1922 Encyclopædia Britannica/Siberia
SIBERIA (see 25.10).—The name Siberia now generally excludes the Steppe provinces but includes Kamchatka and Russian Sakhalin.
Little progress has been made in the mapping of the wide tracts between the great rivers or the mountainous regions in the south. Even in the existing maps of southern Siberia little reliance can be placed on the detail except near the railway. There are no large scale maps of northern Siberia. The whole course of the Yenisei river has been mapped on a large scale, the shores of Lake Baikal have been surveyed and geological exploration in the Amur basin and some parts of the upper Lena basin has resulted in accurate maps.
Kamchatka contains a notable range of volcanoes which forms part of the Pacific ring. Forty have been located of which 14 are active. The loftiest active volcano, the loftiest mountain in Siberia, is Klyuchevskaya, 16,130 feet. Koryatskaya is 11,522 feet.
Investigations in Lake Baikal have shown that there are three basins of unequal extent and depth. The southerly basin has an extreme depth of 791 fathoms, and is separated by a shoal ridge of less than 300 fathoms from the middle and most extensive basin which reaches 832 fathoms in depth. The northern basin does not exceed 540 fathoms. On the W. of the lake the deep water goes inshore but on the E. the coastal waters are shoal. The area of the lake is 13,200 sq. m.; its surface is 1,561 ft. above sea level.
New surveys of the Arctic coast by Tolmachev, Vilkitski and others have resulted in considerable modifications in the chart. Shitkov explored the Yamal peninsula and cleared up some doubtful points in its hydrography. The small islands between the Gulf of Yenisei and Taimir peninsula have proved to be more numerous than was supposed and Taimir Gulf has been found to be relatively narrow. Cape Chelyuskin lies in lat. 77° 42′ N. Nikolas Land and other islands have been discovered to the N.W. of this cape, and new discoveries have been made in the New Siberia and Wrangel Is. (see Arctic Regions). There is still some doubt about the configuration of the coast-line between Cape Chelyuskin and the Lena delta. Hydrographical surveys have resulted in the discovery of some harbours on the Arctic coast including several in Taimir Land; Tiski Bay, E. of the Lena delta; and Chaun Bay in long. 170° E. Surveys in the Sea of Okhotsk have shown that the best harbours are Yamskaya Bay; Ola Bay, off Taui Bay; and Port Ayan. Okhotsk is falling into decay owing to its poor site. In Kamchatka Baron Korfa Gulf has been found to contain several good harbours. In the Maritime province the best harbours, in addition to Peter the Great Bay, are de Castries Bay, Imperial Bay and Olga Bay. De Castries Bay, a little S. of the Amur mouth, affords a far better and more accessible harbour than the Amur estuary. The Tartar harbours are closed by ice from Nov. to April or May and the Okhotsk harbours for a month or two longer.
Population.—There has been no census since 1897 but in 1915 the pop. was estimated at 10,377,900 on the basis of the last census and the yearly rate of increase. It was distributed as follows:—
| Governments and Provinces[1] | Area in sq. m. | Population[2] | Density per sq. m. |
| Tobolsk (Govt.) | 535,739 | 2,085,700 | 3·9 |
| Tomsk (Govt.) | 327,173 | 4,053,700 | 12·0 |
| Irkutsk (Govt.) | 280,429 | 821,800 | 2·5 |
| Yeniseisk (Govt.) | 981,607 | 1,143,900 | 1·1 |
| Yakutsk (prov.) | 1,530,253 | 332,600 | 0·2 |
| Transbaikalia (prov.) | 238,308 | 971,700 | 4·0 |
| Amur (prov.) | 154,795 | 261,500 | 1·6 |
| Maritime or Primorsk (prov.) | 266,486 | 631,600 | 3·0 |
| Kamchatka (prov.) | 502,424 | 41,600 | 0·1 |
| Sakhalin (prov.) | 14,668 | 34,000 | 0·5 |
| Total | 4,831,882 | 10,378,100 | 2·0 |
The two Steppe provinces, Akmolinsk and Semipalatinsk, which are geographically part of Siberia, though they were administratively distinct under the late imperial regime, have a combined area of 403,394 sq. m. and an estimated pop. (1915) of 2,421,400. The figures given above include native tribes (see below).
