The
geography of Russia entails the
physicalPhysical geography is one of the three major subfields of geography, as opposed to the cultural or built environment, the domain of human geography...
and
human geography-Scope:Human geography broadly differs from physical geography in that it has a greater focus on studying intangible or abstract patterns surrounding human activity and is more receptive to qualitative research methodologies. It encompasses human, political, cultural, social and economic aspects of...
of
RussiaRussia , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia . It is a semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
, a country extending over much of northern
EurasiaEurasia is a large landmass covering about 52,990,000 km
2 or about 10.6% of the Earth's surface...
. Comprising much of
eastern EuropeEastern Europe is a region lying in the Eastern part of Europe. The term is highly context-dependent and there are "almost as many definitions of Eastern Europe as there are scholars of the region"...
and
northern AsiaNorth Asia or Northern Asia is sometimes defined as a subregion of Asia consisting only of the Asian portion of Russia. The term is not widely used...
, it is the
world's largest country in total area. Due to its size, Russia displays both monotony and diversity. As with its topography, its climates, vegetation, and soils span vast distances. From north to south the
East European PlainThe East European Plain is a plain comprising a series of river basins in Eastern Europe. Together with the Northern European Plain it constitutes the European Plain. It is the largest mountain-free part of the European landscape....
is clad sequentially in
tundraIn physical geography, tundra is a biome where the tree growth is hindered by low temperatures and short growing seasons. The term tundra comes from Kildin Sami tūndâr, which means "uplands, treeless mountain tract." There are two types of tundra: Arctic tundra and alpine tundra...
, coniferous forest (
taigaTaiga is a biome characterized by coniferous forests. Covering most of inland Alaska, Canada, Sweden, Finland, inland Norway, Highland Scotland and Russia , as well as parts of the extreme northern continental United States , northern...
), mixed and broad-leaf forests, grassland (
steppeIn physical geography, a steppe is a biome region characterised by grassland plain without trees . The prairie can be considered a steppe. It may be semi-desert, or covered with grass or shrubs or both, depending on the season and latitude...
), and semi-desert (fringing the
Caspian SeaThe Caspian Sea is the largest enclosed body of water on Earth by area, variously classed as the world's largest lake or a full-fledged sea. It has a surface area of 371,000 square kilometres and a volume of 78,200 cubic kilometres...
) as the changes in vegetation reflect the changes in climate.
SiberiaSiberia , is the vast region constituting almost all of Northern Asia and for the most part currently serving as the massive central and eastern portion of the Russian Federation, having served in the same capacity previously for the USSR from its beginning, and the Russian Empire beginning in the...
supports a similar sequence but is taiga. The country contains 40 UNESCO
Biosphere reserveThe UNESCO Man and Biosphere Reserve Programme was established in 1977 to promote an interdisciplinary approach to research, training and communications in ecosystem conservation and rational use of natural resources.-Development:...
s.
Global position and boundaries
Located in the northern and middle latitudes of the
Northern HemisphereThe Northern Hemisphere is the half of a planet that is north of the equator—the word hemisphere literally means 'half sphere'. It is also that half of the celestial sphere north of the celestial equator...
, most of Russia is much closer to the
North PoleThe North Pole, also known as the Geographic North Pole or Terrestrial North Pole, is, subject to the caveats explained below, defined as the point in the northern hemisphere where the Earth's axis of rotation meets the Earth's surface...
than to the
equatorThe equator is the intersection of the Earth's surface with the plane perpendicular to the Earth's axis of rotation and containing the Earth's center of mass. In simpler language, it is an imaginary line on the Earth's surface equidistant from the North Pole and South Pole that divides the Earth...
. Individual country comparisons are of little value in gauging Russia's enormous size (slightly less than twice that of the
United StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
) and diversity. The country's 17.1 million square kilometers include one-eighth of the
EarthEarth is the third planet from the Sun. It is the fifth largest of the eight planets in the solar system, and the largest of the terrestrial planets in the Solar System in terms of diameter, mass and density...
's inhabited land area. Its European portion, which occupies a substantial part of continental Europe, is home to most of Russia's industrial and agricultural activity. It was here, roughly between the
Dnieper RiverThe Dnieper River or Dnipro River is one of the major rivers in Europe that flows from Russia, through Belarus and Ukraine, to the Black Sea. Its total length is , of which lie within Russia, within Belarus, and within Ukraine. Its basin covers , of which are within Ukraine...
and the
Ural MountainsThe Ural Mountains are a mountain range that runs roughly north-south through western Russia. They are usually considered the natural boundary between Europe and Asia....
, that the Russian Empire took shape.
Russia's girth is impressive by any measure. From west to east, the country stretches from
KaliningradKaliningrad Oblast , informally called Yantarny kray is a federal subject of Russia situated on the Baltic coast. Population: 968,200 ; ....
(the exclave separated by the 1991
secessionSecession is the act of withdrawing from an organization, union, or especially a political entity.-Secession theory:...
of Lithuania from the then-Soviet Union) to Ratmanov Island (one of the
Diomede IslandsThe Diomede Islands , also known in Russia as Gvozdev Islands , consist of two rocky, tuya-like islands: the U.S...
) in the
Bering StraitThe Bering Strait's technical name is Imakpik.The Bering Strait is a sea strait between Cape Dezhnev, Chukotka Autonomous Okrug, the easternmost point of the Asian continent and Cape Prince of Wales, Alaska, the westernmost point of the North American continent, with latitude of about 65° 40'...
. This distance is roughly equivalent to the distance from
EdinburghEdinburgh is the capital city of Scotland. It is the second largest Scottish city, after Glasgow, and the seventh-most populous in the United Kingdom. The City of Edinburgh Council is one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas....
,
ScotlandScotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
, to
NomeNome is a city in the Nome Census Area of the U.S. state of Alaska, located on the southern Seward Peninsula coast on Norton Sound of the Bering Sea. According to 2005 Census Bureau estimates, the city population was 3,590. Nome was incorporated on April 9, 1901, and was once the most populous...
,
AlaskaAlaska is the largest state of the United States of America by area; it is situated in the northwest extremity of the North American continent, with Canada to the east, the Arctic Ocean to the north, and the Pacific Ocean to the west and south, with Russia further west across the Bering Strait...
. From north to south, the country ranges from the northern tip of the
Russian Arctic islandsThe Russian Arctic islands are a number of islands groups and sole islands scattered around the Arctic Ocean.-Geography:The islands are all situated within the Arctic Circle and are scattered through the marginal seas of the Arctic ocean namely the Barents Sea, Kara Sea, Laptev Sea, East Siberian...
at
Franz Josef LandFranz Josef Land, Franz Joseph Land, or Francis Joseph's Land is an archipelago located in the far north of Russia. It is found in the Arctic Ocean north of Novaya Zemlya and east of Svalbard, and is administered by Arkhangelsk Oblast...
to the southern tip of the
Republic of DagestanThe Republic of Dagestan is a federal subject—republic—of the Russian Federation, located in the North Caucasus region....
on the
Caspian SeaThe Caspian Sea is the largest enclosed body of water on Earth by area, variously classed as the world's largest lake or a full-fledged sea. It has a surface area of 371,000 square kilometres and a volume of 78,200 cubic kilometres...
