Siberia's Terrain: A Guide to Its Five Major Landscapes

Five Distinct Terrain Types Across a Continent

Siberia's terrain is a study in contrasts, encompassing everything from vast wetlands to towering peaks. Here are its five principal landforms:

1. West Siberian Plain

The world's largest plain: flat, low-lying, crisscrossed by the Ob and Irtysh rivers, blanketed in taiga and wetlands.

2. Central Siberian Plateau

An elevated region (500–1,000 m) of rolling hills and plateaus, draped in dense taiga with patches of marsh and tundra.

3. East Siberian Mountains

Part of the Pacific Ring of Fire, featuring the Verkhoyansk, Chersky, and Stanovoy ranges. Rugged peaks, deep valleys, glaciers, and summits over 3,000 m.

4. Siberian Arctic Tundra

The northern fringe: permafrost-locked, treeless plains with mosses, lichens, and dwarf shrubs stretching to the Arctic Ocean.

5. Altai Mountains

A complex southern massif of high ranges, intermountain basins, and glaciers, crowned by Mount Belukha (4,506 m), Siberia's highest point.

Together, these landscapes create one of Earth's most geographically diverse regions.