Decline of The River Route
The southern border of Siberia corresponds to the forest-steppe boundary. Russian penetration of Asia was confined to the forest zone because the cossacks had the skills to travel through river and forest, because the native peoples were few and weak and because their expansion was paid for by the fur trade. Unlike Russia proper, there was little attempt to penetrate the steppe. Road building began in the 1730s. Although there were always some peasants, massive peasant colonization did not begin until the 1860s. The Trans-Siberian Railway began in 1891. In the twentieth century highways were built, but the stretch north of the Amur is still not complete. Naturally, all this development took place as far south as possible. The result is a pattern in which the Russians form a long narrow belt along the southern border with extensions northward, mainly to where minerals can be found. The rivers are still used, but largely for north-south transport to and from the Trans-Siberian Railway.
Read more about this topic: Siberian River Routes
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