The Gorno-Altai Autonomous Oblast was an autonomous oblast of the Soviet Union, inhabited by the Altai people. Formed as the Oyrot Autonomous Oblast in 1922, it was later renamed in 1948. It was upgraded into an ASSR in 1990, shortly before the dissolution of the Soviet Union. It corresponds to the current Altai Republic. A minor planet 2232 Altaj discovered in 1969 by Soviet astronomer B. A. Burnasheva is named after Altai.