The major Siberian city of Barnaul is the dark patch on a sharp bend in the Ob River (right margin). Barnaul is a major industrial and cultural center, but began as one of Russia?s most famous two mining cities, having supplied hundreds of tons of silver to the imperial coffers since the mid 1700s. Barnaul lies 200 km south of Novosibirsk, one of the most important cities on the Trans-Siberian railroad.
