Russia is the largest country in the world, spanning Europe and Asia. It has significant geographic diversity, containing mountains such as the Ural Mountains that divide European and Asian Russia, and the Caucasus Mountains along the border with Europe and Asia. Russia also contains vast plains, such as the Northern Russian Plain where most of the population lives, and the West Siberian Plain, one of the largest flatland areas in the world. Russia has an abundance of natural resources, including fossil fuels, minerals, forests, and freshwater, though some resources are difficult to access due to the country's size and climate.

1. By Jack Garrity
By Jack Garrity

2.  Book pages
342-365

3.  Russia is the largest country in the world. Nearly
twice as big as the USA.

4. In both total land area and geographic extent, Russia overs
about 6.6 million square miles. It stretches across Europe and Asia.

6. Russia is a vast and varied land of plains divided and
bordered by mountain ranges, tundra, subarctic forests,
and wide rivers and seas. Within the borders of
Russia’s bounty that the wilderness seems boundless.

7. The Ural Mountains mark the traditional boundary between
European Russia and Asian Russia.

9. The Urals are an old, worn down series of mountain ranges with
an average height of about 2,000 feet.

10. The Urals are rich in iron ore , oil and natural gas.

11. The Urals are rich in iron ore , oil and natural gas.

12. The Caucasus Mountains stretch from the Caspian to the Black
Sea. They are also part of the boundary between Europe and
Asia Russia.

13.  Ural
Mountains
 Ural river
 Caspian Sea
 Caucasus
Mountains
 Black Sea

14. The Caucasus Mountains run 750 miles and reach their highest
elevation at Mount Elbrus 18,510′.

15. Mount Elbrus is an extinct volcano and Russia’s highest point.

16. The Caucasus has a moderate climate near the Black Sea, which
has long attracted human settlement.

17. The Yablonovye Mountain range forms a rugged natural
boundary between Russia and China.

18. The Yablonovye Mountain highest point is 8,264′, and are rich in tin.

19. And the Stanovoy Mountains

20. Stanovoy Mountains have an elevation of 7,913′.

21. These mountains mark the southeastern edge of the Central
Siberian Plateau.

22. This rolling plateau has elevations ranging from 1,600 to 2,300
feet.

23. Throughout the plateau’s 1,400,000 sq mi expanse, swiftlyflowing
rivers have carved out canyons.

24. • Alaska (Total area: 665,384 square miles)
• Texas (Total area: 268,596 square miles)
• California (Total area: 163,696 square miles)
• Montana (Total area: 147,040 square miles)
• New Mexico (Total area: 121,590 square miles)
• Arizona (Total area: 113,990 square miles)

25. Still farther east, mountains and basins extend through Siberia to
the Pacific Ocean.

26. In eastern Russia, the Kamchatka Peninsula has more than
100 volcanoes, including 29 that are active.

28. The Russian islands boarder Alaska in the USA.

31. Most of European Russia is part of the Northern European Plain,
also known as the Russian Plain.

32. The Northern Russian Plain is very flat and poorly drained,
resulting in many swamps and lakes.

33. But, the southern Russian Plain has navigable waterways and a
rich black soil, known as chernozem (cher•nuh•ZYAWM).

34. Chernozem (cher•nuh•ZYAWM) supports the production of
wheat, barley, rye, oats, and other crops.

35. About 75 percent of the Russian population lives on the Northern
Russian Plain.

36. This region holds Russia’s most populous cities, including
Moscow and St. Petersburg.

38. This region holds Russia’s most populous cities, including
Moscow and St. Petersburg.

40. The Ural Mountains divide the Northern Russian Plain from
another vast plains area — the West Siberian Plain.

41. With almost 1 million square miles (2.6million sq. km), the West
Siberian Plain is one of the world’s largest areas of flatland.

42. At its widest, this plain stretches from the Arctic Ocean to the
grasslands of Central Asia.

43. Its lowland areas are poorly drained, with many swamps and
marshes.

44. Russia’s water systems include long coastlines, seas, and lakes
that provide access to other parts of the world. Russian rivers are
also important for economic activities in the country.

45. Russia has the longest continuous coastline, stretching 23,400
miles, touching both the Arctic and Pacific Oceans.

46. .

47. Other coasts lie along the Baltic Sea.

48.  145,561 mi²

49.  145,561 mi² 617,800 mi²

51. Other coasts lie along the Sea of Azov.

52. 15,058 mi²

54. Other coasts lie along the Caspian Sea

55.  143,244 mi²

56. The saltwater Caspian Sea is a lake located in a deep depression.

57. Rivers flow into the Caspian, but there is no outlet to the ocean.

58. Other coasts lie along the Black Sea.

59. The Black Sea provides Russia with a warmwater outlet to the
Aegean and Mediterranean Seas through three Turkish-controlled
waterways.

