Location
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| Siberia |
History of Siberia
Records of early humans on Prehistoric Siberia, such as Homo neatheralensis, Homo sapiens, and an unidentified species of humans.
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| Homo neanderthalensis |
Siberia in the early 13th century was conquered by the Mongols, which was taken from the nomadic groups. In the 14th century the Siberian Khanate was established after the Golden Horde broke apart in 1502
In the 16th Century Russia began to gain power and overtook the Siberian Khanate and began to build farther east and created towns. The region of Siberia was rarely explored and was mostly used for the punishment of prisoners.
In the beginning of 1891 the construction of the Trans-Siberian Railway began to link Siberia to the rest of Russia. With the addition of the Tran-Siberian Railway Siberia witnessed an increase in population and the creation of the largest city in Siberia Novosibirsk.
Siberia continued to grow in population and the extraction of natural resources became the main economic practice of the region. During the Soviet Union, prison labor camps were set up in Siberia that were similar to Imperial Russia.
Siberia’s population has increased and is divided into several districts, which includes numerous major cities.
Geography and Climate of Siberia
Siberia has a total area of 5.1 Million square miles and covers several geographic zones. The major zones of the Siberian include the West Siberian Plateau and the Central siberian Plateau. The West Siberian Plateau is mainly flat and swampy, while the northern portions (tundra) are ruled by permafrost and the southern is composed of grassland
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| Russia |
Siberia has several mountains that include the following the Ural Mountains, The Altai Mountains and the Verkhoyansk Range. The highest point of Siberia is Klyuchevskaya Sopka, an active volcano on the Kamchatka Peninsula it stands at 15,253 ft. Siberia also has the world's oldest and deepest lake, Lake Baikal, which is estimated to be around 30 million years old and contain 20% of the world unfrozen water
Vegetation
The Tundra consist mainly of mosses and lichens. The Taiga contains various species of pin trees that are widely spaced. The steppes is a narrow tree zone with a mix of trees
Rain and Temperature
Siberia’s climate is sub arctic and lacks precipitation except for the Kamchatka Peninsula.
The average January low in the largest city of Siberia Novosibirsk is -4 Degrees F,, while in July the average high is 78 degrees F.
Economy and People of Siberia
Siberia’s economy revolves around the mining of their minerals and natural resources due to the short growing season and the majority of the land being covered in permafrost. Siberia population of 36 million people whom 70% live in cities consist of Russian, Ukrainian, German and other groups.
Wildlife
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| Amur Leapard |
Gulags
Siberia was the host to the Gulags, which was the acronym for the Main Administration of Corrective Labor Camps. The prisoners of the Gulag worked long exhausting hours in extreme conditions, but were feed barely enough to sustain such difficult task.
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| Gulags |
Time line
Boiling Water Turns Into Snow In Siberia
Cite
"Gulag: Soviet Forced Labor Camps and the Struggle for Freedom."Gulag:Soviet Forced Labor Camps and the Struggle for Freedom.Ed. Gulag Museum Of Perm. 2006-2014, Center for History
and ©2006-2012, Center for History and New Media, George Mason University., 2006. Web.11 Dec.2014.
Quest, Countries. "Land and Resources, Soils and Vegetation." Soils and Vegetation. © 1993-2003 Microsoft corporation, n.d. Web. 11 Dec. 2014.
"Wild World." Wild World RSS. WordPress. Entries (RSS).,n.d. Web. 11 Dec. 2014
Briney, Amanda, "Essential Facts You Should Know About Siberia." About. N.p., 28 Mar. 2011. Web. 11 Dec. 2014
Jermaine Rhoden
I learned a lot about all aspects of Siberia from this. It was a really important part of the Gulag system and the Stalinist regime. First of all, it represented a cold, isolated and dismal place where you basically went to die, whether you were exiled or sent to a gulag. It was easy to prey on fear with the threat of being sent to Siberia. Second, it was and is extremely rich in minerals. This aspect of Siberia allowed the Soviet Union to kill two birds with one stone, getting "troublemakers" away from Moscow and having them extract minerals to power Russia. I think that having One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich set in Siberia is an important aspect of the novel because it helps reinforce the misery of the gulag.
ReplyDeletePrior to this blog I knew essentially nothing about Siberia, and now I would consider myself to be slightly above average in nothing regarding Siberia. The tundra conditions in Siberia must have played a role in the gulags being ruthless prisons. Furthermore, it is absurd that one lake has 20% of the worlds unfrozen water! Lastly, I wonder if Siberia was taken over by other nations for reasons other than their natural resources, because it seems like a desolate wasteland for the most part.
ReplyDeleteThis blog was very interesting to me given that most of this was new information. The climate clearly played a huge part in the horrible conditions of the gulags. The severity of the weather definetely had a huge impact on the prisoners of the gulags which is seen in One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich when a lot of the book is either a description of the clothing the prisoners had on or a account of the weather and how miserably cold it was outside.
ReplyDeleteThis post was filled with information on Siberia and it was very thorough. "With the addition of the Tran-Siberian Railway Siberia witnessed an increase in population and the creation of the largest city in Siberia Novosibirsk." This quote really surprised me because I can't imagine people choosing to live in Siberia in such harsh climates. (Actually, after further reading I realized that not the whole country of Siberia is as cold/covered in permafrost. That just shows how much this article taught me!) I also didn't realize how big the country is and how rich with natural resources it is. The two videos were very interesting and I really enjoyed the second one. It's amazing that it can be so cold out that boiling water can cool to snow so quickly.
ReplyDeleteI feel like an expert on Siberia after reading this post. You certainly nailed every aspect that I could think of. The video of the water really helped me to try to imagine how cold it must be there, except I'm sure I still do not truly understand what it feels like. It also helped me learn more about what it was really like in the gulags. Lake Baikal fascinated me as well.
ReplyDeleteI really like the format of your blog post, the smaller paragraphs made it easier to read and the pictures were nice cause it broke up the information nicely. You covered every area imaginable for information, and provided a clear understanding about how Siberia and its relation to Russia. I've heard in a few blog posts how Lenin and Stalin had once been sent into exile in Siberia, and now i know why. Most of its land is technically a tundra and its exceptionally frigid temperatures are a perfect place to torture someone. I am also not surprised about why Stalin chose Siberia as the location for the Gulags, he was smart in choosing Siberia but made it very difficult for the prisoners to survive. Ivan's camp had the same frigid temperatures which made it hard for him and his fellow prisoners to maintain their health.
ReplyDeleteThe video with the falling water that quickly turned into ice was also cool because it displayed how cold it is in Siberia and how extreme the temperatures are there.
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