, spanning about 4,500 kilometers of extremely varied, often inhospitable terrain.
Extending for 57,792 kilometers, the Russian
borderBorders define geographic boundaries of political entities or legal jurisdictions, such as governments, states or subnational administrative divisions. They may foster the setting up of buffer zones...
is the world's longest, a source of substantial concern for national security in the post-
SovietThe Union of Soviet Socialist Republics was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. The name is a translation of the , tr. Soyuz Sovetskikh Sotsialisticheskikh Respublik, abbreviated СССР, SSSR. The common short name is Soviet Union, from , Sovetskiy Soyuz...
era. Along the 20,139-kilometer land frontier, Russia has boundaries with fourteen countries (
KazakhstanKazakhstan , officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a country situated in Eurasia that is ranked as the ninth largest country in the world. It is also the world's largest landlocked country. Its territory of 2,727,300 km² is greater than Western Europe...
,
EstoniaEstonia , officially the Republic of Estonia , is a country in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea, to the south by Latvia , and to the east by the Russian Federation...
,
LatviaLatvia , officially the Republic of Latvia is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by Estonia , to the south by Lithuania , to the east by the Russian Federation , and to the southeast by Belarus . Across the Baltic Sea to the west lies Sweden...
,
LithuaniaLithuania , officially the Republic of Lithuania is a country in Northern Europe, the southernmost of the three Baltic states. Situated along the southeastern shore of the Baltic Sea, it shares borders with Latvia to the north, Belarus to the southeast, Poland, and the Russian exclave of...
,
BelarusBelarus is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe, bordered by Russia to the north and east, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the north. Its capital is Minsk; other major cities include Brest, Grodno , Gomel , Mahilyow and Vitebsk...
,
UkraineUkraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Russia to the east; Belarus to the north; Poland, Slovakia, and Hungary to the west; Romania and Moldova to the southwest; and the Black Sea and Sea of Azov to the south. The city of Kiev is both the capital and the largest city of...
,
GeorgiaGeorgia Georgia Georgia is a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia. Situated at the juncture of Western Asia and Eastern Europe, it is bounded to the west by the Black Sea, to the north by Russia, to the south by Turkey and Armenia, and to the east by Azerbaijan...
(including Abhazia and South Osetia),
AzerbaijanAzerbaijan , formally the Republic of Azerbaijan , is a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia. Located at the crossroads of Western Asia and Eastern Europe, it is bounded by the Caspian Sea to the east, Russia to the north, Georgia to the northwest, Armenia to the west, and Iran to the south...
,
North KoreaNorth Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea , is a state in East Asia, occupying the northern half of the Korean Peninsula. Its capital and largest city is Pyongyang. The Korean Demilitarized Zone serves as the buffer area between North Korea and South Korea...
,
ChinaThe People's Republic of China , commonly known as China, is the largest country in East Asia and the most populous in the world with over 1.3 billion people, approximately one-fifth of the world's population...
,
MongoliaMongolia is a landlocked country in East and Central Asia. It borders Russia to the north and the People's Republic of China to the south, east and west. Although Mongolia does not share a border with Kazakhstan, its western-most point is only 24 miles from Kazakhstan's eastern tip. Ulan Bator,...
,
PolandPoland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe . Poland is bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
,
NorwayNorway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a country in Northern Europe occupying the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, as well as Jan Mayen and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard under the Spitsbergen Treaty...
, and
FinlandFinland , officially the Republic of Finland
, is a Nordic country and democracy situated in the Fennoscandian region of northern Europe. It borders Sweden on the west, Russia on the east, and Norway on the north, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland...
).
Approximately 2/3 of the frontier is bounded by water. Virtually all of the lengthy northern coast is well above the
Arctic CircleThe Arctic Circle is one of the five major circles of latitude that mark maps of the Earth. In , it is the parallel of latitude that runs approximately 66° 33′ 39″ north of the Equator. The region north of this circle is known as the Arctic, and the zone just to the south is called the Northern...
; except for the port of
MurmanskMurmansk is a city and seaport in the extreme northwest part of Russia, on the Kola Bay, 12 km from the Barents Sea on the northern shore of the Kola Peninsula, not far from Russia's borders with Norway and Finland....
—which receives currents that are somewhat warmer than would be expected at that latitude, due to the effects of the
Gulf StreamThe Gulf Stream, together with its northern extension towards Europe, the North Atlantic Drift, is a powerful, warm, and swift Atlantic ocean current that originates in the Gulf of Mexico, exits through the Strait of Florida, and follows the eastern coastlines of the United States and Newfoundland...
—that coast is locked in ice much of the year. Thirteen seas and parts of three oceans—the
ArcticThe Arctic Ocean, located in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Arctic north polar region, is the smallest, and shallowest of the world's five major oceanic divisions.
The International Hydrographic Organization recognizes it as an ocean, although some...
,
AtlanticThe Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's oceanic divisions. With a total area of about 106.4 million square kilometres , it covers approximately one-fifth of the Earth's surface and about one-quarter of its water surface area. The first part of its name refers to the Atlas of Greek...
, and
PacificThe Pacific Ocean is the largest of the Earth's oceanic divisions. Its name is derived from the Latin name Tepre Pacificum, "peaceful sea", bestowed upon it by the Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan. It extends from the Arctic in the north to Antarctica in the south, bounded by Asia and...
—wash Russian shores. Russia is the largest country in the world.
See also
Russia-United States maritime boundaryThe Russia – United States maritime boundary de facto follows the June 1, 1990 USA/USSR Maritime Boundary Agreement , but it has yet to be approved by the Russian parliament...
.
Administrative and territorial divisions
With a few changes of status, most of the Soviet-era administrative and territorial divisions of the Russian Republic were retained in constituting the Russian Federation. In 2006, there were eighty-eight administrative territorial divisions (called
federal subjectsRussia is a federation that consists of 83 subjects. These subjects are of equal federal rights in the sense that they have equal representation—two delegates each—in the Federation Council . However, they do differ in the degree of autonomy they enjoy...