60. The Bosporus,

61. The Sea of Marmara

62. And the Dardanelles (dahrd•uhn•EHLZ).

63. Lake Baikal (by•KAHL) lies in southern Siberia.

64. Lake Baikal is the third-largest lake in Asia and the deepest
freshwater lake in the world

65. Lake Baikal is nearly 400 miles long, 40 miles (64 km) wide, and
over 1 mile deep.

66. It is estimated to contain about 20 percent of the Earth’s total
supply of freshwater.

67. Most of Russia’s longest rivers — which carry 84 percent of the
country’s water — are located in Siberia, where only 25 percent of
the Russian people live.

68. The Dnieper River runs through Russia, Belarus and Ukraine.

69. Kiev , Ukraine is on the Dnieper River, and Odessa at it’s mouth.

70. Russia’s Volga River is the fourth-longest river in the country,
nicknamed Matushka Volga, or “Mother Volga,” at 2,193 mi long.
Russia.

71. The Volga is vital to Russia. Its tributaries drain much of the
eastern part of Russia’s Northern Russian Plain.

72. They connect Moscow to the Caspian Sea and, by way of the
Volga-Don Canal, to the Sea of Azov and the Black Sea.

73. Canals link the Volga to the Baltic Sea, providing a water route
to northern Europe.

74. The river provides hydroelectric power and water for drinking
and irrigation.

75. Two-thirds of Russia’s water traffic travels along the Volga.

76. Heavy use of the river, however, has created challenges. Fed by
melting snow, the Volga supplies 33 percent of Russia’s usable
water.

77. But half of it returns to the river carrying waste.

78. The Ob’, Yenisey, and Lena are among the world’s largest river
systems.

79. The Ob’, Yenisey, and Lena are among the world’s largest river
systems.

80. The Ob’, Yenisey, and Lena are among the world’s largest river
systems.

81. They flow north to the Arctic Ocean. Temperatures are warmer at
the rivers’ sources in the south than at their mouths in the north.

83. Blocked by ice in the north, the meltwaters flood the land, creating
swamps and marshes.

84. The Amur River, which drains eastward, forms the border
between Russia and China for about 1,000 miles.

85. Influenced by summer monsoon winds from the southeast, the
warmer Amur is Siberia’s main food-producing area.

86. Russia holds an abundance of natural resources. Much of this
wealth, however, lies in remote and cold areas and is difficult to
tap or utilize.

87. Russia has huge reserves of fossil fuels like natural gas.

89. Russia holds large petroleum deposits and 16 percent of the
world’s coal reserves.

90. Russia holds large petroleum deposits and 16 percent of the
world’s coal reserves.

91.  Western and Central Europe gets gas and oil
from Russia.

95. Russia also leads the world in nickel production.

96. Russia ranks among the top three producers of aluminum,
gemstones, and platinum-group metals

97. Russia ranks among the top three producers of aluminum.

98. Russia ranks among the top three producers of gemstones.

99. Russia ranks among the top three producers of platinum-group
metals

100. Russia’s rivers make it a leading producer of hydroelectric power.

101. Russia’s cold climate results in only about 10 percent of its land
able to have farming.

102. This is enough farmland to support the population with grains
and vegetables. Puttin has doubled grain production over the past
10 years.

103. In the north and east, permafrost, a permanently frozen layer of
soil, lies beneath the surface of the ground.

104. A wide, fertile band called the Black Earth Belt covers about 250
million acres stretching stretches from Ukraine to southwestern
Siberia.

105. A wide, fertile band called the Black Earth Belt covers about 250
million acres stretching stretches from Ukraine to southwestern
Siberia.

106. About one-fifth of the world’s forest lands lie in Russia — 75
percent of them in Siberia.

107. The Russian Boreal forest is second only to the Amazon rain forest
in the amount of oxygen returned to the atmosphere.

108. The Russian boreal forests also supply much of the world’s
timber, mainly pine, fir, spruce, and cedar.

109. As a result of commercial logging, and wildfires, however,
Russian forests shrink by almost 40 million acres (16 million ha)
each year — a rate of loss higher than that of the Amazon Basin.

110. Fish are important to the Russian diet and economy. Salmon from
the Pacific Ocean and herring, cod, and halibut from the Arctic
Ocean support a flourishing fishing industry.

111. However, the supply of world-famous Russian caviar, or salted
fish eggs, has declined.

112. Dams built on the Volga River have interrupted the migration of
sturgeon, the fish that provide the eggs for caviar.

113. Sturgeon is often fished illegally to meet the global demand for
this delicacy.

114. End
Next time Cultural Geography of Russia.

115.  END