Siberia

Siberia (, Transliteration of Russian into English: ''Sibir'', ''Sibir'''; possibly from the Mongolian language for "the calm land") is a vast region of Russia and northern Kazakhstan constituting almost all of North Asia. It extends eastward from the Ural Mountains to the Pacific Ocean and southward from the Arctic Ocean to the hills of north-central Kazakhstan and the borders of both Mongolia and People's Republic of China. All but the extreme south-western area of Siberia lies in Russia, and it makes up about 75% of that country's territory. ==Administrative subdivisions== Geographically, Siberia includes the Federal subjects of Russia of the Urals Federal District, Siberian Federal District and Sakha Republic, which is a part of the Far Eastern Federal District (see a list of subjects below). From the historical point of view, the whole Russian Far East is considered a part of Siberia. *Altai Krai, administrative center — Barnaul *Altai Republic, capital — Gorno-Altaisk *Buryat Republic, capital — Ulan Ude *Chita Oblast, administrative center — Chita, Russia *Irkutsk Oblast, administrative center — Irkutsk *Khakassia, capital — Abakan *Kemerovo Oblast, administrative center — Kemerovo *Koryakia, administrative center — Palana *Krasnoyarsk Krai, administrative center — Krasnoyarsk *Novosibirsk Oblast, administrative center — Novosibirsk *Omsk Oblast, administrative center — Omsk *Sakha Republic, capital — Yakutsk *Tomsk Oblast, administrative center — Tomsk, Russia *Tuva Republic, capital — Kyzyl Major cities include: *Irkutsk *Krasnoyarsk *Novosibirsk *Omsk *Tomsk ==History== ''Main article: History of Siberia'' Siberia was occupied by differing groups of nomads such as the Yenets, the Nenets, the Huns, and the Uyghurs. The Khan of Sibir in the vicinity of modern Tobolsk was known as a prominent figure who endorsed Kubrat as Khagan in Avaria in 630. The area was conquered by the Mongols in the 13th century and eventually became the autonomous Siberian Khanate. The growing power of Russia to the east began to undermine the Khanate in the 16th century. First groups of traders and Cossacks began to enter the area, and then the imperial army began to set up forts further and further east. By the mid-17th century, the Russian-controlled areas had been extended to the Pacific. Siberia remained a mostly unexplored and uninhabited area. During the following few centuries, only a few exploratory missions and traders inhabited Siberia. The other group that were sent to Siberia were prisoners exiled from western Russia. The first great change to Siberia was the Trans-Siberian railway, constructed in 1891 - 1905. It linked Siberia more closely to the rapidly-industrializing Russia of Nicholas II of Russia. Siberia is filled with natural resources and during the 20th century these were developed, and industrial towns cropped up throughout the region. ==Geography and geology== With an area of over 9,653,000 Square kilometre, Siberia makes up roughly three-quarters of the total area of Russia. Major geographical zones, include the West Siberian Plain and the Central Siberian Plateau. The West Siberian Plain consists mostly of Cenozoic alluvial deposits and is extraordinarily flat, so much so that a rise of fifty metres in sea level would cause all land between the Arctic Ocean and Novosibirsk to be inundated. Many of the deposits on this plain result from ice dams’ having reversed the flow of the Ob and Yenisei Rivers, so redirecting them into the Caspian Sea (perhaps the Aral Sea as well). It is very swampy and soils are mostly peaty Histosols and, in the treeless northern part, Gelisols. In the south of the plain, where permafrost is largely absent, rich grasslands that are an extension of the Kazakhstan steppe formed the original vegetation (almost all cleared now). The Central Siberian Plateau is an extremely ancient craton (sometimes called Angaraland) that formed an independent continent before the Permian (see Siberia (continent)). It is exceptionally rich in minerals, containing large deposits of gold, diamonds, and ores of manganese, lead, zinc, nickel, cobalt and molybdenum. Only the extreme northwest was glaciated during the Quaternary, but almost all is under exceptionally deep permafrost and the only tree that can thrive, despite the warm summers, is the deciduous Siberian Larch (''Larix sibirica'') with its very shallow roots. Soils here are mainly Gelisols, giving way to Spodosols where the active layer becomes thicker and the ice content lower. Eastern and central Sakha comprise numerous north-south mountain ranges of various ages. These mountains extend up to almost three thousand metres in elevation, but above a few hundred metres they are to an extraordinary degree, devoid of vegetation. The Verkhoyansk Range was extensively glaciated in the Pleistocene, but the climate was too dry for glaciation to extend to low elevations. At these