): twenty-one republics, seven
kraiKrai or kray is a term used to refer to nine of Russia's 83 federal subjects. The term is often translated as territory, province, country or region....
s (territories), forty-eight
oblastOblast is a type of administrative division in Slavic countries, including some countries of the former Soviet Union. The word "oblast" is a loanword in English, but it is nevertheless often translated as "area", "zone", "province", or "region"...
s (provinces), one autonomous oblast, and nine autonomous
okrugOkrug is an administrative division of some Eastern European Slavic states. The word "okrug" is a loanword in English, but it is nevertheless often translated as "area", "district", or "region"...
s. The cities of
MoscowMoscow is the capital and the largest city of Russia. It is also the largest metropolitan area in Europe, and ranks among the largest urban areas in the world. Moscow is a major political, economic, cultural, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the world, a...
and
Saint PetersburgSaint Petersburg is a city and a federal subject of Russia located on the Neva River at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea. The city's other names were Petrograd and Leningrad...
also have
federal statusThe Russian Federation is divided into 83 federal subjects, two of which are federal cities.
...
.
The republics include a wide variety of peoples, including northern Europeans,
TatarsTatars , sometimes spelled Tartars, are a Turkic ethnic group mainly inhabiting Russia, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Ukraine, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan and Afghanistan. They numbered 10 million in the late 20th Century, which includes all subgroups of Tatar people, such as...
,
CaucasusThe Caucasus or Caucas is a geopolitical region between at the border of Europe and Asia. It is home to the Caucasus Mountains, including Europe's highest mountain ....
peoples, and indigenous Siberians. The largest federal subjects are in Siberia. Located in east-central Siberia, the
Sakha Republic (Yakutia)The Sakha Republic is a federal subject of Russia . At half the size of the Far Eastern Federal District, it is the largest subnational governing body by area in the world at , yet it has a population of less than one million...
is the largest federal subject in the country (and the largest country subdivision in the world), twice the size of Alaska. Second in size is
Krasnoyarsk KraiKrasnoyarsk Krai is a federal subject of Russia . It is the second largest federal subject after the Sakha Republic, occupying an area of , which is 13% of the country's total territory...
, located southwest of Sakha in Siberia.
Kaliningrad OblastKaliningrad Oblast , informally called Yantarny kray is a federal subject of Russia situated on the Baltic coast. Population: 968,200 ; ....
is the smallest oblast, and it is the only noncontiguous part of Russia. The two most populous federal subjects,
Moscow OblastMoscow Oblast , or Podmoskovye is a federal subject of Russia . Its area, at 45,900 km², is relatively small comparing to other federal subjects, but it is one of the most densely populated regions in the country and the second most populous federal subject —only surpassed by...
(with Moscow) and
Krasnodar KraiKrasnodar Krai is a federal subject of Russia , located in the Southern Federal District.-Geography:Krasnodar Krai encompasses the western part of the Forecaucasus and a part of the northern slopes of Caucasus Major...
, are in European Russia.
Topography and drainage
Geographers traditionally divide the vast territory of Russia into five natural zones: the
tundraIn physical geography, tundra is a biome where the tree growth is hindered by low temperatures and short growing seasons. The term tundra comes from Kildin Sami tūndâr, which means "uplands, treeless mountain tract." There are two types of tundra: Arctic tundra and alpine tundra...
zone; the
taigaTaiga is a biome characterized by coniferous forests. Covering most of inland Alaska, Canada, Sweden, Finland, inland Norway, Highland Scotland and Russia , as well as parts of the extreme northern continental United States , northern...
, or forest, zone; the
steppeIn physical geography, a steppe is a biome region characterised by grassland plain without trees . The prairie can be considered a steppe. It may be semi-desert, or covered with grass or shrubs or both, depending on the season and latitude...
, or plains, zone; the
arid zoneA desert is a landscape or region that receives almost no precipitation. Deserts are defined as areas with an average annual precipitation of less than per year, or as areas where more water is lost by evapotranspiration than falls as precipitation. In the Köppen climate classification system,...
; and the
mountainA mountain is a large landform that stretches above the surrounding land in a limited area usually in the form of a peak. A mountain is generally steeper than a hill. The adjective montane is used to describe mountainous areas and things associated with them...
zone. Most of Russia consists of two
plainIn geography, a plain is a land with relatively high relief, as well as flat. Prairies and steppes are types of plains, and the archetype for a plain is often thought of as a grassland, but plains in their natural state may also be covered in shrublands, woodland and forest, or vegetation may be...
s (the
East European PlainThe East European Plain is a plain comprising a series of river basins in Eastern Europe. Together with the Northern European Plain it constitutes the European Plain. It is the largest mountain-free part of the European landscape....
and the
West Siberian PlainThe West Siberian Plain is a large plain that occupies the western portion of Siberia and Russia, between the Ural Mountains in the west and the Yenisei River in the east, and by the Eastern Sayan Mountains and the Baikal Mountains on the south. Much of the plain is poorly drained and consists of...
), two
lowlandIn physical geography, a lowland is any broad expanse of land with a general low level. The term is thus applied to the landward portion of the upward slope from oceanic depths to continental highlands, to a region of depression in the interior of a mountainous region, to a plain of denudation, or...
s (the North Siberian and the Kolyma, in far northeastern Siberia), two
plateauIn geology and earth science, a plateau, also called a high plain or tableland, is an area of highland, usually consisting of relatively flat terrain...
s (the
Central Siberian PlateauThe Central Siberian Plateau is made up of sharply demarcated surfaces of varying altitudes occupying most of Siberia between the Yenisei and Lena rivers. It extends over an area of 3.5 million km². The highest point is the Putoran Mountains rising to 1701 m. To the north of the plateau are...
and the Lena Plateau to its east), and a series of mountainous areas mainly concentrated in the extreme northeast or extending intermittently along the southern border.
Ecoregions
East European plain
The
East European PlainThe East European Plain is a plain comprising a series of river basins in Eastern Europe. Together with the Northern European Plain it constitutes the European Plain. It is the largest mountain-free part of the European landscape....
encompasses most of
European RussiaEuropean Russia refers to the western areas of Russia that lie within Europe, comprising roughly 3,960,000 km², and spanning across 40% of Europe. Its eastern border is defined by the Ural mountains and in the South it is defined by the border with Kazakhstan. This area includes Moscow and St...
. The
West Siberian PlainThe West Siberian Plain is a large plain that occupies the western portion of Siberia and Russia, between the Ural Mountains in the west and the Yenisei River in the east, and by the Eastern Sayan Mountains and the Baikal Mountains on the south. Much of the plain is poorly drained and consists of...
, which is the world's largest, extends east from the
UralsThe Ural Mountains are a mountain range that runs roughly north-south through western Russia. They are usually considered the natural boundary between Europe and Asia....
to the
Yenisei RiverYenisei is the greatest river system flowing to the Arctic Ocean, and at 5,539 km is the fifth longest river in the world. Rising in Mongolia, it follows a northerly course to the Yenisei Gulf in the Kara Sea, draining a large part of central Siberia, the longest stream following the...
