MIIKKIA 



iilsd 111-- M.).|M 1 ,.M and Tiiif/ai ivt,'ioiis, \)iisH\nt! far bnyoiid tin- I'ral river and pc-netrating 

 dfM!|)ly into 111.' inl.'rior of Asia, an- not counti-d as bidoiitfing to Siberia, because tho centres 

 of Kravity of iln'Sf rf^jons, tbal is, lh<'ir administrative fentrr-s, are situated iu EunjiM^an Russia. 

 'J'iiiis, Sil).Tia is .•oiniM.s.Ml of tli.' followiuK' parts: ]. Two ^'ov•!rn^l<'Ilts of the basin of the 

 riviTOhi, naMi<'ly,Tol).dslv and Tomsk, formiiif^ tin- so-raijr-d Woslcrn Siberia; these governments 

 cuten-d foiinrrly intu lli.' r..in|M,sition <>{ a sprdal (.'ovcrnor-gi-ncralship now abolished, but 

 art' at prt's.-nt gov.'rn.'d,rarli s.-parat.-ly, iip(«n idmliral lim-s with lli.- governments of Europ<'an 

 Russia. 2. 'I'wn govi-rnnKMils of tin' basin (d" lln^ Yt'uissci, namely Ycnisseisk ami Irkutsk, f«jr- 

 niing 111"' so-eallrd Kaslmi Siberia, in llie slriel srnse (d' Uir Iitmi, and .■nlcring into the 

 composition of the Kasi Siberian g(»vernor-generalship. These two component parts of Siberia 

 form the original Siberia, iliat is, that Siberia which was long ago and constantly occupied 

 by I{iissian colonists, and where from ei(/lity to ninety per cent of the population belong to 

 tiir Kussiaii rae.«. The rrinainin^r parts of Siberia form those outskirts of the country, which 

 from their very nature or from their remoteness are yet very little settled by the Russians 

 and either oeciipird by primitive Asiatic or native peoples or arc deserts and even absolutely 

 niiiMliaiiit.'il, and may In' cniiipaivd iidt with the states but with the territories of the United 

 States. To these outlying regions of Sitx-ria belong: 3. The Yakutsk region, constitutinj/ in 

 respect to administration the Yakutsk territory alone. This, the most vast of all the Siberian 

 territories, occupies the Immense basin of the Lena and the less considerable basins of the 

 smaller rivers, for example, the Yana, Indighirka and Kolyma falling into the Arctic Ocean. 

 The Yakutsk territory in administrative respects forms a part of the East Siberian governor- 

 generalship. 4. The Amour and Littoral region; this consists of three teiTitories, constituting 

 the Amour governor-generalsliip, namely Transbaikalia, the Amour and the Littoral. These 

 teiTitories cover the whole of the Russian part of the basin of the Amour and the whole 

 coast zone bidonging to the basin of tlie Pacific or rather of the Japan, Okhotsk and Behring 

 seas, including the vast peninsula of Kamchatka and the island of Sakhalin. 5. The steppe 

 Kirghiz resioii: this consists of three territories, comprised in the Steppe governor-generalship, 

 namely: those of Akmolinsk, Semipalatinsk and Semirechensk, in former times known under 

 the collective name of the Kirghiz-Kaissak Hordes and Steppes. Composed as above, Siberia 

 occupies the immense area of 250,000 square geographical miles, being twenty-five times greater 

 than Germany and tw'o and a half times Euporean Russia. 



The annexation of Siberia to the Russian Empire took place at the end of the 

 sixteenth century. The occupation by the Russians of this vast country was effected without 

 any particularly bloody wars and hardly cost the Government an effort. The free Cossacks 

 very rapidly conquered Siberia, and after them other intrepid seekers of booty poured in 

 like a wave. 



The principal pioneers in the occupation of Siberia at that time were adventurers, 

 such as traders, sable hunters, trappers and fishermen. Organizing artels or societies they 

 distanced by far the Government colonization, and scattered themselves over unknown wastes. 

 In one spot they collected yassak, or a tax on furs; in another they destroyed wild 

 animals, and looked for fish and mammoth tusks; they drove off or bartered the cattle 

 belonging to the natives; they established whole industries by collecting hops, cedar nuts et 



