Why did Russia set up so many cities in Siberia and Far East?

Upvote:-2

Many can state that the population there can be considered more than it should logically be.

It doesn't make sense economically, but it does strategically.

Colonization and planned industrialization made sure that population does evolve in areas that are not strategically viable to be attacked and occupied like many border areas.

That is one of the reasons why any attacking army from Napoleon to WW2 did not manage to defeat them. It's one thing to invade and clean most of everything up to the Urals and it's an entirely different exponential resources requirement to cover all the land.

Upvote:4

There are two issues:

As to "how" the establishment of cities in Siberia came about, the Russian/Soviet governments paid much higher wages to workers living in those cities, plus (in the case of the Soviets) priority in getting living quarters west of the Urals in their old age.

As to "why," Russia wanted to establish control over large land areas and resources as a buffer zone against invasions, e.g. the Mongolians or Chinese from the east, or as an "escape hatch" from European invaders such as the Nazis.

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