12 May 2011

Due Page. 683 Reviewing the main ideas # 5 Reviewing chapter themes # 3 and 4 Thinking critically # 2 Applying your skills # 2 Written response: If you were President

Truman would you have dropped the bombs, why or why not 5-8 sentences.

The Commonwealth of Independent States:

Geography Pages 707-712

Republics and Capitals

Georgia Tbilisi

Armenia Yerevan

Russia Moscow

Kyrgyzstan Bishkek

Turkmenistan Ashkhabad

Moldova Kishinev

Ukraine Kiev

Republics and Capitals

Belarus Minsk

Estonia Tallinn

Kazakhstan Alma-Ata

Uzbekistan Tashkent

Latvia Riga

Lithuania Vilnius

Azerbaijan Baku

Tajikistan Dushanbe

Basic Information

More than 2 X size of U.S 15 republics ruled by a central

government before 1991… Now all republics are independent

(collapse of the Soviet Union)

Landforms

Huge Plain Area- Middle of Europe to Central Asia.

In Europe it is the European Plain In Asia it is the West Siberian Plain Ural Mountains- Marks division

btwn. Europe and Asia.

Seas, Lakes, Rivers

Caspian Sea- World’s largest inland sea

Aral sea- Shrinking due to irrigation.

Lake Baikal- Siberia

Climate

Cold Continental Climate

-long, bitter winters

-short, hot summers

Permafrost: Layer of soil below the surface that remains permanently frozen.

Resources

Huge forestsFertile soilOil, Coal, natural gas

6 Vegetation Zones

#1 Arctic North- Frozen tundra

# 2 Taiga

Evergreen forests Larger than the 48

continental U.S. States

#3 Forest Zone

Broad-leaved trees

#4 Steppe

Rich, black soil Very fertile “Bread basket” Stretches from

Ukraine to Kazakhstan

#5 Desert Region

Central Asia-South and East of steppe

#6 Caucus Region

Subtropical crops (tea, fruit, nuts)

People and Nationalities

Republics- Russian, Ukrainians, Belorussians Caucasus- Armenian, Georgian, Azeri Central Asian Republics- Kazakhs, Kyrgzis, Mongols,

Turkmen, and Uzbeks

Religions

Christians:Russian & Armenian Orthodox, Protestant, Roman Catholic

Judaism Muslims- Central

Asian Republics

To sum things up…

Each republic has a dominant ethnic group, BUT diversity remains.

Ex: Russian Federation

-80% Russian

-20% Other ethnic groups

Republic of Chechnya 96 percent Sunni Muslim Want independence from Russian

Socialist Federation Will commit acts of “terror” on soft targets

within the Federation and the Federation responses with brutal military repression.

Theater siege of 2002 (goal was to end the second Chechen war)