Siberia in 30 facts

National Unity Day was observed nationwide. Nowadays, someone is aware of the 1917 revolution. We also want to remind everyone in Siberia about Siberia Day, a significant date on the calendar!

To commemorate the impending holiday, we have compiled the most significant and fascinating information about Siberia.

History

1. What does the word "Siberia" mean, scientists do not know exactly, there are many versions. Choose which one you like!
   Perhaps the name "Siberia" comes from the Mongolian word "shibir", which in Russian means "thickets", "swamp", or from the word "siber" – "clean", "beautiful".
   In the Evenki language, “sibir”, “sivir” means “land”, “peace”, the name of the homeland.
   In the Turkic languages ​​(in particular, Tatar), the word “seber” means “sweep”, “blizzard, drifting snow”.
   Or perhaps this name comes from the name of the tribes that inhabited the forest-steppe Irtysh region in ancient times – “sabirs” or “sipyrs”.
2. Siberia without Russia
   Until the 5th century, on the territory of modern Siberia, there were states of the Turkic and Mongolian peoples – in particular, the Hunnu Empire, the Tanshikhai Empire. It was here that the largest empires in human history were born – the Great Turkic Khaganate (5th-8th centuries) and the empire of Genghis Khan (13th-14th centuries).
3. Siberia with Russia
   After the collapse of the Golden Horde in 1468, the Siberian Khanate was formed, which in 1555. became dependent on the Muscovite state and paid yasak (tax) in furs. In 1563, Kuchum came to power, who in 1572 refused to pay tribute and began military action.

"The Cossacks’" campaign against the Siberian Khanate started in 1581, led by Yermak. On October 26 (November 8, in the new style), 1582, they took control of Isker, the capital. That was precisely 440 years ago.

Yermak passed away in 1585 following the locals’ attack on the Cossack camp. Tyumen, the first city in Siberia, was founded in 1586 by the governors Vasily Sukin and Ivan Myasnoy, accompanied by a small army. Finally, in 1598, the forces of the Siberian Khan Kuchum were routed. The Russian map showed the locations of Surgut, Tomsk, Berezov, Tobolsk, and other cities.

Emperor Alexander III created Siberia Day in 1882 to commemorate the annexation of Siberia 300 years earlier.

1. June 30 1908 a meteorite fell in the area of ​​the Podkamennaya Tunguska River. The power of the explosion is estimated at 40-50 megatons! However, there is no crater at the site of the Tunguska meteorite fall, and the meteorite itself was not found. To this day, scientists do not have a consensus on what this phenomenon, recorded by eyewitnesses and devices around the world, was.
2. Appeared at the end of the 19th century railway communication allowed to significantly accelerate the development of Siberia, "bringing" it closer to central Russia.
3. In 1921 In Kemerovo was founded International industrial colony. It existed from 1922 to 1927, 750 foreigners and 5,000 Russians worked here. The main language of communication at first was English!
   Currently, the Kemerovo Region is the most densely populated part of Siberia.
4. After the October Revolution, the development of Siberia accelerated. During Stalin"s repressions many people, sometimes entire nations, were forcibly resettled to the territory of Siberia. And these difficult pages of history helped the region to develop – cities were actively built, mining developed.
5. During the Great Patriotic War factories, enterprises, institutions were massively evacuated to Siberia, and this gave another strong impetus to the development of industry and culture in the region.

Geography

1. Siberia occupies most of the territory of Russia. The area of ​​​​geographical Siberia is 9.8 million km² (about 57% of the territory of Russia). The territory of Siberia can fit 15 Frances or one Canada.
2. Western Siberia is a territory stretching for 2.5 thousand. km from the Arctic Ocean to the highlands of the Kazakh Uplands and 1.9 thousand. km from the Urals to the Yenisei.
   Eastern Siberia includes the Asian territory of Russia from the Yenisei in the west to the watershed ranges running along the Pacific Ocean in the east.
3. At the turn of the 16th and 17th centuries, only about 200 thousand Human. Now there are about them 36 million.
4. In Siberia, only about 20% of the population Russia.
5. Siberia is considered mainly by Russian lands, but part of it is geographically To Kazakhstan.
6. The population density in Siberia is one of the lowest in the world — 2.7 people per square kilometer.
7. More than 60% of the territory of Russia – permafrost areas, and its main part is in Siberia. Due to permafrost in Siberia, diamond mining is possible by open-pit methods – frozen ground prevents quarry walls from collapsing.
8. Siberia is located in both high and middle latitudes of the northern hemisphere, and in temperate and cold climate zones. The climate of most of the Siberian territories is sharply continental.
9. Here is located the coldest populated area on the planet is the small village of Oymyakon in the east of Yakutia, on the banks of the Indigirki River. There a record was recorded – below 71 ° C!
10. It is in Siberia that is located The deepest lake on the planet – Baikal. This is the largest natural reservoir of fresh water, the area of ​​its surface is the area of ​​the Netherlands. The water in the lake is so clean that you can see stones at a depth of 50 meters.
11. 4 out of 10 the longest rivers in the world They proceed in Siberia: Ob, Amur, Lena and Yenisei.
12. Vasyugan swamps located in Siberia – The largest swamp system Northern Hemisphere. Swamp area 53 thousand km²! This is comparable to the territory of many European states. In Vasyugansk swamps the largest peat deposits in the world.
13. The largest snowflakes in the world (or rather, snow flakes) in size of 200-305 millimeters in diameter fell in 1971 in Bratsk. It"s hard to even imagine a "snowflake" the size of an album sheet!
14. In 1968, in Siberia, in the village of Agapa, it was noted The highest atmospheric pressure in the world In the entire history of observations – 815 millimeters of mercury.

Nature

1. On the territory of Siberia is located 85 percent of all natural reserves of Russia.
2. In Siberia, concentrated more than 80 percent of Russian reserves of platinum and lead. Also, oil and natural gas, gold and coal are widely produced here.
3. Forests of Siberia supply the bulk of oxygen to the atmosphere of our planet (along with the South American jungle).
4. Siberian rivers are home to valuable commercial fish – muksun, nelma, omul, whitefish, sturgeon and taimen.
5. Many species of animals and birds, listed in the Red Book live in Siberia. Among them: Siberian bustard, long-eared hedgehog, peregrine falcon, black stork, imperial eagle, Ussuri tiger, mountain goat, Tuvan beaver, snow leopard, pointed-eared bat.
   There are also many rare plants, for example, spring adonis, common juniper, larkspur, club moss, large-flowered lady"s slipper, cuckoo, broadleaf bellflower, chilim.
6. Here, the rarest vampire butterflies (Calyptra (lat.) is a genus of butterflies from the Erebidae family). Moreover, the females of these butterflies, as expected, feed on the juice of fruits, but the males – exclusively on blood.
7. In Siberia, found Fasted remains unusual animal elasmosteria resembling a unicorn. They lived on Earth 29 thousand years ago – at that time ancient people already lived in Siberia!
8. The most ancient fossils, discovered in Siberia, more than 350 million years old.

Created by Yulia Vorontsova; public domain photo 9.11.22

Siberia is a huge and fascinating area that offers a distinctive combination of natural beauties and cultural highlights. This article will examine thirty amazing facts about Siberia, illuminating the country’s harsh weather, abundant wildlife, varied topography, and resilient inhabitants. Find out what makes Siberia so fascinating and enigmatic, from its vibrant cities and traditional communities to the vast expanses of its frozen tundra.

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