Siberian

Siberia (Russian: Сиби́рь, common English transliterations: Sibir’, Sibir; from the Tatar for “sleeping land”) is a vast region of Russia and northern Kazakhstan constituting almost all of northern Asia. more...

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.

Administrative subdivisions

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 — Kyzyl

Major cities include:

• Irkutsk
• Krasnoyarsk
• Novosibirsk
• Omsk
• Tomsk

History

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 east began to undermine the Khanate in the 16th century. First groups of traders and Cossacks began to enter the area, and then the imperial army began to set up forts further and further east. The 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 - 1905. 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.

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