The republic has a reputation for an extreme and severe climate, with the second lowest temperatures in theNorthern Hemisphere being recorded inVerkhoyansk andOymyakon (second only toSummit Camp,Greenland), and regular winter averages commonly dipping below −35 °C (−31 °F) in Yakutsk. The hypercontinental tendencies also result in warm summers for much of the republic.
TheRussians colonised and incorporated the area as theYakutsk Oblast into theTsardom of Russia in the early-mid 17th century, obliging the indigenous peoples of the area to payfur tribute. While the initial period following the Russian conquest saw the Sakha population drop by 70%, theImperial period also saw the expansion of the nativeYakuts from the middle Lena along theVilyuy River to the north and the east displacing other indigenous groups. Yakutia saw some of the last battles of theRussian Civil War, and the Bolshevik authorities re-organized Yakutsk Oblast into the autonomousYakut ASSR in 1922. The Soviet era saw the migration of manySlavs, specificallyRussians andUkrainians, into the area.
On 27 September 1990, the area became the Yakutskaya-Sakha Soviet Socialist Republic, and on 27 December 1991, it became the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia).
TheexonymYakut comes from theEvenk termYako (alsoyoqo,ñoqa, orñoka), which was the term the Evenks used to describe the Sakha. This was in turn picked up by the Russians.[10] TheYukaghirs, another neighboring people inSiberia, use the exonymyoqol ~yoqod- ~yoqon- (Tundra Yukaghir) oryaqal ~ yaqad- ~ yaqan- (Kolyma Yukaghir).[citation needed]
Theself-designationSakha may be of the same origin (*jaqa >Sakha following regular sound changes in the course of development of the Yakut language) as the Evenk and Yukaghir exonyms for the Yakuts.[11] It is pronounced asHaka by theDolgans,whose language is a close relative of theYakut language.[12][13]
Sakha stretches to theHenrietta Island in the far north and is washed by theLaptev andEastern Siberian Seas of the Arctic Ocean. These waters, the coldest and iciest of all seas in the Northern Hemisphere, are covered by ice for 9–10 months of the year.New Siberian Islands are a part of the republic's territory. AfterNunavut was separated from Canada'sNorthwest Territories in 1999, Sakha became thelargest subnational entity (statoid) in the world, with an area of 3,083,523 square kilometers (1,190,555 sq mi),[8] slightly smaller than the territory ofIndia (3.3 million km2), but still slightly larger thanArgentina.
Sakha can be divided into three great vegetation belts. About 40% of Sakha lies above theArctic Circle and all of it is covered bypermafrost which greatly influences the region's ecology and limits forests in the southern region. Arctic and subarctictundra define the middle region, wherelichen andmoss grow as great green carpets and are favorite pastures forreindeer. In the southern part of the tundra belt, scattered stands of dwarfSiberian pine andlarch grow along the rivers. Below the tundra is the vasttaiga forest region. Larch trees dominate in the north and stands offir andpine begin to appear in the south. Taiga forests cover about 47% of Sakha and almost 90% of the cover is larch.
The Sakha Republic is the site ofPleistocene Park, a project directed at recreating Pleistocene tundra grasslands by stimulating the growth of grass with the introduction of animals which thrived in the region during the latePleistocene – earlyHolocene period.
The largest river is the navigableLena River (4,400 km). As it moves northward, it includes hundreds of smalltributaries located in theVerkhoyansk Range.
Sakha's greatest mountain range, theVerkhoyansk Range, runs parallel and east of the Lena River, forming a great arc that begins in theSea of Okhotsk and ends in the Laptev Sea.
TheChersky Range runs east of the Verkhoyansk Range and has the highest peak in Sakha,Peak Pobeda (3,003 m - 9,852 ft). The second highest peak isPeak Mus-Khaya reaching 2,959 m (9,708 ft).
