KHAKASSIA

The Khakass people have been termed “the most ethnically complex minority in all of Russia.” Called “Tatars” for 200 years, during the tsarist era, the label “Khakass” did not emerge until the 20th century, and derives from the Kacha word for “people.”

The main language of the Khakass – which is comprised of three main tribes, the Sagay, Beltire and Koybal – is Kacha, but about 70% of Khakass speak Russian. More than half intermarry with ethnic Russians. About three-quarters of the region’s population lives in urban centers.

The region today known as Khakassia was conquered by the Mongols in the 13th century and was a part of that empire for 500 years, until it was annexed by Russia in 1727. Despite some political exiles being sent to this region during the late tsarist era, Russians did not begin to flow into the area in large numbers until after the building of the Trans-Siberian railway in the 1890s. Today, Khakassia covers some 61,900 square kilometers,
an area roughly the size of West Virginia.