Siberia

geography · russia · arctic

Absolutely massive region. Siberia covers over 13 million square kilometers, which is bigger than the entire United States. It stretches all the way from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east.

Huge but hardly full. Even though Siberia is three-quarters of Russia's total land, only about one-quarter of Russia's people live there because it's so cold and harsh.

Three main cities. The biggest cities in Siberia are Novosibirsk, Krasnoyarsk, and Omsk. These are where most of the people who do live in Siberia make their homes.

Part of Russia since 1582. Russia conquered Siberia starting in 1582 when it took over the Khanate of Sibir, and finished taking over the entire region by 1778 when it annexed Chukotka, an area in the far east.