什麼是西伯利亞

中亞北部地區，大部分在俄羅斯。西起烏拉山脈，東迄太平洋，北臨北冰洋，南抵哈薩克斯坦中部以及中國與蒙古的邊界。面積12,950,000平方公里。眾所周知它那漫長、嚴寒而又幾乎無雪的冬季。記錄到的最低温度達-68℃。第一批居民可能在舊石器時代到達西伯利亞的南部。西元前1000年前後，該地區受中國的影響，接下來在西元前3世紀時受土耳其-蒙古的影響。16世紀晚期俄羅斯獵獸皮者以及哥薩克人探險者來此殖民，到了18世紀中葉，西伯利亞的大部分都在俄羅斯的控制之下。通過西伯利亞大鐵路將它與俄羅斯的其他部分連接了起來。西伯利亞東部是1918～1920年間高爾察克反布爾什維克政府的所在地。1922年，西伯利亞成為蘇聯的一部分。蘇聯將罪犯和政治犯流放到西伯利亞，1930年代，史達林在那裏建立了勞改營，刺激了工業的成長。第二次世界大戰期間，蘇聯的許多工廠遷入西伯利亞，在戰爭中該地區發揮了重要作用。該地區有煤、石油、天然氣、金剛石、鐵礦石以及黃金等礦產資源。主要的工業產品包括鋼鐵、鋁和機械。西伯利亞南部生產小麥、黑麥、燕麥以及向日葵。主要城市有新西伯利亞、鄂木斯克、克拉斯諾亞爾斯克和伊爾庫次克。

Siberia

Region, northern central Asia, largely in Russia. It extends from the Ural Mountains to the Pacific Ocean and from the Arctic Ocean to central Kazakhstan and the boundaries of China and Mongolia; it covers about 5,000,000 sq mi (12,950,000 sq km). It is notorious for the length and severity of its almost snowless winters. Temperatures of −90°F (−68°C) have been recorded. The first settlers probably arrived in southern Siberia in the Paleolithic period. The area was under Chinese influence from c. 1000 BC, followed by the Turkic-Mongols in the 3rd century BC. Russian trappers and Cossack explorers colonized it in the late 16th century, and by the mid-18th century most of Siberia was under Russian rule. It was connected to other parts of Russia by the Trans-Siberian Railroad. Eastern Siberia was the scene of the anti-Bolshevik government of Aleksandr Kolchak 1918-20. It was made part of the Russian S.F.S.R. in 1922. Russia exiled criminals and political prisoners there, and in the 1930s Joseph Stalin set up forced-labor camps that fueled industrial growth. When Russian factories were relocated there during World War II, it played an important role in the war effort. It has deposits of coal, petroleum, natural gas, diamonds, iron ore, and gold; its chief industrial products include steel, aluminum, and machinery. Southern Siberia produces wheat, rye, oats, and sunflowers. Its main cities include Novosibirsk, Omsk, Krasnoyarsk, and Irkutsk.