Siberia
This article refers to Siberia as a whole; for specific information about the current administrative region, see Siberian Federal District. For other uses, see Siberia (disambiguation). |
Siberian Federal District (dark red) and the broadest definition of Siberia (red) |
Siberia (,
Sibir';
Tatar:
Seber) is a vast region of
Russia constituting almost all of
Northern Asia. It extends eastward from the
Ural Mountains to the
Pacific Ocean, and southward from the
Arctic Ocean to the hills of north-central Kazakhstan and the borders of both
Mongolia and
China. All but the extreme south-western area of Siberia lies in Russia, and it makes up about 56% of that country's territory.
Some sources say that it originates from the
Turkic for "sleeping land." Another version is that this name was the tribal name of
Sibirs, Eurasian nomads, later assimilated to
Siberian Tatars. Dr. Pamela Kyle Crossley, professor of history at
Dartmouth College, asserts that the Russians named Siberia after the
Sibe/
Xibe. The modern meaning of the name appeared in Russian language after the conquest of
Siberia Khanate.
Geographically, Siberia includes the
federal subjects of the
Urals Federal District,
Siberian Federal District and
Sakha (Yakutia) Republic, which is a part of the
Far Eastern Federal District (see a list of subjects below). From the historical point of view, the whole
Russian Far East is considered a segment of Siberia.
*
Altai Krai, administrative center —
Barnaul*
Altai Republic, capital —
Gorno-Altaisk*
Buryat Republic, capital —
Ulan Ude*
Chita Oblast, administrative center —
Chita*
Irkutsk Oblast, administrative center —
Irkutsk*
Republic of Khakassia, capital —
Abakan*
Kemerovo Oblast, administrative center —
Kemerovo*
Koryakia Autonomous District, administrative center —
Palana*
Krasnoyarsk Krai, administrative center —
Krasnoyarsk*
Novosibirsk Oblast, administrative center —
Novosibirsk*
Omsk Oblast, administrative center —
Omsk*
Sakha (Yakutia) Republic, capital —
Yakutsk*
Tomsk Oblast, administrative center —
Tomsk*
Tuva Republic, capital —
KyzylMajor cities include:
*
Irkutsk*
Krasnoyarsk*
Novosibirsk*
Omsk*
TomskSee also a
map of 30 largest Siberian cities with links to Wikipedia.
Main article: History of Siberia
Siberia was occupied by differing groups of nomads such as the
Yenets, the
Nenets, the
Huns, and the
Uyghurs. The Khan of Sibir in the vicinity of modern
Tobolsk was known as a prominent figure who endorsed
Kubrat as Khagan in
Avaria in
630. The area was conquered by the
Mongols in the
13th century and eventually became the autonomous
Siberian Khanate.
The growing power of
Russia to the west began to undermine the Khanate in the
16th century. First, groups of traders and
Cossacks began to enter the area, and then the Russian army began to set up forts further and further east. Towns like
Mangazeya,
Tara,
Yeniseysk, and
Tobolsk sprang up, the latter being declared the capital of Siberia. By the mid-
17th century, the Russian-controlled areas had been extended to the
Pacific.
Siberia remained a mostly unexplored and uninhabited area. During the following few centuries, only a few exploratory missions and traders inhabited Siberia. The other group that was sent to Siberia consisted of prisoners exiled from western Russia.
The first great change to Siberia was the
Trans-Siberian railway, constructed in
1891 -
1903. It linked Siberia more closely to the rapidly-industrializing Russia of
Nicholas II. Siberia is filled with natural resources and during the
20th century these were developed, and industrial towns cropped up throughout the region.
 |
Russia shares a border with China and Mongolia in southern Siberia. |
With an area of 10,007,400
km2, Siberia makes up roughly 58% of the total area of Russia. If Siberia were to secede from Russia, it would be the world's largest country. Major geographical zones include the
West Siberian Plain and the
Central Siberian Plateau.
The West Siberian Plain consists mostly of
Cenozoic alluvial deposits and is extraordinarily low-lying, so much so that a rise of fifty metres in sea level would cause all land between the Arctic Ocean and
Novosibirsk to be inundated. Many of the deposits on this plain result from
ice dams; having reversed the flow of the Ob and Yenisei Rivers, so redirecting them into the
Caspian Sea (perhaps the
Aral as well). It is very swampy and soils are mostly peaty
Histosols and, in the treeless northern part,
Histels. In the south of the plain, where
permafrost is largely absent, rich grasslands that are an extension of the
Kazakh Steppe formed the original vegetation (almost all cleared now).
The Central Siberian Plateau is an extremely ancient
craton (sometimes called
Angaraland) that formed an independent
continent before the
Permian (see
Siberia (continent)). It is exceptionally rich in minerals, containing large deposits of
gold,
diamonds, and ores of
manganese,
lead,
zinc,
nickel,
cobalt and
molybdenum. Much of the area includes the
Siberian Traps which is a
large igneous province. The massive eruptive period was approximately co-incident with the
Permian-Triassic extinction event. The volcanic event is said to be the largest known
volcanic eruption in
Earth history. Only the extreme northwest was glaciated during the
Quaternary, but almost all is under exceptionally deep
permafrost and the only
tree that can thrive, despite the warm
summers, is the deciduous
Siberian Larch (
Larix sibirica) with its very shallow roots. Soils here are mainly
Turbels, giving way to
Spodosols where the active layer becomes thicker and the ice content lower.
