Human geography of the western Siberian plain

Siberia is rich in natural resources, including oil, natural gas, coal, gold and diamonds. All kinds of resources are concentrated and there are many large-scale deposits.

There are large areas of fertile chernozem and brown calcareous soil in western Siberia to be developed. The famous Siberian forest covers a vast area of Siberia, and the timber accumulation accounts for more than 75% of the former Soviet Union. Scattered lakes and thousands of rivers make Siberia rich in hydropower resources. Lake Baikal is the deepest freshwater lake with the largest water storage capacity in the world, with a fresh water reserve of 23,600 cubic kilometers, accounting for about 20% of the world's fresh water reserves and more than 80% of the former Soviet Union's fresh water reserves. Siberia is the largest freshwater fish producing area in the former Soviet Union, and the freshwater fish production accounts for more than 25% of the total output of the former Soviet Union. Before the October Revolution, the Russian government carried out a predatory economic policy towards Siberia and did not take many measures that were beneficial to the local economic development. The level of productivity development in this region is very low, and the economic development lags far behind that of Russia. In the whole economic structure, agriculture has an absolute advantage. 19 13 years, the total agricultural output value of Siberia accounted for 78% of the total industrial output value of the region, while the total industrial output value of Siberia in the same year was only 1.5% of that of Russia. At that time, except mining, other industrial sectors in Siberia were extremely backward. There is almost no ferrous metallurgical industry, and the proportion of intermediate products and final products produced by heavy industry, especially processing industry, is very small. Almost all light industrial products are imported from the European part of Russia. The czar's colonial policy hindered the resource development and industrialization of Siberia. After the October Revolution, the process of resource development and industrialization in Siberia was accelerated. After the October Revolution, the economic development of Siberia entered a new historical period.

After decades of development, Siberia has gradually formed a national economic system focusing on resource development. Great changes have taken place in Siberia for more than half a century. With the laying of trans-siberian railway, the productivity here began to develop at an unprecedented speed. During the 20 years from 1897 to 19 17, the number of cities along the railway increased from 40 to 63, and the number of residents in each city increased by 2 times, 4 times or even 8 times. In 1930s, the second coal metallurgical base of the former Soviet Union was built in Ural-Kuzbas area. The Urals-Kuznetsk coal metallurgical joint venture has become the basis of industrialization in Urals and Siberia. The purpose of building the complex is to gradually shift the industrial focus to the eastern region in a planned way and create conditions for eliminating the economic backwardness in the newly developed areas.

During World War II, Siberia was the rear area of the former Soviet Union, and its economy developed faster than other regions. 194 1~ 1945, the capital investment here accounts for almost 1/4 of the Soviet Union. 1942, Siberia produced more than14 steel,13 pig iron, and nearly half of the coal and coke in the former Soviet Union. In 1950s, the plan to develop the natural resources in the angara-Yenisei River region of eastern Siberia was implemented. This is a sign that the productive forces have moved further eastward. This project is larger and takes longer than the Ural-Kuznetsk joint venture. The implementation of the angara-Yenisei River development plan has greatly promoted the development of productivity in krasnoyarskiy kray and Irkutsk region. Therefore, the Siberian economy has entered a stage of rapid development. The goal of this stage is to develop Siberia's natural resources more widely, and on this basis, establish several large-scale regional production organizations with complex production structures. In the 1960s, the development of Tyumen oil and gas field, the largest oil and gas base in the former Soviet Union, made West Siberia the region that attracted the most capital and labor. In terms of scale, the development of Tyumen oil and gas field greatly exceeds the Ural-Kuzbas coal metallurgical base and the complex system of angara-Yenisei River. The development of Tyumen Oilfield has enabled the former Soviet Union to catch up with and surpass the United States in crude oil production in less than 20 years, becoming the country with the largest crude oil production in the world.

One of the key projects in 1970s was to lay the second traffic artery to the Pacific Ocean-Baya Railway. The construction of the 3 145 km North-Afghanistan Railway across Siberia and the Far East is another important step for the former Soviet Union to accelerate the economic development of Siberia and the Far East. With the construction of this railway, the focus of resource development is gradually pushed to the vast areas near the north. There are abundant coal, iron, copper, zinc, nickel, asbestos, mica, apatite and forest resources, which may be developed in large quantities in the near future. In the future, the population along the railway will continue to increase, and several industrial centers and new cities will be gradually built here.