. Because the terrain and vegetation are relatively uniform in each of the natural zones, Russia presents an illusion of uniformity. Nevertheless, Russian territory contains all the major vegetation zones of the world except a
tropical rain forestTropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests , also known as tropical moist forests, are a tropical and subtropical forest biome....
.
Tundra
The Russian Arctic stretches for close to 7,000 km west to east, from
KareliaKarelia , the land of the Karelian peoples, is an area in Northern Europe of historical significance for Finland, Russia, and Sweden...
and the
Kola PeninsulaThe Kola Peninsula is a peninsula in the far north of Russia, part of the Murmansk Oblast. It borders upon the Barents Sea on the North and the White Sea on the East and South...
to Nenetsia, the
Gulf of ObThe Gulf of Ob is an immense bay of the Arctic Ocean in Northern Russia, at the head of which is the mouth of the Ob River.This Gulf flows into the Kara Sea between the Yamal and the Gydan peninsulas...
, the
Taymyr PeninsulaTaymyr Peninsula is a peninsula in Siberia that forms the most northern part of mainland Asia. It lies between the Yenisei Gulf of the Kara Sea and the Khatanga Gulf of the Laptev Sea in Krasnoyarsk Krai, Russia....
and the
Chukchi PeninsulaThe Chukchi Peninsula, Chukotka Peninsula or Chukotski Peninsula , at about 66° N 172° W, is the northeastern extremity of Asia. Its eastern end is at Cape Dezhnev near the village of Uelen. It is bordered by the Chukchi Sea to the north, the Bering Sea to the south, and the Bering Strait to the east...
(
KolymaThe Kolyma region is located in the far north-eastern area of Russia in what is commonly known as Siberia but is actually part of the Russian Far East. It is bounded by the East Siberian Sea and the Arctic Ocean in the north and the Sea of Okhotsk to the south...
,
Anadyr RiverAnadyr is a river in the far northeast Siberia which flows into Anadyr Bay of the Bering Sea and drains much of the interior of Chukotka Autonomous Okrug. Its basin corresponds to the Anadyrsky District of Chukotka....
,
Cape DezhnevCape Dezhnyov or Cape Dezhnev is a cape that forms the easternmost mainland point of Eurasia, on the Chukchi Peninsula in Chukotka Autonomous Okrug of Russia. It is located between the Bering Sea and the Chukchi Sea, 82 km across from Cape Prince of Wales in Alaska...
).
Russian islands and archipelagos in the Arctic Sea include
Novaya ZemlyaNovaya Zemlya is an archipelago in the Arctic Ocean in the north of Russia and the extreme northeast of Europe at Cape Zhelaniya...
,
Severnaya ZemlyaSevernaya Zemlya is an archipelago in the Russian high Arctic at around . It is located off mainland Siberia's Taymyr Peninsula across the Vilkitsky Strait...
, and the
New Siberian IslandsThe New Siberian Islands are an archipelago, located to the North of the East Siberian coast between the Laptev Sea and the East Siberian Sea north of the Sakha Republic....
.
About 11% of Russia is
tundraIn physical geography, tundra is a biome where the tree growth is hindered by low temperatures and short growing seasons. The term tundra comes from Kildin Sami tūndâr, which means "uplands, treeless mountain tract." There are two types of tundra: Arctic tundra and alpine tundra...
—a treeless, marshy plain. The tundra is Russia's northernmost zone, stretching from the
FinnishFinland , officially the Republic of Finland
, is a Nordic country and democracy situated in the Fennoscandian region of northern Europe. It borders Sweden on the west, Russia on the east, and Norway on the north, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland...
border in the west to the
Bering StraitThe Bering Strait's technical name is Imakpik.The Bering Strait is a sea strait between Cape Dezhnev, Chukotka Autonomous Okrug, the easternmost point of the Asian continent and Cape Prince of Wales, Alaska, the westernmost point of the North American continent, with latitude of about 65° 40'...
in the east, then running south along the
PacificThe Pacific Ocean is the largest of the Earth's oceanic divisions. Its name is derived from the Latin name Tepre Pacificum, "peaceful sea", bestowed upon it by the Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan. It extends from the Arctic in the north to Antarctica in the south, bounded by Asia and...
coast to the northern
Kamchatka PeninsulaThe Kamchatka Peninsula is a 1,250-kilometer long peninsula in the Russian Far East, with an area of 472,300 km². It lies between the Pacific Ocean to the east and the Sea of Okhotsk to the west...
. The zone is known for its herds of wild
reindeerThe reindeer , also known as the caribou when wild in North America, is an Arctic and Subarctic-dwelling deer, widespread and numerous across the Arctic and Subarctic.- Distribution and habitat :...
, for so-called
white nightsThe White Nights describes the few weeks around the summer solstice in June in areas of high latitude during which sunsets are late, sunrises are early and darkness is never complete...
(dusk at midnight, dawn shortly thereafter) in summer, and for days of total darkness in winter. The long, harsh winters and lack of sunshine allow only
mossMosses are small, soft plants that are typically 1–10 cm tall, though some species are much larger. They commonly grow close together in clumps or mats in damp or shady locations. They do not have flowers or seeds, and their simple leaves cover the thin wiry stems...
es,
lichenLichens are composite organisms consisting of a symbiotic association of a fungus with a photosynthetic partner , usually either a green alga or cyanobacterium...
s, and
dwarf willowsSalix herbacea is a species of tiny creeping willow ....
and shrubs to sprout low above the barren
permafrostIn geology, permafrost or permafrost soil is soil at or below the freezing point of water for two or more years. Ice is not always present, as may be in the case of nonporous bedrock, but it frequently occurs and it may be in amounts exceeding the potential hydraulic saturation of the ground...
. Although several powerful Siberian rivers traverse this zone as they flow northward to the Arctic Ocean, partial and intermittent thawing hamper drainage of the numerous lakes, ponds, and swamps of the tundra. Frost weathering is the most important physical process here, gradually shaping a landscape that was severely modified by glaciation in the last
ice ageThe general term "ice age" or, more precisely, "glacial age" denotes a geological period of long-term reduction in the temperature of the Earth's surface and atmosphere, resulting in an expansion of continental ice sheets, polar ice sheets and alpine glaciers. Within a long-term ice age, individual...
