Russian Geography

The west extremity of Russia is near Kaliningrad city (in longitude 19'38" West), and the east extremity is in the Bering Sea, Ratmanov Island (east boundary of Russia with the USA). Because of the huge length of the country by longitude, there is the great difference in time between the west and east parts of the country (there are 11 time zones there). The north extremity is on the Rudolf insland in Frans-Iosif land archipelago (in latitude 81'49" North), and the south extremity in on the ridge of the Main Caucasus Ridge (in latitude 41'12" South). And the highest point of Russia is also situated on Caucasus Elbrus Mountain (5642 metres).

The main territory of the country is flatty. There are 3 wide plains on the territory of Russia: West-Siberian, Russian and Middle-Siberian plateau. But also there are some mountain regions in Russia: Ural Mountains, Caucasus Mountains, Sayan Mountains, Altai mountains. Active volcanos and geysers are widely spread on Kamchatka peninsula (the Far East of Russia).

Russian rivers are mainly flatty. The largest rivers of Russia are Volga, Lena, Ob', Yenisey, Irtysh, Amur. The largest lakes are Baykal, Caspian Sea, Ladozhskoye, Onezhskoye. Forests occupy something about a third of Russia.

There are 99 reserves and 35 national parks in Russia. The first-rate reserves are: Kronotskiy, Astrakhanskiy, Pribaikalskiy, Katunskiy, Far East, etc.

Russia has borders with Belarus, Poland, Ukraine, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Norway, Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Georgia, Mongolia, China and North Korea by land, and with Turkey, Japan, Sweden and the USA by sea.

In geographic extent Russia is the largest country in the world, with an area of 17,075,200 sq km (about 6,592,800 sq mi), more than one-ninth of the world's land area and nearly twice that of the United States or China. From north to south the country extends more than 4000 km (more than 2400 mi) from the southern border along the Caucasus Mountains to Arctic islands in the Barents Sea. From east to west the maximum extent is almost 10,000 km (almost 6200 mi) from the eastern coast of the Baltic Sea to Ratmanov (also known as Big Diomede) Island in the Bering Strait. The country also spans parts of two continents, Europe and Asia, with the Ural Mountains marking the boundary between them. The capital and largest city of Russia is Moscow.

Russia's borders measure more than 20,100 km (more than 12,500 mi). On the north it is bounded by a number of arms of the Arctic Ocean: the Barents, Kara, Laptev, East Siberian, and Chukchi seas. On the east it is bounded by several arms of the Pacific Ocean: the Bering Strait (which separates Russia from Alaska), the Bering Sea, and the seas of Okhotsk and Japan. In the extreme southeast Russia abuts on the northeastern tip of North Korea. On the south it is bounded by China, Mongolia, Kazakstan, Azerbaijan, Georgia, and the Black Sea. On the southwest it is bounded by Ukraine, and on the west by Belarus, Latvia, Estonia, the Gulf of Finland, Finland, and Norway. The exclave of Kaliningrad, on the Baltic Sea, is bounded by Lithuania and Poland.

The principal island possessions of Russia lie in the Arctic and Pacific oceans. Farthest north, in the Arctic Ocean, is Franz Josef Land, an archipelago consisting of about 100 islands. The other Arctic islands, from west to east, include the two islands that constitute Novaya Zemlya, Vaygach Island, the group of islands called Severnaya Zemlya, the New Siberian Islands, and Wrangel Island. Between the islands mentioned above are numerous small islands and island chains. In the Pacific Ocean are the Kuril Islands, which extend in an arc southwest from the southern extremity of the Russian peninsula of Kamchatka to Japan, and are the subject of a long-running dispute with Japan over ownership and fishing rights. The Pacific also includes the large island of Sakhalin, which separates the seas of Okhotsk and Japan.

Russia can be divided into three broad geographic regions: European Russia, consisting of the territory lying west of the Ural Mountains; Siberia, stretching east from the Urals almost to the Pacific Ocean; and far eastern Russia, including the extreme southeast and the Pacific coastal fringe.

