page_title: Tofa language
section_title: Geographical and demographical distribution
hierarchical_section_title: Tofa language / Geographical and demographical distribution
caption_attribution_description: Українська: Мапа Тофаларії
context_page_description: Tofa, also known as Tofalar or Karagas, is a moribund Turkic language spoken in Russia's Irkutsk Oblast by the Tofalars. Recent estimates for speakers run from 93 people to less than 40.
context_section_description: The Tofa, who are also known as the Tofalar or Karagas, are an indigenous people living in southwestern Irkutsk Oblast, in Russia.  The region they inhabit is informally known as Tofalaria.  They are traditionally a nomadic reindeer-herding people, living on or near the Eastern Sayan mountain range. However, reindeer herding has greatly declined since the 20th century, with only one Tofa family now continuing the practice.  Recognized by the former USSR in 1926 as one of the "Small Numbered Minorities of the North," (Russian: коренные малочисленные народы Севера, Сибири и Дальнего Востока) the Tofa have special legal status and receive economic support from Russia.  The Tofa population is around 750 people; around 5% of the population spoke Tofa as a first language in 2002, (although that number has likely declined since then, due to the age of the speakers).  Although the population of Tofalaria appears to be growing, the number of ethnic Tofalar seems to be in decline.
caption: Historical Range of Tofalaria
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