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Siberia
*** Shopping-Tip: Siberia
:''This article refers to Siberia as a whole; for specific information about the current administrative region, see
Siberian Federal District.''
:''
Siberia (album) Siberia is also an album by
Echo & The Bunnymen.''
:''For the squat in Helsinki, Finland, see
Siperia.''
Image:SiberiaMap.png right|frame|Siberia
'''Siberia''' ({{lang-ru|''СибиÌ?рь''}},
Transliteration of Russian into English common English transliterations: ''Sibir’'', ''Sibir'';
Tatar language Tatar: ''Seber'') is a vast region of
Russia and northern
Kazakhstan constituting almost all of
North Asia 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
People's Republic of China China. All but the extreme south-western area of Siberia lies in Russia, and it makes up about 56% of that country's territory.
The origin of name
Some theories say that it originates from the
Turkic languages 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.
Administrative subdivisions
Image:GobiDessertReliefMap.jpg thumb|300px|right|Russia shares a border with China and Mongolia in southern Siberia.
Geographically, Siberia includes the
Federal subjects of Russia federal subjects of the
Urals Federal District,
Siberian Federal District and
Sakha Republic 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, Russia Chita
*
Irkutsk Oblast, administrative center —
Irkutsk
*
Khakassia Republic of Khakassia, capital —
Abakan
*
Kemerovo Oblast, administrative center —
Kemerovo
*
Koryakia Koryakia Autonomous District, administrative center —
Palana
*
Krasnoyarsk Krai, administrative center —
Krasnoyarsk
*
Novosibirsk Oblast, administrative center —
Novosibirsk
*
Omsk Oblast, administrative center —
Omsk
*
Sakha Republic Sakha (Yakutia) Republic, capital —
Yakutsk
*
Tomsk Oblast, administrative center —
Tomsk, Russia Tomsk
*
Tuva Republic, capital —
Kyzyl
Major cities include:
*
Irkutsk
*
Krasnoyarsk
*
Novosibirsk
*
Omsk
*
Tomsk
History
''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
Eurasian Avars 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, Russia 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 of Russia Nicholas II. Siberia is filled with natural resources and during the
20th century these were developed, and industrial towns cropped up throughout the region.
Geography and geology
With an area of 10,007,400
Square kilometre 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 flat, 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 Sea 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. 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
Gelisols 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 Angara River
*
Indigirka River
*
Irtysh River
*
Kolyma River
*
Lake Baikal
*
Lena River
*
Ob River
*
Tunguska River
*
Uvs Nuur Lake
*
Yana River
*
Yenisei River
Mountain ranges
*
Altai Mountains
*
Anadyr Range
*
Chersky Range
*
Dzhugdzhur Mountains
*
Gydan Mountains
*
Koryak Mountains
*
Sayan Mountains
*
Tannu-Ola Mountains
*
Ural Mountains
*
Verkhoyansk Mountains
*
Yablonoi Mountains
A 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°
Celsius C (-90°
Fahrenheit F). Most of the coastal waters,
lakes, and
rivers freeze for much of the year.
Demographics
{{main|Demographics of Siberia}}
Siberia has a population density of only 3 people per square kilometer. Most Siberians are
Russians and
Russification Russified Ukrainians. Ethnic Russians are descended from
Slavs who lived in
Eastern Europe several hundred years ago. Such
Mongol and
Turkic peoples 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 are crowded into small 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. With a lowest record temperature of -71.2 Celsius,
Oymyakon has the distinction of being the coldest town on
Earth.
See also
*
Tunguska event
*
Afanasy Shchapov
*
West Siberian Plain
*
Gulag
*
Taiga
*
Siberian husky
External links
*{{wikitravel}}
-
Travel guide Trans-Siberia.com
-
Tourism in Siberia
-
Tourism around Lake Baikal and the Sayan Mountains
-
Meeting of Frontiers: Siberia, Alaska, and the American West
Category:Geography of Russia
Category:Asia
Category:Siberia *
bg:Сибир
be:Сыбір
ca:Sibèria
cs:SibiÅ™
da:Sibirien
de:Sibirien
et:Siber
el:ΣιβηÏ?ία
es:Siberia
eo:Siberio
fr:Sibérie
gl:Siberia - Сибирь
ko:ì‹œë² ë¦¬ì•„
hr:Sibir
id:Siberia
it:Siberia
he:סיביר
la:Siberia
lt:Sibiras
hu:Szibéria
mo:СибериÑ?
nl:Siberië
nds:Sibirien
ja:シベリア
no:Sibir
nn:Sibir
os:Сыбыр
pl:Syberia
pt:Sibéria
ro:Siberia
ru:Сибирь
sh:Sibir
scn:Sibberia
sl:Sibirija
su:Sibéria
fi:Siperia
sv:Sibirien
tl:Siberia
th:ไซบีเรียตะวันà¸à¸à¸?
tr:Sibirya
uk:Сибір
wa:Sibereye
zh:西伯利亚
{{catmore}}
Category:Traditional subdivisions of Russia
Category:Geography of Asia
ar:تصنيÙ?:سيبيريا
*** Shopping-Tip: Siberia
