Submitted Name
Type Region
Pronounced Pron. sie-BEE-ri-ə(English) sie-BI-ree-ə(English) see-BEHR-ya(Italian) see-BEH-ree-a(Romanian) see-BEH-rya(Spanish) [key·IPA]
Other Forms FormsSibir
[Meaning & History
Meaning uncertain. One theory suggests its derivation from Siberian Tatar Sib Ir meaning "sleeping land", while another suggests an origin from the ethonym Sirtya, Syopyr, an ethnic group which spoke a language that evolved into the Ugric languages. A third states that the name is derived from a Proto-Slavic word for "north" (север (sever) in Russian), but this theory has been denounced by other scholars. In addition, it might have originated from the elements su "water" and bir "wild land". Siberia is a geographical region in North Asia, today a part of RUSSIA.