Siberia

Siberia is an extensive <a href="/facts/Region/CdM1oaR3">geographical region</a> comprising all of <a href="/facts/North_Asia/mKVVcogV">North Asia</a>, from the <a href="/facts/Ural_Mountains/gzNoPkt6">Ural Mountains</a> in the west to the <a href="/facts/Pacific_Ocean/bdxgXRVM">Pacific Ocean</a> in the east. It has formed a part of the sovereign territory of <a href="/facts/Russia/jfkCwyxn">Russia</a> and its predecessor states since the lengthy <a href="/facts/Russian_conquest_of_Siberia/W1sD9aw1">conquest of Siberia</a>, which began with the <a href="/facts/Conquest_of_the_Khanate_of_Sibir/hFtSgvJo">fall</a> of the <a href="/facts/Khanate_of_Sibir/BeD2oKkE">Khanate of Sibir</a> in 1582 and concluded with the annexation of <a href="/facts/Chukchi_Peninsula/YcIseKnI">Chukotka</a> in 1778. Siberia is vast and sparsely populated, covering an area of over 13.1 million square kilometres (5,100,000 sq mi), but home to roughly a quarter of Russia's population. <a href="/facts/Novosibirsk/8UImC3vI">Novosibirsk</a>, <a href="/facts/Krasnoyarsk/DSzUhMVH">Krasnoyarsk</a>, and <a href="/facts/Omsk/DXfVVpHs">Omsk</a> are the largest cities in the area.
Because Siberia is a geographic and historic concept and not a political entity, there is no single precise definition of its territorial borders. Traditionally, Siberia spans the entire expanse of land from the <a href="/facts/Ural_Mountains/gzNoPkt6">Ural Mountains</a> to the <a href="/facts/Pacific_Ocean/bdxgXRVM">Pacific Ocean</a>, with the <a href="/facts/Ural_(river)/TyVBKfaq">Ural River</a> usually forming the southernmost portion of its western boundary, and includes most of the <a href="/facts/Drainage_basin/lzsx0XJS">drainage basin</a> of the <a href="/facts/Arctic_Ocean/l6HS3QyV">Arctic Ocean</a>. It is further defined as stretching from the territories within the <a href="/facts/Arctic_Circle/AlayDpsw">Arctic Circle</a> in the north to the northern borders of <a href="/facts/Kazakhstan/Vfs8NI6e">Kazakhstan</a>, <a href="/facts/Mongolia/ogQzUcQb">Mongolia</a>, and <a href="/facts/China/lTjIXY5p">China</a> in the south, although the hills of north-central Kazakhstan are also commonly included. The Russian government divides the region into three <a href="/facts/Federal_districts_of_Russia/2Wv1yXyC">federal districts</a> (groupings of <a href="/facts/Russian_federal_subjects/f2oIKgbo">Russian federal subjects</a>), of which only the central one is officially referred to as "<a href="/facts/Siberian_Federal_District/r4djqKxv">Siberian</a>"; the other two are the <a href="/facts/Ural_Federal_District/AuQJWGvF">Ural</a> and <a href="/facts/Far_Eastern_Federal_District/MfuAKxfR">Far Eastern</a> federal districts, named for the <a href="/facts/Ural_(region)/nlC3JUYt">Ural</a> and <a href="/facts/Russian_Far_East/BT7sYGTP">Russian Far East</a> regions that correspond respectively to the western and eastern thirds of Siberia in the broader sense.
Siberia is known for its long, harsh winters, with a January average of −25 °C (−13 °F). Although it is geographically located in Asia, Russian sovereignty and colonization since the 16th century has led to perceptions of the region as culturally and ethnically European. Over 85% of its population are of <a href="/facts/Demographics_of_Siberia/Y5ejlpUH">European descent</a>, chiefly Russian (comprising the <a href="/facts/Siberians/Y5ejlpUH">Siberian</a> sub-ethnic group), and <a href="/facts/East_Slavs/aNNxqGFq">Eastern Slavic</a> cultural influences predominate throughout the region. Nevertheless, there exist sizable ethnic minorities of Asian lineage, including various <a href="/facts/Turkic_peoples/ocd7rpI3">Turkic</a> communities—many of which, such as the <a href="/facts/Yakuts/8lJRPNWb">Yakuts</a>, <a href="/facts/Tuvans/JgVRE4m1">Tuvans</a>, <a href="/facts/Altai_people/HDACsvdd">Altai</a>, and <a href="/facts/Khakas/Mguvf8qV">Khakas</a>, are <a href="/facts/Indigenous_peoples_of_Siberia/YxT6TT5Y">Indigenous</a>—along with the <a href="/facts/Mongolic_peoples/10695nIr">Mongolic</a> <a href="/facts/Buryats/daRwvbof">Buryats</a>, ethnic <a href="/facts/Koryo-saram/MKsBb4Cd">Koreans</a>, and smaller groups of <a href="/facts/Samoyeds/gBjkN2BN">Samoyedic</a> and <a href="/facts/Tungusic_peoples/C6CcnGM2">Tungusic</a> peoples (several of whom are classified as <a href="/facts/Indigenous_small-numbered_peoples_of_the_North%2c_Siberia_and_the_Far_East/DXnvQyRw">Indigenous small-numbered peoples</a> by the Russian government), among many others.

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Siberia