1. Physical Geography of Russia & the CIS Commonwealth of Independent States

2. Russia and the CIS Physical Geography
Russia is about twice the size of the continental U.S.

3. Russian Plains

4. North European Plains
Agricultural Zone- most of Russia’s farming is here
Chernozem = black earth
called the “Black Earth Belt”
75% of population lives in plains & 3 largest cities- Moscow, St. Petersburg & Kiev
Ukraine= “The Bread Basket” of the region

6. North European Plains

7. West Siberian Plains
World’s largest flat area-Covers an area of about 1.2 million square miles
Formed by glacial deposits after the last Ice Age.

8. Turan Plains Desert Region Kara Kum (black sand)
Kyzyl Kum (red sand desert)

9. Central Siberian Plateau
high plateaus
highlands & mountains are the dominate landform.

10. Mountains of Russia

11. Ural Mountains
Divides Europe and Asia

12. Caucasus Mountains
Between the Black & Caspian Seas and forms border between Russia and Transcaucasia (Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia)
Mount Elbrus
(extinct volcano that is Russia’s highest point)

13. Mt. Elbrus 18,510 ft

14. Russian Seas and Lakes

15. Black Sea Only warm water sea found in Russia
Outlet to the Mediterranean- IMPORTANT in Russian’s History!

16. Caspian Sea World’s largest inland sea (actually a lake)
Rivers run into the lake but no outlet to the Ocean
It is a saltwater lake
Lake is shrinking from evaporation
How does this effect the salt content?
This picture is taken in March- notice there is still ICE covering part of the Caspian Sea, lake divide equally, sea depends on length of coastline.

17. Aral Sea
Rivers that drain into Aral Sea are being used for irrigation for cotton fields which causes Aral to shrink
Aral Sea Video

18. Lake Baikal World’s oldest & deepest freshwater lake
Holds 1/5 of earth’s fresh water (as much as all the Great Lakes combined)
Lake Baikal is:
40 miles wide 400 miles long
1 mile deep
Over species of plants & animals unique to the lake
Houston to Dallas =
226 miles

19. Russian Rivers

20. Rivers in Russia Long & navigable
Frozen most of the year= Makes trade difficult
Rivers used for irrigation, transportation routes or hydroelectric power for densely populated urban areas

21. Volga River Called “Mother Volga”- provides the needs for the people
longest river in Europe / 4th longest in Russia
provides essential trade, communication, energy & water
Carries about 60% of Russia’s river traffic

22. Natural Resources of Russia

23. Natural Resources Coal and Iron gold – world’s 2nd largest producer
oil – soon to rival Saudi Arabia in production
natural gas – world’s leading exporter
hydroelectric power
1/5th of the world’s timber supply
Coal and Iron

24. Siberia Many natural resources are found here
Difficult to remove resources because of its harsh climate & rugged terrain (landscape)
Most of Russia’s longest rivers—which supply 84% of the country’s water—are located in Siberia (only 25% of the population lives)
Temperature fluctuates from about 50F to
-90F

26. SIBERIA

27. Trans Siberian Rail Road

28. Russian Climate

29. Russia’s Climate Zones
Climates are effected by high latitude and the mountains to the southeast
Continentality: Distance from the sea which effects climate and precipitation

31. Russia’s Climate Zones
Humid Continental & Subarctic climates dominate the northern & eastern region
Semiarid & Desert climate around Transcaucasia region

32. Russian Vegetation Regions

33. Vegetation Regions
steppe – wide, temperate grasslands in central Russia
taiga – vast woodland of evergreen forests
tundra – flat, treeless plains near Arctic Ocean