Siberian Forests

The forests of the Pechora basin thin toward the tundra of the far north. The Pechora gathers tributaries from the Ural slopes and flows north across a broad lowland to the Arctic sea. At its lower reaches, Pustozersk was founded in 1499 as a Russian fortress and administrative outpost. Between the river and the northern uplands lie forests, marshes and countless small streams, a landscape crossed by people long before the outpost was built.