a Siberian Turkic language. In Mongolia, they are regarded as one of the Uriankhai peoples. Which quotes from Henry Serruy's "The Mongols in China during the Hung-wu Period", Melanges chinois et bouddhiques, vol 11. pp. 282-283, Brussels 1959. In China, they are considered Mongols, even though Tuvans are Turkic, not Mongolic.

Tuvans have historically been livestock-herding nomads,