Western and Eastern Siberia

Asian Russia is divided into the following geo-economic regions: Western Siberia, Eastern Siberia and the Far East. The rivers Yenisei and Lena are taken as the demarcation lines. This huge area has immense mineral and other natural resources.

The Siberia, the land beyond the Urals, is almost the size of Europe and larger than the USA. It extends from the Urals in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east, from the Arctic Ocean to China and Mongolia.

The economic region of Western Siberia lies between the Urals and the Yenisei River. Its biggest city, Novisibirsk (over a million inhabitants) is situated on the right bank of the River Ob. It is an important railway junction and river port.

Other major cities include Tobolsk and Omsk on the River Irtysh, Tomsk on the River Tom. Tomsk became the first university city of the Siberia in 1888. Krasnoyarsk rises not far from the wooded Sayan Mountains of the Tuva Autonomous Republic, home of the Turkic-speaking native Tuvinians. Kyzyl, Tuva’s main city, situated at the confluence of the rivers Bolshoi Yenisei and Maly Yenisei, is the geographical centre of Asia.

Between the Yenisei and Lena and north of the Sayan highlands, the mineral-rich economic region of Eastren Siberia is situated. It includes Lake Baikal and the autonomous republics of Buryatia and Sakha (formerly Yakutia).

Buryatia lies around the eastern and northern shores of Lake Baikal and borders on Mongolia. Its capital and the main industrial city, Ulan-Ude, originated in 1666 as a cossak wintering fortress at the confluence of the rivers Uda and Selenga.

To the north of Buryatia on the other side of Lake Baikal stands the city of Irkutsk on the River Angara. Founded in 1652, it is one of the most important administrative centres of Eastern Siberia.

To the north-east of Irkutsk, is the Sakha Autonomous Republic, a region of vast natural resources. The main wealth of the republic is the extraction of diamonds. Extracting the diamonds is not easy as Sakha is one of the coldest inhabited regions of the world. Winter temperature often drops to 45 degrees below zero centigrade.

The traditional occupations of Yakut people are hunting, fishing and raising cattle. As craftsmen they are known for their bone carvings: delicately fashioned boxes, pipes, chessmen, etc.The main city of the region, Yakutsk, stands on the left bank of the river Lena, one of the world’s longest rivers. One of the town’s big attractions is the Museum of permafrost.

Дата добавления: 2015-03-31