. Less than 1% of Russia's population lives in this zone. The fishing and port industries of the northwestern
Kola PeninsulaThe Kola Peninsula is a peninsula in the far north of Russia, part of the Murmansk Oblast. It borders upon the Barents Sea on the North and the White Sea on the East and South...
and the huge
oilPetroleum or crude oil is a naturally occurring, flammable liquid found in rock formations in the Earth consisting of a complex mixture of hydrocarbons of various molecular weights, plus other organic compounds.The term "petroleum" was first used in the treatise De Natura Fossilium, published in...
and
gasNatural gas is a gas consisting primarily of methane. It is found associated with fossil fuels, in coal beds, as methane clathrates, and is created by methanogenic organisms in marshes, bogs, and landfills...
fields of northwestern Siberia are the largest employers in the tundra. With a population of 180,000, the industrial frontier city of
NorilskNorilsk is a major city in Krasnoyarsk Krai, Russia, located between the Yenisey river and the Taymyr Peninsula. It was granted city status in 1953. It is the northernmost city in Siberia and the world's second largest city above the Arctic Circle. Norilsk with Yakutsk and Vorkuta are the only...
is second in population to
MurmanskMurmansk is a city and seaport in the extreme northwest part of Russia, on the Kola Bay, 12 km from the Barents Sea on the northern shore of the Kola Peninsula, not far from Russia's borders with Norway and Finland....
among Russia's settlements above the Arctic Circle.From here you can also see the arouras(northern lights).
Taiga
The
taigaTaiga is a biome characterized by coniferous forests. Covering most of inland Alaska, Canada, Sweden, Finland, inland Norway, Highland Scotland and Russia , as well as parts of the extreme northern continental United States , northern...
, which is the world's largest forest region, contains mostly
coniferousThe conifers, division Pinophyta, also known as division Coniferophyta or Coniferae, are one of 13 or 14 division level taxa within the Kingdom Plantae. Pinophytes are gymnosperms. They are cone-bearing seed plants with vascular tissue; all extant conifers are woody plants, the great majority...
spruceA spruce is a tree of the genus Picea , a genus of about 35 species of coniferous evergreen trees in the Family Pinaceae, found in the northern temperate and boreal regions of the earth. Spruces are large trees, from 20–60 m tall when mature, and can be distinguished by their whorled branches and...
,
firFirs are a genus of between 48-55 species of evergreen conifers in the family Pinaceae. All are trees, reaching heights of 10-80 m tall and trunk diameters of 0.5-4 m when mature...
,
pinePines are coniferous trees in the genus Pinus , in the family Pinaceae. They make up the monotypic subfamily Pinoideae. There are about 115 species of pine, although different authorities accept between 105 and 125 species.-Distribution:...
, and
larchLarches are conifers in the genus Larix, in the family Pinaceae. They are native to much of the cooler temperate northern hemisphere, on lowlands in the far north, and high on mountains further south. Larches are among the dominant plants in the immense boreal forests of Russia and Canada.They are...
. This is the largest natural zone of Russia, an area about the size of the United States. In the northeastern portion of this belt, long and severe winters frequently bring the world's coldest temperatures for inhabited areas. The taiga zone extends in a broad band across the middle latitudes, stretching from the Finnish border in the west to the
Verkhoyansk RangeThe Verkhoyansk Range is a mountain range of eastern Siberia, spanning ca. 1000 km , across the Sakha Republic. It forms a vast arc between the Lena and Aldan rivers to the west and the Yana River to the east. It rises to ca. 2,480 m in the south. There are coal, silver, lead, and zinc deposits...
in northeastern Siberia and as far south as the southern shores of
Lake BaikalLake Baikal is the world's second most voluminous lake, after the Caspian Sea. It is the most voluminous freshwater lake in the world with an average depth of 744.4 m and contains a total of roughly 20 percent of the world's surface fresh water...
. Isolated sections of taiga also exist along mountain ranges such as the southern part of the Urals and in the Amur River valley bordering China in the
Far EastThe Far East is a term used in English mostly equivalent to East Asia and Southeast Asia, sometimes to the inclusion of South Asia for economic and cultural reasons."Far East" came into use in European geopolitical discourse in...
. About 33% of Russia's population lives in this zone, which, together with a band of
mixed forestTemperate broadleaf and mixed forests are a temperate and humid biome. The typical structure of these forests include four layers. The upper most layer is the canopy which is composed of tall mature trees. Below the canopy is the three-layered, shade tolerant understory...
to its south, includes most of the European part of Russia and the ancestral lands of the earliest Slavic settlers.
Mixed and Deciduous forest
The mixed and deciduous forest belt is triangular, widest along the western border and narrower towards the
Ural MountainsThe Ural Mountains are a mountain range that runs roughly north-south through western Russia. They are usually considered the natural boundary between Europe and Asia....
. The main trees are
OakAn oak is a tree or shrub in the genus Quercus , of which about 400 species exist. "Oak" may also appear in the names of species in related genera, notably Lithocarpus...
and
SpruceA spruce is a tree of the genus Picea , a genus of about 35 species of coniferous evergreen trees in the Family Pinaceae, found in the northern temperate and boreal regions of the earth. Spruces are large trees, from 20–60 m tall when mature, and can be distinguished by their whorled branches and...
, but many other growths of vegetation such as
ashFraxinus , common name Ash, is a genus of usually medium to large trees, mostly deciduous though a few subtropical species are evergreen. Genus Fraxinus are the true ashes, and are in Oleaceae, the olive family, along with olives and lilacs. The leaves are opposite , and mostly pinnately-compound,...
,
aspenAspen is a common name for trees of the Salicaceae family, most of those in a section, Populus sect. Populus, of the Populus genus. Some of the species in the section are:...
,
birchBirch is the name of any tree of the genus Betula , in the family Betulaceae, closely related to the beech/oak family, Fagaceae.-Description:...
,
hornbeamPlants in the genus Carpinus are commonly called Hornbeams. They are relatively small hardwood trees. Many botanists place the hornbeams in the birch family Betulaceae, though some group them with the hazels and hop-hornbeams in a segregate family, Corylaceae...
,
mapleAcer is a genus of trees or shrubs commonly known as Maple. Maples are variously classified in a family of their own, the Aceraceae, or included in the family Sapindaceae. Modern classifications, including the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group classification, favour inclusion in Sapindaceae...
, and
pinePines are coniferous trees in the genus Pinus , in the family Pinaceae. They make up the monotypic subfamily Pinoideae. There are about 115 species of pine, although different authorities accept between 105 and 125 species.-Distribution:...
reside there. Separating the taiga from the wooded steppe is a narrow belt of birch and aspen woodland located east of the Urals as far as the
Altay MountainsThe Altai Mountains are a mountain range in central Asia, where Russia, China, Mongolia and Kazakhstan come together, and where the rivers Irtysh and Ob have their sources. The Altai Mountains are known as the Turkic peoples' birthplace...
. Much of the forested zone has been cleared for
agricultureAgriculture is the production of food and goods through farming and forestry. Agriculture was the key development that led to the rise of human civilization, with the husbandry of domesticated animals and plants creating food surpluses that enabled the development of more densely populated and...
