What is the difference between siberia and russia

The smallest region of Siberia is what is known as the Baikal area, which is an area surrounding Lake Baikal in the south-central area of the region.

In terms of political geography, Siberia is divided into two federal districts, the Siberian Federal District in the west and the Far Eastern Federal District in the east. These federal districts are further divided into other subnational jurisdictions.

Some of these jurisdictions are known as republics , which are somewhat equivalent to US states. These republics largely correspond to the territory of a particular ethnic group. Siberia is very multiethnic and multicultural.

People of Russian origin make up the bulk of the population in the region. They live mostly in the large cities close to the borders with Kazakhstan, Mongolia, and China.

However, there are also several non-Russian ethnic groups living in Siberia, some of which are indigenous to the area.

People of other linguistic groups in Siberia include the Buryats of Buryatia, who are related to the Mongols, as well as other, smaller groups. The most populous city in Siberia is called Novosibirsk, which is situated on the banks of the Ob River.

It contains more than 1. The city of Omsk, which has a population of more than 1. It has long been an important Russian naval port. It is not known where the first people to live in Siberia came from.

The region would remain under Mongol influence until about the mid th century. Russian intrusion into Siberia began in the s. By the mid th century, the Russian Empire had reached the far eastern coast of Siberia, on the Sea of Okhotsk. By the mid th century, the Russian conquest of Siberia was complete, marked by the founding of Vladivostok on the Sea of Japan in Other people from Europe also moved into the region over the centuries. In the 17 th century, for instance, Komi peoples, Lithuanians, Ukrainians, Belarussians, as well as small numbers of Germans, Greeks, Tartars and Turks came to settle in Siberia.

Later on, other groups of people arrived in the region, some of whom were victims of forced exile, such as Swedish prisoners of war, and Poles, Lithuanians, Belarussians, Ukrainians and Jews from rebellious Polish territories. In addition, people from the central regions of Russia, Belarus , and Ukraine came to settle in Siberia following the abolition of serfdom in In , construction on the Trans-Siberian railroad began. The rail line was finally completed in In , nearly 10 million people lived in Siberia.

They fled to Siberia to escape religious persecution and lived in the taiga for decades. Now only one member of the family - Agafia Lykova - is still alive… and still living there. But not all of Siberia is like that. A total of 36m people, or around 25 percent of Russia's population, live in inhabitable locations there. There are 19 cities in Siberia with a population of over , and three with over a million residents. The reasons vary. Over several centuries Siberia went through more than one wave of migration.

In the first half of the 19th century a real Siberian gold rush began. After the abolition of serfdom, peasants were moved to Siberia in an attempt to resolve the acute problem of land shortage, as well as to develop new lands.

They were allowed as much land as they wanted admittedly, that land had no guarantee of quality. As a rule, people settled next to each other, as a commune. In the 20th century when industrialization came to Siberia, this also affected the number of people living there. Finally, people would go to Siberia on instructions from Komsomol communist organizations: It was the party that decided what city could provide work for people.

Sometimes the city was a long way from the place where people originally lived - for example, somewhere in Siberia. Also, you must have heard that millions of people were exiled to Siberia. It is true that "exile to Siberia" was arguably the worst fate a person could be condemned to apart from being shot.

Prisoners and dissidents were sent to Siberia to build new infrastructure, like railways or to work in mines in the harshest of conditions. When he was young, Joseph Stalin was exiled to Siberia six times.

He escaped five times. In the popular imagination Siberia has long been a symbol of an extremely cold winter, piercing winds and remote lands. This is because Siberia's geographical borders are indeed entirely notional.

Sometimes Russians generalize by describing everything to the east of the Ural Mountains as Siberia. The Arctic Circle passes through a huge part of the country, so this amazing natural phenomenon can be observed from Karelia to Chukotka, including in some cities of Siberia like Norilsk 1, miles northeast of Moscow or the Taymyr Peninsula 1, miles from Moscow, in the same direction. You can read about the best places in Russia to see the Northern Lights in our guide. Novosibirsk 2, miles east of Moscow is the recognized administrative center of the Siberian Federal District.

For this reason the city is, to a large extent, regarded as the capital of Siberia. But the inhabitants of other Siberian cities - Tomsk, Irkutsk or, for example, Omsk - may think differently. Arguing about the capital is typical of Siberians. What is more, most Siberians believe that the capital of Russia should be moved to Siberia. After all, geographically it is the center of Russia," they believe. Also, Siberia has the biggest deposits of gas and oil. For the same reason that Londoners are not called Britons or Berliners, Germans, although they are natives of those countries.

Siberians have often lived and worked in hard conditions, so gradually they developed a slightly different mentality from the inhabitants of the European part of Russia. The Siberian character and "Siberian health" imply resilience, the ability to resist stress and toughness. It is believed that Siberians do not waste their energy on trifles. They get straight to the point in both their words and deeds.

They themselves may describe themselves in the following terms: "We are a big family, and we are all different. But one of my brothers is a typical Siberian He won't discuss any whys and wherefores. Rather, he would be inclined to hit you in the face.

Yes and no. Times change, and today a Siberian may differ little from a resident of St. Here is what, for example, this social media commentator thinks : "Nowadays people living in Siberian cities are as unhealthy as in other regions of Russia! Health comes from healthy food and work in the fresh, clean air outside! But nowadays they slouch all day in their offices sat on their behinds, then they binge on tinned food, and breathe exhaust fumes all their life.

By the way, we do have a description of a typical Siberian , so you can see for yourself what they and their everyday lives are like.

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