Sakha is well endowed with raw materials. The soil contains large reserves ofoil, gas,coal,diamonds,gold,silver,tin,tungsten and many others. Sakha produces 99% of all Russian diamonds and over 25% of the diamonds mined in the world.[16][17]
Sakha is known for itsclimate extremes, with theVerkhoyansk Range being the coldest area in the Northern Hemisphere. Some of the lowest natural temperatures ever recorded have been here. TheNorthern Hemisphere'sPole of Cold is atVerkhoyansk, where the temperatures reached as low as −67.8 °C (−90.0 °F) in 1892 and 1885, and atOymyakon, where the temperatures reached as low as −67.8 °C (−90.0 °F) in February 1934.
Average daily maximum and minimum temperatures for selected locations in Yakutiya[18][19][20][21]
TheTurkicSakha people orYakuts may have settled the area as early as the 9th century or as late as the 16th century, though most likely there were several migrations. They migrated up north from aroundLake Baikal to themiddle Lena due to pressure by the Buryats, a Mongolic group.[27]
The Sakha displaced earlier, much smaller populations who lived on hunting and reindeer herding, introducing thepastoralist economy of Central Asia. The indigenous populations ofPaleosiberian andTungusic stockwere mostlyassimilated to the Sakha by the 17th century.[28]
In August 1638, the Moscow Government formed a new administrative unit with the administrative center of Lensky Ostrog (Fort Lensky), the future city ofYakutsk, which had been founded byPyotr Beketov in 1632.[29][30][31]
The arrival of Russian settlers at the remoteRusskoye Ustye in theIndigirka delta is also believed to date from the 17th century.[33] TheSiberian Governorate was established as part of the Russian Empire in 1708.
Russian settlers began to form a community in the 18th century, which adopted certain Sakha customs and was often calledYakutyane (Якутя́не) or Lena Early Settlers (ленские старожилы). However, the influx of later settlers had assimilated themselves into the Russian mainstream by the 20th century.[29][30][31]
Yakutsk Oblast in the early 19th century marked the easternmost territory of the Russian Empire, including suchFar Eastern (Pacific) territories as were acquired, known as Okhotsk Okrug within Yakutsk Oblast. With the formation ofPrimorskaya Oblast in 1856, the Russian territories of the Pacific were detached from Sakha.
Members of the Siberian Regional Duma from Yakutsk, 1917
The Russians established agriculture in theLena River basin. The members of religious groups who were exiled to Sakha in the second half of the 19th century began to growwheat,oats, andpotatoes. Thefur trade established a cash economy. Industry and transport began to develop at the end of the 19th century and in the beginning of theSoviet period. This was also the beginning ofgeological prospecting,mining, and locallead production. The first steam-powered ships and barges arrived.
A Sakha national movement first emerged during the1905 Revolution. A Yakut Union was formed under the leadership of a Sakha lawyer and city councilor by the name of Vasily Nikiforov, which criticized the policies and effects of Russian colonialism, and demanded representation in theState Duma. The Yakut Union acted to make the city council of Yakutsk stand down and was joined by thousands of Sakha from the countryside, but the leaders were arrested and the movement fizzled out by April 1906. Their demand for a Sakha representative in the Duma, however, was granted.[35]
Sakha was home to the last stage of the Russian Civil War, theYakut Revolt. On April 27, 1922, former Yakutsk Oblast was proclaimed theYakut ASSR, although in fact the eastern part of the territory, including the city of Yakutsk, was controlled by theWhite Russians.
Platon Oyunsky, who wrote the traditionally-oralolonkho epics
The early Soviet period saw a flourishing of Sakha literature as men such asPlaton Oyunsky wrote down in writing the traditionally oral and improvisedolonkho, in addition to composing their own works. Many early Sakha leaders, including Oyunsky, died in theGreat Purge.
