RUSSIA

Facts… With a land area of 6.5 million sq. miles, Russia is the largest country in the world Population estimates – 148 million people Russia is one of the most sparsely populated countries in the world The population is predominantly urban Russia is so large, that the climate varies greatly throughout the country Russia has 11 time zones

Homework - Russia Read pages 415 to 418 Write out answers to questions 2, 4, and 5 on page 418. Know key terms Taiga, steppe, chernozem, medved, Caspian Sea, Vladivostok

Location Russia is bounded by the Arctic and Pacific Oceans Ural mountains divide Eurasian continent – and Russia - to Europe and Asia (78% live west of Urals) Boundaries with 13 countries

Weather Central Russia has a continental climate Summers are hot and short, while the winters are cold and long. A Russian winter is famous for its frigid temperatures. Much of Russia is covered by snow six months of year. It has to be lived through to be really appreciated. Winter starts in October and continues through March (November-January are the darkest months) - Interesting fact: Russia’s most southern port, Novorossiysk is on the same latitude as Minneapolis.

(very) Brief History Summary 862 – founding of Kievan Rus by Viking Rurik, the birth of what became the Russian state Mid-13 th century – Mongol Horde invasion 1480 – Moscow liberated from Tatar (Mongol) yoke 1613 – Rurik dynasty ended, Romanov dynasty begins (ends 1917) 1812 – Napoleon failed in his attempt to conquer Russia (after occupying Moscow)

History Summary, cont’d. October 1917 – Bolsheviks seized control (led by Lenin) 1922 – USSR established – WWII (Great Patriotic War), Russia loses 1/6 of its population (~ 30,000,000) Stalin’s purges – an additional 20 to 40 mln 1985 – Gorbachev introduced political and economical reforms 1991 – USSR is formally dissolved, Yeltsin became the new president; CIS is formed 2000 – Putin is elected president of Russia

RELIGIOUS GROUPS 55% 18% 10%7% 5%

MAJOR GEOGRAPHIC QUALITIES IMMENSE TERRITORIAL STATE NORTHERNMOST LARGE AND POPULOUS COUNTRY IN THE WORLD A FORMER WORLD COLONIAL POWER A COMPARITIVELY SMALL (<150 MILLION) AND CONCENTRATED POPULATION (Japan 128 million) CONCENTRATED DEVELOPMENT MULTICULTURAL STATE MINIMAL PORTS

RUSSIA-US SIZE COMPARISON

SIZE, LOCATION AND SPACE RELATIONSHIPS LATITUDINAL EXTENT Northernmost point: Rudolf Island in Franz Joseph Land (82 o ) Southernmost point: Grozny in west and Vladivostok in east (44 o ) Monmouth is o N LONGITUDINAL EXTENT More than twice its maximum north-south extent and extends through 11 time zones Russia makes up 76.6% of the total territory of the former USSR

REGIONS OF THE RUSSIAN REALM

EARLY 16 TH CENTURY (IVAN THE TERRIBLE )

END OF THE 17 TH CENTURY (PETER THE GREAT )

EARLY 20 TH CENTURY

GROWTH OF THE RUSSIAN EMPIRE

GROWTH OF THE RUSSIAN EMPIRE

FORWARD CAPITAL Capital city positioned in actually or potentially contested territory, usually near an international border, confirms the state’s determination to maintain its presence in the region

CLIMATOLOGY CLIMATE AVERAGE WEATHER CONDITIONS FOR A GIVEN AREA OVER AN EXTENDED PERIOD OF TIME WEATHER REFERS TO THE ATMOSPHERIC CONDITIONS AT A SPECIFIC PLACE AND TIME CLIMATOLOGY A BRANCH OF PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY CONCERNED WITH: SPATIAL ARRANGEMENT OF CLIMATE OVER THE SURFACE OF THE EARH PROCESSES WHICH CONTRIBUTE TO THE DISTRIBUTION

RUSSIAN CLIMATE Affected by 3 natural conditions: -- Latitudinal Position -- Continental Position -- Location of major mountains

