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RUSSIA
MAJOR GEOGRAPHIC QUALITIES
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WORLD’S LARGEST TERRITORIAL STATE
NORTHERNMOST LARGE AND POPULOUS
COUNTRY IN THE WORLD
A FORMER WORLD COLONIAL POWER
A COMPARATIVELY SMALL (142 MILLION) AND
CONCENTRATED POPULATION
CLUSTERED DEVELOPMENT
MULTICULTURAL STATE
MINIMAL PORTS
SIZE, LOCATION, AND
SPATIAL RELATIONSHIPS
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LATITUDINAL EXTENT
 NORTHERNMOST POINT: RUDOLF ISLAND IN FRANZ
JOSEF LAND (82O)
 SOUTHERNMOST POINT: GROZNYY IN WEST AND
VLADIVOSTOK IN EAST (44O)
LONGITUDINAL EXTENT
 MORE THAN TWICE ITS MAXIMUM NORTH-SOUTH
EXTENT AND EXTENDS ACROSS 11 TIME ZONES
RUSSIA MAKES UP 76.6% OF THE TOTAL TERRITORY OF
THE FORMER USSR (ALMOST TWICE THE SIZE OF THE
US OR CHINA).
LOCATIONAL IMPACT ON
RUSSIA’S CLIMATE?
80º
60º
40º
20º
CLIMATOLOGY
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CLIMATE
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WEATHER
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AVERAGE WEATHER CONDITIONS FOR A GIVEN AREA OVER AN
EXTENDED PERIOD OF TIME, USUALLY 30 YEARS.
REFERS TO THE ATMOSPHERIC CONDITIONS AT A SPECIFIC
PLACE AND TIME (TEMPORARY CONDITIONS)
CLIMATOLOGY
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A BRANCH OF PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY
CONCERNED WITH:
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SPATIAL ARRANGEMENT OF CLIMATES OVER THE
SURFACE OF THE EARH
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PROCESSES WHICH CONTRIBUTE TO THE DISTRIBUTION
OF CLIMATES
RUSSIAN CLIMATE
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AFFECTED BY 3 NATURAL
CONDITIONS:
-- LATITUDINAL POSITION
-- CONTINENTAL POSITION
-- LOCATION OF MAJOR
MOUNTAINS
CLIMATE
CLIMATE AS A RESTRICTIVE
ELEMENT
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AGRICULTURE
 SHORT GROWING SEASONS
 DROUGHT PRONE
 EROSION (ACCELERATED BY SNOW MELT)
SETTLEMENT PATTERNS & TRANSPORTATION, see
map on pg 126
INDUSTRY
 HIGH ENERGY CONSUMPTION
 EXTRACTIVE
 PERMAFROST IN FAR NORTH
 SPRING AND FALL MUD
 SPECIALIZED EQUIPMENT AND FACILITIES - $$$
EARLY 16TH CENTURY
(IVAN THE TERRIBLE- 1547-1584)
EVOLUTION OF
THE CURRENT STATE
END OF THE 17TH CENTURY
(PETER THE GREAT- 1682-1725)
EVOLUTION OF
THE CURRENT STATE
EARLY
TH
20
CENTURY
EVOLUTION OF
THE CURRENT STATE
GROWTH OF THE RUSSIAN EMPIRE
REGIONS OF THE RUSSIAN REALM
PHYSIOGRAPHIC REGIONS
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RUSSIAN PLAIN
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URAL MOUNTAINS
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EASTWARD CONTINUATION OF NORTH
EUROPEAN LOWLAND
CORE AREA (MOSCOW BASIN)
2,000 MILES LONG (NORTH-SOUTH)
YIELD A VARIETY OF MINERALS
WEST SIBERIAN PLAIN
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WORLD’S LARGEST UNBROKEN LOWLAND
PERMAFROST IN THE FAR NORTH
RUSSIA’S PHYSIOGRAPHIC REGIONS
PHYSIOGRAPHIC REGIONS
(continued)
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CENTRAL SIBERIAN PLATEAU
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YAKUTSK BASIN
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RANGES, RIDGES, PRECIPITOUS VALLEYS,
VOLCANIC MOUNTAINS, LAKE BAYKAL
CENTRAL ASIAN RANGES
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MOUNTAINOUS, HIGH RELIEF
EASTERN HIGHLANDS
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SPARSELY POPULATED, TEMPERATURE
EXTREMES, PERMAFROST
RISE ABOVE THE SNOW LINE, GLACIATED
CAUCASUS MOUNTAINS
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EXTENSION OF THE ALPINE SYSTEM
POLITICAL FRAMEWORK
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SOVIET LEGACY
 REVOLUTION (1905-1917); Read caption, pg 119 and pg
111.
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V.I. LENIN
 CAPITAL: PETROGRAD TO MOSCOW (1918)
 USSR (UNION OF SOVIET SOCIALIST REPUBLICS) 1924
-1991; consisting of 15 states.
RUSSIFICATION – spread of Russian culture and
population. Including the replacement of ethnic peoples with
Russians, esp. in non-Russian republics.