Colonization.—The Russians number over 85% of the total pop. of Siberia as a whole and about 93% of the total pop. of western Siberia (Tobolsk and Tomsk). The number of settlers entering Asiatic Russia (including the Steppe provinces) from Russia in Europe rose from 141,000 in 1906 to 619,000 in 1909. For some years after there was a decline, due, it is said, to a succession of good harvests in southern Russia: in 1912 and 1913 the annual immigration was little over 200,000. In 1914 it was 242,000. From 1906 to 1914 nearly 3,000,000 Russians entered Asiatic Russia, about 2,000,000 of whom went to Siberia. The Siberian railway zone continued to attract most settlers in western and central Siberia but many went to the Baraba steppe, the Altai region and the district round Minusinsk and the upper Yenisei. The Uryankhai region around the head streams of the Yenisei in the Sayansk mountains, which is nominally part of outer Mongolia under the suzerainty of China, contains many Russian settlers and for some years has been more or less under Russian control. In Transbaikalia much land is occupied by Cossacks and their descendants, and natives (largely Buryats), but in the upper Amur and the Ussuri valleys there are considerable areas of Russian settlement. The efforts, however, that were made by the State before 1917 to attract colonists to the Amur and Maritime provinces met with somewhat meagre response. Attempts to colonize Kamchatka have been practically abandoned and for many years Russian Sakhalin has failed to attract settlers. North of lat. 58° N. in western Siberia, and lat. 54° N. in eastern Siberia, there are very few Russians permanently settled. Total exemption from military service and other privileges which the State offered colonists in the lower valleys of the Yenisei and Lena did not succeed in attracting many settlers. The migration of Chinese and Koreans to the Amur and Ussuri valleys and the Transbaikal region was marked for many years. The Chinese came as temporary labourers but the Koreans were more inclined to become permanent settlers. Japanese artizans are found throughout eastern Siberia. In 1914 the Russian Government was making attempts to exclude Asiatics at the same time that it offered inducement to Russians to settle in the Far East.
Native Races.—While no strictly ethnological classification of Siberian natives is yet possible, it is recognized that the tribes of the extreme N. and E., even if they differ from one another, have certain characteristics in common which distinguish them from later arrivals in Siberia. For these earlier tribes, who may possibly have migrated to Siberia from America at a very early period, the name Palaesiasts is used by Schrenk and Palaeo-Siberian by Czaplicka. For later tribes the term Neo-Siberian has supplanted Ural-Altaians to which there are linguistic and ethnological objections. Czaplicka classifies the native tribes of Siberia as follows, taking numerical statistics from Patkanov, who based his estimates on the census of 1897 which gives the latest trustworthy data: I. Palaeo-Siberians. i. Chukchee; in north-eastern Siberia, 11,771. ii. Koryak; S. of the Chukchee, 7,335. iii. Kamchadal; southern part of Kamchatka, 2,805. iv. Ainu; in southern Sakhalin and Yezo, 1,457. v. Gilyak; near Amur mouth and in northern Sakhalin, 4,649. vi. Eskimo; shores of Bering Strait, 1,307 (in Asia), vii. Aleut; in Aleutian Is., 574. viii. Yukaghir; between the lower Yana and lower Kolima, 754. ix. Chuvanzy; S. of Chaun Bay, 453. x. Ostyak of Yenisei; on the lower Yenisei, 988. II. Neo-Siberians. i. Finnic tribes (a) Ugrian Ostyak; lower and middle Ob, 17,221. (b) Vogul or Maniza; middle Ob, 7,476. ii. Samoyedic tribes; in far N. from Europe to Khatanga mouth, 12,502. iii. Turkic tribes (mainly outside Siberia) (a) Yakut ; from the Lena to the Amur and Sakhalin, 226,739. (b) Turco-Tartars of Tobolsk and Tomsk, 176,124. iv. Mongolic tribes (a) Kalmuk or Eleut; practically all outside Siberia (b) Mongols proper or Kalkha, 402. (c) Buryat; around Lake Baikal, 288,599. v. Tunguskic tribes (a) Tungus; far eastern Siberia, 62,068. (b) other Tunguskic tribes, totalling 14,439, viz. Chapogir: on the lower Tunguska; Goldi : on the lower Amur; Lamut: on the shores of Sea of Okhotsk; Monagir: on the middle Amur; Oroche: E. of the lower Amur; Orochon: on the Olekma; Oroke: in Sakhalin; and Solon: S. of the middle Amur. Tribes who live in the more fertile parts seem to be increasing in numbers but those who occupy the more barren regions of the N. are dwindling. The natives probably do not exceed one million.
