SIBERIAN OIL BOOM IN NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE

Russia has experienced a staggering transformation since the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991; in less than 20 years, a society once isolated and choked by a stagnant communist economy is now experiencing unprecedented wealth. The country’s reemergence as a global power is mostly due to vast natural resources in gas and oil found predominantly in western Siberia – an estimated 7 million barrels a day worth. On assignment for National Geographic Magazine, Gerd Ludwig explored Siberia’s once cold and foreboding Khanty-Mansyisk region to document the social, economic, and ecological effects of the oil boom and the area’s warp speed shift into the fast lane.

For more information go to: http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2008/06/siberian-oil/ludwig-photography