Khakassia.

History

The Khakas trace their roots to the ancient Andronovo and Tagar cultures, and Tagar traces are everywhere: the Salbyk kurgan in the 'Valley of the Kings', raised in the first millennium BC, was the largest mound of that culture. From the 6th century AD this was the heartland of the Yenisei Kyrgyz state; after the Mongol conquest in the 13th century most Kyrgyz moved to Central Asia, while the ancestors of the Khakas stayed. The Abakan fort was built at the mouth of the Abakan River in 1675, and in 1931 the village of Ust-Abakanskoye became the town of Abakan. The Khakas Autonomous Oblast was formed in 1930 and became the Republic of Khakassia in February 1992.

Culture & traditions

The Khakas are a Turkic people who speak Khakas, an official language alongside Russian, and call themselves Tadar. Today they make up about 13 per cent of the republic's population, most of whom are Russian. Many Khakas converted to Orthodox Christianity in the 19th century, yet shamanic traditions live on and often blend with it. Near Abakan in the 1940s archaeologists excavated the remains of a large Chinese-style palace from the Han dynasty era, whose owner is still debated.

Nature

The main river is the Yenisei, joined by the Abakan, the Tom and the Chulym. The flat, dry-steppe Minusinsk Basin is ringed by mountains that cover two-thirds of the republic. Salty Lake Shira, 160 kilometres north-west of Abakan and up to 23 metres deep, is known for its magnesium-rich mineral water, with freshwater Lake Itkul close by. On the Yenisei near Sayanogorsk, a 242-metre dam holds back the Sayano-Shushenskoye Reservoir, which covers 621 square kilometres.

Sport

Bandy is Abakan's favourite sport, and the local club Sayany is well known in the sport. In summer, Lakes Shira and Itkul draw people for swimming, boating and fishing.

Food & drink

The Khakas were traditionally nomadic herders who also hunted and fished, so the traditional table rests on meat and dairy. Fishing on the lakes is still part of local life.

Practical information

Abakan has an international airport with regular flights to major Siberian cities and is the terminus of the Abakan–Taishet railway. Local time is four hours ahead of Moscow (UTC+7). The climate is continental, with an average annual temperature around 0 °C: Abakan has seen winter lows of −47 °C and summer highs above +38 °C. Summer is the best time to visit, when Lake Shira's beaches are open and the steppe kurgans are easy to reach.

What to see

• Salbyk kurgan — an open-air museum ringed by massive stone slabs
• Lake Shira — a salt-lake spa resort since the 19th century
• Sayano-Shushenskaya Dam — a 242-metre arch-gravity dam on the Yenisei
• Lake Itkul — a freshwater lake next to Shira
• Abakan — the republic's capital where the Abakan River meets the Yenisei

Cities on the map

• Abakan 184,769