North Asia

North Asia, also called Northern Asia, is the northern part of the continent of Asia. It includes three big areas of Russia called the Ural, Siberian, and Far Eastern federal districts. This huge region touches the Arctic Ocean on its north, Eastern Europe on its west, Central Asia and East Asia on its south, and the Pacific Ocean and Northern America on its east. It covers about 13 million square kilometers, making it the largest part of Asia, but it is also the least crowded, with only around 37 million people living there.

The land in North Asia is mostly on the Eurasian Plate, except for the eastern part, which sits on other smaller plates. Big flat areas and mountain ranges shape the land, like the West Siberian Plain and the Ural Mountains, which help define the line between Asia and Europe. In the east, there is often activity from the Earth's plates, creating volcanic mountains and island chains like the Kuril Islands.

For a long time, many different groups of people lived in North Asia, each with their own languages and traditions. Over time, Russia expanded into the area, and now most people there have European roots, mainly from Russia. Only a small part of the population are from the original local groups.

History

Further information: History of human settlement in the Ural Mountains, History of Siberia, and Outer Manchuria

Antiquity and pre-colonization

People lived in North Asia a very long time ago, starting around 100,000 years back. By 45,000 years ago, modern humans had arrived. During different times, many groups lived there, including the Scythians and Xiongnus. Later, big empires like the Göktürks and the Mongol Empire ruled parts of the area. In the 1500s, Russia began taking over the land.

Soviet consolidation and conflict

After a big fight in Russia, the Soviet Union took control of this area. In the 1930s, they built up their military because they were worried about Japan. There were some battles, but the Soviets won and made a peace agreement.

Cold War industrialization

After World War II, North Asia became very important for making things and for the Soviet military. Big cities grew, and important railroads helped move resources across the country.

Post-Soviet era

When the Soviet Union broke up in 1991, life became hard for many people in North Asia. In more recent years, the area has become important because of its natural resources like gas and oil. Russia is working to build more things to help use these resources, but it’s still a challenge.

Geography

See also: Geography of Siberia

Further information: Geography of Russia § Northeast Siberia and Kamchatka

North Asia is a big part of Asia that includes three areas of Russia. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, Eastern Europe to the west, Central Asia and East Asia to the south, and the Pacific Ocean and Northern America to the east. It covers a very large area of 13,100,000 square kilometres (5,100,000 sq mi), which is about 8.8% of all the land on Earth. It is the largest part of Asia.

The land in North Asia has wide flat areas and some higher areas called plateaus. There are big flat lands such as the West Siberian Lowlands and the East Siberian Lowland. There are also higher areas like the Central Siberian Plateau and many smaller plateaus. The area has many mountains and volcanoes, especially in places like the Kamchatka Peninsula. Some of these volcanoes are still active today. The ground in many parts stays very cold all year, called permafrost, which can be deep and covers large areas.

Demographics

Further information: Demographics of Siberia, Indigenous peoples of Siberia, and Demographics of the Russian Far East

Most estimates say there are about 33 million Russian citizens living east of the Ural Mountains, which separates Europe and Asia. Most of these people are Russians and Ukrainians with Slavic roots. The Turkic peoples, Tungusic peoples, and Mongolic peoples who were originally from Siberia are now a smaller group because of changes over the past few hundred years. Russian records show they make up about 10% of the population, with groups like the Buryats and Yakuts.

In 1875, it was reported that North Asia had 8 million people. From 1801 to 1914, about 7 million people moved from European Russia to Siberia, with most arriving just before World War I.

Administration

The area of North Asia is 13,132,900 km². In 2010, the population was 37,630,081 people.

Ural Federal District

Federal Subjects	Capital	Area (km2)	Population (2010)
Kurgan Oblast	Kurgan	71,000	910,807
Sverdlovsk Oblast	Yekaterinburg	194,800	4,297,747
Tyumen Oblast	Tyumen	143,520	3,395,755
Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug (Yugra)	Khanty-Mansiysk	534,800	1,532,243
Chelyabinsk Oblast	Chelyabinsk	87,900	3,476,217
Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug	Salekhard	750,300	522,904
Total	Yekaterinburg	1,818,500	12,080,526

Siberian Federal District

Federal Subjects	Capital	Area (km2)	Population (2010)
Altai Republic	Gorno-Altaysk	92,900	206,168
Altai Krai	Barnaul	168,000	2,419,755
Irkutsk Oblast	Irkutsk	774,800	2,248,750
Kemerovo Oblast	Kemerovo	95,700	2,763,135
Krasnoyarsk Krai	Krasnoyarsk	2,366,800	2,828,187
Novosibirsk Oblast	Novosibirsk	177,800	2,665,911
Omsk Oblast	Omsk	141,100	1,977,665
Tomsk Oblast	Tomsk	314,400	1,047,394
Tuva Republic	Kyzyl	168,600	307,930
Republic of Khakassia	Abakan	61,600	532,403
Total	Novosibirsk	4,361,800	17,178,298

Far Eastern Federal District

Federal Subjects	Capital	Area (km2)	Population (2010)
Amur Oblast	Blagoveshchensk	361,900	830,103
Republic of Buryatia	Ulan-Ude	351,300	971,021
Jewish Autonomous Oblast	Birobidzhan	36,300	176,558
Zabaykalsky Krai	Chita	431,900	1,107,107
Kamchatka Krai	Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky	464,300	322,079
Magadan Oblast	Magadan	462,500	156,996
Primorsky Krai	Vladivostok	164,700	1,956,497
Sakha Republic	Yakutsk	3,083,500	958,528
Sakhalin Oblast	Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk	87,100	497,973
Khabarovsk Krai	Khabarovsk	787,600	1,343,869
Chukotka Autonomous Okrug	Anadyr	721,500	50,526
Total	Vladivostok	6,952,600	8,371,257