CLIMATE

Vegetation... terms Tundra Treeless plain along the Arctic Moss, lichen, grass Taiga Coniferous forests south of the Tundra, extending over Siberia (“sleeping land”) Steppe Like our Prairie semi-arid grasslands with short grasses that are found in dry areas that have hot summers and cold winters

CLIMATE AS A RESTRICTIVE ELEMENT AGRICULTURE Short growing seasons Drought prone Erosion (accelerated via snow melt) SETTLEMENT PATTERNS & TRANSPORTATION INDUSTRY High energy consumption Specialized equipment and facilities Extractive permafrost spring and fall mud special equipment and facilities - $$$

AGRICULTURAL PATTERNS

SETTLEMENT / TRANSPORTATION PATTERNS

RUSSIA’S PHYSIOGRAPHIC REGIONS

PHYSIOGRAPHIC REGIONS RUSSIAN PLAIN EASTWARD CONTINUATION OF NORTH EUROPEAN LOWLAND CORE AREA (MOSCOW BASIN) URAL MOUNTAINS 2,000 MILES LONG (NORTH-SOUTH) YIELD A VARIETY OF MINERALS WEST SIBERIAN PLAIN WORLD’S LARGEST UNBROKEN LOWLANDS PERMAFROST

RUSSIAN PLAIN

THE URAL MOUNTAINS The north-south length covers 2500 kms. The highest points are in the Northern Urals-2000 meters in places. The Central Urals are the lowest section and include several key crossing places. The Southern Urals are wider and consist of a number of parallel north-south ridges and intervening valleys. Ural forests and minerals have been the basis for industrialization and boast at least twenty different commercially usable minerals.

WEST SIBERIAN PLAIN The world’s largest unbroken lowland Includes the Ob and Irtysh River Basin Permafrost Major Cities: Omsk Novosibirsk

PHYSIOGRAPHIC REGIONS (continued) CENTRAL SIBERIAN PLATEAU SPARSELY POPULATED, TEMPERATURE EXTREMES, PERMAFROST YAKUTSK BASIN MOUNTAINOUS, HIGH RELIEF EASTERN HIGHLANDS RANGES, RIDGES, PRECIPITOUS VALLEYS, VOLCANIC MOUNTAINS, LAKE BAYKAL CENTRAL ASIAN RANGES RISE ABOVE THE SNOW LINE, GLACIATED CAUCASUS MOUNTAINS EXTENSIONS OF THE ALPINES

CENTRAL SIBERIAN PLATEAU Sparsely settled Inaccessible Restrictive climate Permafrost Natural resources

MANUFACTURING REGIONS

RUSSIA’S ECONOMIC/MANUFACTURING ZONES (EASTERN FRONTIER)

VAST CHALLENGING UNTAPPED

SIBERIA LARGER THAN THE CONTINENTAL US, BUT...LESS THAN 15 MILLION PEOPLE CHALLENGING ENVIRONMENT VAST DISTANCES COLD TEMPERATURES ARCTIC WINDS POOR SOILS RESOURCE POTENTIAL PRECIOUS MINERALS METALLIC ORES OIL AND NATURAL GAS TIMBER

EASTERN HIGHLANDS

FAR EAST

RUSSIAN FAR EAST TRANSPORTATION LINKS

MANUFACTURING REGIONS

RUSSIA’S ECONOMIC/MANUFACTURING ZONES (FAR EAST)

OIL AND GAS REGIONS

CENTRAL ASIAN RANGES

CAUCASUS MOUNTAINS

TRANSCAUCASIA Azerbaijan Armenia Georgia

FUEL RESOURCES

TRANSPORTATION LINKS

TRANSPORTATION Rail Trans-Siberian Railroad (Baltic to Pacific) Baikal-Amur Line BAM railway line links central Siberian Russia with the Pacific. The BAM parallels the Trans-Siberian Railway but passes north rather than south of Lake Baikal. It is 1,928 miles (3,102 km) long, with 1,987 bridges. Its eastern terminus is Sovetskaya Gavan on the Tatar Strait.Trans-Siberian Railway Inland Waterways Under-used, problematic flow and orientation Marine Links Baltic, Black, and Caspian Far East and Northern Sea

