July 31 2007
Chelyabinsk Region
The Chelyabinsk region of Russia is located in both Europe and Asia. It is a place where East meats West. The region’s capital is traditionally known for its industry which grew rapidly in the Soviet era. However, there are still vast parts of the Chelyabinsk region that are still very far from the industrialized world. In some areas of Chelyabinsk there is a new tourism industry trying to get started. Here’s a fascinating report from Russia Today about the Chelyabinsk region and the beauties you can see there.
Link: Chelyabinsk Region (Oblast) at Wikipedia
Link: Chelyabinsk (capital city) at Wikipedia
Last week in Russia, backers of a plan to build a massive transportation network connecting Siberia to North America once again floated an age old idea of building a tunnel under the Bering Strait. The plan was apparently first conceived more than 100 years ago by officials of Russian tsar Nicholas II. Supporters of the plan said it would cost about $65 billion to build the system. 
The Republic of Sakha (Yakutia) is located in eastern Siberia. Sakha is a rather large republic and occupies one-fifth of Russian territory, 40% of which is above the arctic circle. About 980,000 people live in this vast republic where the population density is about 10 times lower than in European Russia. Sakha is rich in natural resources, history, and culture. It’s also one of the coldest places in Russia with average air temperatures in January of -43.2°C (-45.8°F).
