Asia is the largest continent on the globe. Three-fifths of the land of the world are in its boundaries. It is almost twice as large as North America. The United States could be put into it 5 times, and Asia would still have land enough left to make half of Europe. In this vast continent one-half the people of the Earth dwell. There are almost nine times as many people in Asia as in the United States. Large as Asia is, one-third of it is in a single country-Siberia. Siberia would make 110 states the size of Ohio. It belongs to Russia. The northern part of Siberia is the coldest land in which people live. In the winter it gets to 90° below zero, and in the summer to 100° above. This happens in the great wooded belt far south of the Arctic Ocean. North of this are the tundras (tn´ drå) or Arctic barrens, where the home of the reindeer is. In southern Siberia is the wheat belt. Through this part the longest railroad is built-the Trans-Siberian. This railway runs from Petrograd (py-tr-grät´)to Vladivostok (vla´ dy-vås-tôk´.) Petrograd is the capital of Russia. Vladivostok is on the Sea of Japan, a part of the Pacific Ocean. The road is about 6,000 miles long. It is mostly single track. Observe the cars. They are broken up into little rooms. Each room has two seats that face together. If you traveled on the train you see here you would take your own bed clothes, soap, and towels. It takes two weeks to go from Petrograd to Vladivostok. How many miles an hour do the trains average? How fast do our trains go? What do you think the Russians have in their bags? Name two trunk railway lines that cross North America. Keystone ID: 14519 Note: All titles, descriptions, and location coordinates are from the original Keystone Slide documentation as supplied by the Keystone View Company. No text has been edited or changed.