Physical Geography of Russia & the Republics: A Land of Extremes Chapter 15 Notes Physical Geography of Russia & the Republics: A Land of Extremes

Section 1- Landforms & Resources Region is 3x’s the size of U.S. Crosses 11 time zones & 2 continents 1/6 of all land area

Section 1- Landforms & Resources Northern European plain Contains 75% of regions population Moscow St. Petersburg Kiev Chernozem- black earth

Section 1- Landforms & Resources Ural Mts.- dividing line between Europe & Asia Eurasia- name given for the single landmass of Europe & Asia

Section 1- Landforms & Resources DON’T WRITE Transcaucasia- region that consists of Armenia, Azerbaijan, & Georgia Transcaucasia Central Asia

Section 1- Landforms & Resources Lake Baikal- Deepest lake in the world Holds 20% of worlds freshwater supplies

Section 1- Landforms & Resources Siberia- the part of Russia that lies on the continent of Asia Very inaccessible 1/5 of world’s timber resources Very cold winters

Section 2- Climate & Vegetation Continentality- the effects of being so far away from large bodies of water Hotter summers & colder winters Kansas?

Section 2- Climate & Vegetation Taiga- largest forest on earth

Section 2- Climate & Vegetation DON’T WRITE Reindeer

Section 3- Human-Environment Interaction Aral Sea- once 4th largest freshwater lake in world Water from its 2 main rivers has been diverted to cotton fields No native fish left of 24 species

Section 3- Human-Environment Interaction Runoff- rainfall not absorbed by the soil that runs into streams & rivers This has severely damaged the Aral Sea

Section 3- Human-Environment Interaction Don’t Write Some areas of Siberia get to -95° F in the winter Cracks steel Tires Explode “Whispering of the Stars” When you exhale, your breath freezes into crystals that fall to the ground & make a noise

Section 3- Human-Environment Interaction Don’t Write Warm weather melts the ice & snow causing flooding Brings enormous clouds of insects Permafrost in the region also means buildings have to be built up off of the ground

Section 3- Human-Environment Interaction Don’t Write Russian winters stopped Napoleon & Hitler Napoleon left Russia with 100,000 troops at the beginning of winter, by the time he got back to France he had lost 90,000 troops

Section 3- Human-Environment Interaction DON’T WRITE Trans-Siberian Railroad- links Moscow and Vladivostok 5700 miles long Crosses 7 time zones