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RUSSIA

RUSSIA. Facts…. With a land area of 6.5 million sq. miles, Russia is the largest country in the world Population estimates – 148 million people Russia is one of the most sparsely populated countries in the world The population is predominantly urban

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RUSSIA

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  1. RUSSIA

  2. Facts… • With a land area of 6.5 million sq. miles, Russia is the largest country in the world • Population estimates – 148 million people • Russia is one of the most sparsely populated countries in the world • The population is predominantly urban • Russia is so large, that the climate varies greatly throughout the country • Russia has 11 time zones

  3. Location • Russia is bounded by the Arctic and Pacific Oceans • Ural mountains divide Eurasian continent – and Russia - to Europe and Asia (78% live west of Urals) • Boundaries with 13 countries

  4. Weather • Central Russia has a continental climate • Summers are hot and short, while the winters are cold and long. • A Russian winter is famous for its frigid temperatures. • Much of Russia is covered by snow six months of year. • It has to be lived through to be really appreciated.  Winter starts in October and continues through March (November-January are the darkest months) - Interesting fact: Russia’s most southern port, Novorossiysk is on the same latitude as Minneapolis.

  5. (very) Brief History Summary • 862 – founding of Kievan Rus by Viking Rurik, the birth of what became the Russian state • Mid-13th century – Mongol Horde invasion • 1480 – Moscow liberated from Tatar (Mongol) yoke • 1613 – Rurik dynasty ended, Romanov dynasty begins (ends 1917) • 1812 – Napoleon failed in his attempt to conquer Russia (after occupying Moscow)

  6. History Summary, cont’d. • October 1917 – Bolsheviks seized control (led by Lenin) • 1922 – USSR established • 1941-1945 – WWII (Great Patriotic War), Russia loses 1/6 of its population (~ 30 mln) • Stalin’s purges – an additional 20 to 40 mln • 1985 – Gorbachev introduced political and economical reforms • 1991 – USSR is formally dissolved, Yeltsin became the new president; CIS is formed • 2000 – Putin is elected president of Russia

  7. Kazan • Kazan is the capital of a republic that occupies the area between the Volga and the Ural Mountains • The recent findings showed that Kazan is no younger than 1000 years old! • The population of Kazan is ~1.2 million (~50% are Russian Orthodox, 50% are Muslim)

  8. MAJOR GEOGRAPHIC QUALITIES • IMMENSE TERRITORIAL STATE • NORTHERNMOST LARGE AND POPULOUS COUNTRY IN THE WORLD • A FORMER WORLD COLONIAL POWER • A COMPARITIVELY SMALL (<150 MILLION) AND CONCENTRATED POPULATION • CONCENTRATED DEVELOPMENT • MULTICULTURAL STATE • MINIMAL PORTS

  9. RUSSIA-US SIZE COMPARISON

  10. SIZE, LOCATION AND SPACE RELATIONSHIPS • LATITUDINAL EXTENT • Northernmost point: Rudolf Island in Franz Joseph Land (82o) • Southernmost point: Grozny in west and Vladivostok in east (44o) • Monmouth is 44.7727oN • LONGITUDINAL EXTENT • More than twice its maximum north-south extent and extends through 11 time zones • Russia makes up 76.6% of the total territory of the former USSR

  11. REGIONS OF THE RUSSIAN REALM

  12. EARLY 16TH CENTURY(IVAN THE TERRIBLE- 1547-1584)

  13. END OF THE 17TH CENTURY(PETER THE GREAT- 1682-1725)

  14. EARLY 20TH CENTURY

  15. GROWTH OF THE RUSSIAN EMPIRE

  16. GROWTH OF THE RUSSIAN EMPIRE

  17. FORWARD CAPITAL Capital city positioned in actually or potentially contested territory, usually near an international border, confirms the state’s determination to maintain its presence in the region

  18. CLIMATOLOGY • CLIMATE • AVERAGE WEATHER CONDITIONS FOR A GIVEN AREA OVER AN EXTENDED PERIOD OF TIME • WEATHER • REFERS TO THE ATMOSPHERIC CONDITIONS AT A SPECIFIC PLACE AND TIME • CLIMATOLOGY • A BRANCH OF PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY • CONCERNED WITH: • SPATIAL ARRANGEMENT OF CLIMATE OVER THE SURFACE OF THE EARH • PROCESSES WHICH CONTRIBUTE TO THE DISTRIBUTION

  19. RUSSIAN CLIMATE • Affected by 3 natural conditions: -- Latitudinal Position -- Continental Position -- Location of major mountains

  20. CLIMATE

  21. VEGETATION

  22. Vegetation ... terms • Tundra • Treeless plain along the Arctic • Moss, lichen, grass • Taiga • Coniferous forests south of the Tundra, extending over Siberia (“sleeping land”) • Steppe • Like our Prairie • semi-arid grasslands with short grasses that are found in dry areas that have hot summers and cold winters

  23. CLIMATE AS A RESTRICTIVE ELEMENT • AGRICULTURE • Short growing seasons • Drought prone • Erosion (accelerated via snow melt) • SETTLEMENT PATTERNS & TRANSPORTATION • INDUSTRY • High energy consumption • Specialized equipment and facilities • Extractive • permafrost • spring and fall mud • special equipment and facilities - $$$

