Russia

Landforms• Russia largest

country in the World• 1/8th of the earth's

surface (6.5 million sq. miles)

• Eurasia – Landmass of Europe and Asia together

What’s the dividing line?

Ural MountainsWest – EuropeEast - Asia

Ural Mountains

Regions

• West – Flat plain, part of Northern European Plain (most population)

• Urals – Rolling Hills, limited obstacle for travel

• East – Volga River Basin, Siberia

• Southwest – Aral Sea (Drying lake)

• Southeast – Lake Baikal = world’s deepest lake

Disappearing Aral Sea

Lake Baikal, deepest lake in world

Pollution has killed off wildlife here, including fresh water seals

Climate

• Humid Continental – West• Sub-Arctic – East• Tundra – North• Steppe – Semiarid – Southeast • Desert – Arid – Southwest (Central Asia)

• Siberia – Extremely cold, dry (little rainfall)• Arctic Northern Shores - Freeze

Vegetation

Far North - Tundra – Low Shrubs, mosses

Sub-arctic - Taiga – Forest of Evergreen trees

Humid Continental – Mixed Forests

Steppe - Rich Soil – Grasses, shrubs

Little RAINFALL

Taiga - Sub-Arctic - Boreal Forest

TAIGA

Russian Steppe

Central Asian landscape

Siberia Wintertime

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/de/Map_Trans-Siberian_railway.png

Trans-Siberian Railroad

History of the RailwayRussia's longstanding desire for a Pacific port was realized with the foundation of Vladivostok in 1860. By 1880, Vladivostok had grown into a major port city, and the lack of adequate transportation links between European Russia and its Far Eastern provinces soon became an obvious problem.

In 1891, Czar Alexander III drew up plans for the Trans-Siberian Railway and initiated its construction. Upon his death three years later, the work was continued by his son Nicholas. Despite the enormity of the project, a continuous route was completed in 1905. It successfully opened the far eastern parts of Russia to the world!

Why was it built?

Longest railroad in the world!

• The marker for kilometer 9,288, at the end of the line in Vladivostok