RUSSIA World Regional Geography David Sallee Lesson 3 MAJOR GEOGRAPHIC RUSSIA’S DIMENSIONS QUALITIES z IMMENSE TERRITORIAL STATE z SPANS 11 TIME ZONES z NORTHERNMOST LARGE AND POPULOUS z GULF OF FINLAND TO ALASKA COUNTRY IN THE WORLD (WEST TO EAST), AND WELL z A FORMER WORLD COLONIAL POWER ABOVE THE ARCTIC CIRCLE TO SALT LAKE CITY (NORTH TO z A COMPARITIVELY SMALL (<150 MILLION) AND CONCENTRATED POPULATION SOUTH) z TWICE THE SIZE OF THE US OR z CONCENTRATED DEVELOPMENT TWICE THE SIZE OF THE US OR CHINA z MULTICULTURAL STATE z SIBERIA: “SLEEPING LAND” z MINIMAL PORTS SIZE, LOCATION AND SPACE RELATIONSHIPS z LATITUDINAL EXTENT – Northernmost point: Rudolf Island in Franz Joseph Land (82o) – Southernmost point: Grozny in west and Vladivostok in east (44o) z LONGITUDINAL EXTENT – More than twice its maximum north-south extent and extends through 11 time zones z Russia makes up 76.6% of the total territory of the former USSR (17,075,400 km--almost twice the size of the US). RUSSIA-US SIZE COMPARISON 1 80º GROWTH OF THE 60º RUSSIAN EMPIRE 40º 20º FORWARD CAPITAL GROWTH OF THE RUSSIAN EMPIRE 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 80o Arctic Circle CLIMATOLOGY Alaska z CLIMATE 60o – AVERAGE WEATHER CONDITIONS FOR A GIVEN AREA OVER AN EXTENDED PERIOD OF TIME z WEATHER – REFERS TO THE ATMOSPHERIC CONDITIONS AT A SPECIFIC PLACE AND TIME z CLIMATOLOGY 40o – A BRANCH OF PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY – CONCERNED WITH: z SPATIAL ARRANGEMENT OF CLIMATE OVER THE Hawaii SURFACE OF THE EARH z PROCESSES WHICH CONTRIBUTE TO THE DISTRIBUTION LOCATIONAL IMPACT ON RUSSIA’S CLIMATE 2 CLIMATE RUSSIAN CLIMATE z Affected by 3 natural conditions: -- Latitudinal Position -- Continental Position -- Location of major mountains VEGETATION CLIMATE AS A RESTRICTIVE ELEMENT z AGRICULTURE – Short growing seasons – Drought prone – Erosion (accelerated via snow melt) z SETTLEMENT PATTERNS & TRANSPORTATION z INDUSTRY – High energy consumption – Specialized equipment and facilities – Extractive z permafrost z spring and fall mud z special equipment and facilities - $$$ AGRICULTURAL PATTERNS SETTLEMENT / TRANSPORTATION PATTERNS 3 PHYSIOGRAPHIC REGIONS z RUSSIAN PLAIN – EASTWARD CONTINUATION OF NORTH EUROPEAN LOWLAND – CORE AREA (MOSCOW BASIN) z URAL MOUNTAINS – 2,000 MILES LONG (NORTH-SOUTH) – YIELD A VARIETY OF MINERALS z WEST SIBERIAN PLAIN – WORLD’S LARGEST UNBROKEN LOWLANDS – PERMAFROST RUSSIA’S PHYSIOGRAPHIC REGIONS PHYSIOGRAPHIC REGIONS RUSSIAN z CENTRAL SIBERIAN PLATEAU PLAIN – SPARSELY POPULATED, TEMPERATURE EXTREMES, PERMAFROST z YAKUTSK BASIN – MOUNTAINOUS, HIGH RELIEF z EASTERN HIGHLANDS – RANGES, RIDGES, PRECIPITOUS VALLEYS, VOLCANIC MOUNTAINS, LAKE BAYKAL z CENTRAL ASIAN RANGES – RISE ABOVE THE SNOW LINE, GLACIATED z CAUCASUS MOUNTAINS – EXTENSIONS OF THE ALPINES THE URAL MOUNTAINS WEST SIBERIAN PLAIN •The north-south length covers 2500 kms. •The highest points are in the Northern Urals-2000 meters in places. •The world’s largest •The Central Urals are the lowest unbroken lowland section and include several key crossing places. •Includes the Ob and •The Southern Urals are wider and Irtysh River Basin consist of a number of parallel north- •Permafrost south ridges and intervening valleys. •Ural forests and minerals have been •Major Cities: the basis for industrialization and •Omsk boast at least twenty different •Novosibirsk commercially usable minerals. 