Land and Resources
Much of Russia lies north of the 50th parallel and thus has a climate more comparable to Canada than to the United States. Most of its land also is far from the moderating influences of ocean currents, producing a more continental climate than that enjoyed by most European countries. The agricultural resource base is limited by climate and, to a lesser degree, soils. The vastness of Russia's territory and its varied geologic formations, however, provide a rich mineral resource base unmatched by any other country in the world.

Physiographic Regions
Russia contains a great complexity of geologic structures and surface formations that have evolved separately during different geologic epochs. Very simply, the landmass of the republic consists of a vast plain in the western and northern parts of the country fringed by a discontinuous belt of mountains and plateaus on the south and on the east; this is the most extensive plain in the world. The upland and mountain regions include most of Siberia and extend to the margins of the Pacific.

European Russia is primarily a rolling plain with an average elevation of about 180 m (about 600 ft). The terrain has been formed by millions of years of stream, wind, and glacial action on nearly horizontal strata of sedimentary rocks. In some places the softer sedimentary rocks have been eroded away, and the underlying basement complex of hard igneous and metamorphic rocks has been exposed at the surface; the most notable of these areas is the northwest near the border with Finland. The topography is generally rough in these areas of outcropping, particularly in the north, where a maximum elevation of 1191 m (3906 ft) is reached in the Khibiny Mountains of the central Kola Peninsula. Otherwise, the relief of the European Plain, with minor exceptions, is only modest.
Other surface features owe their origins to glaciation. Among these are several broad marshy areas, such as the Meshchëra Lowland southeast of Moscow along the Oka River. This flat, poorly drained area was a lake when glacial ice blocked the streams that now partly drain it. The most recent glacial stage, which ended about 10,000 to 12,000 years ago, formed a terminal moraine that runs east from the border with Belarus, then north of Moscow to the Arctic coast west of the Pechora River. The region to the north of this boundary is poorly drained and has numerous lakes and swamps.

Ural Mountains 
The European Plain terminates in the east at the Ural Mountains. An old, worn-down series of mountain ranges, the Urals are topographically unimpressive. The average elevation is only about 600 m (about 2000 ft), and the highest elevation is in the north at Gora Narodnaya (People's Mountain), at 1894 m (6214 ft) above sea level. They are, however, important for a wide variety of mineral deposits, ranging from mineral fuels to iron ore to nonferrous metals and nonmetallic minerals.

West Siberian Lowland 
To the east of the Urals the plain region continues in the West Siberian Lowland. This expansive and extremely flat area is poorly drained and is generally marshy or swampy.

Central Siberian Platform 
Just east of the Yenisey River begins the rolling upland of the Central Siberian Platform. Elevations here average about 500 to 700 m (about 1600 to 2300 ft) above sea level. In all areas rivers have dissected, or eroded, the surface and in some places have formed deep canyons. The geologic structure of the region is complex; a basement of igneous and metamorphic rocks is topped in many places by thick sedimentary rocks and volcanic lavas. The region is rich in a variety of minerals.

East Siberian Uplands 
To the east of the Lena River the topography consists of a series of mountains and basins. The higher ranges in this region, such as the Verkhoyansk, Cherskogo, and Kolyma, generally reach maximum elevations of about 2300 to 3200 m (about 7500 to 10,500 ft). To the east, toward the Pacific Ocean, the mountains are higher and steeper, and volcanic activity becomes prevalent. On Kamchatka Peninsula are 120 volcanoes, 23 of which are currently active. The highest cone, Klyuchevskaya Sopka, reaches an elevation of 4750 m (15,584 ft). The volcanic mountain chain of Kamchatka continues southward in the Kuril Islands, which contain about 100 volcanoes, 30 of which are active.
Southern Mountain Systems 

The southern border of European Russia includes the geologically young, seismically active Caucasus Mountains, which extend between the Black and Caspian seas. The Caucasus Mountains comprise two major folded mountain chains divided along their entire extent by a lowland, with the northern Greater Caucasus (Bol'shoy Kavkaz) forming part of Russia's southern border. Geologically complex, the mountain system is composed of limestone and crystalline rocks with some volcanic formations. The Greater Caucasus reach a maximum elevation of 5642 m (18,510 ft) on El'brus, an extinct volcano that is the highest peak in Europe. Other mountain ranges continue northeast along the southern border of central and eastern Siberia to the Pacific Ocean. Among them are the Altai, Sayan, Yablonovyy, and Stanovoy ranges (see Altai Mountains; Yablonovyy Range).

