Most people have their own ideas about Siberia. However, everyone agrees that this inhospitable land is unique land in the territory of which you can find wild corners of nature, where for many years not a single person has been.
Foreigners are sure that these are endless snow-covered territories on which you will not find a beast, nor a bird, nor a person. What is it really, and what is the nature of Siberia?
Territory
Sources indicate a different area of Siberia. On average, it is from 10 to 12 million square kilometers of land. The difference of as much as 2 million is explained by the difference in the views of scientists: some believe that the Far East is part of Siberia, while others distinguish the Far East in a separate area. For this reason, the borders of the Siberian Federal District are quite difficult to determine: from the west it is definitely the Ural Mountains, the Arctic Ocean borders the north of the territory, the border of our country stretches from the south, and the eastern borders cause a lot of controversy - some scholars are inclined to consider the ridges of the Pacific watershed. In a word, this region is located in high and middle latitudes. The climate of the main part of the largest region of our country is inhospitable, sharply continental and really severe.
Nature
The nature of Siberia is extremely diverse, to a large extent due to the incredible length of land. The largest areas of this part of the country are the West Siberian Plain, the Central Siberian Plateau, the mountains of the North-East and the mountains of Southern Siberia.
The wild nature of Siberia changes mainly from the south towards the north. One can trace the clear division of natural zones into forest-steppes, tundra, etc. In the forest-tundra and tundra, moss, lichen and perennial grasses are most often found. The taiga is most typical for the lands of Siberia. Coniferous forests extend up to 2 thousand kilometers with no signs of housing. Dark coniferous taiga is formed mainly of fir and spruce. You can also often find Siberian cedar. Taiga with light needles is more typical for places east of the Yenisei. Basically, this taiga is made by Daurian larch. An incredible natural monument is a linden island located in Altai.
To the south of the taiga, the nature of Western Siberia is represented by steppes and forest-steppes. Actually, this is exactly the area where wildlife ends. It was these territories that turned out to be the most altered by the presence of man and the consequences of his economic activity. Former steppes have now turned into arable land, beautiful swampy meadows into hayfields. Some unique animals today are remembered only by rare centenarians. The nature of Siberia has lost many species of animals forever, some of them can still be seen in local wildlife reserves.
