Tuva - Miscellaneous

Miscellaneous

  • In the 1920s and 1930s, postage stamps from Tuva were issued. Many philatelists, including the physicist Richard Feynman, have been fascinated with Tuva because of these stamps. The stamps were issued mainly during the brief period of Tuvan independence, and had many philatelists in a furor, as they did not conform to philatelic standards. Feynman's efforts to reach Tuva are chronicled in the book Tuva or Bust! and the video The Quest For Tannu Tuva: Richard Feynman - The Last Journey of a Genius (1988) which can be viewed online on YouTube.
  • Tuva was featured prominently in the award-winning documentary Genghis Blues.
  • United Nations Human Development Index: Russian Federation - Republic of Tyva, rank: 79/79 (the lowest).
  • Tuvan stamps are mentioned in a line of Gregory Corso's poem Marriage.
  • Tuvan Sergey Shoygu, Russia's Minister for Emergency Situations since 1994, is Russia's longest-serving minister, and a leader of Russia's governing party 'Unity'.
  • Tuvans make wishes each morning, sprinkling milk on the ground, to the north, south, east and west, with a special wooden spoon with nine small hollows for the various milk products made.
  • According to Ilya Zakharov of Moscow's Vavilov Institute of General Genetics, genetic evidence suggests that the modern Tuvan people are the closest genetic relatives to the native peoples of North and South America.
  • Some Tuvans, even near Kyzyl, still live in traditional yurts, round, demountable and portable dwellings with sectional lath trellis walls, decorated pole roofs and covered with white felt and canvas, with colourful cloth lining. There is a central smoke-hole above the hearth or stove. It is used to tell the time as the sunlight moves around inside the yurt. The interior is arranged with the man's side to the left, the woman's to the right of the door facing East, with the altar cupboard facing that.
  • Tuvans, as traditional nomads, knew no fixed national borders, which has led to small numbers being in areas outside the present Republic's boundaries, including as follows.
    • China - Xinjiang: 'Tuwa' by Lake Kanas, Altay Prefecture.
    • Russia - Irkutsk Oblast: 'Tofa' adjacent to north-east Tyva; Buryatia: 'Soyot' of the Upper Oka river.
    • Mongolia - northern: 'Tsaatan'; north-western: 'Dukha/Duva'; western: 'Tsengel'.
  • Sayan Mountains in Tuva was featured in Bear Grylls Man vs Wild popular adventure TV show.

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