Coastline, Rivers, Lakes, and Seas 
Russia has the longest continuous coastline of any country in the world. Its coastline stretches more than 37,650 km (more than 23,390 mi), mostly along the Arctic and Pacific oceans; other coasts lie along the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea in the south. Because the greater part of its coasts lie in waters frozen for many months of the year, Russia has few year-round oceanic outlets. Despite these limitations, Russian shipping and fishing encompass all the seas.
The longest rivers of Russia are all located in Siberia and far eastern Russia. The largest single river system is the Ob'-Irtysh; these rivers together flow 5410 km (3362 mi) from western China north through western Siberia to the Arctic Ocean. The second longest system is the Amur-Shilka-Onon, which flows out of northern Mongolia eastward along the Chinese-Siberian border for 4416 km (2744 mi) to the Pacific coast. Among individual rivers, the Lena River is longest; it flows north through Siberia and far eastern Russia for about 4269 km (about 2653 mi) to the Arctic Ocean. The next longest individual rivers are the Irtysh and the Ob'. The fourth longest river is the Volga; with a length of 3690 km (2293 mi), it is, by far, the longest river in Europe. Together with its two main tributaries, the Kama and Oka rivers, it drains a large portion of the eastern European Plain southeast to the Caspian Sea. The fifth longest river, the Yenisey River, flows north from Mongolia through eastern Siberia to the Arctic Ocean. Its main tributary, the Angara River, drains huge Lake Baikal, which imparts a large and steady flow to the lower river system; the Yenisey River delivers 603 cu km (145 cu mi) of water to the Arctic Ocean yearly, a larger flow than any other stream system in the country. In size of flow, the Yenisey is followed by three other Asian rivers-the Lena, the Ob', and the Amur-and by one European river, the Volga. All the other rivers have much smaller flows.

Many other streams are also significant, either because they serve as transportation routes or power sources in densely populated areas or because they flow through arid regions where irrigation is essential for agriculture. Outstanding among these is the Don River, which is on the populous southern European Plain and drains south to the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov. On the northern European Plain, the Narva and Daugava (Western Dvina) rivers flow northwest to the Baltic Sea; the Pechora, Northern Dvina, Mezen', and Onega rivers flow to the Arctic Ocean and the White Sea. On the North Caucasian Plain the two most important streams for irrigation purposes are the Kuban' River, which flows west to the Sea of Azov, and the Terek River, which flows east to the Caspian Sea.

The Soviet government took an active role in building large dams for electrical power, irrigation, flood control, and navigation purposes, and some river basins have been almost completely transformed by the formation of series of huge reservoirs. The most extensive construction has taken place on the Volga-Kama system and the Don River on the European Plain, and on the upper portions of the Yenisey-Angara system and Ob'-Irtysh system in Siberia.

Many natural lakes occur in Russia, particularly in the glaciated northwestern portion of the country. The Caspian Sea in the south, however, is the largest by far in terms of surface area. Although called a sea, it is actually a saline lake that occupies a land depression; rivers drain into it, but because of the dry climate the deep basin does not fill up with water and overflow into the sea. Water escapes only through evaporation, and over a period of time salt accumulates. The Caspian Sea has the largest surface area of any lake in the world, about 371,020 sq km (about 143,550 sq mi). The second largest body of water in Russia is Lake Baikal, which has a surface area of 30,510 sq km (11,780 sq mi). Lake Baikal is the deepest freshwater lake in the world, with a maximum depth of 1637 m (5371 ft), and has a greater volume of water (about 23,000 cu km/5520 cu mi) than any other lake in the world; it is estimated that the lake contains about one-fifth of the earth's fresh surface water. The next two largest lakes, Ladoga and Onega, lie in the so-called Great Lakes Region of northwestern European Russia. Both are freshwater lakes of glacial origin, and both have outlets to the Gulf of Finland.

