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Article: The Great Reindeer Trek - A Thousand Miles Across Siberia.
- Article from:
- The World and I
- Article date:
- December 1, 2002
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2002 News World Communications, Inc. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Three reindeer-herding cultures, the Khanty, Mansi, and Forest Nenets, can be found in Khanty-Mansiysk, a vast area of northwestern Siberia. The region (traditionally known as Yugra) is about the size of France and encompasses some 206,000 square miles. Today it is home to about 18,000 native Siberians.
For centuries, reindeer have been the primary source of food, clothing, transport, and shelter for the people of northern Siberia. They are well suited to life in Yugra, where winter temperatures can plummet to -50_C (-58_F). The animals' exceptionally warm winter coat has a fine underfur combined with long, hollow guard hairs. Thousands of tiny air cells ...