Roughly 100km north of the Arctic Circle in the northern limits of Central Siberia, Russia, is a sprawling mass of isolated mountains, deep canyons and icy lakes. This remarkable landscape, almost completely untouched by humans, is known as the Putorana Plateau.
The Putorana Plateau is renowned for its precious Arctic and subarctic biomes, including forest tundra, Arctic desert systems and pristine taiga (coniferous forests).
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The enormous plateau, which spans 250,000km2 – that's roughly the same size as the United Kingdom or the US state of Oregon – has no roads and is only accessible to humans by helicopter or boat. Such isolation makes it a refuge for wild animals.
Wolves, moose, brown bears, bighorn sheep and wolverines can be found within the mountain range, along with one of the world’s largest reindeer herds, which migrates across the Putorana Plateau every year.
Within the Putorana Plateau there is an 18,872km2 State Nature Reserve, which, in 2010, was designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
In pictures: Putorana Plateau
These images capture the remoteness and beauty of the Putorana Plateau in Central Siberia.
Top image credit: anouchka/Getty Images
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