Siberia is a vast geographical region that consist virtually all of North Asia and has been part of Russia since the 17th century. It extends from Ural Mountains to the watershed between Arctic and Pacific drainage basins on the east side. On the southern side it stretches from the hills of Kazakhstan to the Arctic Ocean and boarders China and Mongolia. Although Siberia covers 77% of Russia it only has a population of 40 million people which is 28 percent of the entire Russian population.
Vegetation in Siberia is largely taiga with a temperate forest zone on the south and a tundra belt on the northern fringe. The climate varies significantly with the north coast experiencing a short summer normally one month long. The southern part experiences a humid continental climate which makes it more habitable and virtually all the population lives here. Although this part experiences cold winters, it has a fairly warm summer that last for four months. The annual average temperature is 32.9F, with January being the coldest averaging 5F while July temperature averages 66F. The climate and fertile chernozem soils in the southern part of Siberia favor agriculture.
Southwestern winds bring warm air from the Middle East and Central Asia. The climate in the western side of Siberia is a little warmer compared to the eastern side whereas the northern part has the worst subarctic climate with temperatures falling up to -96F. Precipitation in Siberia usually low exceeding 500mm in Kamchatka where moist winds blow from the Sea of Okhotsk to the high mountains forming the regions glaciers though low summer temperatures and volcanic eruption allow limited forest growth.
Siberia is very rich in minerals and contains ores of virtually all economically valuable metals. The region has the world’s largest deposits of diamonds, zinc, silver, gypsum, coal, lead, gold and nickel. The area also has extensive unexploited resources of natural gas and oil. Agriculture in Siberia is restricted by the short growing season people result to herding of reindeer mostly in the tundra. Nevertheless, soils are more fertile and the climate more moderate in the southwest making it good for crops such as potatoes, rye, barley and wheat as well as rearing of cattle and sheep. Siberia has some of the largest forests in the world making timber an important source of revenue for the locals, though most forests in the eastern side have been logged faster than they can recover. The Sea of Okhotsk is one of the richest fisheries globally due to its cold currents and large tidal range. Siberia produces over 10 percent of the global annual fish though fishing declined with the collapse of USSR
Most cities in Siberia for instance Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky are inaccessible via road, there no roads that connects from other major cities in Asia or Russia. The best way to travel around Siberia is via the Trans-Siberian Railway which operates from Vladivostok in the east to Moscow in the west. Cities and other parts not in close proximity to the Trans-Siberian Railway can be accessed by the Baikal-Amur-Railway or by air.
