Tuva

Tuva (; Russian: Тува́) or Tyva (Tuvan: Тыва), officially the Tyva Republic (Russian: Респу́блика Тыва́, tr. Respublika Tyva, IPA: [rʲɪˈspublʲɪkə tɨˈva]; Tuvan: Тыва Республика, romanized: Tyva Respublika [tʰɯˈʋa resˈpʰuplika]), is a federal subject of Russia (a republic, also defined in the Constitution of the Russian Federation as a state).The Tuvan republic lies at the geographical center of Asia, in southern Siberia. The republic borders the Altai Republic, the Republic of Khakassia, Krasnoyarsk Krai, Irkutsk Oblast, and the Republic of Buryatia in Russia and Mongolia to the south. The region is also claimed by the Taiwanese major political party Kuomintang as part of the Republic of China. In the 2010 Russian census, the territory claimed a population of 307,930 (2010 census). Its capital is the city of Kyzyl. From 1921 to 1944, Tuva constituted a sovereign, independent, but partially recognized nation, acknowledged only by its neighbors the Soviet Union and Mongolia. It was known officially as Tannu Tuva until 1926 and thereafter as the Tuvan People's Republic. A majority of the population are ethnic Tuvans who speak Tuvan as their native tongue, while Russian is spoken natively by the Russian minority; both are official and widely understood in the republic. Tuva is governed by the Great Khural, which elects a chairman to four-year terms. Wikipedia ->