2 History

Main article: History of Siberia

Siberia was occupied by differing groups of nomads such as the Yenets, the Nenets, the Huns, and the Uighurs. 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 conquerd by the Mongols in the 13th century and eventually became the autonomous Siberian Khanate.

The growing power of Russia to the east began to undermine the Khanate in the 16th century. First groups of traders and Cossacks began to enter the area, and finally the imperial army began to set up forts further and further east. 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 were sent to Siberia were prisoners, who were exiled from western Russia.

The first great change to Siberia was the Trans-Siberian railway, constructed in 1891 - 1905. It linked Siberia more closely into the rapidly-industrialising Russia of Nicholas II. Siberia is filled with natural resources and during the twentieth century these were developed, and industrial towns cropped up throughout the area.

3 Geography

With an area of over 9,653,000 square km, Siberia makes up roughly three-quarters of the total area of Russia. Much of it is swampland ill-suited to agriculture; other large areas (the taiga) are forested. The northernmost parts comprise extremely cold tundra.

Lakes and rivers include:

• Angara River
• Lake Baikal
• Lena River
• Ob River
• Tunguska River
• Yenisei River

Mountains range s include:

• Anadyr Range
• Chersky Mountains
• Dzhugdzhur Mountains
• Gydan Mountains
• Koryak Mountains
• Sayan Mountains
• Ural Mountains
• Verkhoyansk Mountains
• Yablonoi Mountains

4 Economy

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. But the winters are long and bitter. Ice and snow cover most of the region about six months of the year. The temperature can drop below -90° F (-68° C). Most of the coastal waters, lakes, and rivers freeze for much of the year.

There have been signs of a small tech boom in Siberia, with companies such as Plesk locating programming units in the region.

5 Demographics

Siberia has a population density of only 3 persons per square kilometre. Most Siberians are Russians and Russified Ukrainians. Ethnic Russians are descended from Slavs who lived in Eastern Europe several thousand 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 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. It has a population of about 1.5 million. With a lowest record temperature of -71.2 Celsius, Oymyakon has the distinction of being the coldest town on Earth.

6 Related articles

• Mangazeya
• Xibe
• Tunguska event

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