Climate
The harsh climate prevalent in Russia reflects its high latitude and the absence of moderating maritime influences. Winters are long and cold, and summers are short and relatively cool. High mountains along the southern boundary of Russia and Central Asia largely rule out penetration by maritime tropical air masses. During winter the Arctic Ocean is frozen right up to the coast and acts much as a snow-covered, frozen landmass rather than as a relatively warm ocean influence. Because the territory lies in a westerly wind belt, warm influences from the Pacific Ocean do not reach far inland. This is particularly true in winter, when a large, cold high-pressure cell, which is centered in Mongolia, spreads over much of Siberia and far eastern Russia.

The primary marine influence comes from the Atlantic Ocean in the west, but by the time Atlantic air reaches Russia it has crossed the entire western part of Europe and undergone considerable modification. It penetrates the landmass most easily during summer, when a low-pressure system generally exists over the land. At that time warm, moist Atlantic air may push east well into central Siberia. This is the principal moisture-bearing air mass to reach Russia, and most of the territory consequently receives a fairly pronounced amount of summer precipitation. The summer precipitation is fortunate for agriculture, because in most of the better farming areas the moisture supply is limited. In many areas, however, the distribution of rainfall during the summer is not advantageous-early summer is often subject to drought, and middle and late summer may bring considerable rain and clouds that interfere with the harvest. This is particularly true in the far eastern region, where a monsoonal inflow of Pacific air occurs during middle and late summer. In northern regions, especially from Moscow northward, featureless, overcast skies are so frequent, particularly during winter, that the Russians have a special name for the phenomenon, pasmurno, which may be translated as "dull, dreary weather." During December, for instance, Moscow averages 23 days with overcast skies.
Annual precipitation in most of the country is only light to modest, however. Because much of the time the air is cool, it has little capacity to hold water vapor. Across the European Plain, average annual precipitation decreases from more than 800 mm (more than 32 in) in western Russia to less than 400 mm (less than 16 in) along the Caspian Sea coast. Throughout Siberia and the far eastern region, annual precipitation amounts range generally between about 500 and 800 mm (about 20 and 32 in); in higher elevations annual totals may reach 1000 mm (40 in) or more, but in interior basins precipitation may total less than 300 mm (12 in).

The climate of Russia is characterized by temperature extremes. The coldest winter temperatures occur in eastern Siberia; air from the Atlantic Ocean tempers conditions somewhat in the west. Verkhoyansk in the northern part of the far eastern region is often called the "cold pole of the world." During January, temperatures there average -51° C (-59° F) and have reached a minimum of -68° C (-90° F) in February. Although absolute temperatures during winter are somewhat higher along the Arctic and Pacific coasts, the winds are strong, and wind chill factors below -50° C (-58° F) have been recorded along portions of the Arctic coast. The same conditions that make for cold temperatures during winter in the northeastern part of the country-isolation from the sea and narrow valleys between mountains-produce air stagnation in summer, which allows for strong heating under nearly continuous daylight periods at these high latitudes. During July, temperatures in Verkhoyansk average 13° C (56° F) and have reached as high as 37° C (98° F). The city has an absolute temperature range of 105° C (188° F), by far the greatest temperature range on earth.
Russian lands encompass a number of distinct climate zones, which generally extend across the country in eastern-western belts. Along the Arctic coast a tundra climate prevails and extends south in the far eastern region on upper mountain slopes. To the south of this zone is a broad belt of subarctic climate that extends south to the city of Saint Petersburg and broadens east of the Urals to envelop almost all of Siberia and far eastern Russia. Most of European Russia is occupied by the more temperate continental climate. This belt is widest in the west; it stretches from the Baltic Sea to the Black Sea, then tapers eastward to include a narrow strip of the southern West Siberian Lowland; it is also found in the extreme southeastern portion of eastern Russia. Temperatures in Moscow, which lies in the continental climate zone, range from -16° to -9° C (3° to 15° F) in January and from 13° to 23° C (55° to 73° F) in July. Temperatures in Vladivostok, in far southeastern Russia, in January range from -18° to -11° C (0° to 13° F) and in July from 16° to 22° C (60° to 71° F).

