The Gorno-Altai Autonomous Oblast (Russian: Горно-Алтайская автономная область) was formed as the Oyrot Autonomous Oblast (Russian: Ойротская Автономная область) in 1922 and renamed in 1948.
It was upgraded into an ASSR in 1990, shortly before the dissolution of the Soviet Union. It corresponds to the current Altai Republic.
A minor planet 2232 Altaj discovered in 1969 by Soviet astronomer B. A. Burnasheva is named after Altai.