mountains of Sakha (Yakutiya), far northeastern Russia, extending for 700 miles (1,100 km)—in a huge arc parallel to and east of the lower Lena River—to the Laptev Sea. The range represents a major anticlinal structure, created in a period of folding. Its height generally exceeds 3,300 feet (1,000 metres), reaching a maximum of 7,838 feet (2,389 metres). The mountains support sparse tundra vegetation of mosses and lichens. No routes cross the range, and the area is virtually uninhabited.