Sakha people

Yakuts

Саха
A Yakut language teacher's conference in Yakutsk in April 2017
Total population
480,000–510,000
Regions with significant populations
Russia	478,085 (2010 census)
China	2,820 (2010 census)
Kazakhstan	415 (2009 census)
Ukraine	304 (2001 census)
Languages
Yakut, Russian
Religion
Predominantly Russian Orthodox Christianity, with a significant part of the population practicing Shamanism
Related ethnic groups
Dolgans, Shors, Mongols (Barga, Khalkha, Oirats, Khamnigans), Tuvans, Buryats, Manchu, Khakas, Altay, Kazakhs, Kyrgyz, Nenets, Samis, Inuit, Chukchi, Aleut and Yupik

Yakuts (Yakut: Саха, Saha) are Turkic people who mainly inhabit the Sakha Republic (Yakutia).

The Yakut language belongs to the Siberian branch of the Turkic languages. Yakuts mainly live in the Republic of Sakha in the Russian Federation, with some extending to the Amur, Magadan, Sakhalin regions, and the Taymyr and Evenk Autonomous Districts.

The Yakuts are divided into two basic groups based on geography and economics. Yakuts in the north are historically semi-nomadic hunters, fishermen, reindeer breeders, while southern Yakuts engage in animal husbandry focusing on horses and cattle.

The ancestors of Yakuts were Kurykans who migrated from Yenisey river to Lake Baikal and were subject to a certain Mongolian admixture prior to migration in the 7th century. The Yakuts originally lived around Olkhon and the region of Lake Baikal. Beginning in the 13th century they migrated to the basins of the Middle Lena, the Aldan and Vilyuy rivers under the pressure of the rising Mongols.

The northern Yakuts were largely hunters, fishermen and reindeer herders, while the southern Yakuts raised cattle and horses.