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Central Asia/ Russia
Physical and Human Geography
Major Landforms
• Northern European Plain• Ural Mountains • Caucasus Mountains• Turan Plain
Northern European Plain
Chernozem: black earth•Moscow, St. Petersburg, Kiev•75% live here
Ural Mountains –the divider between Asia and Europe. –Tilts north = rivers flow to Arctic Ocean
Caucasus Mountains-Separates Black and Caspian Seas-Transcaucasia
Turan PlainIncludes 2 large deserts•Kara Kum Desert•Kyzyl Kum Desert–Aral Sea
Bodies of Water
• Volga River – Europe’s longest• Caspian Sea – saltwater lake,
largest inland sea• Aral Sea-has lost 80% of water
content
Caspian Sea
• saltwater lake, largest inland sea
• Oil and natural gas• sturgeon live in its
waters, and the caviar produced from their eggs is a valuable commodity
Lake Bailak –Deepest lake in the world–About 1 mile deep–Holds 20% of world’s
freshwater–Tourist attraction
Human Geography
Russia and the Western Republics
• Russian state began in region between Baltic and Black Seas–9th Century, Vikings settled and
adopted the customs of the local Slavic population•Settlements began to expand
• 13th Century, Mongolian invaders entered–Controlled this region until the
1500s when Ivan the Great, Prince of Moscow, put an end to their rule
• Russia began to expand to the Pacific Ocean
• Russia’s growth was rapid, but it lagged behind in science and technology–Peter the Great, tried to change this•He moved the capital to St.
Petersburg –Russia did not begin to industrialize
until the end of the 1800s
Trans- Siberian Railroad
• Czar Alexander III. • 5,700 miles • 10 years to build• This was the first
major step towards connecting all of Russia together physically and economically.
Rise and Fall of the Soviet Union
• Russian Revolution (1917): ended rule of the czars–Communist
Party, led by Lenin, took control
• By 1922, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) was formed• Stalin had taken
over by WWII
Building a Command Economy
• Inspired by Karl Marx• Soviet leaders adopted
a command economy.• Soviet government
created collective farms
–After the war, Stalin installed pro-Soviet governments in parts of Eastern Europe–The Cold War soon began
between the U.S. and USSR and continued until the 1980s.
• By the 1980s, Mikhail Gorbachev began to give more freedom to the Soviet people–This led to the collapse of the
Soviet Union in 1991•The region was divided into 15
independent republics
Area of Conflicts After the Fall of USSR
• Chechnya– Remained part of Russia– Russia invaded in 1994 and 1999– 2009 Russia pulled out
• Georgia– In a conflict with the Ossetian people
• Armenia and Azerbaijan– Fought of the Nagorno-Karabakh
Transcaucasia• Consists of Armenia, Azerbaijan
and Georgia• Used as a migration route
between Europe and Asia–This has led to a variety of
cultures
• Transcaucasia has a history of outside control–The czars of Russia entered in the
1700s–Transcaucasian countries enjoyed
some independence during the Russian Revolution until the Soviet Red Army retuned in the 1920s
Central Asia• Consists of
Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan
History of Central Asia
• The Great Game–Competition between Great Britain and
Russia over Central Asia–By the end of the 19th century, Russia won
control of Central Asia– In 1920s the USSR took control and
governed until 1991
Silk Road
–4,000 mile journey from China to the Mediterranean Sea• Gold, Silver, Ivory• Wine, Spices, Porcelain
–Spreading of ideas, technology, and religion
Steps Toward Capitalism
• Privatization– Government-owned businesses to individuals and
private companies– Economic crash in 1998– 40% of Russians live below the poverty line
• Distance Decay– Long distances between places is an obstacle
facing economic reformers.
• Russia covers 11 time zones
Environmental Concerns
• Nuclear testing• Lack of federal regulations• Nuclear testing• Nuclear power plants
Chernobyl
• Ukraine• April 26, 1986 • everyone living within the 30 kilometer
radius was evacuated. • The last reactor was not shut down until
December 2000.