Being huge in area, the country has a long land frontier. Numerous, therefore, are its neighbors. Starting from the extreme north its. Western neighbors are Norway, Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Belarus, Ukraine, Georgia and Azerbaijan. In the south – west, the country has an access to the rest of the world through the black sea. The inland Caspian sea enables it to have commercial contacts with lran. In Asia, its southern neighbors are Kazakhstan in the west, Mongolia in the centre and China and North Korea in the eastern part. Across the sea, it faces Japan in the south – east and the Alaska state of the United States of America in the north – east. Relief Features: Almost the whole country is a level plain except along the frontier with Mongolia and China. A chain of mountains runs mostly along the frontier. They include Altai, Sayan, Yablonovy and Stanovoy mountains. Eastern Siberia is a mountainous region with a very little population. Central Siberia is a rugged plateau. European Russia has Europe’s longest river the Volga. This south flowing river falls into the Caspian Sea. The river North Dvina flows north – eastwards to fall into the White Sea. The ob, Yenisey and Lena are three big Asian rivers that flow north and join the Arctic Ocean. The east flowing Amur runs mostly parallel to the Chinese frontier before it turns north to join the Okhotsk Sea, a part of the Pacific Ocean. Climate and Vegetation: The country is known for its very cold and harsh climate. Its seas, coastal waters, lakes and rivers are all frozen for the major part of the year. This it self is an indication of the extremely cold climate of the country. Such icy seas fail to have any moderating influence on the climate. The rivers flowing into the Arctic Ocean remain frozen even in their upper reaches in the south for nearly 140 days in a year. This period increases as one moves from south to north. It is as long as 260 days a year in the north. The snowfall, although not very heavy, is spread over 3 to 7 months in those parts of Russia that are in Europe and 5 to 9 months in Siberia. Verkhoyank, which is near the Arctic Circle (66 ½ 0N) is taken to be the “cold pole” of the Northern Hemisphere. The minimum temperature ever recorded here was as low as – 700C.North-east Siberia has the widest range of temperature making its climate very extreme or continental. This annual range of temperature – the difference between summer and winter temperatures of a given place – is well over 600C. Study the vegetation map of Russia and note that the northern and north-eastern coastal lands have atypical tundra vegetation. The subsoil remains frozen. The only vegetation consists of mosses and lichens. While land and sea animals like polar bear, bearded seal, walrus and seal live on fish, the reindeer live on mosses and lichens. Over three-fourths of Russia has taiga or coniferous forests. Spruce, fir, larch and pine are the common trees. Russian bear, wolf, moose and lynx are common animals. The taiga is the largest storehouse of world’s softwood timber. Mixed forests are largely confined to European Russia, south of the taiga forests. A narrow belt of mixed forests enters west Siberia. There are both coniferous and deciduous trees in this belt. Oak, maple, elm and ash are the deciduous trees. Wild boar, roe deer and mink are common animals. Then come the steppe grasses along its southern borders. In Russia, the steppe region is more wooded. Rat-like rodents, wild cats and antelopes are common in this region. In the southern mountainous region, the vegetation varies according to the height above sea-level. European Russia: The old and low Ural Mountains mark the eastern limit of European Russia. The country is a low and plain, the largest in Europe. It is divided into four sub regions. From north to south these regions are Northern Russia, Central Russia, the Black Earth Region and the Volga Region. Northern Russia: The narrow belt of the tundra region lies along the Arctic Ocean. It is then succeeded by the taiga vegetation of coniferous forests. The region is full of lakes and marshy swamps. St. Petersburg is the most important urban centre of this region. It was the capital city of Czarist Russia. It is a big port on the Baltic Sea. It is a very big industries timber mills. It is also known for its museums, science centers and various cultural activities. Murmansk, on the Arctic Ocean, is the extreme northern and yet the only all weather port of the country. It is the warm Atlantic Drift that keeps it free from freezing. Arkhangelsk is yet another sea port known for deep sea fishing and whaling. Lumbering and reindeer rearing are the two most important activities carried out here on scientific lines. The region is rich in minerals-natural gas of the Pechora basin, nickel, iron, copper and phosphates. Mining, therefore, is yet another important activity even in the harsh climate. Central Russia: Central Russia lies to the south of the taiga region. It