Unit 5: Russia and the Republics
Physical Geography
Landforms and Resources
Northern Landforms• This region can be broken down into 4 areas:– Northern European Plain– West Siberian Plain– Central Siberian Plateau– Russian Far East
Northern Landforms• Northern European Plain
– Lowland area– 1,000 miles from western
border to Ural Mountains– Chernozem-“black earth”,
very fertile soil– Lots of agriculture in this
area– 290 million people inhabit
this land– Big Cities: Moscow, St.
Petersburg, Kiev (Ukraine)
Northern Landforms
• West Siberian Plain– Ural Mountains
and Yenisey River– Because this area
is tilted northward, rivers flow toward Arctic Ocean
• Eurasia??
Northern Landforms
• Central Siberian Plateau and Russian Far East– Central Siberian:• Plateaus: 1,000-2,000
feet are common• Yenisey and Lena Rivers
– Russian Far East• Volcanic ranges• Kamchatka Peninsula
(120 volcanoes, 20 actives)• Sakhalin and Kuril islands
Southern Landforms
• Caucasus and Other Mountains– Black and Caspian seas– Border between Russia and
Transcaucasia• Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia
– Tian Shan is part of a huge mountainous region farther east
– Central Asia-Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan• Ranges in this area are so high,
stops moist air from reaching the areas beyond the mountains
Southern Landforms
• Turan Plain– lowland– Caspian Sea to mountains
and uplands of Central Asia– Syr Darya and Amu Darya are
the 2 major rivers of the area– Kara Kum and Kyzyl Kum
plains
Rivers and Lakes
• Drainage Basins and Rivers– Drainage Basins-area drained by a major river and
tributaries• Arctic Ocean, Caspian Sea, Pacific Ocean, Baltic Sea,
Black Sea, Aral Sea basins
– Arctic basin is the larges• Rivers: Ob, Yenisey, Lena drain 3 million sq. mi.
Rivers and Lakes
• Lakes– Caspian and Aral Seas
• Both are saltwater lakes• Caspian is largest inland sea in the world• Aral has lost about 80% of its water
volume since the 1960s due to irrigation
– Lake Baikal• Deepest lake in the world• Mile depth, 400 miles long• 20% of Earth’s freshwater• Thousands of plants and animals live in
the lake – Only species of freshwater seal lives here
Regional Resources
• Issues with managing the many resources of this region– Corruption– Environmental issues
• Coal, iron ore, other metals
• Oil and natural gas• Timber• Hydroelectric power
Regional Resources
• Harsh climates, difficult terrain, and large distances make management unstable
• Many resources are located in Siberia
• Mining, oil, natural gas production has caused severe damage to the environment
• Dams and thermal pollution have damaged plant and animal habitats
Climate and Vegetation
Varying Climates
• Major Climate Regions– Humid continental and subarctic dominate the
area– High latitude and impact of mountains– Because the land is so large, sea/ocean influence
doesn’t impact the majority of the region• Continentality
Varying Climates
• Distance from sea can impact precipitation and temperature
• Siberia: highs of 50 degrees, lows of -90 degrees– Weather impacts
life
Varying Climates
• Warmer climates do exist: southeastern areas – Semiarid and desert
• Transcaucasia: moist air from Mediterranean Sea created a subtropical climate zone. – Before ethnic cleansing
issues, resorts here were a popular tourist destination
Vegetation Regions
• Tundra– Mosses– Lichens – Low shrubs
• Forest– Taiga-largest
forest on earth, contains mostly coniferous trees
– Animals: fox, vermin, bear, elk, wolves
Vegetation Regions
• Steppe– Grassland– Southern Ukraine through
northern Kazakhstan– Fertile soil: grain
• Desert– Plains of west and central
areas of Central Asia– Kara Kum and Kyzyl Kum
Human-Environment Interaction
Shrinking Aral Sea
• Gets most of its water from Amu Darya and Syr Darya• Irrigation projects took water out of these rivers and
towards agriculture– Sea is beginning to evaporate
• Effects of Agriculture– Pesticides and fertilizers on cotton farms were picked up
by runoff and brought into streams/rivers– Killing much plant and animal life in the area– Diseases for people: cancer, respiratory issues, dysentery,
typhoid, hepatitis
“Wild East”• Traveling through Siberia was dangerous and
slow during the 19th century• Trans-Siberian RR-linked Moscow to Pacific
port of Vladivostok
“Wild East”
• Trans-Siberian RR– 5,700 mi long– 7 time zones– 1891-1903– 70,000 workers– 77 million cubic feet of
land, 100,000 acres of forest cleared
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