In the broadest sense, Siberia is the entire Asian part of Russia. At 9.6 million square kilometers that is about two thirds of the Russian territory. Most regions of Siberia are dominated by a continental climate: Relatively hot summers (up to 40°C/100 °F) are followed by extremely cold winters (up to -72°C/-100°F). Often, the land is covered by snow for up to nine months of the year. Vast parts of Siberia have permafrost soil (permanently frozen soil) which only thaws on the surface during the summer time. Dew and rain water cannot drain away there. The waterlogging causes an abundance of mosquitoes in the short summers.

At 23 million inhabitants, Siberia is quite poorly populated. The population density averages 2.7 people per square kilometer. The population agglomerates in a relatively narrow strip in the south and southwest where the Transsiberian Railroad connects important cities, including Tyumen, and where farming is possible. Apart from gas and oil, it is lumber, coal, uranium, diamond and gold mines that constitute the most important natural resources in Siberia. Therefore, Siberia has a great influence on Russia?s energy economics as well as its general economic policy.

The Gulag Archipelago, the system of prisons and penal camps in Siberia set up under Stalin, attained terrible fame. As early as in the times of the tsars, the remote and inhospitable regions were used for banishing political opponents and criminals. Only with the fall of the Soviet Union did the deportations into those regions stop.

(Source: Wikipedia)

In Siberia, just like in the whole of Russia, there is a great drug problem.
In Russia, 2.5 million people are addicted to drugs, according to the Russian Federal Drug Office (2009). Every year, 30,000 people die of the consequences of drug consumption. Drugs also hold responsible for 65% of all cases of AIDS. 450,000 Russians are infected by the HIV virus (2008).

Tyumen is the capital of the Russian administrative district of the same name (Oblast Tyumen) in Western Siberia. Locals like to call it the ?Mother of Siberia?. The city has 550,000 inhabitants (2007) and lies by the River Tura that leads into the River Tobol. Tyumen is one of the oldest Russian settlements in Siberia. It was founded as early as in 1586 as a stronghold of the Cossacks for protection against nomadic peoples. Tyumen?s most important branches of industry are the construction of ships and machines as well as meat production and chemical industry.