is the heart of Russia. It has a big concentration of industries of various kinds. This is the region known for its oldest fairs and markets. It was in this region that the country had its early industrial revolution. Today textiles and light engineering are followed by automobile, aircraft, steam engine, chemical and a wide range of electronics industries. Moscow is the leading industrial centre and is the capital city of Russia. The Kremlin palace is in the heart of the city. In view of its political and industrial importance, Moscow has been connected with four seas – the Caspian Sea, the Black Sea, the Baltic Sea, the White Sea, and the Lake Ladoga. The region grows hardy cereals like barley, rye, oats and berry fruits. The Black Earth Region: The black earth region is well known for its very fertile soil-chernozem which is black in color. It forms the granary of the Russian republic. The dependence of entire Russia republic the dependence of entire Russia on this on this region has further increased as Ukraine, the earlier bread bread basket of Russia, is no more a part of this country. It grows several crops – wheat, rye, oats, sugar beet, sunflower seeds and flax. It also grows grapes and vines. This region was the first to experiment with Soviet collective farms called kolkhozes. This experiment, however, proved a failure as it could not compete with farming based on individual initiative and profit motive. The region is also known for mixed farming and animal rearing. Cattle are raised for beef and dairy purposes. The region has huge mineral deposits, particularly iron-ore around Kursk. It has grown as a centre of iron and steel industry. The Volga Region: The Volga Region lies to the east-south-east extending up to the Caspian Sea. It covers the large steppe grasslands area. The Volga is an artery of trade and commerce since early days. It is supplemented by diverting water from north flowing rivers. It is used for irrigating water-thirsty arid lands. This region is the hub of natural oil and gas industry followed by petrochemicals. The by – products of this industry include synthetic fibres, fertilizers and synthetic rubber. There are also tractor factories here as the region is known for its agriculture too. Wheat and other food grains along with dairy and other animal products are produced in plenty. Astrakhan is a big port at the mouth of the Volga. It is an industrial, commercial and oil centre. West Siberia: To the east of the Urals lie the plains of West Siberia. The eastern limit of these plains is formed by the river Yenisey. It is a plain region so large that it can easily cover France a dozen times. In the north, it is covered by tundra and taiga vegetation belts. As such, it is very sparsely populated. Only the southern belt along its frontier is well populated with nearly 20 million people. It is a land newly settled, mostly by the Russians. The region has been opened up through the construction of The Trans - Siberian Railway – connection two oceans and two continents. The climate is very harsh and extreme. The southern part with black soils has a growing season of about four months in which wheat is grown on a large scale. The region is very rich in mineral resources. Coal is found in huge quantities. So is the case with mineral oil. The region has reserves of iron-ore, non-ferrous minerals, mica and graphite. The region has tremendous potential to grow agriculturally and more so in the area of metallurgical and forest based industries. It has ample water power resources. East Siberia: The third major division of the Russian Republic lies east of the river Yenisey. It consists of East Siberia and the Russian Far East. Note the Arctic Ocean in the north, the seas of Bering, Okhotsk and Japan in the east. They are part of the Pacific Ocean. In this region lies the Lake Baikal – the world’s deepest fresh water lake. The River Angara drains it into the Arctic. The river helps to develop water power on a large scale. Bratsk is a big water power station in the region. Cheap and abundant power is a must to smelt bauxite for obtaining aluminum. Other industries of the region are wood-pulp, paper and newsprint making. In the Arctic region big deposits of copper, nickel, cobalt and platinum have been located. The Lena basin is credited with gold reserves – perhaps the largest in the world. Irkutsk, standing on the shores of Lake Baikal, is a big industrial city. Wood or timber is the major export of East Siberia. Reindeer are reared for commercial purposes for exporting hide and fur. Fishing is another important industry. Animal rearing for meat and milk is also practiced. Mining includes extracting ores of gold, tin, mercury and diamonds. Vladivostok is an important industrial centre and a port city, located on the Pacific coast. It is connected with St. Petersburg by the Trans-Siberian Railway, the longest in the world taking a week to cover the two continents.

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