Altai Republic

The Altai Republic is a federal subject of Russia, which is situated in the very center of Asia at the junction of Siberian taiga, steppes of Kazakhstan and semi-deserts of Mongolia. The republic is a part of the Siberian Federal District. The Altai Republic borders on such remote countries as China and Mongolia and on near foreign country - Kazakhstan, which is the State border of the Russian Federation. The Republic has an administrative border on such subjects of the Russian Federation as the Tuva and the Khakass Republics, Altai Region and Kemerovo Oblast.

Overview

The Altai Republic was established on June 1, 1922.
- Region territory: 92.9 thousand km²
- Population: 207.1 thousand people.
- Administrative center: Gorno-Altaisk
- Distance from Gorno-Altaisk to Moskow: 3641 km
- Urban population: 53.1%
- Number of historical and architectural monuments: over 10000

Time zone

The Altai Republic is located in the Omsk Time Zone (OMST/OMSST). UTC offset is +6:00 (OMST)/+7:00 (OMSST).

Climate

The climate is temperate continental with relatively short and hot summers (June - August) and long, cold and at some places very frosty winters (November - March). The average annual temperatures are about +1°C - 6,7°С. January temperature range is from -9,2°C to -31°C, July - from +11°C to +19°C. The average annual precipitation level varies from 100 up to 1000 mm.

Natural resources

Nature of Gorny Altai is diverse and unique. There are hollows with semi-desert landscapes, Alpine peaks, narrow river canyons and broad valleys, highland tundra landscapes and deep natural staffs in the thickness of limestone, cereal steppes and eternal snow and glaciers, stony placers and tracts of forest. The Altai Mountains cover the territory of the Altai Republic; altitude and zonal landscape types clearly expressed. These types are characterized by certain correlation of heat and moisture, expressed in humidification factor and aridity radiation index; its landscape peculiarities, biological turnover of air migrants (carbon, oxygen, hydrogen) and in most cases by a certain soil and vegetation types. Forests cover more than a half of the mountain territory. One third of the territory of the Altai Republic is occupied by highlands.

Water resources are among the most important natural resources of Gorny Altai.

Hydrographic network of the Republic counts more than 20000 water courses stretching for more than 60000 km and about 7000 lakes with the general square of more than 700 square km.

The largest rivers are the Katun and the Biya, which junction forms one of the largest Siberian rivers - the Ob River. The hugest lake is the Teletskoye, the area of its water surface is 230,8 km and maximum depth - 325 m. Mountain lakes of Altai contain enormous freshwater reserves of the highest quality. Only Lake Teletskoye contains more than 40 square km of the purest water.

Potential use of underground water storage is evaluated at 22 mln. cubic meters (m3) per day, while the present use constitutes only about 44 thousand m3 per day. There are mineral springs known in Altai Mountains considered medicinal. Altai glaciers contain great amount of fresh water. The general volume of ice of the registered Altai glaciers comes up to 57 km3, which constitutes 52 km3 of water. The whole water stock of glaciers exceeds an average annual effluent of Altai rivers for many years being equal to 43 km3 per year. The largest glaciers are: Bolshoi Taldurinskiy - 35 km2, Mensu - 21 km2, Sofiyskiy - 17 km2, Bolshoi Maashei - 16 km2.

Gorny Altai forests are quite diverse. Coniferous trees prevail: Siberian larch, cedar, fir, spruce, pine. The most widely distributed sort of wood in the Altai Republic is larch. Deciduous wood species are of minor importance in Gorny Altai: birch, aspen, poplar, rowan-tree (mountain ash), guelder-rose (snowball tree), bog whortleberry (great bilberry), cowberry (mountain cranberry), etc. may be come across in the forests tracts. Various mountain and taiga soils, podzol soil are developed under the forest cover. Gorny Altai high-mountain zone occupies the heights of 2000-2400m (up to 2800-3000m). Tundras are subdivided into 3 types: moss and lichen, detritus and lichen, and stony. Moss and lichen tundras are characteristic of the western and central parts of Gorny Altai. Detritus and lichen ones are found in drier places and are widespread in the eastern regions. Stony placers are covered with lichen here. Stony tundras are the highest.

Economy

Agricultural production prevails in the structure of the total social product of the Republic. The Republic took the first positions upon production of maral antlers, goat down and sheep wool not only in Russia, but in СIS as well.

