Russia Vocabulary Terms

1. Europe When does it stop being Asia and start being Europe?

Russia is a Eurasian country: it’s in Europe and Asia.

Ural Mountains Ural River Caspian Sea Black Sea

1. Europe: the huge peninsula west of the Ural Mountains

2. tundra Tundra is most like a desert, with average precipitation only about six to ten inches, mostly snow.

winter summer reindeer

2. Tundra: treeless plains with snow & ice (except during short summer) While most tundra is at high latitudes, there is also some tundra at high elevations.

3. permafrost The permafrost in Russia can go down as deep as 1,968 feet.

There is permafrost under tundra. So the only vegetation is moss, grass, and small plants - in the short summers.

3. permafrost: soil at or below freezing for at least 2 years It was discovered in 2007 and “lives” in a museum in Russia. This 42,000 year old baby mammoth was preserved in Russia’s permafrost.

4. taiga / boreal forest How is the location of taiga different than the location of tundra?

Northern Russia Southeast Oklahoma content/uploads/gallery_photo-11.jpg Boreal means “northern.” Taiga is the Russian word for “forest.” But taigas look different than Oklahoma forests.

4. taiga / boreal forest: cold evergreen forest near the Arctic Circle You can tell when taiga is getting closer to tundra. The permafrost makes it harder for many trees to grow.

5. steppe davidderrick.wordpress.com NO, not THIS kind of step!!

The largest steppe regions in the world are in southern Russia. Steppes don’t get enough rain to have many trees

5. steppe: semi-arid grasslands in Asia For some reason, only Asian grasslands are called steppes. Well that’s just weird.

6. vegetation: plant life the tundra,The taiga, and the steppe all have different types of vegetation.

7. woodlands: forest National%20Forest,%20Colorado.html

8. inland sea Aral Sea Caspian Sea Black Sea

8. inland sea: huge salty lake ttp://

9. czar From 1613 to 1917 (before the communist revolution), Russia’s 18 rulers were called czars. Catherine II the Great debate/files/2014/03/catherine1.jpg Peter the Great Nicholas I ovs/Nicolay1.jpg

Russian czars were basically kings that ruled as dictators. When a czar died, his son became the new czar

9. czar: Russia’s historic “king” Czar Nicholas II was the last Czar of Russia. He and his family were shot in 1918 as part of Russia’s communist revolution.

10. Cold War: U.S. v. Soviet Union, 50 years w/threats to use nuclear weapons

11. arms race No, no, NO! Not THAT kind of arms!!!!!

What “arms race” is this cartoon about? A NEW KIND OF ARMS RACE

11. arms race: competition between countries to have the best and most weapons

12. currency Russia’s currency is the ruble.

12. currency: money