low elevations are numerous valleys, many of them deep, and covered with larch forest except in the extreme north, where tundra dominates. Soils are mainly Turbels and the active layer tends to be less than a metre deep except near rivers.. ===Lakes and rivers=== * Anabar * Angara * Indigirka River * Irtysh River * Kolyma River * Lake Baikal * Lena River * Ob River * Tunguska River * Yana River * Yenisei River ===Mountain ranges=== *Anadyr Range *Chersky Range *Dzhugdzhur Mountains *Gydan Mountains *Koryak Mountains *Sayan Mountains *Ural Mountains *Verkhoyansk Mountains *Yablonoi Mountains A harsh climate has limited Siberia's development and population growth. The region has an abundance of natural resources, including many minerals, vast oil fields, rich forests, and grasslands in the extreme southwest that are good for farming. However, the winters are long and bitter. Ice and snow cover most of the region for about six months of the year. The temperature can drop below -90°Fahrenheit (-68°Celsius). Most of the coastal waters, lakes, and rivers freeze for much of the year. ==Demographics== Siberia has a population density of only 3 persons per square kilometer. Most Siberians are Russians and Russification Ukrainians. Ethnic Russians are descended from Slavs who lived in Eastern Europe several hundred years ago. Such Mongol and Turkic groups as Buryats, Tuvinians, and Yakuts lived in Siberia originally, and descendants of these peoples still live there. Other ethnic groups include: Evenks, Chukchis, Koryaks, Yukaghirs. See the Northern indigenous peoples of Russia article for more. About 70% of Siberia's people live in cities. Most city people are crowded into small apartments. Many people in rural areas live in simple, but more spacious, log houses. Novosibirsk is the largest city in Siberia, with a population of about 1.5 million. Tobolsk, Tomsk, Irkutsk and Omsk are the older, historical centers. With a lowest record temperature of -71.2 Celsius, Oymyakon has the distinction of being the coldest town on Earth. == On Film == * "Dersu Uzala" (1974). Survival in Siberia in the year 1900. Directed by Akira Kurosawa. == Related articles == * Mangazeya * Xibe * Tunguska event ==External links== * Russia Asia la:Siberia nds:Sibirien su:Sib�ria

Siberia

''This discussion was moved from User talk:Maximaximax and User talk:Ezhiki'' The correct (geographical) definition of Siberia is "a territory in between Urals mountains and the mountain ridges of the Pacific watershed". While this includes the Sakha Republic (and yes — it was my mistake not to include it when making the original edit of the article), it does not include the rest of the RFE (you sure would not want to be caught saying that Primorsky Krai is a part of Siberia, would you?). Now, from the historic point of view RFE is considered to be a part of Siberia. This fact is well worth mentioning in the article to avoid confusion in the future. This also seems to be the point of view adopted by most of the western encyclopedias (Webster, for one). Still, using a historic definition instead of a proper geographical definition is not right in an article where Siberia is discussed primarily as a geographic object. I hope this addresses your concerns. I am going to re-edit the article later today — feel free to review and please let me know if you disagree with any points outlined above.--User:Ezhiki 13:54, Jul 22, 2004 (UTC) :I'm glad to have such a comprehensive explanation from you, but, unfortunately I sill cannot agree. :RFE is only one of the part of Siberia like Zabaikalie or Yakutia, etc. :See for example: http://encycl.yandex.ru/cgi-bin/art.pl?art=brokminor/36/36372.html&encpage=brokminor :I live most of the time in Siberia and nobody before you told me something like that Siberia does not include Far East. It looks similar to the sentance that Russia is only up to Ural mountains, and Siberia is totally another region :) With best wishes User:Maximaximax 14:57, 22 Jul 2004 (UTC) ::You may also want to check a BSE article on Siberia (also available through Yandex). It is a bit more current than B&E's version. That article specifically lists what is included into Siberia and what's not. ::I don't know if you were maybe tought a different version of Russian geography in school (Siberian conspiracy of world domination, maybe? :)), but as a person who lived in RFE for most of my life I can tell you that we were always tought that Siberia and RFE are separate regions (with the obvious exception of Sakha-Yakutia, which is a part of RFE but also is considered to be in Siberia). After all, Siberia is divided into West and East Siberia for a reason, and East Siberia certainly does not include RFE. If it did, the region would be called Far East Siberia, not Far East :) ::Please let me know if you are still not convinced (and, if so, why). Thanks.