large upland region lying along the frontiers of east-central Russia and Mongolia. Within Russia the mountains occupy the southern parts of the Krasnoyarsk kray (region) and Irkutsk oblast (province), the northern part of Tuva, and the west of Buryatiya.

The Sayans form a rough arc, convex to the north, and stretch from the Altai Mountains in the west to Lake Baikal in the east, south of which they connect with the Khamar-Daban mountain system of the Transbaikalia. The Sayans can be divided into western and eastern ranges, each with a different geologic history, meeting at the centre in a mountain knot in which elevations exceed 10,000 feet (3,000 m). The eastern ranges are higher than the western and have several glaciers. Mount Munku-Sardyk, a peak in the eastern Sayons, reaches an elevation of 11,453 feet (3,491 m).