Sakha, also known as Yakut or Yakutian, is a Turkic language spoken in the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia). The Republic is home to around a million people, and covers a vast area stretching all the way to the Arctic Ocean in the north. Its capital is Yakutsk, located around 450 kilometres south of the Arctic Circle, on the Lena River. Around 450,000 people speak Sakha as a first language.