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In OTL, Siberia, except for a few regions, is a barren wasteland with a small village every 50-100 kilometers. What would lead to Siberia and the northeastern part of Europe being populated as dense as Europe?

Note: It is my Medwedian timeline. Humans are replaced by humanoid bears. Medwedia is a country which takes up the northern part of Russia, spanning from Nordkap to Alaska. I wish that both the Medwedian (northern) and Russian (southern) parts of Siberia are densely populated.

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    $\begingroup$ Are you, in effect, asking what could cause a more dense population of wildlife in Siberia? $\endgroup$
    – user
    Nov 16, 2015 at 15:39
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    $\begingroup$ A prerequisite is to have enough food for the population. It's not a "bread basket" climate. So what do they eat? $\endgroup$
    – JDługosz
    Nov 16, 2015 at 16:06

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Climate change is the obvious answer in this scenario but I think Siberia is a bit more diverse than you imagine. Check out this map. The darker green, which makes up the bulk of Siberia is Taiga, and the lighter green above is Tundra.

enter image description here

When most people think of Siberia they think of the Tundra which agreed, is a miserable place. Its cold and swampy and yeah...super awesome place to hang out.

In reality, while the Taiga gets cold, it covers vast swaths of the globe. Canada, Alaska, the Nordic countries and Siberia are all in large part Taiga.

Its a nice forested area in the summer time.

So to increase the population either A: You increase the technology in the area to make it more comfortable in winter or B: You warm up the planet, which conveniently we already have a head start on.

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  • $\begingroup$ Or it could be that the bear beople actually like the siberian climate, in which case a simple population increase among them would lead to the same effect. Now all we need is a reason for the population increase. $\endgroup$
    – Burki
    Nov 16, 2015 at 16:28
  • $\begingroup$ @Burki Sure. But that is not included as a stipulation in the question $\endgroup$
    – James
    Nov 16, 2015 at 16:48
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I think you need to add more requirements to qualify your question. As it stands some answers might be:

1) The bears simply like it there, as the climate does not bother them.

2) There is some highly profitable reason why communities might spring up there. For example: The bear populations of the world are tapping too many food sources. Deer/sheep/cattle is running scarce. These particular bears moved up north and started raising some other cold hardy animal which only thrives up there, and now have a reliable food source that they do not have to share.

3) Living up there for a few years during a certain time of their lives is a rite of passage within their culture. Thus all "teenagers" go there for 2 years when they reach "X" yeas old. The population there is always transient.

4) A great enemy has driven the bears into the cold north, where these other creatures cannot survive.

5) These particular bears are outcasts of bear society, and have simply adapted to the cold. Their community ended up thriving, and becoming quite powerful, which was a surprise to the "civilized" bears. (Think Australia)

Do you see where I'm going with this?

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