Asia is the largest continent of the planet Earth. This is a territory of contrasts. Here is the highest point above sea level - Mount Everest, and the lowest - the Dead Sea. It is in Asia that the longest river flows - the Yangtze. There is also a unique Caspian Sea. This is actually a huge lake. In addition, Asia is the most densely populated part of the planet, accommodating 53 countries with many nationalities, languages and cultures.
It is geographically customary to divide Asia into East, South, Central and North. Where does Europe end, does North Asia begin?
Russian Asia
It is with Siberia that the northern part of the Asian continent is associated. It is bounded in the west by the Ural mountain ranges, in the east by the Kolyma River, in the south by the small hills of the Kazakh steppes and the Arctic Ocean in the north. So, North Asia is the mountain ranges of southern Siberia, the Arctic island territory, central Siberia, the north-eastern part of Siberia and the West Siberian plain.
Geographic features
Starting from the West Siberian Plain, the surface of this part of the Asian continent slowly rises towards the east. At the same time, the entire region is tilted to the north, therefore the rivers here carry their waters from south to north and, naturally, belong to the basin of the Arctic Ocean itself - the Arctic.
The climate in these places is severe, and its continentality is increasing from west to east. It is in North Asia that the cold pole of our Northern Hemisphere is located.
The state border of the Russian Federation also passes through a region such as North Asia. The countries that border Russia here are Kazakhstan (the former republic of the USSR), China and Mongolia.
North Asia = Siberia
Modern Siberia is, within the framework described above, the territory of Russia, while historically the Siberian region extends further to the north-east of Kazakhstan and the Russian Far East.
Geographically, North Asia (without the Far East) is divided into:
- Eastern: republics of Yakutia, Buryatia, Tuva, Khakassia; areas - Amur and Irkutsk; territories - Transbaikal and Krasnoyarsk;
- Western: Altai Republic, Altai Territory; regions - Kemerovo, Omsk, Tomsk, Novosibirsk, Kurgan and Tyumen (with the Yamalo-Nenets and Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Districts);
- Central Siberia;
- Northeast Siberia.
Siberia became part of Russia in the 16th - 17th centuries. Today, on its territory, which is considered sparsely populated, a little more than 19 million people live.
Unique feature
The northern part of Asia with such a set of climatic conditions has special natural zones.
This territory is famous for a wide variety of landscape zones: from steppes to arctic deserts. However, the largest part of Siberia is taiga. Nowhere in Russia does it extend so far north and does not go down to the hot south, as in this part of North Asia. In some places, the width of the taiga zone exceeds 2,000 km.
Due to the relatively warm summer, taiga vegetation feels great far north of the Arctic Circle. Winter, with a low temperature regime, does not allow deciduous trees to grow, because taiga slowly creeps to the south. At this latitude in Western Siberia there are steppes, and in Eastern - broad-leaved forests.
The main tree of North Asia is called larch. She drops needles in the cold season and endures frosts steadily. Closer to Lake Baikal in the forests you can meet the Siberian pine, popularly called cedar.
Mountain slopes are covered with spruce-fir forests, and dry basins are rich in steppe vegetation.
North Asian population
Several indigenous peoples and ethnic groups live on the territory of Siberia.
Buryats
This is a branch of the Mongolian ethnic community, the indigenous inhabitants of Buryatia, the Trans-Baikal Territory and the Irkutsk Region. Buryats are divided into clans and tribes, as well as on the basis of territorial affiliation.
North Asia is the homeland of nomadic herders, and the Buryats are no exception. Like most Mongol-speaking peoples, the Buryat ethnic group is a supporter of the so-called "black faith" - Tengrianism or shamanism.
Yakuts
The largest ethnic group of northern Asia is the Yakuts. This is the indigenous population of Yakutia, their native language is one of the branches of the Turkic group. The traditional occupation is cattle breeding. Yakuts own a unique breeding experiment in the northern latitudes in the sharply continental climate of cattle. No less successful were experiments in fish farming, horse breeding, blacksmithing and military affairs, as well as trade.
Since time immemorial, the Yakuts have been considered the children of Mother Nature, they worshiped the polytheism Aiyyah and worshiped shamanism. By the middle of the XVIII century, North Asia met the first Russians, and the mass transition to Christianity began not only of the Yakuts, but also of the Chukchi, Evens and other nationalities.
The third largest ethnic group in the Siberian region is Tuvans. They are the indigenous inhabitants of Tuva. The native language is Tuvan, originating from the Sayan group of Turkic languages. Most of the Tuvans are Buddhists, but in some places the root faith - shamanism - has been preserved.
Evenki
Or in the old way - the Tungus. Evenki language belongs to the family of Altai languages, the Tungus-Manchu group. Several dialects stand out. The nationality occurred by mixing representatives of the Tungus tribes with the natives of Eastern Siberia. Ethnic features of the formation of the nationality have led to the fact that today there are three groups with different economic and cultural areas: fishermen, cattle breeders and reindeer herders.
Altai people
The general name of the indigenous Turkic-speaking peoples of Altai. Two groups are distinguished according to ethnographic characteristics: Altai northern and southern.