--User:Ezhiki 15:41, Jul 22, 2004 (UTC) :::Siberian Conspiracy theory? :)) Rather new invention, you need to write a special article about it :) Anyway I cannot agree with you just because B&E is older than BSE, it's not an argument. What I suggest to you when you change this article - please make a note that according of some sources and opinions Siberia is the whole Asian part of Russia, but sometimes several parts of it like Altai and Far East for example are considered as a separate parts, not included in it. User:Maximaximax 16:00, 22 Jul 2004 (UTC) :It's not "just older", it is pretty much "just obsolete". When B&E was written, the definitions were quite different. BSE, of course, is not all that modern by now, but this is the best we have at this point of time. :Also, I noticed that you make parallels between RFE and such regions as Zabaykalye and Altai. In terms of physical geography, RFE is actually a superior division of landmass of Russia, on par with North Caucasus or Siberia. Zabaykalye and Altai are well-defined, but much smaller regions. This hierarchy is also very well represented in the division of Russia into economic regions of Russia—Siberia and RFE are separate. :I will, of course, make a note when editing the article. The note will state that while in terms of physical geography RFE and Siberia are two separate entities, historically RFE is considered a part of Siberia (which I, as a long-time inhabitant of RFE, personally dislike, but since it's a fact, it should be stated; besides, an encyclopedia is certainly not a proper place to voice personal opinions). ---- : User:Maximaximax 22:26, 22 Jul 2004 (UTC): Quote from your words: "In terms of physical geography, RFE is actually a superior division of landmass of Russia, on par with North Caucasus or Siberia. Zabaykalye and Altai are well-defined, but much smaller regions." Look on the map please - Altai and Zabaykalye are comparable by area with North Caucasus. But its not a problem. For example in the article http://www.centerru.com/regions/sib.asp they have a point of view similar to your one. But in Brochaus & Efron, in MS Encarta (http://encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761556603/Siberia.html) and http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/13767b.htm they have another opinion. So, there are several opinions in this subject. I more like the case where Siberia is larger than Canada, you like when it is without Far East :), but our opinions are both correct, and both of them concern of geography, but not of history, sorry - it's only difference between broad or narrow sense. ::Zabaykalye and Altai are smaller regions ''in comparison'' to Siberia, of which they are a part. North Caucasus is a division comparable to Siberia in the level of division, not in size. Western parts of Russia are traditionally subdivided into smaller territories than the eastern parts.--User:Ezhiki 14:46, Jul 26, 2004 (UTC) :::Hm, I did not expect that we still continue this discussion. Why don't you want to use WP:NPOV? If there is an opinion (not only my one, you may see several links) that Siberia is territory form Ural to Pacific Ocean then it must be written in this article and you may not claim in this article that it is incorrect, obsolete, etc. With best regards and a hope for cooperation User:Maximaximax 18:16, 26 Jul 2004 (UTC) :::If you want I can make changes in this article by myself, but I'm afraid that my English is very poor. I can also change the article :ru:Сибирь but I cannot promise that I will do it soon because it is not my area of interests indeed. User:Maximaximax 18:30, 26 Jul 2004 (UTC) ::::Well, it was my understanding too... As you can see, I re-edited the article in such a way as to include both points of view. Isn't this what NPOV is all about? I can also mention that some sources (mostly Western) consider RFE a ''geographic'' part of Siberia, if you prefer. If you still have some concerns, by all means, please let me know.--User:Ezhiki 18:43, Jul 26, 2004 (UTC) :::::Sorry, but I definetely cannot agree with the new version of this article also... For example, when you provide a list of rivers you does not include Amur because by your opinion Amur area is not considered as part of Siberia. And it is not NPOV, believe me. Can you check for example, my changes in :ru:Сибирь? I did them recently. I hope that it is a real NPOV, if not - change it as you think more correct. Let's concentrate on this topic and make 2 perfect NPOV articles? :) User:Maximaximax 18:58, 26 Jul 2004 (UTC) :::::I also suggest to continue this discussion in Russian part of Wikipedia, in Siberia talk page because of 2 reasons: 1) my rather bad English 2) I guess we will find there other people who is interested in the topic and may be will give us some brilliant ideas :) Or you can reach me directly by ICQ (on my user page) and we can talk online to avoid of large time gaps User:Maximaximax 19:17, 26 Jul 2004 (UTC) ==Transliteration== ''This discussion was moved from User talk:Cantus'': Please continue this section at Talk:Transliteration of Russian into English page Hi, Cantus! I am a little stumped with what "Sib�r'" means. It surely isn't a transliteration, and you do not mention what language this is in. Can you satisfy my curiosity, please? Also, why did you remove the accent mark from the Russian version?