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The majority of Gulag camps were positioned in extremely remote areas of north-eastern Siberia (the best known clusters are ''Sevvostlag'' (''The North-East Camps'') along [[Kolyma]] river and ''Norillag'' near [[Norilsk]]) and in the south-eastern parts of the Soviet Union, mainly in the [[steppe]]s of [[Kazakhstan]] (''Luglag'', ''Steplag'', ''Peschanlag''). These were vast and uninhabited regions with no roads (in fact, the construction of the roads themselves was assigned to the inmates of specialized railroad camps) or sources of food, but rich in minerals and other natural resources (such as timber). However, camps were generally spread throughout the entire [[Soviet Union]], including the European parts of [[Russia]], [[Belarus]], and the [[Ukraine]]. There were also several camps located outside of the Soviet Union, in [[Czechoslovakia]], [[Hungary]], [[Poland]] and [[Mongolia (country)|Mongolia]], which were under the direct control of the Gulag.
Not all camps were fortified; in fact some in Siberia were marked only by posts. Escape was deterred by the harsh elements, as well as tracking dogs that were assigned to each camp. While during the 1920s and 1930s native tribes often aided escapees, many of the tribes were victimized by escaped thieves. Tantalized by large rewards as well, they began aiding authorities in the capture of Gulag inmates. Camp guards were also given stern incentive to keep their inmates in line at all costs; if a prisoner escaped under a guard's watch, the guard would often be stripped of his uniform and become a Gulag inmate himself.
In some cases, teams of inmates were dropped to a new territory with a limited supply of resources and left to initiate a new camp or die. Sometimes it took a few attempts before the next wave of colonists could survive the elements.
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