In the 1980s, 50 research institutes of the Siberian Branch of the former Soviet Academy of Sciences and nearly 200 scientific research units of various departments jointly formulated the comprehensive development plan of natural resources in Siberia, referred to as the Siberian Plan. According to the characteristics of Siberia and the Far East, and considering the overall situation of the former Soviet Union, the planning of Siberia chooses those departments that have a decisive influence on the whole national economy as the main development direction. This is a long-term comprehensive plan to comprehensively develop Siberia on a larger scale. At present, Siberia is in an unprecedented stage of development. For a long time, the imbalance between various sectors of the national economy, coupled with the lack of funds, labor and other factors, has restricted its economic development. In order to solve these problems, the Russian government has actively adjusted its domestic policies and measures in the process of developing and building Siberia, further expanded its opening to the outside world, actively introduced capital and advanced technology and equipment, and continuously expanded its economic and technological cooperation with other countries, including China. In Siberia, along the Yenisei River, there are some ethnic minorities-Hakka, Angara River, Lena River, Altai Mountain and Sayan Mountain, as well as Lake Baikal, the pearl of East Siberia. Lake Baikal is the deepest and possibly oldest lake in the world with a history of 25 million years. It contains almost 25% of the world's fresh water reserves and is very clear and transparent. A white disc with a diameter of 30 cm can still be seen 40 meters under the water of Lake Baikal. Lake Baikal is about 500 meters above sea level. Lake Baikal is home to 1850 species of animals and 850 species of plants, many of which are endemic here.

The main scenic spot in krasnoyarskiy kray is Sayan Shizhu Group, which is a unique nature reserve in the East Sayan Mountains. The steep rocks formed 80 groups of cliffs as high as 100 meters. Some cliffs have names consistent with their own shapes: old man, peasant woman, golden eagle, feather, castle and so on. This is the favorite place for mountain climbers and rock climbers. The fascinating waterway tour starts from Krasnoyarsk, goes down the Yenisei River, goes to the far north, and reaches Dujinka and Dixon. Tuva, Yakutia, Buryat. For example, there are only 80,000 Hakkas and less than 200,000 Tuwa. People of these ethnic groups have a unique art of ventriloquism. Performers don't sing, they just use their voices, sometimes they sound like bands, sometimes they sound like hooves, and sometimes they sound like the howling of hundreds of wild animals. They have been learning this art since childhood, but it is far from everyone's ability. Interestingly, only men can perform ventriloquism.

Siberia itself is also famous for its cold. Sometimes it's as cold as MINUS 40 degrees Celsius, 50 degrees Celsius. And MINUS 25~30 degrees can't attract the attention of local residents at all, which is a common temperature in winter. Summer in southern Siberia is very hot, reaching 30 degrees. You can swim, although the water is often a little cold: even in July, the water temperature can only reach 17~ 18 degrees. There are many man-made "seas"-reservoirs of countless hydropower stations. There are some big cities in southern Siberia-omsk, Novosibirsk, Krasnoyarsk and Irkutsk.

Buryat, located in the southeast of Lake Baikal, is the center of Buddhism in Russia. There are more than 30 Buddhist temples here-Lama Temple. Like all grassland nomads, Buryats always worship horses. The owner of the herd can always remember the "appearance" of each horse. Horses like friends are the protagonists in many legends and stories. The medicinal value of mare's milk-mare's milk wine is highly appraised. In the center of Asia, it is marked by the adjacent Tuwa and National Monument. The roads here are few and difficult to walk, but the magical natural environment attracts tourists. Not long ago, another way of traveling far away-Arctic tourism-rose in Russia. Take a helicopter from Moscow to Spitsbergen Islands, and then take a helicopter to the ice tent camp near the North Pole. Tourists will stay here for a few days, but they will not be lonely: riding a dog sledge, skiing, hiking along the ice floes, and floating on the white and silent land by balloon. There are even polar saunas and entertainment facilities in the camp. As long as there is suitable weather, the helicopter will sprint to the geographical pole with the coordinate of 90 00' 00 ". Happy tourists can call their relatives and friends through satellite phones and take photos happily in the northernmost part of the earth.