The Altai people (Altay: Алтай-кижи, romanized: Altay-kiji, pronounced [ɑltɑj-kidʒi]), also the Altaians (Altay: Алтайлар, romanized: Altaylar, pronounced [ɑltɑjlɑr]), are a Turkic ethnic group of indigenous peoples of Siberia mainly living in the Altai Republic, Russia.

[6][7] Several thousand of the Altaians also live in Mongolia (Altai Mountains) and China (Altay Prefecture, Xinjiang) but are not officially recognized as a distinct group[2] and listed under the name "Oirats" as a part of the Mongols, as well as in Kazakhstan where they number around 200.

[11][12] In the Soviet Union until 1991 and the Russian Federation until 2000, the authorities considered the Northern Altaians and the Teleuts to be part of the Altai people.

255 dated March 24, 2000, the Chelkans, Kumandins, Telengits, Teleuts, and Tubalars were recognized as separate ethnic groups as well as the indigenous small-numbered peoples of the North, Siberia and the Far East.

The Altai region came within the sphere of influence of the Scythians, Xiongnu, the Rouran Khaganate, the Turkic Khanganate, the Uyghur Empire, and the Yenisei Kyrgyz.

Meanwhile, the Northern Altaians were a result of the fusion of Turkic tribes with Samoyeds, Kets, and other indigenous Siberian ethnic groups.

[16] After the fall of the Zunghar Khanate in the 18th century, the Altaians were subjugated by the Qing dynasty, which referred to them as Altan Nuur Uriyangkhai.

[17] Altaians are genetically related to the Uriyangkhai, which is a common neighbouring Oirat Mongol ethnic group in Mongolia.

[19] With regard to religion, some of the Altai remained shamanists and others (in a trend beginning in the mid-19th century) have converted to the Russian Orthodox Church.

[23] They also hoped to extend its territory to form a larger Oyrot republic that would include other former subjects of the Dzungar Khanate or even all Turkic peoples of Siberia.

[25] In the 1940s, during World War II, Joseph Stalin's government accused Altai nationalists of being pro-Japanese.

By 1950, Soviet industrialization policies and development in this area resulted in considerable migration of Russians to this republic, reducing the proportion of Altai in the total population from 50% to 20%.

[32] Northern Altaians and some Teleuts traditionally wore short breeches, linen shirts, and single-breasted oriental robes.

Popular deities included Erlik, the god of the underworld, and Oyrot-Khan, a heroic figure who is a composite blend taken from historical Zungarian (Oirat) Khans and ancient legendary heroes.

At first, the Altaians were indifferent and at times even hostile to these foreign faiths and their expansion in the region (modern Altai Republic).

Buddhism made little headway among the Altaians but many Buddhist ideas and principles filtered into Altai spiritual beliefs.

Burkhanism is a monotheistic religion named after Ak-Burkhan, a deity who is believed and recognized by its adherents to have been the sole god.

The rise of the Bolsheviks in the first quarter of the 20th century also led to the brutal repression of all religions, which included the indigenous faiths of the Altai people.

For the next few decades, public expressions of religion severely declined with only shamanistic and ancient polytheistic beliefs surviving the chaos.

It's also likely that no Burkhanist texts survived the repression and main sources for the beliefs of the religion come from Russian missionaries, travellers, and scholars.

[39][40] Y Chromosome Altai population can be divided into northern and southern clusters based on linguistics, culture, and genetics.