, especially in
European RussiaEuropean Russia refers to the western areas of Russia that lie within Europe, comprising roughly 3,960,000 km², and spanning across 40% of Europe. Its eastern border is defined by the Ural mountains and in the South it is defined by the border with Kazakhstan. This area includes Moscow and St...
. Wildlife is more scarce as a result of this, but the
roe deerThe European Roe Deer is a deer species of Europe, Asia Minor, and Caspian coastal regions. There is a separate species known as the Siberian Roe Deer that is found from the Ural Mountains to as far east as China and Siberia...
, wolf,
foxFox is a common name for many species of carnivorous mammals belonging to the Canidae family. Foxes are small to medium-sized canids , characterized by possessing a long narrow snout, and a bushy tail ....
, and
squirrelA squirrel is one of many small or medium-sized rodents in the family Sciuridae. In the English-speaking world, squirrel commonly refers to members of this family's genera Sciurus and Tamiasciurus, which are tree squirrels with large bushy tails, indigenous to Asia, the Americas and Europe....
are very common.
Steppe
The
steppeIn physical geography, a steppe is a biome region characterised by grassland plain without trees . The prairie can be considered a steppe. It may be semi-desert, or covered with grass or shrubs or both, depending on the season and latitude...
has long been depicted as the typical Russian landscape. It is a broad band of treeless, grassy plains, interrupted by mountain ranges, extending from
HungaryHungary , in English officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in the Carpathian Basin of Central Europe, bordered by Austria, Slovakia, Ukraine, Romania, Serbia, Croatia, and Slovenia. Its capital is Budapest. Hungary is a member of OECD, NATO, EU, V4 and is a Schengen state...
across
UkraineUkraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Russia to the east; Belarus to the north; Poland, Slovakia, and Hungary to the west; Romania and Moldova to the southwest; and the Black Sea and Sea of Azov to the south. The city of Kiev is both the capital and the largest city of...
, southern Russia, and
KazakhstanKazakhstan , officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a country situated in Eurasia that is ranked as the ninth largest country in the world. It is also the world's largest landlocked country. Its territory of 2,727,300 km² is greater than Western Europe...
before ending in
ManchuriaManchuria is a historical name given to a vast geographic region in northeast Asia. Depending on the definition of its extent, Manchuria either falls entirely within China, or is divided between China and Russia...
. Most of the Soviet Union's steppe zone was located in the Ukrainian and Kazakh republics; the much smaller Russian steppe is located mainly between those nations, extending southward between the
Blackur a loser!The Black Sea is an inland sea bounded by Europe, Anatolia and the Caucasus and is ultimately connected to the Atlantic Ocean via the Mediterranean and Aegean Seas and various straits. The Bosporus strait connects it to the Sea of Marmara, and the strait of the Dardanelles connects it to...
and
Caspian SeaThe Caspian Sea is the largest enclosed body of water on Earth by area, variously classed as the world's largest lake or a full-fledged sea. It has a surface area of 371,000 square kilometres and a volume of 78,200 cubic kilometres...
s before blending into the increasingly desiccated territory of the
Republic of KalmykiaThe Republic of Kalmykia is a federal subject of the Russian Federation . The direct romanization of the republic's Russian name is Respublika Kalmykiya, and that of the Kalmyk name is Xal'mg Tanghch. It is the only state in Europe where the dominant religion is Buddhism...
. In a country of extremes, the steppe zone provides the most favorable conditions for human settlement and agriculture because of its moderate temperatures and normally adequate levels of sunshine and moisture. Even here, however, agricultural yields are sometimes adversely affected by unpredictable levels of
precipitationIn meteorology, precipitation is any product of the condensation of atmospheric water vapor that is deposited on the Earth's surface. The main forms of precipitation include rain, snow, ice pellets, and graupel...
and occasional catastrophic
droughtA drought is an extended period of months or years when a region notes a deficiency in its water supply. Generally, this occurs when a region receives consistently below average precipitation. It can have a substantial impact on the ecosystem and agriculture of the affected region...
s. The soil is very dry.
Topography
Russia's mountain ranges are located principally along its continental divide (the Ural Mountains), along the southwestern border (the
CaucasusThe Caucasus or Caucas is a geopolitical region between at the border of Europe and Asia. It is home to the Caucasus Mountains, including Europe's highest mountain ....
), along the border with
MongoliaMongolia is a landlocked country in East and Central Asia. It borders Russia to the north and the People's Republic of China to the south, east and west. Although Mongolia does not share a border with Kazakhstan, its western-most point is only 24 miles from Kazakhstan's eastern tip. Ulan Bator,...
(the eastern and western
Sayan MountainsThe Sayan Mountains are a mountain range in southern Siberia, Russia....
and the western extremity of the
Altay MountainsThe Altai Mountains are a mountain range in central Asia, where Russia, China, Mongolia and Kazakhstan come together, and where the rivers Irtysh and Ob have their sources. The Altai Mountains are known as the Turkic peoples' birthplace...
), and in eastern Siberia (a complex system of ranges in the northeastern corner of the country and forming the spine of the
Kamchatka PeninsulaThe Kamchatka Peninsula is a 1,250-kilometer long peninsula in the Russian Far East, with an area of 472,300 km². It lies between the Pacific Ocean to the east and the Sea of Okhotsk to the west...
, and lesser mountains extending along the
Sea of OkhotskThe Sea of Okhotsk is a part of the western Pacific Ocean, lying between the Kamchatka Peninsula on the east, the Kuril Islands on the southeast, the island of Hokkaidō to the far south, the island of Sakhalin along the west, and a long stretch of eastern Siberian coast along the west and north...
and the
Sea of JapanThe Sea of Japan is a marginal sea of the western Pacific Ocean, bordered by Japan, South Korea, North Korea and Russia. It is referred to in North Korea as the Korea East Sea and in South Korea as the East Sea. Like the Mediterranean Sea, it has almost no tides due to its nearly complete enclosure...
). Russia has nine major mountain ranges. In general, the eastern half of the country is much more mountainous than the western half, the interior of which is dominated by low plains. The traditional dividing line between the east and the west is the
Yenisei RiverYenisei is the greatest river system flowing to the Arctic Ocean, and at 5,539 km is the fifth longest river in the world. Rising in Mongolia, it follows a northerly course to the Yenisei Gulf in the Kara Sea, draining a large part of central Siberia, the longest stream following the...
valley. In delineating the western edge of the
Central Siberian PlateauThe Central Siberian Plateau is made up of sharply demarcated surfaces of varying altitudes occupying most of Siberia between the Yenisei and Lena rivers. It extends over an area of 3.5 million km². The highest point is the Putoran Mountains rising to 1701 m. To the north of the plateau are...
from the West Siberian Plain, the Yenisey runs from near the Mongolian border northward into the Arctic Ocean west of the
Taymyr PeninsulaTaymyr Peninsula is a peninsula in Siberia that forms the most northern part of mainland Asia. It lies between the Yenisei Gulf of the Kara Sea and the Khatanga Gulf of the Laptev Sea in Krasnoyarsk Krai, Russia....
