Northern Eurasia Mother Russia and the former Soviet Union

Former U.S.S.R. Northern Eurasia

The World’s largest country Russia is the worlds largest country at over 6.5 million square miles Nearly twice the size of the U.S. Russia has 11 time zones

Straddling Two Continents

Harsh climate zones Much of the region is covered by dramatically cold conditions throughout much of the year. Legendary Siberia with its steppe, tundra, and taiga ecosystems https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yTnvcSU4Mao A frozen Arctic Ocean prevents northern development

Small Russian Orthodox Church in Siberia

Taiga (left) and Tundra (right)

Steppe (grasslands) Rich soil called “chernozem” “black earth” in Russian

What’s in Siberia? Tremendous natural resources Timber Freshwater World’s largest natural gas region Minerals such as: Gold, silver, diamonds, uranium, nickel, iron, platinum, coal

Lake Baikal – the worlds deepest freshwater lake – 5,315 ft. deep

Interesting Facts About Lake Baikal It would take all the rivers of the world - nearly one year to fill lake Baikal's basin. one fifth of the world's freshwater reserves It covers 31,500 sq. km and is 636 km. long, an average of 48 km wide, and 79.4 km at its widest point.

Geographic Issues What makes Russia’s geography so difficult and a virtual curse? Vast size to population centers and markets Harsh climate

Russia’s Oil Pipelines

Caspian Sea region https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HAeWWZijs3I

Today’s Russia A young democracy with authoritarian leadership. An economy strongly dependent on energy exports A growing rich/poor divide A potential demographic crisis

Who is this man?

Vladimir Putin From January 2000 to March 2008, the President and de facto dictator of Russia. Became Prime Minister and re-elected President in 2012. Dmitry Medvedev was handpicked to succeed him and now has switched back to Prime Minister.

Authoritarian Measures Nationalized many industries including gas and oil companies Nationalized media outlets and censured journalists (many have been murdered) Controlled political parties and eliminated perceived threats

Energy Driven Economy Oil and gas prices have been rising since 1999 This has brought in much needed money for infrastructure Has driven foreign policy Not all Russians benefit Gazprom – worlds largest gas company

Disparity in wealth Since the 1990’s, many Russians have become extremely wealthy HOW? Through corruption, CRONYISM, work ethic, and innovation. Moscow has more BILLIONAIRES than any city on earth – 33! Moscow is the most expensive city in the world

Typical Soviet era housing

No electricity or indoor plumbing

What of most Russians?

A Population Crisis 143 million people today Russian fertility rate: 1.17 - Percentage of Russian couples who are infertile: 15 - 75% of Russian women have serious medical problems during pregnancy

A Population Crisis 67% of all couple have only one child 15 deaths for every 10 Russian births! Life expectancy of just 59 for males and 62 overall

Abortion in Russia In 2003, the BBC reported that Russia had, "13 terminations for every 10 live births.“ The online news source mosnews.com reported that in 2004 1.6 million women had abortions in Russia while 1.5 million gave birth.

Violent Deaths *150,000 people a year *46,000 were suicides *40,000 were killed in traffic accidents *36,000 suffered alcohol poisoning *35,000 were murdered

60% of Russians live in an environment that is harmful to their health Environmental conditions contribute to the deaths of 300,000 Russians a year. 65 million Russians live in areas where air pollution exceeds safe levels

1986 – The Legacy of Chernobyl The worst nuclear accident in history killed 31 directly and possibly thousands over the years. It cost over $18 billion to clean up and involved over 500,000 workers. Ground water and land is still heavily concentrated with radiation. http://www.cnn.com/2014/11/30/tech/chernobyl-drone-footage/

Aral Sea Water was diverted from nearby rivers for cotton production leading to a simple trickle of water and eventual salinization and evaporation. Fishing industry has disappeared as well as most farming today.

Alcoholism

Russians are among the heaviest drinkers in the world, consuming an average of 15 liters of alcohol per head per year. On averagemore than 40,000 Russians die from alcohol Poisoning a year. Some experts estimate that one in seven Russians is an alcoholic. Beer is not considered an alcoholic beverage

HIV/AIDS 15-24 year olds account for 2/3 of all registered cases Dramatically on the increase 15-24 year olds account for 2/3 of all registered cases By 2015, it is estimated that 5-10 million Russians will die from AIDS. HIV has spread mainly through intravenous drug use.

“HIV/AIDS. Who does it affect? It affects everyone.”

A “graying” population By 2015, out of all the people over 60, nearly one out of every three will be over 75.

The aging “babushkas”

Virtually no immigration 200,000 legal immigrants enter the country every year ½ are ethnic Russians There are 1.5 million illegal immigrants in the country

The future may be bleak A loss of approximately 700,000 people per year Projected to be at 111 million in the year 2050