From the south it borders the Abakan Range, from the west Salair Ridge, and Kuznetsk Alatau from the east.
It possesses some of the most extensive coal deposits anywhere in the world; coal-bearing seams extend over an area of 10,309 square miles (26,700 km2) and reach to a depth of 5,905 feet (1,800 m).
The late 19th century industrialisation of Russia prompted a rapid growth in the area's industries, which was further boosted by the completion of the Trans-Siberian Railway.
A series of coal miners' strikes in the late 1980s took place in the region, and gained the support from the sanctioned All-Union Central Council of Trade Unions.
In a report done by the Central Intelligence Agency, the region was said to be home of "environmental problems" which were "causing increasing deaths and genetic defects among babies".