There is much disease, particularly among the native tribes, although the climate itself is not unhealthy. In addition to goitre, leprosy occurs in the Lena and Amur valleys and elsewhere. Smallpox is endemic in many parts and tuberculosis is prevalent. Cholera is never absent in the Far East and occasionally assumes the proportions of an epidemic. Plague sometimes enters from Manchuria. Venereal diseases are rampant throughout Siberia. A curious nervous affection known as Arctic hysteria is common among the natives of the far north. It is not infrequently associated with melancholia and suicide. The hysterical manifestation of Shamanism may not impossibly be associated with this nervous affliction.
Education.—The last statistics date from 1912 when there were 6,245 schools in Siberia with a total of 341,271 pupils. The number of pupils per 1,000 of the pop. was thirty-six. Out of every 100 persons under nine years of age only 16 could read and write.
Towns.—Towns situated on or near the railway have grown rapidly but others have made little or no progress. In 1914 towns with a pop. of 10,000 or over numbered at least 21 compared with 17 in 1900; but estimates of the pop. of Siberian towns vary considerably and must be accepted with reserve. The largest towns are Tomsk (112,000) and Irkutsk (113,000), the capitals of western and eastern Siberia respectively. Omsk (128,000) is really a Siberian town but actually within the Steppes. Other large towns in western Siberia are: Novo-Nikolaevsk (63,000), a centre of rapid growth situated where the Siberian railway crosses the Ob; Barnaul (52,000) and Biisk (28,000), both centres in the rich Altai region. Kurgan (35,000) on the Tobol, a great agricultural market; Tyumen (30,000) now on the railway and a focus for trade between Russia and Siberia; Tobolsk (21,000), a declining fur and fish market on the Irtish; Kolivan (13,000) on the Ob, with agricultural interests; Mariinsk (13,000), a mining centre on the railway and Achinsk (10,000) a little farther east. In eastern Siberia other important towns are: the great port of Vladivostok (95,000); the two Amur ports and agricultural centres, Blagovyeshchensk (76,000) and Khabarovsk (53,500) ; Chita (73,000) with growing agricultural and commercial interests; Krasnoyavsk (73,000), the chief river and railway port of the Yenisei; Nikolsk-Ussuriski (34,700), a rising industrial and railway centre 70 m. from Vladivostok; Nikolaevsk (12,500), the port at the Amur mouth; the two mining centres on the Yenisei, Minusinsk (14,000) with agricultural interests, and Yeniseisk (10,000); Kansk (10,000) on the upper Yenisei and Siberian railway; Stryetensk (10,000), at the head of the Amur-Shilka navigation; and Verkhne-Udinsk (9,500), a railway and industrial centre in Transbaikalia. The towns of the far N. are small and primitive. Yakutsk, a fur-trading centre on the Lena, has a pop. of 8,200 and Verkhoyansk, on the Yana, only 450. The pop. of Sredne-Kolimsk, on the Kolima, which is the largest centre in the N.E. of Siberia, is 650. Petropavlovsk, the capital of Kamchatka, has fallen to some 500; Alexandrovsk, the capital of Russian Sakhalin, about 6,000, a figure, however, which includes more natives than Russians; and Okhotsk to less than three hundred.
Agriculture.—In western Siberia about 17,000 sq. m. are under crops (1913) but there are still great areas of natural grassland waiting for cultivation. In eastern Siberia agriculture has not made great progress except in the southern Ussuri plain: natural grasslands are scarce but there are many forest areas on the Amur which, if cleared, would afford good agricultural land. The area under crops in eastern Siberia is 2,800 sq. m. (1913). Agricultural methods in the W. have undergone some improvement, through the use of fertilizers and the importation of American agricultural machinery. Many flour-mills have been erected. Western Siberia sends its surplus wheat to Russia and eastern Siberia. The latter region also imports corn from Manchuria. In 1913 the total cereal production of Siberia was 68,200 cwt. and the average annual production (1908–13) was 50,200 cwt.
Land Tenure.—After the revolution of 1917 the State became the owner of all land in Siberia except some 5,000,000 ac. granted to Cossacks or other private persons. All other holders of land are tenants of the State, enjoying in some cases hereditary leases. The State ownership would seem to apply also to minerals, timber, fisheries and water power but some concessions have been recognized in favour of foreigners.
