The nature of Siberia: unique corners

Most people have their own idea of Siberia. However, all agree that this inhospitable region is a unique land in which you can find wild corners of nature, where for many years there have been no people.

Foreigners are sure that these are boundless snow-covered territories on which you will not find either an animal, a bird or a person. What is it really like, 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 2 million is due to 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 difficult to define: from the west it is unequivocally the Ural Mountains, the Arctic Ocean surrounds the north of the territory, the border of our country extends from the south, and the eastern borders cause a lot of controversy - some scientists tend to consider the ridge of the Pacific watershed. In short, 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, in no small part due to the incredible extent of the land. The largest areas of this part of the country are the West Siberian Plain, the Central Siberian Plateau, the mountains of the Northeast and the mountains of Southern Siberia.

The wild nature of Siberia changes mainly from the south towards the north. It is possible to trace the clear division of natural zones into forest-steppe, tundra, etc. In mosses, lichens and perennials, moss, lichen and grass are most common in the forest-tundra and tundra. The most typical for the lands of Siberia is the taiga. Coniferous forests stretch on a territory of up to 2 thousand kilometers without signs of habitation. Dark coniferous taiga is formed mainly of fir and spruce. It is also often possible to meet Siberian cedar. Taiga with light needles is more typical for places to the east of the Yenisei. Mostly this taiga is Dahurian larch. An incredible monument of nature - a lime island, located in the Altai.

To the south of the taiga, the nature of Western Siberia is represented by steppes and forest-steppes. Actually, this is exactly the site where the wild nature ends. It was these areas that were most affected by the presence of a person and the consequences of his economic activities. The former steppes have now turned into arable land, beautiful swampy meadows - into hayfields. Some rare animals are remembered today only by rare long-livers. Many species of animals of Siberia have lost forever, some of them can still be seen in the local wildlife sanctuaries.

Flora

The flora of the mountainous areas is very diverse, especially well seen in the conditions of high altitude zone. Thus, the foothills represent the vegetation of the steppes, the slopes are mountain taiga massifs, high ridges are treeless landscapes rich in various herbs, tundra and stone placers.

Such a rich nature of Siberia has a fairly long list of rare plants. Only in Siberia there is a large-colored slipper, a high-pitched loafer, Baikal anemone and many others inscribed on the pages of the Red Book, plants.