| Mention the word "Siberia," and images of | | | | home to tremendously large oil, gold, timber |
| gulags, frozen tundra and wastelands may come | | | | and diamond deposits. With the turn to |
| to mind. While there is some truth to these, | | | | capitalism, the country is making a major |
| my impressions of Siberia included more. | | | | effort to take advantage of such resources. |
| | | | This has led to a population explosion in |
| Siberia comprises more than 75 percent of | | | | cities such as Irkutsk, Chita and Ulan Ude. |
| modern Russia. Unless you visit, there is | | | | |
| simply no way to describe the total landmass | | | | Siberia is always depicted as a land of |
| of this much-maligned area of the world. To | | | | freezing snow. Having lived there, I can tell |
| give you some perspective, consider the fact | | | | you it does get "Oh, my god" cold in the |
| that Siberia is bigger than Canada, has more | | | | winter. Temperatures can drop into the -40s. |
| natural resources than any area of the world, | | | | In the spring and summer, however, |
| spans nine time zones and contains the | | | | temperatures can reach as high as 110 |
| largest plain in the world. | | | | degrees. With such a massive area, the |
| | | | climates and temperatures fall all over the |
| One of the best ways to give you an | | | | map. Put another way, the United States could |
| impression of the size of Siberia is to | | | | fit in Siberia, so you can see how |
| discuss the infamous gulag system. When one | | | | temperatures might vary. |
| thinks of a gulag or prison, visions of | | | | |
| guards with guns, electrified fences and so | | | | Lake Baikal |
| on come to mind. In Siberia, most of the | | | | |
| gulags did not have fences or any kind of | | | | Lake Baikal is the largest fresh water lake |
| barrier to keep people in. With freezing | | | | in the world. Fed by over 300 rivers, the |
| temperatures in the winter, huge rivers of | | | | lake is really an inland sea. The lake has |
| mud and water in the summer, Siberia formed a | | | | over 30 islands. If you drained all of the |
| natural gulag for many of the prisoners. If a | | | | water from lakes Superior, Erie, Huron, |
| prisoner escaped from a gulag, there was | | | | Michigan and Ontario, you still couldn't fill |
| simply nowhere to go. The closest population | | | | Lake Baikal. Standing on one shore, you |
| center might be 1,000 miles away. | | | | cannot see the other side. It is simply huge. |
| | | | |
| "Siberia" comes from the Mongolian word | | | | Siberia is one of the few locations in the |
| "sibir", which means "sleeping land." In the | | | | world still considered to be an untamed |
| early 1700's, Siberia became a place of | | | | adventure travel destination. You can fish, |
| exile. It continued to be "the last stop" for | | | | hike, camp, hunt, drink vodka, ski, swim, |
| criminals and political exiles throughout | | | | take in a spa and do just about anything you |
| much of the 20th century. The city of Chita | | | | like. The Siberians are universally friendly |
| is in fact known as the "City of Exiles." | | | | and can tell one heck of a story. |
| | | | |
| With the end of communism, Siberia has seen a | | | | If you get a chance to visit Siberia, I |
| voluntary migration of Russians who work on | | | | highly recommend it. Heck, I stayed for a |
| the Trans-Siberian Railway or in the massive | | | | year! |
| natural resource industries. Siberia is the | | | | |