OCTOBER 12, 2015 PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY OF RUSSIA AND CENTRAL ASIA NOTES HW: MAPS DUE WEDNESDAY OCT. 21

FG Poster Countries DUE OCT.28  Eastern Europe  Russia  Estonia  Latvia  Lithuania  Belarus  Ukraine  Moldova  Central Asia  Kazakhastan  Uzbekistan  Tajikistan  Turkmenistan  Kyrgyzstan ** Stan = Land of **  Transcaucasia  Georgia  Azerbaijan  Armenia

Russia  Russia is the largest country in the world  13% of Earth’s land  6.6 million sq. miles  Over 2x bigger than the U.S.  11 time zones

Map of Russia

Ural Mountains divide Europe from Asia Russia is part of 2 continents

From 1917 up until 1991, the entire region in yellow was under Communist control and was one country, the Soviet Union (USSR). The Eurasian Republics near Eastern Europe were under the complete political and economic control of the Soviet Union.

Countries of the former U.S.S.R  Eastern Europe  Russia  Estonia  Latvia  Lithuania  Belarus  Ukraine  Moldova  Central Asia  Kazakhastan  Uzbekistan  Tajikistan  Turkmenistan  Kyrgyzstan ** Stan = Land of **  Transcaucasia  Georgia  Azerbaijan  Armenia

Why would Russia want Kaliningrad? Countries of the U.S.S.R post 1991

Russia’s only year around, ice-free naval and commercial trade outlet to the Atlantic Ocean. Water way is frozen part of the year

Sub-regions  SIBERIA  The part of Russia located in Asia  Isolated, sparsely populated, and extremely cold in the winter time.  Abundant in minerals, timber, natural gas  Ob, Lena, Yenisey, and Kolyma rivers  All flow North into Arctic Ocean  Frozen most of the year!

Siberia

Taiga: Russia’s forest 20% of all the world’s timber

Taiga H5Gy_jBQ

Lake Baikal  Deepest lake in the world  25% of world’s freshwater

Road of Bones Lake Baikal to Magadan

Sub-Regions  Northern European Plain  75% of Russia’s population  Mild climate with fertile soil  This area has a type of fertile soil called chernozem.  Chernozem means black earth and the soil is dark in color.

Sub-Regions Northern European Plain Comparison of arable land The United States173,450 India160,519 China142,615 Russia122,559 * unit in thousands of hectares Arable land is land that can be used for farming.

Sub-Regions  The Kamchatka Peninsula  Located in Eastern Siberia  Located along the Ring of Fire  High concentration of volcanoes  low population density = no serious threat to people

The Ring of Fire

The Mountains  The Urals  Longest mountain range in Russia (1,600 miles long)  Dividing line between Europe and Asia  Rich in minerals and precious metals

The Mountains  The Caucasus Mountains  Run from the Black Sea to the Caspian Sea  Divide Russia from Georgia and Azerbaijan.  Ethnically diverse region that has seen lots of conflict

The Caucasus Mountains

Chechnya  Islamic ethnic group taken over by Orthodox Christian Russians in 1800’s  Constant resistance to Russian rule  Chechens shipped to Siberia during WWII  Demanded separation and independence from Russia following USSR collapse  Two brutal conflicts in the 1990s  Area of increasing religious terrorism  atch?v=-Ed3xw4bSgY atch?v=-Ed3xw4bSgY

OCTOBER 13, 2015  Finish physical geography notes  Climate of Russia and the Republics  Extreme Cold  HW: Aral Sea paper due 10/26  Vocab due 10/30  FG project due 10/28

Bodies of Water  The Caspian Sea  divided between Russia, Kazakhstan, Iran, Turkmenistan, and Azerbaijan.  World’s largest body of enclosed water.  Large reserves of oil have been found on the bottom of the lake.

Caspian Sea

Bodies of Water  The Aral Sea  located in Central Asia between Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan.  Since the 1960s it has been shrinking due to over irrigation.  It is now 20% of its original size. The Soviets used the diverted water to irrigate cotton fields

Aral Sea

Steppe  Large grassy plains  Similar to Great Plains and the Pampas  Home to nomadic people like the Mongols  Link between Asia, Central Asia and Europe throughout history  Silk Road

Rain Shadow Effect  Himalayan Mountains block warm, moist air from the Indian Ocean  Little rain falls on the north side of the mountains while the south side is pummeled by monsoons every year  Creates arid climate on the northern side

Karakum Desert  Located in Central Asia, mainly Turkmenistan  Means “Black Sands” in Turkic languages  Gate to Hell  Natural Gas pit that has been on fire since 1971

Impact of the Gulfstream  Warm gulfstream air keeps Europe warmer than places of similar latitude

Continentality  The closer to the sea, the more moderate the climate  Most of Russia and Siberia is hundreds of miles from the sea  Air loses moisture and cools faster

Permafrost

 Land that has been frozen for 2 or more years  May be covered by ice, soil, or rock  Active layer thaws in warmer temperatures  Creates a fluctuation of the ground  Active layer may be up to 4 meters thick

Yakutsk  Coldest city on Earth  Population of 300,000  620 miles from the Pacific  Extreme Subarctic Climate  Average January temp: -30 F  Average July temp: 65 F  Large gold and diamond reserves  On the Lena river

Coldest Place on Earth

Water at -50 degrees 