Live Stock.—The rearing of live stock has made more progress than agriculture. In 1913 the Steppe towns of Petropavlovsk and Omsk had become great centres for the export of meat to European Russia, drawing a large part of their supply from the Tomsk province. In the Transbaikal, Amur, and Maritime provinces cattle-breeding promises to attain greater importance than agriculture, but the meat supply of eastern Siberia is partly dependent on imports from Manchuria. The successful acclimatization of the merino sheep in central Siberia holds promise of much wool production in the Yeniseisk and Irkutsk provinces. Pig-breeding is a growing industry in western and central Siberia and by 1914 bacon exports had become important. Reindeer-breeding is the chief occupation of most of the far northern tribes. Maral deer and other species of wapiti are bred in the Altai, the Maritime province and elsewhere for their horns, which to the Chinese have a reputed medicinal value. The official figures (in round numbers) for the number of live stock in Siberia in 1911 and 1914 are as follows:—
| Horses | Horned cattle | Sheep and goats | Pigs | |
| 1911 | 4,598,000 | 5,719,000 | 5,250,000 | 1,126,000 |
| 1914 | 4,840,000 | 6,541,000 | 5,745,000 | 1,428,000 |
The dairy industry has developed quickly, fostered by State encouragement and the export facilities afforded by the railway. In 1912 there were 1,060 coöperative dairies in the Tobolsk province, and 2,042 in the Tomsk province. The export of butter from western Siberia reached 35,000 tons in 1903 and 76,000 tons in 1913: in the latter year the home consumption accounted for an additional 75,000 tons. The industry is of less importance in eastern Siberia.
Hunting.—The fur industry retains great importance and was much stimulated during the early years of the World War by the high price of skins. But decrease of game is causing hunting in many parts of the N. to take a secondary place to fishing and reindeer-breeding. The sable became so scarce that from 1913 to 1916 its slaughter was forbidden. The white fox is becoming rare. The principal fur fairs are at Irbit (Feb.) and Yakutsk (July), but Ishim, Blagovyeshchensk, Nikolaevsk and Anyui are also frequented by traders in search of furs. Yakutsk has also a trade in fossil ivory from the New Siberia Is.: in 1913 nearly 20 tons were sold. In order to prevent their extermination the few seals of the Commander Is. were protected for five years from 1912.
Fishing.—In western Siberia the most important fisheries are on the Ob. Tobolsk is the headquarters of the industry: Obdorsk, Beresov, Surgut and Narim are also important centres. At least 10,000 men take part in the fishery and the annual ratch is about 15,000 tons. On the upper Irtish Pavlodar and Lake Zaisan are centres of fishing. The fisheries of the lower Yenisei send S. about 3,000 tons every year. In Lake Baikal there are valuable fisheries both in summer and, through the ice, in winter. In the Lena and Kolima regions the natives live chiefly on fish but lack of transport facilities prevents export. Fisheries in the Amur, Okhotsk and Kamchatka regions steadily increase in importance. The fish are mainly species of salmon but not the same as those in western Siberia. The fisheries are largely in Japanese hands but legislation in 1899 restricted to Russians all fisheries in the Amur and its estuuary. In 1913 the mouths of certain rivers on the Okhotsk and Kamchatka coasts were closed to all fishing in order to conserve the fisheries. In 1913 the Okhotsk and Kamchatka fisheries resulted in a total catch of 46,000,000 salmon, most of which went to Japan. Salmon caviar to the extent of 2,477 tons was exported from the same districts. Salmon-canning is a new industry: in 1913 the output from Kamchatka was over 500,000 tins, and from the lower Amur 100,000 tins. Attempts to send frozen fish from the Amur to Europe met with some success when begun in 1913. The fisheries of Russian Sakhalin are losing their importance. In the Sea of Japan the herring-fishing from Imperial and Peter the Great bays is growing in value.
