Download Regions and Landscapes - Russia

Regions and Landscapes
Information
Russia’s Land Size
HUGE
• ~5000 miles across
• 6.5 million miles2 (U.S. = 3.6)
– 1/9 Earth’s land
• 10 time zones
• 150 million people (U.S. = 300 million)
• Only 50 miles from U.S.
Regional Landforms
• Plains are dominant
– Northern European Plain
• Eastern Europe and western Russia
• Large farming area; fertile soil, 75% of region’s
population
– Western Siberian Lowland (Plain) = marshes,
wet
– Central Siberian Plateau = mineral deposits
– Steppe plains and deserts in Central Asia
– Below sea level around Caspian Sea
• Mountains: divide and border the region
– Ural Mountains divide Europe and Asia
– Caucasus Mountains are very rugged; isolate
people
– Central Asian mountains (Tian Shan and
Paimirs) are pretty rugged as well
– Pacific coast = lots of large mountains
• Rivers
– Volga: 2,293 miles = Europe’s longest
– Most Russian rivers run S  N
• Problem: mouths frozen most of the year
– Creates floods as water backs up
– Use icebreakers to free up channels
• Only western ice-free Russian ports are St.
Petersburg, Murmansk and the little part between
Poland and Lithuania (Kaliningrad)
– Central Asia’s rivers flow from mountains to
interior
• Into the Caspian and Aral Seas
• Bering Strait
– About 58 miles across
– Freezes in winter
US Coast Guard icebreaker
Russian icebreaker
Regional Climates
• Weather similar to Canada and Alaska
– Summers can be mild
– Winters = long, cold
• Shorter days the further north you are
– Siberia is harshest
• - 40° F; Winter = habitation fogs (pollution)
• Subarctic and Tundra in northern Siberia
– Permafrost (up to 300 feet deep)
•
•
•
•
Humid continental in European part (NYC, Chicago)
Steppe along Russia’s southern border
Steppe and desert in Central Asia
Mediterranean / Highland in Caucasus