Tuva.Asia / The New Research of Tuva

The Republic of Buryatia, situated in thr Russian Federation beyond the eastern shores of Lake Baikal, is home to a mixture of Russians and indigenous peoples who have rich cultures of their own. The capital of Buryatia, Ulan-Ude, is located some 100 kilometers southeast of Lake Baikal and has about 370,000 inhabitants. The city takes its name from the Uda River, a tributary of the Selenga, which is the primary river flowing into Baikal from the east. The appearance of Russian settlements in the area (known as Trans-Baikal or, more broadly, Dauriia) began in the middle of the 17th century, when Cossacks and other explorers sought new trading routes to China, as well as valuable furs such as sable.