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Most thermometers have numbers down to forty degrees (40°) below zero. There the numbers stop, for whenthe mercury gets down to that point it freezes up. But there are few places in the World where it ever gets as cold as that. The coldest place in the World is not at the North Pole; the coldest place in the World, where the thermometer does go below 40° and freezes up, is in the country called Siberia.
Siberia is a huge country north of China. In the north of Siberia the sun never rises all winter long. It isnight, as it is in Norway and Sweden. But there is no Gulf Stream to warm the land, so it gets muchcolder than 40° below zero, and they have to use a different kind of thermometer to measure how cold itis. In one place it goes to 90° below zero, which is the coldest place .People can’t grow fur on theirskins to keep themselves warm as animals can, so when they go outside they must cover themselves from top to toe with animal skins or they would freeze to death in a few moments.
But all of Siberia is not like this. There is a top, a middle, and a bottom part. Few people live in thenorthern part, however. It is so cold that no trees grow there and the ground is frozen solid many feet down. Inthe summer it gets very warm, and the thermometer sometimes goes just as high above zero as it goes below inthe winter; that is, to 90°. The ground then thaws out on top and moss and a few other things grow for a short while, though the ground underneath still stays frozen. Siberia is larger than theUnited States. It belongs to Russia, but there are people from other countries living there too.
The middle part of Siberia is not nearly so cold, and there great forests have grown, and in the forestslivewild animals such as foxes, wolves, sable, and ermine, which have beautiful thick coats of fur to keep themselves warm.
