The Altai is an extensive mountain range (Sayano-Altai) in southern Siberia, mainly in the Altai Republic of the Russian Federation, but extending into Kazakhstan, western Mongolia, and Xinjiang, China. It is one of the ancient homelands of the Turkic peoples (Türks). It has lent its name to the Altaic language family, which includes the Turkic, Mongolic, and Manchu-Tungusic languages and has possible connections to Japanese/Ryukyuan and Korean. This relationship and even the Altaic hypothesis itself remain the subject of debate. Chinese sources (e.g., the Zhoushu and