Siberia

From Srafopedia

Geography and Climate

Siberia (Russian: Сиби́рь, Sibir; Tatar: Seber) is a vast region of Russia constituting almost all of Northern Asia and comprise within self a large part of the Eurasian Steppe. 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 China. All but the extreme south-western area of Siberia lies in Russia, and it makes up about 56% of that country's territory. The climate of Siberia varies dramatically. On the north coast, north of the Arctic Circle, there is just a very short (about one-month-long) summer.

History in Our World

Some sources say that the name originates from the Turkic for "sleeping land."[1] Another version is that this name was the tribal name of Sibirs, Eurasian nomads, later assimilated to Siberian Tatars. Dr. Pamela Kyle Crossley, professor of history at Dartmouth College, asserts that the Russians named Siberia after the Sibe/Xibe. The modern meaning of the name appeared in Russian language after the conquest of Siberia Khanate.

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 west began to undermine the Khanate in the 16th century. First, groups of traders and Cossacks began to enter the area, and then the Russian army began to set up forts further and further east. Towns like Mangazeya, Tara, Yeniseysk, and Tobolsk sprang up, the latter being declared the capital of Siberia. 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 was sent to Siberia consisted of prisoners exiled from western Russia or Russian-held territories like Poland (see katorga).

The first great change to Siberia was the Trans-Siberian railway, constructed in 1891–1903. It linked Siberia more closely to the rapidly-industrializing Russia of Nicholas II. Siberia is filled with natural resources and during the 20th century these were developed, and industrial towns cropped up throughout the region.

--From Wikipedia

In Lyra's World

Siberia is home to the Tartars, including the tribe along the Yenisei River of which Jopari is a member. Lee Scoresby travels to Siberia to find Stanislaus Grumman, and Will and the Panserbjørne travel through Siberia on their way to the Himalayas