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Russia
Landforms• Russia largest
country in the World• 1/8th of the earth's
surface (6.5 million sq. miles)
• Eurasia – Landmass of Europe and Asia together
What’s the dividing line?
Ural MountainsWest – EuropeEast - Asia
Ural Mountains
Regions
• West – Flat plain, part of Northern European Plain (most population)
• Urals – Rolling Hills, limited obstacle for travel
• East – Volga River Basin, Siberia
• Southwest – Aral Sea (Drying lake)
• Southeast – Lake Baikal = world’s deepest lake
Disappearing Aral Sea
Lake Baikal, deepest lake in world
Pollution has killed off wildlife here, including fresh water seals
Climate
• Humid Continental – West• Sub-Arctic – East• Tundra – North• Steppe – Semiarid – Southeast • Desert – Arid – Southwest (Central Asia)
• Siberia – Extremely cold, dry (little rainfall)• Arctic Northern Shores - Freeze
Vegetation
Far North - Tundra – Low Shrubs, mosses
Sub-arctic - Taiga – Forest of Evergreen trees
Humid Continental – Mixed Forests
Steppe - Rich Soil – Grasses, shrubs
Little RAINFALL
TAIGA
Russian Steppe
Central Asian landscape
Siberia Wintertime
Trans-Siberian Railroad
History of the RailwayRussia's longstanding desire for a Pacific port was realized with the foundation of Vladivostok in 1860. By 1880, Vladivostok had grown into a major port city, and the lack of adequate transportation links between European Russia and its Far Eastern provinces soon became an obvious problem.
In 1891, Czar Alexander III drew up plans for the Trans-Siberian Railway and initiated its construction. Upon his death three years later, the work was continued by his son Nicholas. Despite the enormity of the project, a continuous route was completed in 1905. It successfully opened the far eastern parts of Russia to the world!
Why was it built?
Longest railroad in the world!
• The marker for kilometer 9,288, at the end of the line in Vladivostok
