Siberia

I

Introduction

Siberia (Russian, Sibir), vast region comprising the Asian portion of Russia, bounded on the west by the Ural Mountains; on the north by the Arctic Ocean; on the east by the Pacific Ocean and the Bering Strait; and on the south by China, Mongolia, and Kazakhstan. Siberia is a treasure trove of natural resources, with huge deposits of oil, gas, and minerals, and vast stands of timber. Historically, the region was notorious as a bleak place of exile for Russian criminals and, when the area was part of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR), for those considered opponents of the Communist regime. The term Siberia refers to a geographic region and no longer has administrative significance.

II

Land and Climate

Siberia can be divided into three major physiographic regions. Occupying the western one-third of the area, between the Ural Mountains and the Yenisey River, is the Western Siberian Plain, a great lowland territory, large portions of which are swampland. Between the Yenisey and Lena rivers lies the Central Siberian Plateau, with elevations varying between 300 and 1,200 m (1,000 and 4,000 ft). To the east is a complex system of mountain ranges. The chain composed of the Yablonovyy and Stanovoy ranges extends from the Chinese border north-east to the Sea of Okhotsk. To the south-west are the higher Sayan and Altai mountains. The Altai Mountains generally measure between 3,000 and 4,000 m (10,000 and 13,000 ft) in height, reaching their highest elevation at Mount Belukha (4,506 m/14,783 ft). In the north-east a chain of volcanic peaks, a number of which are still active, extends the entire length of the Kamchatka Peninsula. One volcano, Mount Klyuchevskaya, is the tallest peak in Siberia at 4,750 m (15,584 ft).

Siberia is traversed by a network of great rivers, including the Ob, Yenisey, Lena, and Kolyma. All of these drain north to the Arctic Ocean and are frozen for six to nine months of the year, conditions that render them of only minor importance to a regional means of transport. Of the major rivers of Siberia, only the Amur flows east to the Pacific. Lake Baikal in the south is the largest freshwater lake in Asia, as well as the world's deepest lake.

Siberia has an extreme continental climate, with long, cold winters and short, hot summers. At Verkhoyansk in the north, temperatures of 33.9° C (93° F) in summer and -69.4° C (-93° F) in winter have been recorded. With average annual temperatures of -10.9° C (12° F), Noril'sk is the coldest city in the world. Precipitation is light in nearly all parts of Siberia, except the Pacific coast. Snowfall accumulation in many areas is scant.

III

Plants and Animals

The northern section of Siberia, extending from the Arctic Ocean south about 400 km (250 mi), is tundra—treeless marshy plains that are perpetually frozen to great depths. The tundra surface thaws sufficiently in summer to permit short-lived vegetation, including mosses, lichens, flowering plants, and stunted shrubs. To the south, the tundra grades into a vast coniferous forest belt, the taiga. The most common trees are larch, pine, Siberian cedar, and fir. On the southern fringes of the taiga, a transitional forest belt has deciduous trees, such as birch, willow, and poplar. This area then shades into the steppe, or grasslands, of the south-west, which contains Siberia’s best farmland.

Siberia is rich in animal life and is one of the world's major sources of furs. Among the more common mammals found in the region are fox, otter, wolf, hare, elk, reindeer, polar and brown bear, sable, seal, and walrus. Leopard, tiger, and antelope are found in the Amur River region. Sturgeon, salmon, and rare freshwater seals inhabit Lake Baikal.

IV

Natural Resources

Siberia is especially rich in mineral resources, most notably coal, gold, iron ore, natural gas, and oil. The Kuznetsk Basin in western Siberia has vast coal deposits. Other major coal deposits are found at Cheremkhovo and Minusinsk. Siberian mines formerly supplied the majority of Russia's gold, making the country one of the world's largest producers. Since the 1960s vast reserves of natural gas and oil have been discovered, especially in the north-west and near Yakutsk. A pipeline has been constructed from refineries in Irkutsk in central Siberia to European Russia. The cities of Tomsk and Tobol’sk have huge petrochemical complexes. There are also important deposits of uranium, nickel, copper, manganese, diamonds, tin, and cobalt. Large hydroelectric power plants have been installed in Siberia near Irkutsk, Bratsk, and Krasnoyarsk.