Altay - Атлас этнических региональных автономий - Сеть по исследованию идентичности

Description of the autonomy

One of the 22 republics of the Russian Federation. It is located in the south of Western Siberia. The autonomy borders with several countries: in the southeast - with Mongolia and the People's Republic of China, in the south-west - with the Republic of Kazakhstan.

Oirot Autonomous Region was established in 1922. Its creation was preceded by the release in 1920 of the Gorny Altai from the Biysk Uyezdю and it is linked with the formation of a separate territorial unit - the Gorny Altai Uyezd. Until 1937, the Oirot Autonomous Oblast was a part of the Siberian and then the West Siberian Krai. In 1937 it was included in the Altai Krai. In 1948, it was renamed the Gorno-Altai Autonomous Oblast. In 1990, the Declaration on State Sovereignty of the Gorno-Altai SSR was adopted, and in 1992 its status was upgraded to a republic within Russia, and it was renamed as the Altai Republic.

The titular ethnic group is the Altai people (Altaians). The self-name of Altaians is Altai-kizhi, "the man of Altai". Altaians are divided into northern (Chelkans, Kumandins, Tubalars) and southern (Altai-kizhi, Telengits and Teleuts). The defining markers of their differences from the titular nation of the country are language and religion. The Altai language belongs to the Kipchak branch of the Turkic language group of the Altaic language family (close to the Kirghiz language). The traditional religion of the Altaians is Shamanism. Moreover, the religious beliefs of the Altaians were exposed to the influence of Orthodoxy and Buddhism (Lamaism). At the beginning of the XX century, a new religious ideology arose - Burkhanism (White faith") - in Gorny Altai.

As a result of the All-Russia Population Census of 2010 showed, the share of Russians in the Altai Republic was 56.6%; Altaians - 33.9%. A significant share (more than 6%) of the population include territorially localized Kazakhs.

The situation in inter-ethnic relations in the country is generally assessed as stable. Nevertheless, from time to time there are points of tension, in particular, in the sphere of ethnic balance and in the distribution of power positions. A serious issue is a situation in the Kosh-Agachsky District, where competition between Kazakhs and Altais is might be visible.

Autonomy's characteristics

Year of the creation of the autonomy:

Geographic

Where is the autonomy situated:
Autonomy area: km²
Share of the autonomy in the area of the country: %
Autonomy population:the latest census thousands of people
Share of the autonomy in the population of the country: %

Country's characteristics

Level of economic development of the country:GDP per capita in 2015 in current price in $ in $
Political regime in the country:It is based on the Freedom House Index, 2015. All countries of the world are located on a scale from 1 (most free) to 7 (least free). Countries whose ratings fall between 1.0 and 2.5 are “Free”, between 3.0 and 5.0 are "Partly Free," and those between 5.5 and 7.0 are "Not Free."

Economic

Share of the autonomy in the economy of the country:GRP of the autonomy divided to GDP of the country (%) %
Level of economic development of the autonomy:relative to the country (%): GRP per capita of the autonomy divided to GDP per capita of the country %

Ethnic

Share of the dominant in the country ethnic group in the population of the autonomy:in %: population size of the dominant in the country ethnic group divided to overal population size of the autonomy (the latest census; expert estimations) %
Share of the titular ethnic group in the population of the autonomy:in %: population size of the titular ethnic group of the autonomy divided to overal population size of the autonomy (the latest census; expert estimations) %
Ethnic peculiarity:It indicates a key characteristic of autonomy's ethnic identity - language or religion or both
Diversity of ethnic composition:The presence of other (in addition to the titular group in the autonomy and the dominant group in the country) significant ethnic groups in the population of the autonomy

Political

Degree of self-rule of the autonomy:It is based on the Regional Authority Index project that aims at measuring the powers of all the regions in 81 countries. Here the index "tier_selfrule" (2010) is used. It summarizes five dimensions of self-rule: institutional depth; policy scope; fiscal autonomy; borrowing autonomy; and the extent to which a region has an independent legislature and executive. The index takes value from 0 to 18
Degree of shared-rule of the autonomy:It is based on the Regional Authority Index project that aims at measuring the powers of all the regions in 81 countries. Here the index "tier_sharedrule" (2010) is used. It summarizes five dimensions of shared-rule: participation of a region in national law-making; intergovernmental meetings; the distribution of national tax revenues; borrowing; and constitutional change. The index takes value from 0 to 12
The presence of the "kin-state":"Kin-state" is a state whose main population shares the ethnic characteristics of the titular ethnic group of the autonomy
Linguistic preferences:It indicates how the language of the titular ethnic group of the autonomy is learned in secondary schools in the autonomy
Ethnic conflicts:It indicates whether the serious conflicts between the autonomy and the central government as well as between ethnic groups within the authority take place in 2001-2015. The level of conflict is determined on the basis of the annual reports of Conflict Barometer