Short answers, pulled from the story.
Siberia stretches from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. This region covers an area of over 13 million square kilometers, which is about three-quarters of Russia's total landmass.
The Russian conquest began with the fall of the Khanate of Sibir in 1582 and concluded with the annexation of Chukotka in 1778. Ivan III sent expeditionary forces to Siberia in 1483 and again between 1499 and 1500.
More than 14 million people passed through these camps between 1929 and 1953 according to semi-official estimates released after 1991. Half a million prisoners died in camps from 1941 to 1943 during World War II.
Temperatures in Verkhoyansk and Oymyakon compete for the title of coldest inhabited point in the Northern Hemisphere. These locations experience extreme cold that defines the climate of the region.
Norilsk Nickel produces the world's largest amount of nickel and palladium. The company operates facilities near Norilsk where similar numbers of inmates lived in 1952.