The Altai Mountains (/ɑːlˈtaɪ/), also spelled Altay Mountains, are a mountain range in Central and East Asia, where Russia, China, Mongolia, and Kazakhstan converge, and where the rivers Irtysh and Ob have their headwaters. The massif merges with the Sayan Mountains in the northeast, and gradually becomes lower in the southeast, where it merges into the high plateau of the Gobi Desert. It spans from about 45° to 52° N and from about 84° to 99° E.
The region is inhabited by a sparse but ethnically diverse population, including Russians, Kazakhs, Altais, Tuvans, Mongols, and Volga Germans, though predominantly represented by indigenous ethnic minorities of semi-nomadic people.[1] The local economy is based on bovine, sheep, horse husbandry, hunting, agriculture, forestry, and mining.[2] The proposed Altaic language family takes its name from this mountain range.
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- ^ Graeme, Worboys (2010). Connectivity Conservation Management: A Global Guide. Earthscan. p. 247. ISBN 9781844076031.
The population of the Altai frontier regions is mostly represented by indigenous ethnic minorities of semi nomadic stockbreeders: Kazakhs, Altais (Telenghets), Tuvins, Dyurbets, and Ugyurs.
- ^ Olson, James Stuart (1994). An Ethnohistorical Dictionary of the Russian and Soviet Empires. Greenwood Press. p. 32. ISBN 9780313274978.
The traditional Altai economy revolved around breeding cattle and hunting. They also bred deer and harvested the animals for their antlers, which were exported to China for use in the manufacture of folk medicines.