--User:Ezhiki 15:42, Jul 26, 2004 (UTC) :Hi. Yes, it is a transliteration. It is not in any particular language. I removed the accent from the cyrillic text and placed it in the transliteration instead, as the Russian original does not carry such accent mark. --User:Cantus 19:17, Jul 26, 2004 (UTC) ::Russian original spelling never includes an accent mark, with three notable exceptions: dictionaries, encyclopedia definitions, and texts for little kids or learners of the language. As for putting an accent mark on transliterated version of the word, it is quite a novelty to me. May I ask which system of transliteration uses this convention? ::The variant I originally put into the article conforms to the Transliteration of Russian into English, which have been used throughout the English part of Wikipedia. If you need links to the articles that use this particular system, I will gladly provide them to you.--User:Ezhiki 19:49, Jul 26, 2004 (UTC) OK, now please tell me what was wrong with the Transliteration of Russian into English link that you kindly removed from the article's intro?--User:Ezhiki 22:33, Aug 4, 2004 (UTC) :Dear Cantus—I will have to revert you change unless you explain what the reason for removal was. So far it looks like minor vandalism (removing info without explanation). If you have a reason—I am more than willing to hear what it is. Thanks.--User:Ezhiki 14:34, Aug 6, 2004 (UTC) Will you please stop removing bits and pieces from this article? Or at least try to explain why you are doing it.--User:Ezhiki 22:15, Aug 10, 2004 (UTC) :The manual of style you are referring to has nothing on transliteration placement. The Wikipedia:Naming conventions guidelines indicate the following:
::''Convention: Name your pages in English and place the native transliteration on the first line of the article unless the native form is more commonly used in English than the English form.''
:As you see, it says nothing about not needing a clarification that the variant given is a transliteration and it says nothing about ''Cyrillic(comma)(space)Transliteration'' layout. Plus, the transliteration variant of ''Sibir''' instead of ''Sibir'' can technically be used, but it does contradict with the transliteration guidelines used across the vast majority of other Russia-related articles. I would assume you would understand that contradiction since you are so zealous in following the guidelines. Now, would you please revert your changes or further explain why I am wrong. Thank you.--User:Ezhiki 14:47, Aug 11, 2004 (UTC) ::Would you please reply?--User:Ezhiki 13:43, Aug 16, 2004 (UTC) I'm aiming for consistency here. You would have to change ALL pages with cyrilic text in it. They're all in this same format. Stop this, �zhiki. --User:Cantus 02:59, Aug 21, 2004 (UTC) :Consistensy, eh? Well, how about consistenly explaining people what the heck "Sibir" stand for? Unless one knows Russian, it is impossible to figure out that it is a transliteration. Plus, I am more than willing to change ALL pages with cyrillic text in it. That has been exactly my goal, as a matter of fact, and that's what I am working on most of the time. Could actually use a little help there, not just blatant meaningless opposition I've encountered so far from your side. So please, please, please, do not just ignore this discussion again. Deal?--User:Ezhiki 04:10, Aug 21, 2004 (UTC) ::It is pretty OBVIOUS a text in ''ITALICS'' following a different alphabet is going to be a transliteration. People have more common sense than you do. --User:Cantus 21:04, Aug 23, 2004 (UTC) :::How's that OBVIOUS? I am not going to go into the weird "Sib�r'" notation you used to insist on, but since you are so much into consistency, would you at least mind to remove the trailing apostrophe to bring the transliteration in accordance to the standards which are most commonly used around here? Then, we can discuss the matters of OBVIOUS, hopefully through more civilized ways than reverting each other (surveys and mediation are two options we still have not tried; then, there is arbitration, which you already have experience with). And, while we are at it, do you mind not starting throwing personal insults around?