Eastern and central Sakha comprise numerous north-south mountain ranges of various ages. These mountains extend up to almost three thousand metres in elevation, but above a few hundred metres they are devoid of vegetation to an extraordinary degree. The Verkhoyansk Range was extensively glaciated in the Pleistocene, but the climate was too dry for glaciation to extend to low elevations. At these low elevations are numerous valleys, many of them deep, and covered with larch forest except in the extreme north, where
tundra dominates. Soils are mainly Turbels and the active layer tends to be less than a meter deep except near rivers.
Lakes and rivers
*
Anabar River*
Angara River*
Indigirka River*
Irtysh River*
Kolyma River*
Lake Baikal*
Lena River*
Ob River*
Tunguska River*
Uvs Nuur Lake*
Yana River*
Yenisei RiverMountain ranges
*
Altai Mountains*
Anadyr Range*
Chersky Range*
Dzhugdzhur Mountains*
Gydan Mountains*
Koryak Mountains*
Sayan Mountains*
Tannu-Ola Mountains*
Ural Mountains*
Verkhoyansk Mountains*
Yablonoi MountainsA harsh
climate has limited Siberia's development and population growth. The region has an abundance of natural resources, including many
minerals, vast
oil fields, rich forests, and
grasslands in the extreme southwest that are good for farming. However, the
winters are long and bitter.
Ice and
snow cover most of the region for about six months of the year. The temperature can drop below -68°
C (-90°
F). Most of the coastal waters,
lakes, and
rivers freeze for much of the year.
Siberia has a population density of only 3 people per square kilometer. Most Siberians are
Russians. Ethnic Russians are descended from
Slavs who lived in
Eastern Europe several hundred years ago. Such
Mongol and
Turkic groups as
Buryats,
Tuvinians, and
Yakuts lived in Siberia originally, and descendants of these peoples still live there. Other
ethnic groups include:
Evenks,
Chukchis,
Koryaks,
Yukaghirs. See the
Northern indigenous peoples of Russia article for more.
About 70% of Siberia's people live in cities. Most city people live in apartments. Many people in rural areas live in simple, but more spacious, log houses.
Novosibirsk is the largest city in Siberia, with a population of about 1.5 million.
Tobolsk,
Tomsk,
Irkutsk and
Omsk are the older, historical centers.
The best way to tour Siberia is through the Trans-Siberian Railway. The train has 2nd class 4-berth compartments (called kupé) and 1st class 2-berth compartments (called spalny wagon or 'SV') and a restaurant car. *[
1] One-way fares start at about 9,226 rubles ($320 or £190) in a 4-berth sleeper or 18,200 rubles ($630 or £370) in a 2-berth sleeper.
The climate of Siberia varies dramatically. On the north coast, in the North Polar Circle, there is just a very short, about one-month-long summer.
Almost all the population lives in the south, along the Trans-Siberian railroad. The climate here is hard continental, with yearly average temperature about 0° Celsius and roughly -20°C average in January and +20° in July. With vegetation period being about 150-180 days in a year, Southern Siberia is good enough for profitable agriculture, as was proven in the early twentieth century.
The southwesterly winds of Southern Siberia bring warm air from Central Asia and the Middle East. The climate in West Siberia (Omsk, Novosibirsk) is several degrees warmer than in the East (Irkutsk, Chita).
With a lowest record temperature of -71.2 Celsius,
Oymyakon (
Yakutia Republic) has the distinction of being the coldest town on
Earth. In general
Yakutia is the coldest Siberian region.
Nevertheless, as far as Imperial Russia plans of settlement are concerned, the cold was never viewed as an issue. In the Southern Siberia the lower winter temperature is repaid by low humidity and less winds.
*
Vasily Surikov (born in
Krasnoyarsk), painter
*
Mikhail Vrubel (
Omsk), painter
*
Aleksandr Pokryshkin (
Novosibirsk),
WWII figher pilot
*
Viktor Astafiyev (
Krasnoyarsk Krai), writer
*
Vasily Shukshin (
Altai Krai), writer, cinema actor and director
*
Nikolai Kamov (
Irkutsk), leading constructor of the
Kamov helicopter design bureau*
Mikhail Mil (
Irkutsk), founder of the
Mil Moscow Helicopter Plant*
Aleksandr Karelin (
Novosibirsk),
Greco-Roman wrestler, 3-times olympic champion.
American television shows and movies during the existence of the Soviet Union made reference to Siberia. When Siberia was referenced, it was always as a punishment: for instance, if a Soviet agent failed in a mission against the United States, the end of the program might show the agent receiving news from his superiors that he was being sent to Siberia. This became so frequent that "Siberia" came to be used as metaphor for exile and punishment: "a bureaucratic Siberia" ([
2],[
3])
*
Dingling*
Education in Siberia*
Tunguska event*
Afanasy Shchapov*
West Siberian Plain*
Gulag*
History of Siberia*
Siberian husky*
Siberian Tiger*
Trans-Siberian Railway*
Taiga*
Travel guide Trans-Siberia.com*
Tourism in Siberia*
TransGlobal Highway - Proposed AmerAsian Friendship Tunnel*
Meeting of Frontiers: Siberia, Alaska, and the American West
