The Siberia Portal
A portal dedicated to Siberia
Introduction
Siberia | |
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Geographical region | |
Siberia (/saɪˈbɪəriə/; Russian: Сибирь, tr. Sibir', IPA: [sʲɪˈbʲirʲ] (listen)) is an extensive geographical region, constituting all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has been a part of Russia since the latter half of the 16th century, after the Russians conquered lands east of the Ural Mountains. Siberia is vast and sparsely populated, covering an area of over 13.1 million square kilometres (5,100,000 sq mi), but home to merely one-fifth of Russia's population. Novosibirsk and Omsk are the largest cities in the region.
Because Siberia is a geographic and historic region and not a political entity, there is no single precise definition of its territorial borders. Traditionally, Siberia extends eastwards from the Ural Mountains to the Pacific Ocean, and includes most of the drainage basin of the Arctic Ocean. The river Yenisey divides Siberia into two parts, Western and Eastern. Siberia stretches southwards from the Arctic Ocean to the hills of north-central Kazakhstan and to the northern parts of Mongolia and China. The central part of Siberia (West and East Siberian economic regions) was considered the core part of the region in the Soviet Union. Beyond the core, Siberia's western part includes some territories of the Ural region, the far eastern part has been historically called the Russian Far East.
Siberia is known worldwide primarily for its long, harsh winters, with a January average of −25 °C (−13 °F). It is geographically situated in Asia; however, due to it being colonized and incorporated into Russia, it is culturally and politically a part of Europe. European cultural influences, specifically Russian, predominate throughout the region, due to it having had Russian emigration from Europe since the 16th century, forming the Siberian Russian sub-ethnic group. Over 85% of the region's population is of European descent. (Full article...)
Selected article -
The 2019 Siberian wildfires began in July 2019 in poorly accessible areas of northern Krasnoyarsk Krai, Sakha Republic and Zabaykalsky Krai, all in Siberia, Russia. By the end of the month the size of the fires reached 2,600,000 hectares (6,400,000 acres). As of 30 July, there had been no reported deaths or injuries due to the fires.
The 2019 Siberia wildfires generated significant publicity, especially among social media users. As a result, a process of reviewing legal regulations regarding forest protection and forest fire extinguishing activities was started at the state level. (Full article...)Interesting facts -
- The Azerbaijani geologist Farman Salmanov, who discovered huge oil fields of Western Siberia in 1961, was awarded the title of Hero of Socialist Labor at the unusually young age of 37.
- NASA terraforming expert Christopher McKay has explored the Gobi Desert, Siberia and Antarctica to study extremophilic life forms.
- During the Soviet deportations from Estonia in 1940-1941 and 1944-1951 the Soviet Union forcibly transferred tens of thousands of Estonian citizens to Siberia.
General topics
- Prehistory of Siberia
- History of Siberia
- Geography of Siberia
- North Asia § Geography
- Demographics of Siberia
- Indigenous peoples of Siberia
- Category:Flora of Siberia – includes flora taxa that are native to Siberia. Taxa of the lowest rank are always included. Higher taxa are included only if endemic.
- Siberia Governorate
- Siberian Republic
- Great Russian Regions
- Trans-Siberian Railway
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Trans-Siberian Railway route map
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