Siberia

   Siberia is a mysterious land, keeping the traces of the ancient civilizations and untouched nature alive. The human being and the nature elements: fire, air, earth, water - interlace in harmony with the landscape of this great country. It is so strong that you feel the invisible power in every rustle of the tree leaves, in every capful of wind, in the shaman's movements during the rituals at the fireplace, in the ringing silence of the Khakassian Steppes, in the fascinating rhythm of the monks' voices in the Buddhist temple, and in the majestic running of the main vital water-way of the ancient earth - Yenisei.

GEOGRAPHY, CLIMATE, POPULATION

   Siberia is an enormous area in north Asia spreading from the Urals in the west to mountainous ridges of the Okhotsk Sea coast in the east, from the Arctic Ocean in the north to borders with Kazakhstan, Mongolia and China in the south.
   Three great rivers, the Ob, the Yenisei and the Lena, flow across the territory of Siberia. The world cleanest and deepest Lake Baikal is found here. The world greatest lowland - the West-Siberian Plain - covers 2.7 million km of Siberia’s territory. About a half of the planet’s boreal forests grow here. Here is the world largest forest-swamp natural complex. Mountainous massifs and highlands occupy large areas in Eastern Siberia. Mountain systems border Siberia from the west, the east and the south, enclosing it from cyclones of the Atlantic and the Pacific Oceans, as well as from hot Central Asia. In Siberia, latitudinal zoning of natural landscapes is well expressed. From the north to the south, tundra passes into boreal forests, forest-steppe alternates steppe. Mountains, characterized by vertical zoning of climate and biota, frame these landscapes.
   Common points for the whole Siberia are an extreme continental and often cold climate and vast permafrost areas.
Extraction and processing of minerals, devastating forest felling, extensive land management and reservoirs of large hydroelectric power stations make an essential impact on Siberian nature. However, thanks to Siberia’s dimensions, it still contains large, relatively slightly impacted territories. The area of Siberia is greater than one-half of the area of the Russian Federation, almost equal to the area of Europe, almost a quarter of the entire Asia or 1/15 of the whole land of the Earth. In dimensions, population density and climatic conditions, Siberia is mostly similar to Canada.

Comparative figures

   Siberia contains 20 entities of the Russian Federation. Its population, residing mainly along the Trans-Siberian Railway and in the south, amounts to 15% of the whole Russia population. It is the most northern, the coldest and the least populated part of Siberia that is fraught with immense natural riches.

Siberia’s share in natural resources of Russia

   Development of Siberia, since its joining Russia in late XVI century has always been associated with exploitation of its natural resources: first fur, then lands, noble metals, now mostly raw materials and power resources. To develop these resources, cities and industrial communities with fuel-power, mining and processing industry were built.
The times change, and Siberia becomes a popular place of interest for tourists as well. It attracts by beauty of primeval nature, ancient history and singularity of peoples living in the central part of the Asiatic continent.
Traveling around Siberian region visitor will follow the ways of ancient civilizations those of the Russians, the Khakass and the Tuvinians living here. Feel yourself an explorer of the unknown, see and uncover archeology, culture and customs, history and the present of people living on this ancient land.