SIBERIA 



5369 



SIBERIA 



habitants, and Tobolsk, with over 2,000,000. 

 About sixty-one per cent of the people are 

 Russians. There are about 8,000 Jews and a 

 few Germans. The remainder of the popula- 

 tion consists of native tribes. The northwest- 

 ern section is the home of a large number of 

 Samoyeds, a people closely related to the 

 Finns. There is a wide difference in language 

 and racial characteristics between the native 

 peoples of the eastern and western parts of the 

 country. Many Chinese are found in the re- 

 gion bordering on Mongolia. The exile system 

 (see EXILE) banished to Siberia, for political 

 reasons, many of the ablest and most highly 

 educated men and women of Russia, and they 

 have contributed no small share to the ad- 

 vancement of the Siberian colonies. 



The uneducated Russians and the natives 

 are nonprogressive, with little ambition. To 

 the ordinary observer they seem merely to 

 exist, exerting themselves only to procure the 

 food, clothing and shelter for their daily needs. 

 It is thought by some that this condition is due 

 largely to the stupefying effect of the long, 

 cold winters. 



Surface and Drainage. The entire country is 

 a great. plain sloping gently towards the Arctic 

 Ocean, into which all the rivers flow. The 

 western part of Siberia is low and practically 

 level. The Altai and Yablonoi mountains lie 

 on the southern border, and the Stanovoi 

 Mountains extend across the eastern end of the 

 country to Bering Sea, with a spur extending 

 into Kamchatka. 



Amur province and the eastern part of the 

 country are rolling and hilly, but the western 

 part merges imperceptibly into the low tundra 

 (treeless plains) that extends to the ocean. 



Rivers and Lakes. Siberia is a land of great 

 rivers. No other country except Brazil has 

 such a large number of navigable streams, but 

 the long winters render them almost useless 

 for commercial purposes. From west to east 

 the important rivers are the Ob, or Obi, whose 

 largest tributary is the Irtish; the Yenisei, 

 rising in Mongolia, and the Lena, known for its 

 extensive delta. The Amur drains the extreme 

 southeastern section into the Sea of Okhotsk. 



Lake Baikal, with an area of 13,200 square 

 miles, is the largest lake in Siberia and the 

 largest fresh- water lake in Asia. The other 

 lakes are unimportant. The tundra consists 

 chiefly of marshes. 



Climate. Siberia is known for its long, cold 

 winters and short, hot summers. Central Si- 

 beria is considered to have the coldest climate 



of any region in the world, the mean tempera- 

 ture for January being 56 F. below zero, and 

 the maximum cold being 90 to 93 below. 

 Not even at the North Pole does the tempera- 

 ture fall so low. A dry atmosphere renders 

 the severe temperature somewhat more tolera- 

 ble than it would 

 otherwise be. 

 The rivers remain 

 frozen nine 

 months in the 

 year. The frost 

 penetrates to such 

 a depth that the 

 subsoil remains 

 frozen through- 

 out the year; the LOCATION MAP 



sudden thawing of Siberia, the area in black, 



. . . is by far the largest political 



the ground in the division of the Asiatic conti- 



spring turns the nent- 



country into an impassable marsh. The mean 

 summer temperature varies from 62 to 65, 

 but the many hours of sunlight contribute to 

 the rapid growth of vegetation. Excepting along 

 the Pacific coast the rainfall is light, but the 

 constant thawing of the subsoil supplies vege- 

 tation with moisture. 



Plants and Animals. The northern sections 

 of the tundra are covered with mosses and 

 lichens, among which are a few scattering 

 shrubs. On the southern border of the tundra 

 the trees characteristic of sub-Arctic forests 

 the silver fir, the larch and the birch are 

 found. This sub-Arctic belt merges into the 

 great forest of spruce, pine and hardwood trees 

 that extends from the Ural Mountains to the 

 Pacific coast, being interrupted only by rivers, 

 marshes and peat bogs. 



Animals. Siberia is the chief fur-producing 

 country of the world, although some of the 

 most valuable fur-bearing animals have been 

 nearly exterminated by hunters. More than 

 1,000,000 squirrel skins are taken from the 

 country every year. Other animals whose furs 

 are a source of wealth are the fox, the otter, 

 the sable, the polar hare, the wolf, the bear and 

 the ermine. The tiger is occasionally found in 

 the southeast, and burrowing animals abound 

 throughout the southern part of the country. 

 The reindeer is native in the north, where it 

 feeds upon the mosses and lichens of the tun- 

 dra. It is indispensable to the inhabitants of 

 these inhospitable regions. The lakes and 

 streams abound in fish. 



Minerals and Mining. Siberia is rich in 

 minerals, but owing to meager transportation 



