In our vast country, there are many mountain ranges that differ from each other in the height of their ridges, as well as in climatic conditions. Most of these massifs are poorly mastered by humans, poorly populated, and therefore nature has managed to maintain its pristine, natural appearance.
Of all the mountain systems located in our country, the most remarkable, most unknown, the most beautiful are the Sayan Mountains. These mountains are located in the south of Eastern Siberia and belong to the Altai-Sayan folded region. The mountain system consists of two ranges called the Western and Eastern Sayan mountains. The East Sayan is located relatively at a right angle to the West.
The Western Sayan stretches for about six hundred kilometers, and the Eastern Sayan - for a thousand. Consisting of pointed and aligned ridges that are separated by intermountain hollows, the Western Sayan is sometimes considered a separate mountain system - the mountains of Tuva. Eastern Sayans - mountains, which are pronounced mid-mountain ranges; glaciers are located on them , the melting water of which forms the rivers belonging to the Yenisei basin. Between the Sayan ranges there are more than a dozen basins, of various sizes and depths. Among them - Abakano-Minusinskaya, very well known in archaeological circles. Sayan mountains are relatively low. The highest point of the Western Sayans is Mount Mongun-Taiga (3971 m), and the East - Munku-Sardyk (3491 m).
According to written documents and maps dating back to the 17th century, the Sayans were initially considered as one object - a relatively small Sayan Stone ridge, now called the Sayan ridge. Later, this name spread to a larger area. Resting on its southwestern part in
Altai, the Sayan
mountains extend to the Baikal region.
The Sayan slopes are covered mainly with taiga, which passes into subalpine and alpine meadows, and in higher places into the mountain tundra. The main obstacle to farming is the presence of permafrost. In general, the Sayan Mountains are mountains covered with light larch-cedar and dark-coniferous spruce-cedar and fir forests.
On the territory of Sayan there are two largest wildlife reserves. In the East - the famous Pillars, famous for its rocks of volcanic origin, so popular among climbers. The Western Sayan Mountains are the territory of the Sayan-Shushensky Reserve, where
brown bears, wolverines, sables, lynxes, red deer, musk deer and many other animals live, including those listed in the Red Book (for example, snow leopard, or
snow leopard).A man began to settle in the Sayan foothills about forty thousand years ago, as evidenced by the remains of stone tools found in primitive sites. Traces of the Uyuk culture were found in the Western Sayan. So, in one of the burials in the Valley of the Kings on the Uyuk River - in the grave of the Scythian leader - 20 kilograms of gold items were discovered. The Russians began to settle here in the 17th century, having founded fortified settlements - prison houses along the banks of local rivers, which were the only transport route at that time. And today the Sayan Mountains are a sparsely populated territory. The population prefers to live near roads and large rivers, although there are small peoples living far from civilization. So, in one of the inaccessible areas - Tofalaria - the Tofalara (Tofa) people live, the number of which is less than 700 people.