| administrative division (1995 pop. 143,000), 9,000 sq mi (24,000 sq km), S. Siberian Russia, in the Irkutsk region. Formed in 1937, it stretches from the Baykal Mts. to the Angara river. The capital is Ust-Ordynsk. The area is crossed by the Trans-Siberian RR, and coal is mined in the west. Chief occupations include herding, timber harvesting, and dairying. Buryats, Buddhist descendants of the Mongols, make up 36% of the population; Russians make up 57%. Formed originally as a national area, it became an autonomous area in 1977. ____________________The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition Copyright© 2004, Columbia University Press. Licensed from Lernout & Hauspie Speech Products N.V. All rights reserved. -48951- | 