Industry of the Altai Republic is presented by such branches as food, light, of building materials, mining, of non-ferrous metals. The following types of production are manufactured by republican enterprises (according to the branches):
- food industry (bread and bakery, sausage products and smoked foods, cheese, butter, canned fruits and vegetables, different wines and soft drinks);
- light industry (cotton fabric, curtain and tulle fabric, shoes, clothes and other sewing articles);
- industry of building materials (prefabricated ferroconcrete structures, brick, facing slabs of granite and marble);
- forest and wood-working industry (merchantable wood, lumber, jointer's articles, furniture, various souvenirs);
- non-ferrous metallurgy (mercury, gold, silver, tungsten-molybdenum concentrate, jewelry).

Investment climate

Favorable conditions for attraction of investments are created in the Altai Republic.
- One created a unique system - an "institute of social investors ".
- There is a great potential for economy of the Altai Republic (Deer-breeding, raw technical medicines, tourism, etc.).
- Investors, carrying out investments in the Altai Republic get a right on tax privileges:
  - 4 % on profit tax;
  - 100 % on property tax;
  - 100 % on local taxes.
- Privileges on transport tax (depending on a type of transport).
- Privileges, regarding a ground tax, acting in republican budget for enterprises, which are carrying out airport activity.
- An investment program in the Altai Republic's social sphere - is an annual plan of investments in objects of capital construction of the Altai Republic's social sphere. Means of investors are accumulated in the Altai Republic's budget and are spent strictly on a special-purpose destination.

The basic branches and the major products

Agriculture Occupies the leading place in national economic complex of the Altai Republic. Live-stock raising (sheep, goats, cattle, horses, yaks) is the main branch of agriculture, antler sika-deer-raising is of special significance. This branch gives unique production, which has no analogues in the world according to quality - maral and sika-deer antlers. At the present time total number of marals in the Altai Republic has exceeded 27 thousand, and total number of sika-deer has reached 8 thousand. Being the main export production and providing currency receipts to the Republic, antler production is of great demand at the South-Eastern Asia markets. Since ancient times the Altaians have been occupied with sheep-breeding. Sheep are bred in 7 regions of the Republic. Total number of them of all the farms categories exceeds 300 thousand. In 1959 the Gornoaltaiskaya pedigree group of sheep of semifined-fleeced trend was raised and approved. A leading pedigree sheep-breeding farm is EPF "Tenginskoye". A domestic breed of downy goats - Gornoaltaiskaya one - was raised in the Republic after many-year pedigree work. This breed is distinguished by high productivity (560 g of down combing from each sheep) and downy fibers output (95% and more). The basic farm is the pedigree-plant and collective farm "Mukhor-Tarkhata". The sheep total number of all the Republic's farms categories exceeds 100 thousand.

Herd horse-breeding is the traditional branch of live-stock raising. A great work upon raising of the Altaian breed of horses of productive direction is being carried out. Total number of horses of all the farms categories exceeds 70 thousand.

Bee-keeping is a traditional branch of the Altai taiga inhabitants. Hundreds of tons of sweet-scented honey are produced annually by Altai bee-keepers. The mountain honey surpasses the steppe one according to its flavor and medical qualities.

Gardening started in Siberia in the middle of XX century at the small experimental station in Gorno-Altaisk , today it is EPF "Gorno-Altaiskoye". The founder of the station and its permanent manager for a long time was M.A.Lisavenko. Today the selectionists of Altai offer customers dozens of new sorts of apple-trees, pear-trees, plum-trees, cherry-trees, sea-buckthorn trees, goose-berry bushes, currant bushes, raspberry-canes, strawberry.

Power Engineering. One of the main deterrents of social and economic development of the Altai Republic is a low level of electrification and shortage of fuel and energy resources, consisting at the present time of wood of local origin, imported oil products and coil, electric power received from outside. The basis of the own power engineering system of the Altai Republic is the Tchemal Hydroelectric Power station (HPS) built in the 30-s on the Katun River, small low-power HPSes and about 400 small mobile stations and electric installations. Annual electric power consumption per head in the Altai Republic is 2.6 times less than that in Altai Region and 4 times less than upon the average in the Russian Federation.

Non-ferrous metallurgy - mercury, gold, silver, tungsten-molybdenum concentrate, jewelry (Joint-stock company "Kalgutinskoye", Joint-stock company "Aktash Mining and Smelting Enterprise", Joint-stock company "Mine "Veseliy", Joint-stock company "Artel of gold-digger Gorizont", Joint-stock company "MKK-Seyka", Joint-stock company "Metals of Altai").