.
Ural Mountains
The
Ural MountainsThe Ural Mountains are a mountain range that runs roughly north-south through western Russia. They are usually considered the natural boundary between Europe and Asia....
are the most famous of the country's mountain ranges because they form the natural boundary between
EuropeEurope is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally divided from Asia to its east by the water divide of the Ural Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian Sea, the Caucasus Mountains , and the Black Sea to the southeast...
and
AsiaAsia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.6% of the earth's total surface area and with approximately 4 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population.Asia is traditionally defined as part of the...
; the range extends about 2,100 kilometers from the
Arctic OceanThe Arctic Ocean, located in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Arctic north polar region, is the smallest, and shallowest of the world's five major oceanic divisions.
The International Hydrographic Organization recognizes it as an ocean, although some...
to the northern border of
KazakhstanKazakhstan , officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a country situated in Eurasia that is ranked as the ninth largest country in the world. It is also the world's largest landlocked country. Its territory of 2,727,300 km² is greater than Western Europe...
. In terms of elevation, however, the Urals are far from impressive. They do not serve as a formidable natural barrier. Several low passes provide major transportation routes through the Urals eastward from Europe. The highest peak,
Mount NarodnayaMount Narodnaya , located in the Research Range, is the highest peak of the Urals in Russia. Its elevation is...
, is only 1,894 meters. Yet, while they are not imposing to the eye, the Urals do contain valuable deposits of minerals.
West Siberian plain
To the east of the Urals is the
West Siberian PlainThe West Siberian Plain is a large plain that occupies the western portion of Siberia and Russia, between the Ural Mountains in the west and the Yenisei River in the east, and by the Eastern Sayan Mountains and the Baikal Mountains on the south. Much of the plain is poorly drained and consists of...
, which covers more than 2.5 million square kilometers, stretching about 1,900 kilometers from west to east and about 2,400 kilometers from north to south. With more than half its territory below 100 meters in elevation, the plain contains some of the world's largest
swampA swamp is a wetland featuring temporary or permanent inundation of large areas of land by shallow bodies of water. A swamp generally has a substantial number of hammocks, or dry-land protrusions, covered by aquatic vegetation, or vegetation that tolerates periodical inundation. The two main types...
s and
floodplain||-||-||-||-||-||-||-||}A floodplain, or flood plain, is flat or nearly flat land adjacent to a stream or river that experiences occasional or periodic flooding...
s. Most of the plain's population lives in the drier section south of 55° north
latitudeLatitude, usually denoted by the Greek letter phi gives the location of a place on Earth north or south of the equator. Lines of Latitude are the imaginary horizontal lines shown running east-to-west on maps that run either north or south of the equator...
.
Central Siberian plateau
The region directly east of the
West Siberian PlainThe West Siberian Plain is a large plain that occupies the western portion of Siberia and Russia, between the Ural Mountains in the west and the Yenisei River in the east, and by the Eastern Sayan Mountains and the Baikal Mountains on the south. Much of the plain is poorly drained and consists of...
is the
Central Siberian PlateauThe Central Siberian Plateau is made up of sharply demarcated surfaces of varying altitudes occupying most of Siberia between the Yenisei and Lena rivers. It extends over an area of 3.5 million km². The highest point is the Putoran Mountains rising to 1701 m. To the north of the plateau are...
, which extends eastward from the
Yenisei RiverYenisei is the greatest river system flowing to the Arctic Ocean, and at 5,539 km is the fifth longest river in the world. Rising in Mongolia, it follows a northerly course to the Yenisei Gulf in the Kara Sea, draining a large part of central Siberia, the longest stream following the...
valley to the
Lena RiverThe Lena is the easternmost of the three great Siberian rivers that flow into the Arctic Ocean . It is the 10th longest river in the world and has the 9th largest watershed. It is the greatest Russian river with its watershed entirely within national ranges...
valley. The region is divided into several plateaus, with elevations ranging between 320 and 740 meters; the highest elevation is about 1,800 meters, in the northern
Putoran MountainsThe Putoran Mountains are a range of mountains on the nortwestern edge of the Central Siberian Plateau, in an area also known as the Putoran Plateau. The highest mountain in the range is Mount Kamen which stands 1,700m above sea level....
. The plain is bounded on the south by the
Baikal Mountainsthumb|right|250px|The mountains and lake in the summer, as seen from [[Bolshiye Koty]] on the southwest shoreThe Baikal Mountains or Baikal Range rise steeply over the northwestern shore of Lake Baikal in southern Siberia, Russia...
system and on the north by the North Siberian Lowland, an extension of the West Siberian Plain extending into the Taymyr Peninsula on the Arctic Ocean.
Sayan and Stanovoy Mountains
In the mountain system west of
Lake BaikalLake Baikal is the world's second most voluminous lake, after the Caspian Sea. It is the most voluminous freshwater lake in the world with an average depth of 744.4 m and contains a total of roughly 20 percent of the world's surface fresh water...
in south-central Siberia, the highest elevations are 3,300 meters in the Western
SayanThe Sayan Mountains are a mountain range in southern Siberia, Russia....
, 3,200 meters in the Eastern Sayan, and 4,500 meters at
Belukha MountainBelukha Mountain , located in the Katun Mountains, is the highest peak of the Altay Mountains in Russia. It is part of the World Heritage Site entitled Golden Mountains of Altai....
in the
Altay MountainsThe Altai Mountains are a mountain range in central Asia, where Russia, China, Mongolia and Kazakhstan come together, and where the rivers Irtysh and Ob have their sources. The Altai Mountains are known as the Turkic peoples' birthplace...
. The Eastern Sayan reach nearly to the southern shore of
Lake BaikalLake Baikal is the world's second most voluminous lake, after the Caspian Sea. It is the most voluminous freshwater lake in the world with an average depth of 744.4 m and contains a total of roughly 20 percent of the world's surface fresh water...
; at the lake, there is an elevation difference of more than 4,500 meters between the nearest mountain, 2,840 meters high, and the deepest part of the lake, which is 1,700 meters below sea level. The mountain systems east of Lake Baikal are lower, forming a complex of minor ranges and valleys that reaches from the lake to the Pacific coast. The maximum height of the Stanovoy Range, which runs west to east from northern Lake Baikal to the Sea of Okhotsk, is 2,550 meters. To the south of that range is southeastern Siberia, whose mountains reach 800 meters. Across the
Strait of TartaryStrait of Tartary is a strait in the Pacific Ocean dividing the Russian island of Sakhalin from mainland Asia , connecting the Sea of Okhotsk on the north with...
from that region is
Sakhalin IslandSakhalin , also Saghalien, is a large elongated island in the North Pacific, lying between 45°50' and 54°24' N. It is part of Russia and is its largest island, administered as part of Sakhalin Oblast. The indigenous peoples of the island are the Sakhalin Ainu, Oroks, and Nivkhs...
