Jun 14, 2021
Siberia
region in northern Asia, the name said to come from Sibir, ancient Tatar fortress at the confluence of the Tobol and Irtysh rivers.
some sources say that "Siberia" originates from the Siberian Tatar word for "sleeping land" (Sib Ir)
another account sees the name as the ancient tribal ethnonym of the Sirtya (also "Syopyr"), an ethnic group which spoke a Paleosiberian language
a further variant claims that the region was named after the Xibe people
Anatole Baikaloff suggests that the name might be a combination of two words with Turkic origin, "su" (water) and "bir" (wild land)