Siberia (region)

Siberia is a large region of Russia that is located in the northern part of Asia. It is known as Siber (translation: "sleeping land"). Siberia covers 5.2 million square miles or 13.5 million square kilometers. Russia is the largest country in the world, and the region of Siberia is larger than Canada, the second-largest country.

Siberia is mostly defined by geographic boundaries. The Ural Mountains are the western border, and the Pacific Ocean is the eastern border. The northern border is the Arctic Ocean, and southern Siberia is bordered by Kazakhstan, Mongolia, and China.

Russian geographers use a narrower definition of Siberia for planning and government purposes. They do not include the area of Siberia that borders the Pacific Ocean in their definition of Siberia. They use the term Russian Far East for those lands, and they divide Siberia into two regions—Eastern Siberia and Western Siberia. The western border for the Russian Far East is the watershed between the Pacific and Arctic drainage basins, and the border extends south to the borders with China and Mongolia.

The majority of the region’s population is Russian, but more than eighty-five groups of native peoples live in Siberia. These groups include the Buryats, Yakuts, Tungus, Chukchi, and Koryaks. Most Siberians practice Orthodox Christianity, but among the inhabitants of this region, there is a range of other beliefs, including Buddhism, Islam, and Judaism, as well as native religions. Russian is spoken by most of the Siberian inhabitants.

Historical Perspective

Human life existed in Siberia as long ago as 50,000 BCE. Settled communities in the southern regions of Siberia have left evidence behind that dates to about 10,000 BCE. The Huns took over the area around the fourth century CE, and they were followed by the Mongols in the thirteenth century. Russia claimed Siberia in the late sixteenth century, but it was not until 1858 that an agreement with China was signed that established the Siberian border separating the two countries. Russia exported Siberian furs, and in the early 1800s, mining became the main industry.

Russian criminals and political and religious offenders were exiled to Siberia in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. In 1891, the construction of the Trans-Siberian Railroad was begun. The railroad eventually brought somewhere in the neighborhood of seven million Russian settlers to the region. Siberia came under the rule of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) in 1917. Siberia was divided into provinces and territories. Mining and construction rapidly developed after Joseph Stalin came to power. In the 1930s and 1940s, the work force consisted mostly of political exiles forced to labor and live in work camps and prisons. Many of the exiles were intellectuals and writers.

During World War II, most of the Soviet heavy industry was moved to Siberia, where it lay well outside the range of enemy bombers. By the end of the twentieth century, mining operations were industrialized, and giant petrochemical complexes were built. Gas and oil pipelines were laid, and large hydroelectric power plants were constructed along the major rivers. At the beginning of the twenty-first century, much of Siberia's industry lay in its natural resources.

Geography and Climate

Siberia has several distinct geographic regions. They include two major areas, the West Siberia Plain and the Central Siberian Plateau. Siberia also has several mountain ranges and the unique Lake Baikal area.

The West Siberia Plain is the land from the Ural Mountains to the Yenisey River. It is flat and swampy because the Ob River and its tributaries run through it and do not drain well. In the winter, this area is frozen.

The Central Siberian Plateau, which extends from the Yenisey River to the Lena River, is a plateau or tableland—mostly flat land that rises above the surrounding terrain.

The Ural Mountains make up the western border of Siberia. Other major mountain ranges run across the east and south portions of Siberia. They include the Verkhoyansk, the Sayan, the Yablonovyy, and the Stanovoy mountains. The Altai, or Altay, Mountains generally include the highest mountains. However, the Kamchatka Peninsula boasts the highest point in Siberia, the active volcano Klyuchevskaya Sopka.

Three large rivers run south to north in Siberia. These are the Ob, the Yenisey, and the Lena. These rivers flow north and drain into the Arctic Ocean, and they are frozen more than half the year. The world’s oldest and deepest lake, Lake Baikal, is located near the Mongolian border. The enormous freshwater lake is home to many unique species of plant and animal life.

