Western Siberia, the population and economy of which will be described later, is a vast geographical region. It is located in Eurasia.
General information
From the south, Siberia borders on the neighboring countries of the Russian Federation: China, Mongolia, and Kazakhstan. The Arctic Ocean adjoins it from the north. The western part of Siberia is limited by the Ural Mountains, the eastern - by the watershed ridges of the Pacific Ocean. Written sources, accumulated ethnographic, archaeological, folklore materials allow us to associate the name of the territory with the name of the ethnic group, which settled on the part of the forest-steppe territory of Irtysh at the end of 1, 000 BC. e. It included the ancestors of the Ugrians, who entered into a long interaction with other communities of Kazakhstan and Western Siberia.
origin of name
In the toponym "Siberia" the name of the kagan of the East Turkic Khaganate Sibir-Khan of Turk-Shad is reproduced. The name was later assigned to the settlement of the Sipyrs living on the bank of the river. Irtysh.
In the first half of the 13th century, the Mongol commanders knew the forest people, called the "Shiber". From the 2nd half of the 13th and 14th centuries, Siberia is already quite widely found as the name of a certain territory, stretching north of the borders of the Golden Horde possessions. The name was used in Russian chronicles. So, in the 15th century, "Siberian land" is found in manuscripts. The annals accurately describe its location. It is characterized as a territory in the lower reaches of Tobol and the middle Irtysh. Probably the descendants of sipyrs lived there. They were largely assimilated by Turkic elements. This distinguished them from other groups of Ugrians on the lower Irtysh and Priobye. At the end of the 15th century, the statehood of Tobolsk Tatars, as well as Turkic Ugric Sipyrs, arose. As a result, the Siberian Khanate appeared. Together with him in the 16th century were known Mangazeya, Ugra and the Tyumen Khanate. After Muscovite Russia conquered the Astrakhan and Kazan Khanates, movements began towards Siberia. Promotion began with the campaign of Yermak in 1582.
Further periods
In tsarist times, Siberia became an agrarian province. She was also a place of hard labor and exile. At the turn of the 19-20 centuries. the Trans-Siberian Railway was built. Its construction allowed to resettle more than 3 million people on the territory. Due to the influx of people, the economy of Western and Eastern Siberia began to form. In the Soviet period, agricultural production declined. This has contributed to the increasing importance of the territory as a source of hydropower and minerals.
Resources and natural features
The climate of the region is sharply continental. Most of the territory is occupied by the West Siberian Plain. In the southern part are the Altai mountains, the Salair ridge, the Shoria ridges, as well as the Kuznetsk Alatau. Due to the fact that the region passes through all natural zones, from the tundra to the steppe, the whole variety of soils, up to the chernozem, is represented here. The specialization of the economy of Western Siberia is expressed quite clearly. It is determined by the quality, composition and volume of the fuel and energy and mineral resources existing here. The region is in the leading position in the country in terms of the availability of various minerals and indicators of their production.
Fuel and energy complex
It was through him that the active development of the economy of Western Siberia took place. On the territory are almost all known types of fuel and energy resources. Here brown and coal, gas, oil, peat are found. The territory is also rich in energy resources of non-traditional species. Hydrocarbon deposits are located in the oil and gas province of Western Siberia. It is located within the Omsk, Novosibirsk, Tomsk and Tyumen regions, as well as the Yamalo-Nenets and Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug. About 58% of state initial oil reserves and more than 60% of gas deposits are concentrated in this part. More than 7 billion tons of the first and 8 trillion m 3 of the second resource have already been extracted in Western Siberia. However, the province has huge oil and gas potential. There are also unexplored reserves of gas and oil on the territory. Their volumes are 45% and 56% (respectively) of the total initial. This indicates a relatively low geological exploration of the region.
NHK
The operating sectors of Western Siberia's economy supply about 14% of the total gross domestic product in the country. Among the existing economic regions of the state, this territory is in the top five. Due to the high availability of quality resources in the region, an industrial economy is well formed. Western Siberia produces about 12% of production. More than 14% of the country's fixed assets and 20% of products manufactured by the Russian construction complex are concentrated in the territory.
Industry
It is based on the economy of Western Siberia. The industrial complex accounts for 74% of the total regional GRP. This sector has a distinct specialization. From here, most of the fuel (coal, oil and gas) is supplied to other regions. The economy of Western Siberia is unthinkable without the electric power industry, the petrochemical and chemical industries, and mechanical engineering. All of them are closely related to fuel production. The chemical complex is represented by enterprises of Tobolsk, Tomsk and Omsk, as well as the Kemerovo region. Engineering plants produce products for the energy sector, for the coal industry and machine tool industry. Despite the uniqueness of its structure, the economy of Western Siberia suffered significant losses in the 90s. Industrial production has almost halved. About 30% now accounts for the freight turnover of vehicles. 65% of the pre-reform level is occupied by agriculture in Western Siberia.
Power industry
In terms of consumption, the region occupies the third position in the country. The main area of energy use is the industrial complex. Consumers are supplied at the expense of the UES of the Urals and the UES of Siberia stations. The basis of the electric power industry of the territory is large thermal power plants and IES. They work on associated gas in the Tomsk and Tyumen regions, as well as coal (in the Novosibirsk and Kemerovo Regions - local, in Omsk - long-distance). The area is considered almost self-balanced in terms of electricity.
Actual directions of work
The West Siberian territory in the future remains the basis for the formation of the fuel and energy complex of Russia. It follows that the priority areas for the area should be:
- Improving the coal and oil and gas complexes.
- Social security for industrial workers.
- Improving fuel and energy complex in the region. First of all, this task is achieved through electrification, gasification, and the implementation of technological and technical re-equipment of almost all existing economic sectors.
- Solving environmental issues in the main coal, gas and oil industries of the region.