Timber.—Siberian forests of commercial timber are estimated to cover about 470,000 sq. m. or about one-tenth of the total area of the country, but owing to absence of transport facilities only 150,000 sq. m. are considered to be exploitable. In western Siberia there is little trade in timber and the demands for home use and the havoc of forest fires are decreasing the available supply. The principal saw-mills are at Tobolsk, Tyumen, Omsk, Novo-Nikolaevsk and Tomsk. In eastern Siberia the timber industry is confined to the Amur and Maritime provinces except in respect of the demand for fuel for railway, industrial and domestic purposes. The principal saw-mills are at Irkutsk, Blagovyeshchensk, Nikolaevsk, Imperial Bay, Vladivostok and Alexandrovsk (Sakhalin). Export is from Vladivostok, Imperial, Olgi and Posiet bays to Australia, the British Isles and Japan. Before the war great efforts were being made to encourage this trade.
Minerals.—Gold is the most important mineral in Siberia. The Lena drainage area, especially the valleys of the Olekma and Vitim, is considered to be the richest gold-producing area in the world. All the gold worked is alluvial and the annual yield (1916) was some 400,000 oz. Bodaibo, connected by rail to the Vitim, is the centre of the industry. The gold-fields of the Amur valley when fully explored will probably prove to be even greater in extent. The new town of Zeya Frisian on the Zeya is the principal mining centre on the middle Amur. The Bureya valley is also rich in gold. On the lower Amur there are rich gold-fields near Lake Chyla. The Amur gold is alluvial and most of it is very fine. British interests control the principal gold-fields of both the Lena and Amur basins. Gold is reported from several places on the Sea of Okhotsk, in the Chukchee peninsula and in the Anadir region. The output in Transbaikalia is falling off. In the Yeniseisk region there are valuable deposits in the Abakan valley. In western Siberia the gold output is declining but, as placer mining gives way to quartz crushing, shows prospect of reviving. Quartz veins are rich in the neighbourhood of Ust-Kamenogorsk and Lake Zaisan. The gold-bearing rocks in Siberia as a whole, including the Urals, are estimated to cover over 800,000 sq. miles. The total output of gold in 1913 was estimated at 1,500,000 oz., of which over 90% was from eastern Siberia; but there is reason to doubt the accuracy of official figures. In the same year the number of men employed in the gold industry in Siberia was 56,400. Climate, labour and transport, apart from political difficulties, afford obstacles in the development of the industry. The output of silver has shown a decline for many years, but numerous rich deposits are known to exist in the Altai region and around Nerchinsk. The production of zinc has increased, largely due to the rich Tyutikha mines in the Priamur. Lead is obtained from these mines and also from the Altai mountains and Ust Orlinskaya on the Lena. Zinc and lead mines at Riderski in the Altai are linked to the Irtish by a 70-m. narrow-gauge railway. Tin occurs in the Onon valley in Transbaikalia, but it is little worked. New deposits of graphite have been reported from Cape Dezhneva on Bering Strait. Copper occurs mainly in the Urals and in the Karkaralinsk district of the Kirghiz steppes, both of which regions are outside Siberia proper. There has been little if any progress in the production of iron except in the Urals, but valuable deposits of iron ore are reported in the Amgun valley near the Amur mouth, in the vicinity of Vladimir and Olgi Bays in the Priamur, in many parts of the Altai and near Karkaralinsk in the Steppes. Considerable coal deposits of varying quality have been located, but comparatively few are mined. Want of markets and transport facilities are drawbacks even where the coal is of good quality. The most promising deposits are the Kuznetsk beds in the Altai region which contain coking coal; beds around Cheremkhoyskoe, 70 m. W. of Irkutsk, where some 5,000,000 tons of lignitic coal are mined annually, principally for use on the railway; the Suchan mines, 60 m. from America Bay, on the Sea of Japan, and the Mongugai beds near Amur Bay on the Tartary coast. The Mongugai beds and those at Due in Sakhalin both consist of good anthracitic coal but neither is seriously worked. Coal in the Amur and Lena valleys and Transbaikalia is chiefly lignitic. There are large deposits of lignite at Baron Korfa Gulf in Kamchatka. In the Kirghiz steppe coking coal is worked at Ekibas-tuse. The mines, which are controlled by a British company, are connected with the Irtish at Yermak by a railway 70 m. in length. Petroleum-bearing strata exist on the eastern shores of Lake Baikal and near Nabilski Bay in Sakhalin, but the oil is not exploited.