Forest and wood-working industry - merchantable wood, lumber, jointer's articles, furniture, various souvenirs (State Unitary Commercial Wood-Working Enterprise "Taiga", Joint-stock company "Intekhavia", Joint-stock company "Arzhan", Joint-stock company "Stroitel", Joint-stock company "Kedr", Privately owned enterprise "Parfenov", State Unitary Enteprise IR-91/1 , Joint-stock company "Elga").

Industry of building materials - prefabricated ferroconcrete structures, brick, facing slabs of granite and marble, expanded polystyrene, structural elements, aerocrete, construction, freight services (Joint-stock company "Gorno-Altask plant of ferroconcrete items", Joint-stock company "Savanna", Joint-stock company "Stones of Altai", Joint-stock company "Gazoblok", Joint-stock company "Fotjev", Joint-stock company "Dorozhnik").

Metal-working - metal constructions, metal products (Joint-stock company "Mayminsky motor repair factory", Joint-stock company "Smena").

Light industry - cotton fabric, curtain and tulle fabric, shoes, clothes and other sewing articles (Joint-stock company "Berezka", Joint-stock company "Tsvet", State institution IR - 91/1, Atelier "Aytana" of the Centre of amateur and folk arts "Enci", Joint-stock company "Tisa").

Food industry - bread and bakery, sausage products and smoked foods, cheese, butter, canned fruits and vegetables, different wines and soft drinks (Joint-stock company "Altai food company", Joint-stock company "Ust-Koksinsky meat-packing plant", Joint-stock agricultural company, Joint-stock company "Alip", Joint-stock company "Cherginsky butter and cheese factory", Joint-stock company "Ust-Koksinsky butter and cheese factory", Joint-stock company "Gorno-Altaisky factory "Podgorniy", Joint-stock company "Beer", Joint-stock company "Agroindustrial complex "Gorny Altai").

Tourism. The unique natural and climatic conditions create wide opportunities for development of almost all types of tourism. The presence of significant historical and archeological monuments of the Universal heritage attract the international public at large to the Republic. Several dozens of highly comfortable tourist centers and recreational bases function on the territory of the Altai Republic. Among them are "Kiwi-Lodge", "Tsar Hunting", "Edem", "Katun", "The Golden Lake", "Yunost", "Kucherla", training center "Seminsky Pass".

Infrastructure

The main transport means in the Altai Republic is motor transport, carrying out over 90% of all kinds of traffic. The extent of departmental automobile roads in the Altai Republic constitutes over 3,5 thousand km, including:
- of all-Russian significance - 572 km (16,4%);
- of republican significance - 821 km (23,6%);
- of regional significance - 570 km (16,4%);
- of intersubjects significance - over 1500 km (43,6%);

There are 17,3 km of hard pavement roads for every 1000 square km of the territory, compared to average of 26,7 km for every thousand km of the territory of Russia. Gravel covered roads prevail. Tchuisky Highway has hard pavement along the whole length.

The main traffic artery of the Altai Republic is highway Novosibirsk-Biysk-Tashnta (Tchuisky Highway), with the extent of 572 km. This is the road of federal significance providing external (interstate) and regional transportation communication. Over 50-70 thousand tones of freights are annually carried by to Mongolia this road.

Besides, this is the only arterial road connecting the capital of the Altai Republic with other regions of Russia. Communication with the nearest railroad station situated in Biysk (approximately 100 km away) is conducted by means of this highway.

The Republic does not have own railway network, and the nearest railroad station is situated in Biysk being 100 km away from Gorno-Altaisk.

Gorno-Altaisk Airport, Terminal of the Altai Regional Agency for Air Transportation. Drawing-up of airline tickets - from Barnual Airport.

Gorno-Altaisk Bus Terminal, Gorno-Altaisk Passenger Transportation Enterprise.

Drawing-up of bus tickets - from Gorno-Altaisk Bus Terminal; railroad tickets - from Biysk Railroad Station.

Communication. The main telecommunication services provider in the Altai Republic is JSC "Electrosvyaz". Besides local, interregional and international telephony "Electrosvyaz" also provides access to Internet and e-mail services. GSM format is available for the cellular telephony in Gorno-Altaisk. Interregional and international telephony is available in any regional centre of the Altai Republic.

External links
http://www.altai-republic.ru/ - Official website of the Altai Republic

Regions of Russia