Autonomous Yakut SSR, 1928
Sakha experienced significant collectivizationbetween 1929 and 1934, with the number of households experiencing collectivization rising from 3.6% in 1929 to 41.7% in 1932. Policies by which the Sakha were harshly affected resulted in the population dropping from 240,500 in 1926 down to 236,700 at the 1959 census.[36]
Sakha's demographics shifted wildly during the Soviet period as ethnic Russians and Ukrainians, among other groups, settled the area en masse, primarily in Yakutsk and the industrial south. Previously, even Yakutsk had been primarily Sakha and Sakha-speaking. With the end ofkorenizatsiya, usage of the Sakha language was restricted in urban areas such as Yakutsk, which became primarily Russian-speaking.
Following thedissolution of the Soviet Union in December 1991, theYakut Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic was officially reconstituted as theRepublic of Sakha (Yakutia), a federal subject within the newly formedRussian Federation.[37] In April 1992, Moscow formally recognized this status, granting Sakha significant autonomy; most notably, a 1992 agreement allowing the republic to retain 20% of its diamond industry profits, a landmark concession deviating from decades of centralized resource extraction.[38]
During the early 1990s, Sakha saw a rise in ethnic and nationalist activism. Political movements such asSakha Omuk (founded 1990) and the more radicalSakha Keskile promotedYakut sovereignty, resource self‑management, and cultural revival. These movements led to the republic's 1990 declaration of sovereignty (celebrated each year on September 27) and a gradual shift away from the ethnic suppression of theSoviet era.[37][38][39]
Economically, Sakha faced the tumultuous transition to a market economy amid systemicSoviet collapse. The regional government actively supportedprivatization of state enterprises, offered tax incentives, subsidies, and direct investment to buffer the population from economic shocks.[39][40][41] The republic also passed legislation in the 1990s to protectIndigenous land use rights and foster the creation ofclan-based communities, reinforcing traditional livelihoods.[38]
In 2000, Sakha was incorporated into the newly createdFar Eastern Federal District, one of eight federal districts established byPresident Vladimir Putin to centralize administrative oversight.[38][42][43] While this shift integrated Sakha intoFar East economic development initiatives—includingtax incentives,special economic zones, and infrastructure investments—these programs have often favoured industrial and extractive interests, occasionally sidelining Indigenous land rights.[38]
Under Putin,federal centralization increased. Regional autonomy has been curtailed through legal reforms—such as a 2009 removal of sovereignty references from the republic’s constitution and renaming the republic’s presidential post in 2014—and through restrictions on local veto powers regarding resource projects.[38] At the same time, Sakha’s economy, driven by mining (diamonds, gold, uranium, oil, and natural gas), has shown resilience. Wages in the region now outpace national averages when adjusted for cost of living.[40]Yakutsk remains the hub of administrative and economic leadership, buoyed by tourism and essential infrastructure projects, though remote areas still lag behind.[39][40][44]
Yakuts celebratingYhyakh. Yakuts form the easternmost indigenous community of Turkic peoples.Ethnic map of Yakutia by urban and rural settlements, 2002 and 2010 censuses.
1146,918 people were registered from administrative databases, and could not declare an ethnicity. It is estimated that the proportion of ethnicities in this group is the same as that of the declared group.[52]
The official languages are both Russian andSakha, also known as Yakut, which is spoken by roughly half of the republic's population. In the 2021 census, 95% of Yakuts, 72% of Evenks and 60% of Evens declared Sakha as their native language.[53] The Sakha language is a member of theTurkic language family, belonging to the Siberian branch. It is closely related to theDolgan language of the formerTaymyr Dolgano-Nenets Autonomous Okrug.
The Sakha Republic is also home to many of the world's speakers ofTungusic languages, primarily ofEvenki andEven. Additionally,Chukchi and the lects of theYukaghir language family are spoken in the northeast.