4 CENTRAL SIBERIAN EASTERN HIGHLANDS PLATEAU •Sparsely settled •Inaccessible •Restrictive climate •Permafrost •Natural resources CAUCASUS MOUNTAINS CENTRAL ASIAN RANGES POLITICAL FRAMEWORK z SOVIET LEGACY – Revolution (1905-1917) – Bolsheviks versus Mensheviks – V.I. Lenin (Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov) – Capital: Petrograd to Moscow (1918) z FEDERATION/FEDERAL STRUCTURE – USSR (Union of Soviet Socialist Republics) -1924 – SSRs, ASSRs, Autonomous Regions z RUSSIFICATION SOVIET UNION 5 COMMAND ECONOMY ECONOMIC FRAMEWORK z An economy in which the means of z CENTRALLY PLANNED (early production are owned and controlled 1920s) by the state and in which central – MAJOR OBJECTIVES planning of the structure and the – MAJOR OBJECTIVES output prevails z Speed industrialization z Features of the Soviet economy z Collectivize – Production of particular manufactured goods to particular places agriculture – Economic interdependence of the republics SOVIET LEADERS SOVIET LEADERS Lenin (1918 - 1927) z Introduced Marxist z Czarism philosophy (<1917) z Replaced private with z Lenin public ownership z Stalin z Developed national z Kruschev economic plans z Breshnev Breshnev z Established Soviet z Gorbachev political structure based on ethnic identities SOVIET LEADERS SOVIET LEADERS Stalin (1927 - 1953) Kruschev (1953 - 1964) z All assets nationalized z Greater emphasis on agriculture z Virgin Lands Program - pastures into z Creation of huge centralized Virgin Lands Program - pastures into state machine over all irrigated wheat fields aspects of Soviet life z Ultimately led to Aral Sea environmental disaster z Purges of dissidents (30-60 million) Breshnev (1964 - 1982) z Collectivized farming z Height of the Cold War (sovkhoz) z Military/industrial economy z Concentration on heavy z Economic stagnation (agriculture) industry at expense of agriculture 6 COLLAPSE OF THE SOVIET UNION SOVIET LEADERS (Conditions in 1990 & 1991) Gorbachev (1985 - 1991) z A sharp decline in agricultural & z Initiated economic and political reform industrial production z PERESTROIKA – Economic output down by 4% in 1990 & – Restructuring 10-15% in first half of 1991 – Intended to produce major changes to both the economic and political system z Intensification of ethno-cultural – Economic aim: to catch up with western nationalism & separatism economies nationalism & separatism – Political aim: reform of the Communist – Unity of the Soviet Union (macro) & unity Party of republics (micro) threatened z GLASNOST – Policy of encouraging greater openness in z Pluralization of Soviet politics & steady both internal and external affairs erosion of Communist Party monopoly or power COLLAPSE OF THE SOVIET UNION (Conditions in 1990 & 1991) CURRENT ORGANIZATION z The emergence of a z RUSSIAN FEDERATION (1992) “commonwealth” of Slavic countries to z 89 POLITICAL UNITS replace the Soviet – 21 REPUBLICS Union – 11 AUTONOMOUS REGIONS (OKRUGS) z Commonwealth of (OKRUGS) Independent States – 49 PROVINCES (OBLASTS) – 6 TERRITORIES (KRAYS) z The resignation of – 2 AUTONOMOUS FEDERAL CITIES President Gorbachev RUSSIA’S ADMINISTRATIVE DIVISIONS 7.