The steppes
The steppes are an immense grass-covered spaces. The western steppes and mountains of Tuva are dry and desert-like where the pastorallist farmers live in wool yurts and make their clothes from domestic animal skins, felt and cloth. Tuva is the only country in the world where you can find wild reindeers and camels within its borders. Here you also find bear, wolf, wild boar and ibex. The Tuvans, originally of Mongolian heritage, accepted the Tibetan Lamaism already in the 14th century, which resulted in a big cultural change. Shamanism remained strong Tuva also after the arrival of the Buddhism. During the Stalin era both lamas and shamans were persecuted. Many of them were imprisoned or killed. In the recent years the shamanism is gaining followers again. Presently there are more than 300 active shamans in Tuva.The Tuvan language belongs to the group of Turkic languages.From the...