Before the arrival of the Russian Empire, the majority of the local population wasTengrist, similar to the other Turkic people of Central Asia, or in Paleoasian indigenousshamanism with both 'light' (community leading) and 'dark' (healing through spirit journey) shamans. Under the Russians, the local population was converted to theRussian Orthodox Church and required to take Orthodox Christian names, but in practice generally continued to follow traditional religions. During the Soviet era, most or all of the shamans died without successors.In the 1990s, a neopagan shamanist movement calledaiyy yeurekhé was founded by the controversial journalist Ivan Ukhkhan and a philologist calling himself Téris.[56] This group and others cooperated to build a shaman temple in downtown Yakutsk in 2002.[57]
Transfiguration of Jesus Christ Cathedral in Yakutsk
Currently,[when?] while Orthodox Christianity maintains a following (however, with very few priests willing to be stationed outside of Yakutsk), there is interest and activity toward renewing the traditional religions. As of 2008, Orthodox leaders described the worldview of the republic's indigenous population (or, rather, those among the population who are not completely indifferent to religion) asdvoyeverie (dual belief system), or a "tendency towardsyncretism", as evidenced by the locals sometimes first inviting a shaman, and then an Orthodox priest to carry out their rites in connection with some event in their life.[58]
According to the Information Center under the President of Sakha Republic (Информационный центр при Президенте РС(Я)), the religious demography of the republic was as follows:[59] Orthodoxy: 44.9%, Shamanism: 26.2%, Non-religious: 23.0%, New religious movements: 2.4%, Islam: 1.2%, Buddhism: 1.0%, Protestantism: 0.9%, Catholicism: 0.4%.
According to a 2012 survey,[54] 37.8% of the population of Sakha adheres to theRussian Orthodox Church, 13% toTengrism or Sakhashamanism, 2% toIslam, 1% are unaffiliatedChristians, 1% to forms ofProtestantism, and 0.4% toTibetan Buddhism. In addition, 26% of the population deems itselfatheist, 17% is "spiritual but not religious", and 1.8% follows other religions or did not give an answer to the question.[54]
The supreme legislative body of state authority in Sakha is a unicameral State Assembly known as theIl Tumen. The government of the Sakha (Yakutia) Republic is the executive body of state authority.
TheMirny diamond mine and other diamond mines are important sources of exports for the region.[66][67] In additon, tin and gold mining have been major but controversial industries for over 100 years.[68][69][70][71]
Water transport ranks first for cargo turnover. There are six river ports, two seaports (Tiksi and Zelyony Mys). Four shipping companies, including the Arctic Sea Shipping Company, operate in the republic. The republic's main waterway is theLena River, which linksYakutsk with the rail station ofUst-Kut inIrkutsk Oblast.
Air transport is the most important for transporting people. Airlines connect the republic with most regions of Russia.Yakutsk Airport has an international terminal.
Two federal roads pass the republic. They are Nizhny Bestyakh–Skovorodino (A360 Lena highway) and Nizhny Bestyakh–Magadan (M56 Kolyma Highway).However, due to the presence of permafrost, use of asphalt was formerly impractical, and therefore the roads were made of clay until being paved by 2014. Prior to the paving of these roads, when heavy rains blew over the region, the roads often turned to mud, sometimes stranding hundreds of travelers in the process.[72] TheLena Bridge is under construction across the Lena, which will connect Yakutsk to Nizhny Bestyakh, and thus the rest of the Russian road network, year-round. Construction began in 2024, and is planned to last until 2028.[73]
TheBerkakit–Tommot railroad is currently in operation. It links theBaikal-Amur Mainline with the industrial centers in South Sakha. Construction of theAmur–Yakutsk Mainline continues northward; the railway was completed toNizhny Bestyakh, across the river from Yakutsk, in 2013. Though this one-track railroad from Tommot to Nizhny Bestyakh was under temporary operation (30% of its full capacity), the federal agency for railways declared that this railroad would be in full operation in fall 2015. Since 2019, there have been passenger trains between Nizhny Bestyakh and the rest of Russia.[74]
NVK Sakha (national broadcaster company Sakha, Национальная вещательная компания Саха, "Саха" көрдөрөр иһитиннэрэр тэрилтэтэ), the largest media company in the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia). The company owns dozens of TV channels in Yakutia, Russia, and other countries. The main broadcasting languages are Yakut, English, Russian and Evenk. It was founded in 1992 after the collapse of the USSR. 70% of the shares are owned by the Russian VGTRK, 25% are owned by Yakutia, and 5% are in free float. NVK Sakha owns its own animation and film production studios, and some music studios. Since 2018, it has also been streaming 24/7 on YouTube.
