Nature of our region

My native town is Chita. The Chita Region is in the south-east of Siberia, in Zabaikalye. Its territory is about 430000 sq. km. Zabaikalye is far away from the big economic centres of the west of the country, but it’s close to the Russian Far East. The Region is a mountainous country. There are some plateaus, hills and mountain ranges: the Argynsky and Nerchinsky chains. The ranges Kodar, Udokan and Kalar are also well-known. Our Region is rich in natural resources: ferrous and non-ferrous metals, precious metals (silver, gold, platinum), clay, construction materials, graphite, magnetic ores, technical and drinking water, copper, zinc, uranium and molybdenum. There are a lot of rives in our region. The Shilka and the Argun rivers flowing over the territory are the sources of the Amur. The Shilka, in its turn, has the tributaries – the Ingoda and the Onon. Such rivers as the Khilok and the Chikoi flow into the Lena River basin. The Chita Region has a lot of lakes such as Leprindo, Leprindokan in the North and the group of Ivano-Arakhlei lakes in the central part. Our rivers and lakes are abundant in fish: pike, salmon, trout, grayling, perch and so on. Zabaikalye is originally a land of vast forests, mainly pine, birch and larch. They are the commonest trees in the region. Besides, in our taiga you can find elm, asp, alder. There are evergreen trees such as pines, fir-trees, silver fir trees, Siberian cedar. As for me, I like cedar nuts, They are so tasty. Animal life is various too. Many different animals live in forests and woods, fields and meadows: bears, wolves, foxes, hares, elks, lynxes, sables, squirrels, chipmunks, red deer, musk deer, north deer. When spring comes our woods and forests are filled with the songs of the birds. Among birds the most numerous are sparrows, ravens, magpies, tits, pigeons, woodpeckers. They are not migrated birds, they live here all the year round, some birds such as swallows, swifts, wagtails, cranes, herons, larks fly away to warm lands in autumn and come back again in spring. The world of wild flowers, medical herb is various. The first spring flowers are blue crocuses, primroses and violets, then we can see butter cups, king cups, forget-me-nots, dandelions, bluebells, pinks, lilies and foxgloves. What’s more, our region is rich in different berries: cowberries and blueberries. The climate of the Chita Region is subcontinental, that is winter is long and severe, with little snow and sunny dry weather, summer is short and warm. But these rigorous climatic conditions in winter are rather tolerable, because of the slight speed of wind, dry clear air, a long period of insolation. The most pert of the Region’s territory is located in the zone of low humidity. The distribution of rainfall over the territory and within the year is very uneven.