The territory of modern Khakassia formed the core of the
Yenisei Kirghiz state from the 6th century AD. In the 13th century, following defeat by the
Mongols, the majority of the Kyrgyz people migrated southwest to
Central Asia to the area of present-day
Kyrgyzstan. Modern
Khakas people regard themselves as the descendants of those Kyrgyz who remained in
Siberia. Khakassia was incorporated into the Russian state under
Peter the Great (). This incorporation was confirmed in a treaty—the —between Russia and China in 1729. As it was common to deport convicted criminals from
European Russia to Siberia, forts were quickly constructed in Khakassia (1707 and 1718). Many prisoners remained even after release. Many of the indigenous Khakas people converted to the
Russian Orthodox faith and gradually abandoned their nomadic way of life. By the time of the
1917 Russian Revolution, Russians made up approximately half of the population. Under
Soviet rule, autonomy was granted on 20 October 1930, when the
Khakas Autonomous Oblast was established. The borders of the autonomous oblast are the same as the borders of the modern Khakas Republic. During the 1920s and 1930s, the Soviet authorities resettled an estimated quarter of a million Russians in the region. These were followed by 10,000
Volga Germans deported during
World War II. By the time of the 1959 Census, ethnic Khakas people represented little more than 10% of the population of the Khakas oblast. Until 1991, the Khakas Autonomous Oblast was administratively subordinated to
Krasnoyarsk Krai. In July 1991, it was elevated in status to that of
Autonomous Soviet socialist republic within the
RSFSR, and in February 1992 it became the Republic of Khakassia. == Administrative divisions ==