Geography

 How has Russia’s harsh climate come to its aid?  Name two reasons for the building of the Trans-Siberian Railroad.  Why was this project such a massive undertaking?

 Region of Russia and the Republics is approximately 3 times the size of the U.S.  Crosses 11 time zones  Divided into 4 different areas

 Stretches from western border to Ural Mts.  Chernozem (one of most fertile soils) is abundant here  75% of the region’s population live here  Three of the largest cities here: Moscow, St. Petersburg, Kiev

 Ural Mts: dividing line between Europe and Asia  Rivers here flow north toward Arctic Ocean

 Uplands and mountains dominate the Central Siberian Plateau  Russian Far East has many active volcanoes  Sakhalin and Kuril islands were seized from Japan after WWII

 Caucasus Mts. separate the Black and Caspian Seas and also separate Russia from Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Georgia  The Tian Shan mountains contribute to the arid climate of Central Asia

 The Volga River is the longest river in Europe  Two largest lakes: Caspian Sea and Aral Sea (both are saltwater lakes)  Aral Sea is on the verge of drying up  Lake Baikal is the deepest lake in the world (contains the world’s only freshwater seal)

 Difficult to manage resources because of transportation issues from harsh and distant regions, and using the resources without damaging the environment  Abundant resources: coal, iron ore, oil, natural gas, timber  Many resources are located in Siberia

 Temp. as low as -95 degrees F (approx. -70 C)  These cold temp. can crack steel and cause tires to explode  When you exhale, your breath freezes and falls to the ground in crystals  Siberians call this “the whispering of the stars”

 Water from rivers that empty into Aral Sea were used to irrigate land  Pesticides and fertilizers have caused many diseases such as throat cancer  Child mortality among highest in world