic of Khakassia - the chairman of the government of the Republic of Khakassia. The term of office is 5 years. Since 15 November 2018, this post has been occupied by Valentin Konovalov (Communist Party of the Russian Federation).
Legislative power in Khakassia is exercised by the unicameral Supreme Council of the Republic of Khakassia, consisting of 50 deputies elected by a mixed electoral system: 25 by party lists and 25 by single-member districts. The United Russia faction makes up an absolute majority in the region's parliament (35 seats, 70%). The Chairman of the Supreme Council of the current VII convocation, elected in 2018, is Vladimir Shtygashev.
In the Federation Council, the region is represented by a member of the CPRF, Senator Valery Usatyuk, from the executive branch (since November 2018) and a member of United Russia, Senator Alexander Zhukov, from the legislative branch (since March 2019).
In 2007, the republic recorded a positive natural increase of population for the first time in many years (Although very small, less than +0.01% per year), being one of the 20 Russian regions to have a positive natural population growth rate.[20][21][22]
Ethnic groups
According to the 2021 Russian Census,[23] ethnic Russians make up 82.1% of the republic's population, while the ethnic Khakas are only 12.7%. Other groups include ethnic Germans (0.7%), Tuvans (0.5%), Ukrainians (0.4%), and a host of smaller groups, each accounting for less than 0.5% of the total population.
1 8,689 people were registered from administrative databases, and could not declare an ethnicity. It is estimated that the proportion of ethnicities in this group is the same as that of the declared group.[24]
Religion
Religion in Khakassia as of 2012 (Sreda Arena Atlas)[25][26]
The main industries in the republic are coal mining, ore mining, and timber.
Transport
The road network is most developed around the major cities of the centre, west, and southwest.
Federal highway R-257 runs through Khakassia. Other major highways include the regional highway A161 south from R-257 in Abakan along the Abakan valley to Abaza and across the mountains to Ak-Dovurak (Tuva). The most developed sections of roads are Abakan - Sayanogorsk, Abakan - Beya, Abakan - Abaza, Abakan - Sorsk, Bograd - Shira - Kopyevo, and Kopyevo - Priiskovy.
Roads to other smaller settlements are mainly dirt roads, although they are currently being replaced with a hard surface.
663 km of railways, electrified from Abakan to Kaltas. Other non-electrified sections are Tigey - Kopievo, Askiz - Abaza, Biskamzha - Toya.
The section of the Tigey-Kopyёvo railway and further to Uzhur, Achinsk connects two railway arteries: the Trans-Siberian Railway and Yuzhsib (South-Siberian: Taishet - Abakan - Novokuznetsk - Artyshta - Barnaul - Kulunda - Pavlodar - Astana - Tobol - Kartaly - Magnitogorsk). In addition to Abakan, the central station is Biskamzha. The city of Sayanogorsk is connected to the railway network through the station Kamyshta.
Airports: Abakan International Airport has regular flights to Moscow, Norilsk, Novosibirsk, Tomsk, and Krasnoyarsk.
^Президент Российской Федерации. Указ №849 от 13 мая 2000 г. «О полномочном представителе Президента Российской Федерации в федеральном округе». Вступил в силу 13 мая 2000 г. Опубликован: "Собрание законодательства РФ", No. 20, ст. 2112, 15 мая 2000 г. (President of the Russian Federation. Decree #849 of May 13, 2000 On the Plenipotentiary Representative of the President of the Russian Federation in a Federal District. Effective as of May 13, 2000.).
^Госстандарт Российской Федерации. №ОК 024-95 27 декабря 1995 г. «Общероссийский классификатор экономических регионов. 2. Экономические районы», в ред. Изменения №5/2001 ОКЭР. (Gosstandart of the Russian Federation. #OK 024-95 December 27, 1995 Russian Classification of Economic Regions. 2. Economic Regions, as amended by the Amendment #5/2001 OKER. ).
^
Anderson, David G. (January 11, 2013) [1998]. "Living in a subterranean landscape: identity politics in post-Soviet Khakassia". In Bridger, Sue; Pine, Frances (eds.). Surviving Post-Socialism: Local Strategies and Regional Responses in Eastern Europe and the Former Soviet Union. Routledge Studies of Societies in Transition (reprint ed.). London: Routledge. p. 55. ISBN9781135107154. Retrieved November 30, 2022. After [the fall of the Kyrgyz state] to the Mongols at the end of the thirteenth century, the pastoralists of the Saya-Altai depression controlled a much more modest regional economy of trade with surrounding peoples until the arrival of Russian Cossacks in the eighteenth century [...].
Верховный Совет Республики Хакасия. №45 25 мая 1995 г. «Конституция Республики Хакасия», в ред. Конституционного закона №19-ЗРХ от 8 апреля 2015 г. «О внесении изменений в Конституцию Республики Хакасия». Вступил в силу 30 июня 1995 г. Опубликован: "Вестник Хакасии", №25, 1995. (Supreme Council of the Republic of Khakassia. #45 May 25, 1995 Constitution of the Republic of Khakassia, as amended by the Constitutional Law #19-ZRKh of April 8, 2015 On Amending the Constitution of the Republic of Khakassia. Effective as of June 30, 1995.).
Верховный Совет РСФСР. Закон №1539-I от 1923 г. «О порядке преобразования Адыгейской, Горно-Алтайской, Карачаево-Черкесской и Хакасской автономных областей в Советские Социалистические Республики в составе РСФСР». (Supreme Soviet of the RSFSR. Law #1539-I of July 3, 1923 On the Process of Transformation of Adyghe, Mountain Altai, Karachay-Cherkess, and Khakass Autonomous Oblasts into Soviet Socialist Republics Within the RSFSR. ).
Верховный Совет Республики Хакасия. Закон №06-ЗРХ от 11 февраля 2015 г. «О государственном гимне Республики Хакасия». Вступил в силу 14 февраля 2015 г. Опубликован: "Хакасия", №26, 14 февраля 2015 г. (Supreme Council of the Republic of Khakassia. Law #06-ZRKh of February 11, 2015 On the State Anthem of the Republic of Khakassia. Effective as of February 14, 2015.).