| Sayan Mountains | |
|---|---|
 View of Mönkh Saridag, highest peak in the Sayan Mountains | |
| Highest point | |
| Peak | Mönkh Saridag |
| Elevation | 3,492 m (11,457 ft) |
| Coordinates | 51°43′08″N 100°36′53″E / 51.71889°N 100.61472°E |
| Geography | |
  Sayan Mountains  Sayan Mountains | |
 | |
| Parent range | South Siberian Mountains |
Western Sayan, Ergaki mountains
The Sayan Mountains (Mongolian: Соёны нуруу, Soyonii nuruu; Old Turkic: 𐰚𐰇𐰏𐰢𐰤, romanized: Kögmen)[1] are a mountain range in southern Siberia spanning southeastern Russia (Buryatia, Irkutsk Oblast, Krasnoyarsk Krai, Tuva and Khakassia) and northern Mongolia. Before the rapid expansion of the Tsardom of Russia, the mountain range served as the border between Mongolian and Russian cultures and cultural influences.[2]
The Sayan Mountains' towering peaks and cool lakes southwest of Tuva give rise to the tributaries that merge to become one of Siberia's major rivers, the Yenisei River, which flows north over 3,400 kilometres (2000 mi) to the Arctic Ocean. This is a protected and isolated area, having been kept closed by the Soviet Union since 1944.[3]
- ^ Vasily Bartold (1935). Vorlesungen uber die Geschichte der Turken Mittelasiens. Vol. 12. Berlin: Deutsche Gesellschaft für Islamkunde. p. 46. OCLC 3673071.
- ^ "Sayan Mountains". Retrieved 2006-12-25.
- ^ "Tuva and Sayan Mountains". Geographic Bureau - Siberia and Pacific. Archived from the original on 2015-11-26. Retrieved 2006-10-26.