A broad belt of drier steppe climate with cold winters begins along the Black Sea coast and extends northeast across the lower Volga Valley, the southern Urals, and the southern part of western Siberia. It continues eastward in isolated mountain basins along the extreme fringes of Siberia and far eastern Russia, and in the North Caucasian Plain.

Natural Vegetation and Soils 
The broad zones of natural vegetation and soils of Russia correspond closely with the country's climate zones. In the far north a tundra vegetation of mosses, lichens, and low shrubs grow where the summers are too cool for trees. Permafrost, or permanently frozen subsoil, is found throughout this region. The ground is frozen to great depths, and only a shallow surface layer thaws in summer to provide a limited sustenance to plants.

Forests cover more than two-fifths of the territory of Russia, the greater part lying in the Asian region. Taken altogether, the forests account for nearly one-fourth of the world's forest area. The country's forest zone is divisible into a large northern part, the boreal forest, or taiga, and a much smaller southern area, the mixed forest.

The taiga is south of the tundra; it occupies the northern two-fifths of European Russia and extends to cover much of Siberia and far eastern Russia. Much of this region also has permafrost. The vast taiga zone is made up primarily of coniferous trees, but in some places small-leaved trees such as birch, poplar, aspen, and willow add to the diversity of the forest. The taiga contains the world's largest coniferous forest, representing about one-half of the earth's softwood timber. In the extreme northwestern part of the European region the taiga is dominated by a variety of pines, although significant numbers of fir, birch, and other trees are also present. Eastward to the western slopes of the Urals, pines are still common, but firs predominate, and in some regions almost pure stands of birch exist. The taiga of the West Siberian Lowland is made up primarily of various species of pine, but along the southern fringes of the forest, birch becomes dominant. Throughout much of the Central Siberian Upland and the mountains of the far eastern region, larch, a deciduous coniferous tree, becomes dominant.

Throughout the taiga zone, the trees are generally small and rather widely spaced. A considerable amount of land is also devoid of trees, primarily because of poor local drainage; in these areas marsh grasses and bushes form the vegetative cover. The soils of the taiga are podzolic in character and are infertile, having been leached of most of their plant minerals by the abundance of acidic groundwater.

A mixed forest, containing both coniferous and broadleaf deciduous trees, occupies the central portion of the eastern European Plain from Saint Petersburg in the north to the border with Ukraine in the south. The mixed forest is dominated by coniferous evergreen trees in the north and broadleaf trees in the south. The principal broadleaf species here are oak, beech, maple, and hornbeam. A similar forest of somewhat different species prevails throughout much of far southeastern Russia along the middle Amur River valley and south along the Ussuri River valley. Gray-brown forest soils are found in the mixed forest zone. They are not as infertile as the soils in the taiga to the north, and with proper farming methods and heavy fertilization they can be kept quite productive.

To the south, the mixed forest grades through a narrow zone of forest-steppe before passing into the zone of true steppes. Although now largely under cultivation, the forest-steppe has a natural vegetation of grasslands with scattered groves of trees. Averaging about 150 km (about 95 mi) wide, this zone stretches east across the middle Volga Valley and southern Ural Mountains into the southern portions of the West Siberian Lowland. Isolated areas of this zone can be found in the southern intermontane basins of eastern Siberia.

True steppe, a mixture of grasses with only a few stunted trees in sheltered valleys, is the natural vegetation of a region that includes the western half of the North Caucasian Plain and a strip of land extending east across the southern Volga Valley, southern Urals, and parts of western Siberia. Like the forest-steppe zone, much of the steppe has been put under cultivation.

Both the forest-steppe and the steppe have fertile soils and together form a region, known as the black-earth belt, that is the agricultural heartland of Russia. The forest-steppe has black chernozem soils that are high in humus content and have about the right balance of minerals for the cultivation of most crops. The forest-steppe has a better moisture supply than the steppe during the growing season, and consequently is the best agricultural area of Russia. The soils of the steppe, known as brown-steppe soils, are not quite as rich in humus as the chernozems to the north, but are very high in mineral content.