Manufactures.—Manufactures on a large scale have made little progress except in engineering works and repair shops for the railways. The competition of the Ural iron foundries, which have better transport facilities, has adversely affected the Siberian foundries, but a few persist, notably at Petrovsk in Transbaikalia, Blagovyeshchensk and Tyumen. At Ekibas-tuse in the Steppes the zinc and lead ores from the Riderski mine are smelted. Some river ports, as Khabarovsk, Blagovyeshchensk, build and repair vessels. Tanneries, tallow factories, brickworks and breweries are widely scattered. Only 7·6% of the pop. is estimated to be engaged in manufacturing industry (1914).
Communications.—Efforts to open up communication with Siberia by its northward flowing rivers and the Arctic Ocean have met with some success, but access by this route is possible only in the height of summer. Experience has shown that during Aug. and Sept. ice seldom presents any real difficulty in the Kara Sea and a steamer can rely on making the estuary of the Ob or Yenisei. One or two vessels take this route annually. Along the eastern part of the Arctic coast the only regular navigation is by occasional vessels between the mouth of the Kolima and Vladivostok.
The Ob affords 17,000 m. of navigable waterways, but the delta impedes communication with the Arctic Ocean. Seagoing vessels can reach Obdorsk, but large vessels have to lie at Nakhodka Bay in the Gulf of Ob. River steamers ascend the Ob to Biisk, 2,059 m. from the sea, and the Irtish to Lake Zaisan, 3,100 m. from the sea. The Ob-Yenisei canal between the Ket and the Kas is accessible only to small barges. In 1915 there were 350 steamers and several hundred barges on the Ob and its tributaries. The Yenisei is navigated to Minusinsk, 2,045 m. from the mouth. Small seagoing vessels can reach Yeniseisk, but larger vessels discharge and load at Golchikha (Ghilghila) in the delta. The Yenisei is the only Siberian river for which sailing directions and large-scale charts are published. Beacons and buoys assist navigation. In 1915 there were 60 steamers on the Yenisei. The tributaries are of little value for navigation. The Lena has a navigable length of 2,760 m. to Kachugskoe, 230 m. from Irkutsk, the nearest point on the railway. In 1914 there were some 30 steamers on the river, mainly between Yakutsk and Vitimsk. The Vilyui, Aldan and Vitim are tributaries on which a few steamers ply. The Amur with the Shilka is navigable for 2,000 m. to Stryetensk on the Siberian railway. There are many sandbanks, but vessels drawing 3 ft. can make the whole journey. The river is buoyed and marked and supplied with a few dredgers. Seagoing vessels stop at Nikolaevsk in the delta, but if the stream was dredged in a few places they could reach Khabarovsk. In 1916 there were about 400 steamers and several thousand barges on the Amur and its navigable tributaries. Practically all the vessels were Russian, although Chinese vessels have equal rights down to Khabarovsk. On the Sungari, the Manchurian tributary of the Amur, there is Chinese and Japanese shipping. The Ussun is navigable throughout its length. Steamers ascend the Ussuri and Sungacha to Kamen- Ribolov, on Lake Khanka, 500 m. from Khabarovsk. Navigation on Lake Baikal has become less important since the construction of the railway round the southern end. In addition to two powerful ice-breakers there are about 12 steamers on the lake, some of which ascend the Selenga. The shores of Lake Baikal are well provided with lighthouses. The best harbors are Baranchuk on the west and Misovski on the east. Both are provided with breakwaters and wharves and are on the Siberian railway.
In 1916 the railway mileage in Siberia was approximately 6,800 m., not counting the Chinese Eastern (trans-Manchurian) railway. The Amur railway was built between 1908 and 1916. It marks a reversion to the course originally projected for a railway to the Pacific and provides a through route independent of Chinese territory. The Amur railway is a single track linking Kuenga via the Amur valley with Khabarovsk, 1,295 m.; the embankments and bridge piers are built for a double track. There are branches to the Shilka river at Chasoyaya, and to the Amur at Rcinova, Chernyaeva, Blagovyeshchensk, Innokentievskaya, and Pashkova. The bridge across the Amur at Khabarovsk is 7,038 ft. in length and has 22 spans. In western Siberia the line from Petrograd to Tyumen has been extended via Ishim to Omsk on the original Siberian line. A line from Ekaterinbcrg destined to reach Tobolsk goes via Irbit and ends at Saitkovo on the Tavda river. The Altai railway from Novo-Nikolaevsk to Barnaul (with a branch to Biisk) and Semipalatinsk, 408 m., was opened in 1915. It serves mining and agricultural interests in one of the most promising parts of western Siberia. The new line from Achinsk to Minusinsk, 300 m., opens a rich agricultural district in the valley of the upper Yenisei and tributaries. From Tatarskaya, 105 m. E. of Omsk, a line goes S. to Slavgorod, 196 m., in a region which in 1913 was attracting settlers. From Yurga, 385 m. W. of Krasnoyarsk, a line to Kolchugino, 200 m., taps rich coal-fields. These two lines were built by private enterprise. The Siberian railway is now double-tracked from Omsk to Karimskaya where the Stryetensk and Amur line begins. Some of the bridges still require to be widened. There is a double track from Nikolsk-Ussuriski, the junction of the Ussuri and Chinese Eastern railways, to Vladivostok. A line 93 m. long connects the Suchan coal-mines with Vladivostok. During the years 1915–6 the Siberian rolling- stock was much increased from the United States, and new railway shops were erected at Pervaya Ryeka near Vladivostok.