  24. AGRICULTURAL PATTERNS

  25. SETTLEMENT / TRANSPORTATION PATTERNS

  26. RUSSIA’S PHYSIOGRAPHIC REGIONS

  27. PHYSIOGRAPHIC REGIONS • RUSSIAN PLAIN • EASTWARD CONTINUATION OF NORTH EUROPEAN LOWLAND • CORE AREA (MOSCOW BASIN) • URAL MOUNTAINS • 2,000 MILES LONG (NORTH-SOUTH) • YIELD A VARIETY OF MINERALS • WEST SIBERIAN PLAIN • WORLD’S LARGEST UNBROKEN LOWLANDS • PERMAFROST

  28. PHYSIOGRAPHIC REGIONS(continued) • CENTRAL SIBERIAN PLATEAU • SPARSELY POPULATED, TEMPERATURE EXTREMES, PERMAFROST • YAKUTSK BASIN • MOUNTAINOUS, HIGH RELIEF • EASTERN HIGHLANDS • RANGES, RIDGES, PRECIPITOUS VALLEYS, VOLCANIC MOUNTAINS, LAKE BAYKAL • CENTRAL ASIAN RANGES • RISE ABOVE THE SNOW LINE, GLACIATED • CAUCASUS MOUNTAINS • EXTENSIONS OF THE ALPINES

  29. RUSSIAN PLAIN

  30. THE URAL MOUNTAINS • The north-south length covers 2500 kms. • The highest points are in the Northern Urals-2000 meters in places. • The Central Urals are the lowest section and include several key crossing places. • The Southern Urals are wider and consist of a number of parallel north-south ridges and intervening valleys. • Ural forests and minerals have been the basis for industrialization and boast at least twenty different commercially usable minerals.

  31. WEST SIBERIAN PLAIN • The world’s largest unbroken lowland • Includes the Ob and Irtysh River Basin • Permafrost • Major Cities: • Omsk • Novosibirsk

  32. CENTRAL SIBERIAN PLATEAU • Sparsely settled • Inaccessible • Restrictive climate • Permafrost • Natural resources

  33. EASTERN HIGHLANDS

  34. CENTRAL ASIAN RANGES

  35. CAUCASUS MOUNTAINS

  36. Pivot Area MACKINDER’S WORLD - 1904 How geographic facts influence policies

  37. HEARTLAND THEORY Heartland Who rules East Europe commands the Heartland; who rules the Heartland commands the World Island; who rules the World Island commands the World.

  38. Heartland Rim Land SPYKMAN’S RIMLAND Who controls the Rimland rules Eurasia; who rules Eurasia controls the destinies of the world.

  39. POLITICAL FRAMEWORK • SOVIET LEGACY • Revolution (1905-1917) • Bolsheviks (majority) versus Mensheviks (minority) • The Red Army v. the White Army • V.I. Lenin (Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov) • Capital: Petrograd to Moscow (1918) • FEDERATION/FEDERAL STRUCTURE • USSR (Union of Soviet Socialist Republics) -1924 • SSRs, ASSRs, Autonomous Regions • RUSSIFICATION

  40. SOVIET UNION

  41. COMMAND ECONOMY • An economy 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 • Production of particular manufactured goods to particular places • Economic interdependence of the republics

  42. ECONOMIC FRAMEWORK • CENTRALLY PLANNED (early 1920s) • MAJOR OBJECTIVES • Speed industrialization • Collectivize agriculture

  43. SOVIETLEADERS • Czarism (<1917) • Lenin • Stalin • Kruschev • Breshnev • Gorbachev

  44. SOVIETLEADERS Lenin (1918 - 1927) • Introduced Marxist philosophy • Replaced private with public ownership • Developed national economic plans • Established Soviet political structure based on ethnic identities

  45. SOVIETLEADERS Stalin (1927 - 1953) • All assets nationalized • Creation of huge centralized state machine over all aspects of Soviet life • Purges of dissidents (30-60 million) • Collectivized farming (sovkhoz) • Concentration on heavy industry at expense of agriculture

  46. SOVIET LEADERS Kruschev (1953 - 1964) • Greater emphasis on agriculture • Virgin Lands Program - pastures into irrigated wheat fields • Ultimately led to Aral Sea environmental disaster Breshnev (1964 - 1982) • Height of the Cold War • Military/industrial economy • Economic stagnation (agriculture)

  47. SOVIETLEADERS Gorbachev (1985 - 1991) • Initiated economic and political reform • PERESTROIKA • 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 • Policy of encouraging greater openness in both internal and external affairs

  48. COLLAPSE OF THE SOVIET UNION(Conditions in 1990 & 1991) • A sharp decline in agricultural & industrial production • Economic output down by 4% in 1990 & 10-15% in first half of 1991 • Intensification of ethno-cultural nationalism& separatism • Unity of the Soviet Union (macro) & unity of republics (micro) threatened

  49. COLLAPSE OF THE SOVIET UNION(Conditions in 1990 & 1991) • The emergence of a “commonwealth” of Slavic countries to replace the Soviet Union • Commonwealth of Independent States • The resignation of President Gorbachev

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