MANUFACTURING REGIONS

RUSSIA’S ECONOMIC/MANUFACTURING ZONES (RUSSIAN CORE)

MOSCOW ST PETERSBURG

How geographic facts influence policies Pivot Area MACKINDER’S WORLD

Heartland Who rules East Europe commands the Heartland; who rules the Heartland commands the World Island; who rules the World Island commands the World. HEARTLAND THEORY

Heartland Land Rim SPYKMAN’S RIMLAND Who controls the Rimland rules Eurasia; who rules Eurasia controls the destinies of the world.

Russia - Homework Read pages 427 to 431 Answer questions 4, 5, and 6 on Page 431 Understand these concepts/names. Life expectancy, privatization, inflation, Chechnya, Caucasus Region, Orthodox, ethnic turmoil, Slavic people, St. Petersburg

Russia - Homework difference/Communism _vs_Socialism

POLITICAL FRAMEWORK SOVIET LEGACY Revolution ( ) Bolsheviks (majority) versus Mensheviks (minority) The Red Army v. the White Army V.I. Lenin (Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov) Capital: Petrograd to Moscow (1918) FEDERATION/FEDERAL STRUCTURE USSR (Union of Soviet Socialist Republics) SSRs, ASSRs, Autonomous Regions RUSSIFICATION

SOVIET UNION

COMMAND ECONOMY An economy in which the means of production are owned and controlled by the state and in which central planning of the structure and the output prevails Features of the Soviet economy Production of particular manufactured goods to particular places Economic interdependence of the republics

What is socialism? How does socialism differ from communism? Can a country be democratic and socialist? Why hasn’t communism worked?

ECONOMIC FRAMEWORK CENTRALLY PLANNED (early 1920s) MAJOR OBJECTIVES Speed industrialization Collectivize agriculture

Czarism (<1917) Lenin Stalin Khruschev Brezhnev Gorbachev SOVIET LEADERS

Lenin ( ) Introduced Marxist philosophy Replaced private with public ownership (problem?) Developed national economic plans Established Soviet political structure based on ethnic identities SOVIET LEADERS

Stalin ( ) All assets nationalized (meaning?) Creation of huge centralized state machine over all aspects of Soviet life Purges of dissidents (30-60 million) Collectivized farming (sovkhoz) Concentration on heavy industry at expense of agriculture SOVIET LEADERS

Khruschev ( ) Greater emphasis on agriculture Virgin Lands Program - pastures into irrigated wheat fields Ultimately led to Aral Sea environmental disaster (What happened there?) Breshnev ( ) Height of the Cold War Military/industrial economy Economic stagnation (agriculture) SOVIET LEADERS

Gorbachev ( ) Initiated economic and political reform PERESTROIKA Restructuring Intended to produce major changes to both the economic and political system Economic aim: to catch up with western economies Political aim: reform of the Communist Party GLASNOST Policy of encouraging greater openness in both internal and external affairs SOVIET LEADERS

A sharp decline in agricultural & industrial production Economic output down by 4% in 1990 & 10-15% in first half of 1991 Intensification of ethno-cultural nationalism & separatism Unity of the Soviet Union (macro) & unity of republics (micro) threatened COLLAPSE OF THE SOVIET UNION (Conditions in 1990 & 1991)

The emergence of a “commonwealth” of Slavic countries to replace the Soviet Union Commonwealth of Independent States The resignation of President Gorbachev COLLAPSE OF THE SOVIET UNION (Conditions in 1990 & 1991)

CURRENT ORGANIZATION RUSSIAN FEDERATION (1992) 89 POLITICAL UNITS 21 REPUBLICS 11 AUTONOMOUS REGIONS 49 PROVINCES 6 TERRITORIES 2 AUTONOMOUS FEDERAL CITIES

RUSSIAN ETHNICITY