Siberia

Siberia (sībēr'ēu) [key], Rus. Sibir, vast geographical region of Russia, covering c.2,900,000 sq mi (7,511,000 sq km) and having an estimated population (1992) of 32,459,000. Historically it has had no official standing as a political or territorial division, but it was generally understood to comprise the northern third of Asia, stretching from the Urals in the west to the mountain ranges of the Pacific Ocean watershed in the east and from the Laptev, Kara, and East Siberian seas (arms of the Arctic Ocean) in the north to the Kazakh steppes, the Altai and Sayan mountain systems, and the border of Mongolia in the south. In 2000, however, Siberia was established as one of seven Russian federal districts, with the district administrative center at Novosibirsk. The Russian Far East, which is commonly considered to be part of Siberia, is treated separately in regional schemes.

The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th ed. Copyright © 2007, Columbia University Press. All rights reserved.

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