Siberia

geography · Russia · extreme cold · vast wilderness

Huge frozen expanse. Siberia covers more than 13.1 million square kilometers, which is almost as big as the entire United States. It stretches from the Ural Mountains all the way to the Pacific Ocean on the east.

Sparsely populated region. Even though Siberia covers three-quarters of Russia's land, only about a quarter of Russia's people live there. Most of the region is wilderness with very few cities and towns.

Three major cities. The biggest cities in Siberia are Novosibirsk, Krasnoyarsk, and Omsk. These cities are home to most of the people who do live in this remote part of the world.

Part of Russia since 1582. Russia conquered and took over Siberia starting in 1582 when the Khanate of Sibir fell. The conquest took nearly 200 years and wasn't finished until 1778 when Chukotka was added to Russian territory.

North Asia's largest region. Siberia makes up the majority of the North Asian continent and is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north and the Pacific Ocean to the east.