--User:Ezhiki 22:15, Aug 23, 2004 (UTC) ::::The apostrophe is necessary because this is a proper transliteration, and not an anglicized transliteration, which is what is used normally across an article. The proper transliteration is only given once. --User:Cantus 00:04, Aug 24, 2004 (UTC) :::::The proper transliteration would be a transliteration of a Russian word into a generic format using the Latin alphabet; it would not be specific to the English language at all. That kind of transliteration, unsurprisingly, is used on the Russian Wikipedia. This, however, is an English Wikipedia, so the standards of transliteration of Russian into English (and NOT to a generic form, and NOT to some other language) must be followed. While systems that use apostrophe for a soft sign do indeed exist (for Russian-English transliteration), they are not widely used across this particular fine encyclopedia. If you are aiming for consistency (and I sure hope you do), then the most commonly used standards should be used. I hope this clarifies matters a little bit. Please, respond.--User:Ezhiki 02:14, Aug 24, 2004 (UTC) I second the position of User:Ezhiki on this issue. * If you have a chance to look into the Apostrophe article, you will note that its usage depends on the language, and it is already confusing with latin-alphabetic non-English words. Not to say that in a closely related Belarussian language the meaning of apostrophe is exactly opposite: removal of palatalization. To my memories, the usage of apostrophe for russian words started from the word "Rus" introduced by "fighters against Russian imperialism". * Let's recall the purpose of transliteration here: (1) to show an idea of Russian spelling (not pronounciation) for users without Cyrillic fonts (2) to enable searches. Usage of apostrophe is useless for web searches: and gives exactly the same numer of hits in google. There is no way to imitate Russian palatalization in English. Similar problems exist in opposite direction. E.g., in Russian, both 'v' and 'w' are rendered by Ve (Cyrillic), but no one tears his hairs off his head to invent a way to distinguish them despite the fact that 'v' and 'w' sometimes bring semantic diference not less important than "Р" vs. "РЬ" (e.g., cover<-> cower). My suggestion is to forget the apostrophe but for certain "special" cases, such as Rus' goremychnaya. User:Mikkalai 03:16, 24 Aug 2004 (UTC) On the other hand, there is Library of Congress Slavic Transliteration and three other commonly used ones. I am wondering why no one took troubles to report these here. My brief searh shows it is common to use prime (mark) for soft sign and double prime for hard sign. User:Mikkalai 21:45, 25 Aug 2004 (UTC) :Hmm, I thought that was not needing discussion, as I thought both of you were either Russian or were very familiar with the language. I am surprised you people didn't know about the widespread use of primes in cyrillic transliteration. --User:Cantus 22:32, Aug 25, 2004 (UTC) : See Talk:Transliteration of Russian into English for more surprises. User:Mikkalai 23:44, 25 Aug 2004 (UTC) I am wondering why this discussion is here and not at the Transliteration of Russian into English page. I am copying it there. User:Mikkalai 21:58, 25 Aug 2004 (UTC) Please continue this section at Talk:Transliteration of Russian into English page :Well, good luck with luring Cantus to continue discussion. It is my understanding that this guy (gal?) would not discuss anything until thoroughly pissed off. Anyway, I'll post comments there tomorrow. Thanks.--User:Ezhiki 01:33, Aug 26, 2004 (UTC) == Tunguska == I think a link to the Tunguska_event would be appropriate somewhere on this page. == Etymology == An etymology of Siberia was proposed at Talk:Xibe but sounds absurd to me. How do you folks see it? --User:Nanshu 03:57, 30 Sep 2004 (UTC)

See other meanings of words starting from letter:

S

SB | SC | SD | SE | SF | SG | SH | SI | SJ | SK | SL | SM | SN | SO | SP | SR | SS | ST | SU | SW | SX | SY | SZ |

Words begining with Siberia:

Siberia
Siberia
Siberiade
Siberian
SiberianHusky
Siberian_(cat)
Siberian_Blue_Robin
Siberian_blue_robin
Siberian_Brigade
Siberian_cat
Siberian_Chiffchaff
Siberian_Chipmunk
Siberian_Confederation_of_Labour
Siberian_Crane
Siberian_deities
Siberian_Division
Siberian_Dwarf_Pine
Siberian_dwarf_pine
Siberian_Express
Siberian_Federal_District
Siberian_Ginseng
Siberian_ginseng
Siberian_Ground_Thrush
Siberian_High
Siberian_Husky
Siberian_Husky
Siberian_husky
Siberian_International_Marathon
Siberian_Khanate
Siberian_khanate
Siberian_Lady_Macbeth
Siberian_leopard
Siberian_natural_resources
Siberian_Pine
Siberian_pine
Siberian_Regional_Government
Siberian_Rubythroat
Siberian_rubythroat
Siberian_squill
Siberian_squill
Siberian_Stonechat
Siberian_stonechat
Siberian_Tatar
Siberian_Tatars
Siberian_Tatar_language
Siberian_Thrush
Siberian_thrush
Siberian_Tiger
Siberian_Tiger
Siberian_tiger
Siberian_Tit
Siberian_Trap
Siberian_Traps
Siberian_traps
Siberian_White_Crane
Siberian_Yup'ik
Siberian_Yupik
Siberia_(Continent)
Siberia_(continent)
Siberia_Airlines
Siberia_Airlines
Siberia_Airlines_Flight_1047
Siberia_Airlines_Flight_1812
Siberia_Airlines_Flight_1812_accident
Siberia_Khanante
Siberia_Khanate