Altai Krai

Altai Krai is a federal subject of Russia (a krai). It borders with, clockwise from the west, Kazakhstan, Novosibirsk and Kemerovo Oblasts, and the Altai Republic. The krai's administrative center is the city of Barnaul. As of the 2010 Census, the population of the krai was 2,419,755.

Geography

Altai Krai has rolling foothills, grasslands, lakes, rivers, and mountains.

The climate is severe with long cold dry winters and hot, usually dry summers. The region's main waterway is the Ob River. The Biya and Katun Rivers are also important. The biggest lakes are Lake Kulundinskoye, Lake Kuchukskoye, and Lake Mikhaylovskoye.

Altai Krai has huge reserves of raw materials, especially materials used for building, as well as significant mineral reserves. These include nonferrous metals, lead and iron ores, manganese, tungsten, molybdenum, bauxite, and gold. Forests cover about 60,000 km² of the krai's land. See also Geography of South-Central Siberia.

History

This area is part of a great crossroads in the ancient world. Nomadic tribes crossed through the territory during periods of migration. The nomadic tribes were composed of different peoples. Archeological sites reveal that ancient humans lived in the area. The Altay people are a Turkic people, some of whom have settled here, who were originally nomadic and date back to the 2nd millennium BCE.

The Xiongnu Empire (209 BC-93 CE) governed the territory of modern Altai Krai. The identity of the ethnic core of Xiongnu has been a subject of varied hypotheses and proposals by scholars include Mongolic and Turkic. Altai Krai was part of the Mongolic Xianbei state (93-234), Rouran Khaganate (330-555), Mongol Empire (1206-1368), Golden Horde and Zunghar Khanate (1634-1758).

Heraldry

Flag

Flag of Altai Krai is red and blue with a yellow stripe on it as a symbol of agriculture. In the centre of the flag there is the Emblem of Altai Krai.

The Emblem

The Emblem of Altai Krai was established in 2000. It includes a shield of French heraldry form with a basement of 8/10th of its height and a sharp part in the middle of the bottom part. Bottom edges of the shield are rounded. The shield is divided with a horizontal stripe into two equal parts. In the upper part of the Emblem on blue background, which is a symbol of glory, is a steamy oven of the 18th century, which reflects a historical past of Altai Krai. In the bottom part on the red background, which is a symbol of dignity, braveness and courage, is an image of the Koluvan Queen of Vases mainly in green color, which is kept in Ermitage museum. The shield is framed with golden wheat ears which represent agriculture as a main industry of Altai Krai.