the State Academic Opera and Ballet Theatre named after D. K. Sivtsev
Suorun Omoloon, the Young Spectator's Theatre
There are a number of museums as well. These include the National Fine Arts Museum of Sakha, the Museum of Local Lore and History named after E. Yaroslavsky, and the Khomus Museum and Museum of Permafrost. In September 2020, the Gagarin Center for Culture and Contemporary Art was opened in the Gagarin District of Yakutsk.[75]
The Yakuts have fully preserved their native language, which differs significantly from other Turkic languages by the presence of a layer of unique Paleo-Asiatic vocabulary. The Yakut language has a developed literary tradition with many styles and genres, and the ancient Sakha epicOlonkho is recognized by UNESCO as a masterpiece of the oral and intangible heritage of humanity.[76]
In the 2010s, a movie boom began in Yakutia. The local film industry was nicknamed "Sakhawood".[77]
^Forsyth, James (1992).A History of the Peoples of Siberia: Russia's North Asian Colony. Cambridge University Press. p. 55.ISBN978-0521477710.
^Johanson, Lars (2021).Turkic. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. p. 89.
^Victor P. Krivonogov, "The Dolgans’Ethnic Identity and Language Processes."Journal of Siberian Federal University, Humanities & Social Sciences 6 (2013 6) 870–888.
^Yakovleva, Natalia P. (2000). "Natural resource use in the Russian North: a case study of diamond mining in the Republic of Sakha".Environmental Management and Health.11 (4):318–336.doi:10.1108/09566160010372743.
^Jordan, Bella Bychkova; Jordan-Bychkov, Terry G. (2000).Siberian Village: Land and Life in the Sakha Republic. University Of Minnesota Press. p. 38.ISBN978-0816635696.
^Forsyth, James (1992).A History of the Peoples of Siberia: Russia's North Asian Colony. Cambridge University Press. pp. 167–168.ISBN978-0521477710.
^Jordan, Bella Bychkova; Jordan-Bychkov, Terry G. (2000).Siberian Village: Land and Life in the Sakha Republic. University Of Minnesota Press. pp. 64–65.ISBN978-0816635696.
^Елена Дятлова (Yelena Dyatlova) (October 1, 2008)."В Якутии господствует двоеверие (Ч. 1) (Yakutia is dominated by a dual belief system)".Во многих случаях нам говорили, что при совершении тех или иных обрядов или просто действий приглашают сначала шамана, потом священника. Правда, именно в таком порядке, признавая христианство чем-то высшим по отношению к местной магической языческой традиции, но это соединяя. Даже среди тех представителей якутской интеллигенции, с которыми мы общались, это стремление к синкретизму было отчетливо приметно. (An interview with Maxim Kozlov, a Moscow priest who had recently returned from a missionary trip down the Lena along with the Bishop of Yakutsk.)
^"Михаил Ефимович НИКОЛАЕВ".Члены Совета Федерации Федерального Собрания РФ. Government of the Sakha Republic (Yakutia). Archived fromthe original on November 11, 2007. RetrievedFebruary 18, 2010.
Верховный Совет Республики Саха (Якутия). 4 апреля 1992 г. «Конституция (основной закон) Республики Саха (Якутия)», в ред. Конституционного закона №581-З 53-IV от 22 июля 2008 г. (Supreme Council of the Sakha (Yakutia) Republic. April 4, 1992Constitution (Basic Law) of the Sakha (Yakutia) Republic, as amended by the Constitutional Law #581-Z 53-IV of July 22 2008. ).
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