The most common climate in the Siberian region is subarctic, but the climate varies with the region. Winters in Siberia, except in the south, may last for seven months of the year. In the far northeast, they last even longer. Winter temperatures range from –6 degrees to –118 degrees F, with the colder temperatures in the far northeast. Oymyakon is usually considered to be the coldest town on Earth, with a recorded low of –158 degrees F. Other Siberian towns are sometimes called the coldest inhabited places, including Yakutsk and Verkhoyansk. Summers are short and fairly mild in most of Siberia, reaching the lower sixties. The interior of Siberia receives little snowfall.

Vegetation zones in Siberia include the tundra, the taiga, and the steppe. The tundra is mostly marshy and has permafrost. Permafrost is soil that remains permanently frozen, although the surface layer may thaw during the warm months. In the summer, the Siberian permafrost does indeed thaw enough for some vegetation to grow, such as mosses, lichens, and stunted bushes. The taiga in the south has coniferous forests of larch, pine, and Siberian cedar. The southwest contains the steppe, or grasslands, that are good for farming.

Animal life in Siberia includes foxes, otters, elk, reindeer, brown bears, leopards, and tigers. Lake Baikal is home to 1,200 species of animals, as well as 600 kinds of plants. Lake fish include sturgeon, salmon, and omul. Lake Baikal is also home to the rare freshwater seals called nerpas. Seventy-five percent of the plant and animal life of Lake Baikal is found only in this region.

Economy

According to the Russian Federation Federal State Statistics Service, the industrial production index showed growth in production for the Siberian region in 2014. Statistics for the Siberian region are covered under three Russian Federal Districts. Compared to the previous year, the 2014 industrial production index reached 100.1 percent in the Urals Federal District, 101.8 percent in the Siberian Federal District, and 105.3 percent in the Far East Federal District. The observatory of economic complexity noted that Siberia's exports began significantly increasing in 2021.

Siberia is a rich source of minerals, oil, and natural gas. However, it is difficult and expensive to access and transport the products because of Siberia’s remote location. Oil and gas pipelines threaten the environment with leaks and spills.

Coal, copper, gold, and iron ore are some of the vast reserves of minerals found in Siberia. Others include platinum, cobalt, uranium, nickel, lead, zinc, manganese, and diamonds.

Industries include metal and metal products, textiles, construction materials, and agricultural equipment. Lumber and fishing are also important industries. Agricultural crops in the south include oats, wheat, barley, rye, sugar beets, and flax.

Tourists visit Siberia to see the nine UNESCO World Heritage sites that are located in this region, as well as for mountain climbing, skiing, and other entertainment. The UNESCO sites include Lake Baikal, the volcanoes of Kamchatka, and the mountains of Altai, as well as six other sites.

High poverty rates exist in Russia, especially in the Siberian Federal District. In 2015, the poverty rate was reported at 35.2 percent in parts of the district. While by 2017 the poverty rate had decreased, it remained high at 17.8 percent.

Demographics

Russia was one of the few countries in the world that had a declining population during the early years of the twenty-first century. The population declined 0.2 percent between 2002 and 2010. However, by 2015, the Russian population had rebounded to levels just above those of 2002. This rebound was short-lived. According to Worldmeter, Russia's population was aprroximately 145 million in 2023. By 2024, it was approximately 144 million. Further, in 2024 the country recorded a 25-year low birth rate.

The population of the three Russian Federal Districts that cover Siberia also declined between 2002 and 2010. In contrast to Russia as a whole, the population of the Siberian region was still less than previous years at the beginning of 2015. The population of the Urals Federal District in 2015 was 12.3 million; in 2002, it was 12.4 million. The Siberian Federal District had a population of 19.3 million in 2015; in 2002, it was 20.1 million. The Far East Federal District had a 2015 population of 6.2 million; in 2002, it was 6.7 million.

The population of the region was concentrated in the southwest. The third-largest city in Russia (Novosibirsk) and the thirteenth-largest city (Omsk) are in Siberia. An average of the three federal districts indicated that three-fourths of the Siberian population was urban. At 72.7 percent, the Siberian Federal District was a little below the average, whereas the Urals Federal District was 80.9 percent. The Far East Federal District had a 75.4 percent urban population.

Russia’s vital statistics in 2022 showed nine births per 1,000 people and thirteen deaths. For comparison, the death rate in the United States was 10 deaths out of every 1,000 people.

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