South Central Siberia

South Central Siberia is a geographical region in North Asia, just north of the meeting point between Russia, China, Kazakhstan and Mongolia.

At approximately 49°8′8″N 87°33′46″E / 49.13556°N 87.56278°E / 49.13556; 87.56278, the borders of Russia, China, Mongolia and Kazakhstan intersect in the Altai Mountains. Mongolia and Kazakhstan are separated by a 55km stretch of the Sino-Russian border between the Altai Republic, a federal subject of Russia, and Altay Prefecture in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region of China. To the east, Tavan Bogd Uul in Bayan-Ölgii Province, Mongolia, marks the end of the Sino-Russian border. To the west, is Kazakhstan's East Kazakhstan Province.

The Altai mountains on the Russian side of the border have been designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Above the "Four Corners" and in the southern part of South Central Siberia is the Altai Republic (not to be confused with the Altai Krai to the northwest). It contains the central knot to the Altai Mountains. The area is very mountainous and has few good roads. It was inhabited by various Turkic groups who gradually became the Altay people. As the surrounding steppes filled with Russians, many of the lowland Turks were Russified or retreated to the mountains. The area only came under definitive Russian control in the 1860s. The M52 highway (Russia) runs northwest from here.

Northern South Central Siberia includes the Altai Republic, which is a 400 km projection of forested mountains which bends slightly to the west at the tip. It is called the Abakan Range in the south and Kuznetsk Alatau in the north. North of its northern end is the town of Tomsk.

The west part of South Central Siberia includes the steppe of the Kuznetsk Depression, which contains the large Kuznetsk Basin coal fields, the mountains of the Abakans and Kuznetsk Alatau and the Salair Ridge which ends near Novosibirsk.

In the Soviet era, the Kuznetsk Basin coal fields were the largest Russian coal field after the Donets Basin. The name Kuznets means blacksmith and comes from the 'Blacksmith Tatars' or Shors, who were notable metal workers.

The Russians reached the area as early as 1618. The Abakans, Kuznetsk Alatau and the Kuznetsk Basin form the Kemerovo Oblast with its mostly Russian population. The Tom River drains the basin and joins the Ob River north of Tomsk. The town of Novokuznetsk was founded in 1618.