ABSTRACT
In 1800 the total Siberian population was only half a million. Between 1800 and 1897 over five million Russians crossed the Urals into Siberia; between 1897 and 1911 a further three and a half million. By 1914, of the total nine million inhabitants, as many as a million were criminals and political exiles, many of whom spent most of their adult life in Siberia, some in prison or labour camps, but many in townships where they could earn a living and participate fully in local affairs
