Tuva (Russian: Тува, Tuva; Tuvan: Тыва, Tyva), officially the Republic of Tuva, is a republic of the Soviet Union. Historically connected to China, Tuva became a Soviet-backed communist state between 1921 until 1944, in which it was annexed into the Russian SFSR. During Glasnost and the Parade of Sovereignties, Tuva became a troubled region, with ethnic tensions between Tuvans and Russians leading to protests and the diaspora of Russians from the region. Tensions gradually calmed after 1993, in which Tuva (along with Tatarstan and Vainakhia) become one of the first new republics to be upgraded since the 1930s. Despite the growth of Tuvan culture and language in the region, the republic remains an isolated region, and one of the least-populated republics of the USSR.