Animal Life
Animal life is abundant and varied throughout many parts of Russia. Wildlife in the tundra along the Arctic coast, northern Pacific coast, and offshore islands is surprisingly diverse, and includes polar bear, seal, walrus, polar fox, reindeer, and white hare. Birdlife includes white partridges, polar owls, gulls, and loons. Geese, swans, and ducks migrate into the region during summer, which is also then infested with mosquitoes, gnats, and other insects; fish abound in the streams. The taiga forest serves as a habitat for elk, brown bear, reindeer, lynx, sable, and a variety of forest birds, such as the owl and nightingale. Swamps in this zone have been stocked with muskrat from Canada; along with squirrel, muskrat is now the main source of pelts trapped in the wild. The broadleaf forests contain boar, deer, wolf, fox, mink, and a variety of birds, snakes, lizards, and tortoises. The forests of far southeastern Russia are known for their large Ussuri tigers, as well as leopard, bear, and deer. The steppe is inhabited primarily by rodents such as marmots and hamsters, but also contains a number of hooved animals such as the steppe antelope. The steppe polecat and the Tatar fox are the main beasts of prey. Birdlife includes the crane, eagle, and kestrel. The Caucasus region is particularly abundant in wildlife; mountain goats, chamois, Caucasian deer, wild boar, porcupine, leopard, hyena, jackal, squirrel, bear, and such game fowl as the black grouse, turkey hen, and stone partridge are found here. Reptiles and amphibians are also numerous.

Mineral Resources
Russia contains the greatest reserves of mineral resources of any country in the world. But while minerals are abundant, the can be expensive to extract because of their location, in remote areas with extreme conditions.

Russia is especially rich in mineral fuels. Estimates suggest that the republic holds about one-half of the world's potential coal reserves and probably holds larger reserves of petroleum than any other nation. Coal deposits are scattered widely throughout the country; by far the largest fields lie in Siberia and far eastern Russia, but the most developed fields are in western Siberia, the northeastern European region, the area around Moscow, and the Urals. The major petroleum deposits are in western Siberia and the Volga-Ural region. Smaller deposits, however, are found in many other parts of the country. The principal natural-gas deposits, of which Russia holds about 40 percent of the world's reserves, are along the Arctic coast of Siberia, in the northern Caucasus region, and in the republic of Komi in northwestern Russia. The primary iron-ore deposits are found in the Kursk Magnetic Anomaly halfway between Moscow and Ukraine; smaller deposits are scattered throughout the country. Minor deposits of manganese are scattered through the Urals. Other important iron alloys, such as nickel, tungsten, cobalt, and molybdenum, occur in adequate or even abundant quantities.

Russia is also well endowed with most of the nonferrous metals, except aluminum, which is one of the country's major mineral deficits. Aluminum ores are found primarily in the Urals, northwestern European Russia, and southeastern Siberia. Copper, on the other hand, is abundant; reserves are found in the Urals, the Noril'sk area of eastern Siberia, and the Kola Peninsula. A large deposit east of Lake Baikal became commercially exploitable when the Baikal-Amur Magistral (BAM) railroad was completed in 1989.

Lead and zinc ores are abundant (often found with copper, gold, silver, and a variety of rare metals) in the northern Caucasus, far eastern Russia, and the western edge of the Kuznetsk Basin in Siberia. Russia has some of the world's largest gold reserves, primarily in far eastern Russia, Siberia, and the Urals. Mercury deposits have been found in the Chukotka okrug in the far northeastern part of Russia. Large asbestos deposits exist in the central and southern Urals and in eastern Siberia.

Raw materials for chemical-manufacturing industries are also abundant in Russia. These include potassium and magnesium salt deposits in the Kama River district of the western Urals. Some of the world's largest deposits of apatite (a mineral from which phosphate is derived) are in the central Kola Peninsula; other types of phosphate ores are found in other parts of the country. Common rock salt is found in the southwestern Urals and southwest of Lake Baikal. Surface deposits of salt are derived from salt lakes along the lower Volga Valley. Sulfur is found in the Urals. High-grade limestone, used for the production of cement, is found in many parts of the country, but particularly near Belgorod in central European Russia and in the Zhiguli Hills area of the middle Volga River Valley.