ABSTRACT
The Republic of Sakha is situated in eastern Siberia on the Laptev and Eastern Siberian Seas. Sakha is the largest federal unit in Russia, occupying an area of 3,083,523 sq km, making it larger than Kazakhstan, itself the second largest country, after Russia, in Europe or the former USSR. The Yakuts, also known as the Sakha, traditionally a semi-nomadic people, were historically known as the Tungus, Jekos and the Urangkhai Sakha. The territory was renamed the Republic of Sakha in March 1992, and a new Constitution was promulgated in April. In March 2002 the republican legislature approved extensive amendments to Sakha’s Constitution. The Republic’s agriculture consists mainly of animal husbandry, hunting and fishing. In the early 2000s the local diamond-producing company Alrosa, the principal diamond-producer in Russia, acquired majority stakes in several petroleum and natural gas assets in the Republic.
