Russia and the Republics Physical and Human Geography

Russia Basic Information World’s largest country Covers 11 different time zones Lies on both Europe and Asia 75% of Russia’s population lives in European Russia

Republics Basic information 14 nations that used to be a part of the Soviet Union Post- Soviet nations separated in 1991 after fall of communism Led to a loss of ¼ of Russia’s land

Physical Geography- land Northern areas made up mostly of plains Ural Mountains separates the two continents Caucasus Mountains in the South Siberia in the north Covered in ice Cold and dry

Physical Geography- Water Surrounded by seas Aral, Baltic, Bering, Black, Sea of Japan Aral is slowly depleting World’s largest freshwater lake Lake Baikal Rivers used for trade and transportation Volga is the most important

Physical geography- climate Russia tends to be colder than other nations on same lines of latitude European part warmer than Asian Due to few ocean currents to warm air Little precipitation Permafrost Permanently frozen soil When it thaws, soil becomes like quicksand

Learning Task Use the atlas to complete your map Map Quiz on Tuesday, January 12

Talk about it Tuesday Think about how physical features can impact the history and culture of a nation/region. List three for each question below along with a short reason of how/why. What physical features positively impact a nation/region? What physical features negatively impact a nation/region?

Geography Influences History in Russia History greatly impacted by physical make-up of land, resources available, and climate Easily accessible from West Cold climate provides protection Vast amount of land makes entire region hard to take over

Learning Task Read the article from The Atlantic: Russia and the Curse of Geography As you read, mark the text. Circle words you don’t know…define them in the margin. Summarize each bolded section in the margin. Underline relevant information. Answer the questions scattered throughout the text. You will get some of class tomorrow to work on this as well!

Map Monday What is this map showing? What is the purpose of what this map is demonstrating? How many divisions are there in Russia (in green on the smaller map)?