The telegraph system has been extended into Arctic Siberia: lines follow the Ob to Beresov, the Yenisei to Turukhansk and the Lena to Yakutsk and Vilyuisk. There are lines from Yakutsk to Okhotsk and from Khabarovsk to Nikolaevsk with connexion to Sakhalin. The Siberian telegraph system is linked via Semipalatinsk with that of Turkestan, and via Chuguchak with that of Mongolia. A second line to Mongolia between Kosh Agach, on the frontier, and Kobdo was incomplete in 1921. The Siberian and Chinese systems join at Kyakhta. Wireless telegraph stations exist in many places in the far N., and in 1916 were working at Cape Mare Sale in the Yamal peninsula; Dickson I. at the Yenisei mouth; Novo-Mariinsk and Markovo on the Anadir; Gizhiga Bay; Okhotsk; Khabarovsk; Nikolaevsk; Petropavlovsk in Kamchatka; Iman on the Ussuri and Vladivostok.
Bibliography.—J. F. Baddeley, Russia, Mongolia, and China, A.D. 1602–1676 (with many maps of northern Asia during the XVI. and XVII. centuries, 2 vols., 1919) ; A. M. Stanilovski, "Lake Baikal," in Izvestia Imp. Russ. Geog., East Sib. Sect. No. 7. (1912, in Russian); B. M. Shitkov, "The Yamal Peninsula," in Zap. Imp. Russ. Geog. Soc. Gen. Geog. 49 (1913, in Russian); J. G. Grand, "Les formes de relief dans l'Altai Russe" in Fennia, 40, No. 2 (1919); Explorations géologiques dans les régions aurifères de la Sibérie (various volumes and dates, in Russian with French summaries); V. Shostakovich, "Temperature of Rivers of Siberia," in Zap. on Hydrography, 33 (1911, in Russian); The Jesup North Pacific Expedition (1904–11), various volumes, mainly ethnological and anthropological; Central Statistical Committee's Year Book 1914 (1915); S. Patkanoff, Statistical data for the racial composition of the population of Siberia (1912, in Russian); M. A. Czaplicka, Aboriginal Siberia (1915), with a full bibliography; A. Schultz, "Die Verteilung des Landbesitzes in Sibirien" (with maps) in Petermanns Mitteilungen, 66, p. 252 (1912); V. Rodevich, "The Uriankhanski District and its Inhabitants" in Izvestia Imp. Russ. Geog. Soc. 48, pp. 129–188 (in Russian). For a recent account of Siberia, with maps, see Handbook of Siberia and Arctic Russia, I.D. 1207 (prepared by N.I.D. Admiralty, 1918) and Atlas of Asiatic Russia, with three volumes of text (1914, in Russian). More general books include:—M. G. Price, Siberia (1912); R. L. Wright and B. Digby, Through Siberia (1913); O. Goebel, Von Ural bis Sachalin (1913); F. Nansen, Through Siberia (1914, with a valuable appendix on the Kara Sea) and "The Sea Route to Siberia" in Geographical Journal (May 1914); M. D. Haviland, A Summer on the Yenisei (1915); M. A. Czaplicka, My Siberian Year (1916); I. W. Shklovsky, In Far North East Siberia (1916); K. Wiedenfeld, Sibirien in Kultur und Wirtschaft (1916). (R. N. R. B.)