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BOLSHEVIKS VERSUS MENSHEVIKS
FORMER SOVIET UNION
ECONOMIC FRAMEWORK
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CENTRALLY PLANNED (EARLY 1920s)
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MAJOR OBJECTIVES
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COLLECTIVIZE AGRICULTURE
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SPEED INDUSTRIALIZATION
A COMMAND ECONOMY IS ONE IN WHICH THE MEANS OF
PRODUCTION ARE OWNED AND CONTROLLED BY THE STATE AND IN
WHICH CENTRAL PLANNING OF THE STRUCTURE AND THE
OUTPUT PREVAILS
FEATURES OF THE SOVIET ECONOMY
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PRODUCTION OF PARTICULAR MANUFACTURED GOODS IN
PARTICULAR PLACES
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ECONOMIC INTERDEPENDENCE OF THE REPUBLICS
SOVIET LEADERS
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CZARIST MONARCHY
(<1917)
LENIN
STALIN
KRUSHCHEV
BREZHNEV
GORBACHEV
SOVIET LEADERS
LENIN (1917 - 1924)
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INTRODUCED MARXIST PHILOSOPHY
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REPLACED PRIVATE WITH PUBLIC OWNERSHIP
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DEVELOPED NATIONAL ECONOMIC PLANS
SOVIET LEADERS
STALIN (1924 - 1953)
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ALL ASSETS NATIONALIZED
CREATION OF HUGE CENTRALIZED STATE TO CONTROL
ALL ASPECTS OF SOVIET LIFE
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PURGES OF DISSIDENTS
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COLLECTIVIZED FARMING – took land away from farmers
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CONCENTRATION ON HEAVY INDUSTRY AT EXPENSE OF
AGRICULTURE
SOVIET LEADERS
KRUSHCHEV (1953 - 1964)
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GREATER EMPHASIS ON AGRICULTURE
VIRGIN LANDS PROGRAM – SEMIARID PASTURES INTO
IRRIGATED WHEAT FIELDS
ULTIMATELY LED TO ARAL SEA ENVIRONMENTAL
DISASTER (pg 394 & next slide).
Aral Sea Disaster
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See pg 373
SOVIET LEADERS
BREZHNEV (1964 - 1982)
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HEIGHT OF THE COLD WAR
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MILITARY/INDUSTRIAL ECONOMY
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ECONOMIC STAGNATION (esp. AGRICULTURE)
SOVIET LEADERS
MIKHAIL GORBACHEV (1985 - 1991)
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INITIATED ECONOMIC AND POLITICAL REFORM
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PERESTROIKA
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RESTRUCTURING
INTENDED TO PRODUCE MAJOR CHANGES TO BOTH
THE ECONOMIC AND POLITICAL SYSTEM
ECONOMIC AIM: TO CATCH UP WITH WESTERN
ECONOMIES
POLITICAL AIM: REFORM OF THE COMMUNIST
PARTY
GLASNOST
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POLICY OF ENCOURAGING GREATER OPENNESS IN
BOTH INTERNAL AND EXTERNAL AFFAIRS
COLLAPSE OF THE SOVIET UNION
(CONDITIONS IN 1990 & 1991)
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A SHARP DECLINE IN AGRICULTURAL & INDUSTRIAL
PRODUCTION
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ECONOMIC OUTPUT DOWN BY 4% IN 1990 &
10-15% IN FIRST HALF OF 1991
INTENSIFICATION OF ETHNO-CULTURAL NATIONALISM
& SEPARATISM, WHICH THREATENED THE UNITY OF
THE SOVIET UNION.
STEADY EROSION OF COMMUNIST PARTY MONOPOLY
ON POWER
COLLAPSE OF THE SOVIET UNION
(CONDITIONS IN 1990 & 1991)
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LEAD TO THE EMERGENCE OF A “COMMONWEALTH” OF
SLAVIC COUNTRIES TO REPLACE THE SOVIET UNION
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COMMONWEALTH OF INDEPENDENT STATES
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THE RESIGNATION OF PRESIDENT GORBACHEV
RUSSIA’S CURRENT ADMINISTRATIVE DIVISIONS
RUSSIAN ETHNICITY
CHECHNYA
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WHY CHECHNYA DESERVES INDEPENDENCE
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SEE REGION ON pg 128 and pg 141
FOUGHT AGAINST THE RUSSIAN IMPERIALISTS TWO
CENTURIES AGO
MASSIVE PERSECUTION DURING STALIN’S REIGN
1991 DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE
POINTS IN SUPPORT OF RUSSIAN CONTROL
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FIGHTING AFTER INDEPENDENCE WAS DECLARED IN
1991
CHECHENS ILLEGALLY INSTALLED A SEPARATIST
LEADER
ATTACKS ON RUSSIANS & CHECHEN TERRORISM
RUSSIA’S PROSPECTS
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SOCIO-ECONOMIC AND POLITICAL ISSUES
 INDUSTRIAL RESOURCES/ MANUFACTURING
CAPACITY
 TRANSPORTATION INFRASTRUCTURE
 DECLINING POPULATION
 INTERNAL FRICTION
RUSSIA’S MANUFACTURING REGIONS
(RUSSIAN CORE)
OIL AND GAS REGIONS
SIBERIA
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LARGER THAN THE CONTINENTAL U.S., BUT
LESS THAN 15 MILLION PEOPLE
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VAST, CHALLENGING, UNTAPPED
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CHALLENGING ENVIRONMENT
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VAST DISTANCES
COLD TEMPERATURES, ARCTIC WINDS
POOR SOILS
RESOURCE POTENTIAL
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OIL AND NATURAL GAS
METALLIC ORES
TIMBER
ST PETERSBURG (LENINGRAD)