Administrative center: Kyzyl

    The Tuvan lands are unique and distinctive. Boundless steppes with a majestic eagle soaring over them and blue lakes with white-winged gulls symbolize nature in the republic.

    Tuva has a wealth of natural springs, lakes, forests, and minerals. The most important minerals are nonferrous and rare metal ores, coal, asbestos, iron ore, gold, mercury, and building materials.

    Tuva's natural springs have curative qualities and are called arzhaany in the Tuvan language. Arzhaan is an old word from ancient Sanskrit meaning holy or healing water. Tuvan medicinal springs can be divided into two main groups: mineral and fresh. Mineral springs are part of Tuva's mineral resources; many springs and saline and mud lakes have unique properties and are found in scenic locations with special natural climatic conditions.

    Two Tuvan lakes are especially worth mentioning. The first is fantastically beautiful Sut-Khol. It is located on the spurs of the Western Sayan at an elevation of 1800 m above sea level. Its length from west to east is 7-8 km. Not far from the lake are forest-covered Mt. Bora-Taiga and Mt. Kyzyl-Taiga. Larch, spruce, and cedar grow on the shores of the lake and berries ripen among the moss. The water in the lake is fresh, exceptionally clear, and rich in plankton. The Ulug-Dorgun spring gushes out near the lake. The temperature of the water in the spring is +4°C.

    The second lake is Chagytai, one of the largest and deepest lakes of the Tuvan plain. It is located at the foot of the northern slopes of the Tannu-Ola Range at an elevation of 1003 m above sea level. The lake is nearly 20 km long and covers an area of 2860 hectares. The shores of the lake are mainly rocky and sandy, with marshy areas only in the southeastern part. The Mazhalyk River, the only river flowing out of the lake, has its source here. The mountain slopes on the western and southeastern sides of the lake are covered with taiga. Chagytai abounds in fish, including ide, pike, peled, bream, and carp. There is commercial fishing on the lake, with an annual catch amounting to 50-70 tons.

Transportation

Tyva has as yet no railway - although (in)famous postage stamps, designed in Moscow during the time of Tyvan independence, mistakenly depict locomotives as demonstrating soviet-inspired progress there.

    There are three roads leading to Tyva, a dirt track over the mountains from Khakassia to Ak Dovurak, and an asphalt road over the passes between Khakassia (Abakan) and Kyzyl: both of these are cut off by snowfall and avalanches from time to time in winter. The third road goes south, turning into a track before entering Mongolia. The only external bus and taxi services are between Khakassia (Abakan) and Kyzyl.

    Kyzyl has both large public busses and private minibus services, and busses and taxis also connect Kyzyl with the larger settlements.

    Passenger ferries ply the Greater Yenisei (Bii-Khem) between Kyzyl and Toora-Khem in Todzha (Upper Tyva) when there is neither too little nor too much water over the rapids.

    There is a small airfield in Kyzyl with intermittent flights.

Culture

The Tuvan people are famous for their throat singing.

    Khuresh, the Tuvan form of wrestling, is a very popular sport. Competitions are held at the annual Naadym festival at Tos-Bulak.

    Sainkho Namtchylak is one of the few singers from Tuva to have an international following. She is also very involved with Tuvan culture. Every year she invites Western musicians to perform in Kyzyl and to learn about the country, its culture and its music. In recent years Kongar-ool Ondar has become well-known in the West as well, in large part because of the film Genghis Blues featuring Ondar and American blues singer Paul Pena. Huun-Huur-Tu has been one of the most well known Tuvan music ensembles since the late 1990s, while the Alash ensemble came to prominence in the early 2000s.

    The Tuvan language is Turkic, although with many loan-words from Mongolian. It is currently written with a modified Cyrillic alphabet, previously used Turkic runes, later Mongolian, then Latin alphabets. When part of China, Tuva was administered as part of Outer Mongolia, and the language difference was a determining factor in Tuva seeking full independence following the collapse of the Chinese Empire.

Oral traditions

    The Tuvan people have a rich tradition of orally transmitted folklore, including many genres, ranging from very brief riddles and aphorisms, to tongue twisters, magical tales, hero tales, scary stories, and epics that would take many hours to recite. A few examples and excerpts of the epic genres, such as Boktu-Kirish, Bora-Sheelei have been published. This art form is now endangered as the traditional tale-tellers grow old and are not replaced by younger practitioners.

Religion

    Three religions are widespread among the people of Tuva: Tibetan Buddhism, Orthodox Christianity and shamanism. Tibetan Buddhism's present-day spiritual leader is Tenzin Gyatso, the fourteenth Dalai Lama. In September 1992, the fourteenth Dalai Lama visited Tuva for three days. On September 20, he blessed and consecrated the new yellow-blue-white flag of Tuva, which had just been officially adopted three days previously.

    The Tuvan people - along with the Yellow Uyghurs in China - are one of the only two Turkic groups who are mainly adherents to Tibetan Buddhism, combined with native Shamanism. During the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries Tibetan Buddhism gained increasing popularity in Tuva. An increasing number of new and restored temples is coming into use, as well as novices being trained as monks and lamas.

    Religious practice declined under the restrictive policies of the Soviet period but revived somewhat since the early 1990s

Useful links:

Pictures of Tuva on

fotuva.org - Friends of Tuva.

Tuva online

Tuva on Wikipedia