, where the highest elevation is about 1,700 meters.
Caucasus mountains
Truly alpine terrain appears in the southern mountain ranges. Between the Black and Caspian seas, the
Caucasus MountainsThe Caucasus Mountains is a mountain system in Eurasia between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea in the Caucasus region.The Caucasus Mountains are made up of two separate mountain systems:* the Greater Caucasus Mountain Range and...
rise to impressive heights, forming a boundary between Europe and Asia. One of the peaks,
Mount ElbrusMount Elbrus is an inactive volcano located in the western Caucasus mountain range, in Kabardino-Balkaria and Karachay-Cherkessia, Russia, near the border of Georgia. Mt. Elbrus's highest peak is the highest mountain in the Caucasus and in whole Europe. Mt. Elbrus stands at and is the highest...
, is the highest point in Europe, at 5,642 meters. The geological structure of the Caucasus extends to the northwest as the
CrimeaCrimea or the Autonomous Republic of Crimea is the only autonomous republic of Ukraine. It is located on the northern coast of the Black Sea, occupying a peninsula of the same name.The territory of Crimea was conquered and controlled many times throughout its history...
n and
Carpathian MountainsThe Carpathian Mountains or Carpathians are a range of mountains forming an arc roughly long across Central and Eastern Europe, making them the largest mountain range in Europe...
and southeastward into
Central AsiaAsia is a region of Asia from the Caspian Sea in the west to central China in the east, and from southern Russia in the north to northern India in the south. It is also sometimes known as Middle Asia or Inner Asia, and is within the scope of the wider Eurasian continent.Various definitions of its...
as the
Tian ShanThe Tian Shan , also commonly spelled Tien Shan, is a mountain range located in Central Asia...
and
PamirsThe Pamir Mountains are a mountain range in Central Asia formed by the junction or knot of the Himalayas, Tian Shan, Karakoram, Kunlun, and Hindu Kush ranges. They are among the world’s highest mountains and since Victorian times they have been known as the "Roof of the World", translated from...
. The Caucasus Mountains create an imposing natural barrier between Russia and its neighbors to the southwest,
GeorgiaGeorgia Georgia Georgia is a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia. Situated at the juncture of Western Asia and Eastern Europe, it is bounded to the west by the Black Sea, to the north by Russia, to the south by Turkey and Armenia, and to the east by Azerbaijan...
and
AzerbaijanAzerbaijan , formally the Republic of Azerbaijan , is a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia. Located at the crossroads of Western Asia and Eastern Europe, it is bounded by the Caspian Sea to the east, Russia to the north, Georgia to the northwest, Armenia to the west, and Iran to the south...
.
Northeast Siberia and Kamchatka
Northeastern Siberia, north of the Stanovoy Range, is an extremely mountainous region. The long
Kamchatka PeninsulaThe Kamchatka Peninsula is a 1,250-kilometer long peninsula in the Russian Far East, with an area of 472,300 km². It lies between the Pacific Ocean to the east and the Sea of Okhotsk to the west...
, which juts southward into the Sea of Okhotsk, includes many
volcanic peaks3. Conduit
4. Base
5. Sill
6. Dike
7. Layers of ash emitted by the volcano
8. Flank| 9. Layers of lava emitted by the volcano
10. Throat
11. Parasitic cone
12. Lava flow
13. Vent
14. Crater
15...
, some of which still are active. The highest is the 4,750-meter
Klyuchevskaya SopkaKlyuchevskaya Sopka is a stratovolcano, and the highest mountain on the Kamchatka Peninsula of Russia, and the highest active volcano of Eurasia. Its steep, symmetrical cone towers are a mere 100 km from the Bering Sea...
, the highest point in the
Russian Far EastRussian Far East is a term that refers to the Russian part of the Far East, i.e., extreme east parts of Russia, between Siberia and the Pacific Ocean...
. The volcanic chain continues from the southern tip of Kamchatka southward through the
Kuril IslandsThe Kuril Islands or Kurile Islands in Russia's Sakhalin Oblast region, is a volcanic archipelago that stretches approximately northeast from Hokkaidō, Japan, to Kamchatka, Russia, separating the Sea of Okhotsk from the North Pacific Ocean...
chain and into
Japanis an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, People's Republic of China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
. Kamchatka also is one of Russia's two centers of seismic activity (the other is the Caucasus). In 1995, a major earthquake largely destroyed the oil-processing town of
NeftegorskNeftegorsk , called Vostok before 1970, was an oil-producing urban-type settlement in Sakhalin Oblast, Russia. It was devastated on May 27, 1995 by an earthquake measuring 7.6 on the Richter scale, killing over 2,000 people . The settlement was not rebuilt after the earthquake; a memorial was...
. Also, located in this region is the very large
Beyenchime-Salaatin craterBeyenchime-Salaatin is an impact crater at 71° 0' N, 121° 40' E in the Russian Far East.It is in diameter and is estimated to be 40 ± 20 million years old . The crater is exposed at the surface.- References :...
Drainage
Russia is a water-rich country. The earliest settlements in the country sprang up along the rivers, where most of the urban population continues to live. The
VolgaThe Volga is the largest river in Europe in terms of length, discharge, and watershed. It flows through western Russia, and is widely viewed as the national river of Russia. Out of the twenty largest cities of Russia, eleven, including its capital Moscow, are situated in the Volga's drainage basin...
, Europe's longest river, is by far Russia's most important commercial waterway. Four of the country's thirteen largest cities are located on its banks:
Nizhny NovgorodNizhny Novgorod , colloquially shortened as Nizhny, is the fourth largest city in Russia, ranking after Moscow, St. Petersburg, and Novosibirsk...
,
SamaraSamara is one of the largest cities in Russia. It is situated in the southeastern part of European Russia, the Volga Federal District. Samara is the capital of Samara Oblast. Population: . The metropolitan area of Samara-Togliatti-Syzran within Samara Region constitutes the population of more...
,
KazanKazan is the capital city of the Republic of Tatarstan, Russia, and one of Russia's largest cities. It is a major industrial, commercial and cultural center, and remains the most important center of Tatar culture. Since April 2009 Kazan has the legal right to brand itself as the "Third Capital" of...
, and
VolgogradVolgograd , formerly called Tsaritsyn and Stalingrad is an important industrial city and the administrative center of Volgograd Oblast, Russia. It is long, north to south, situated on the western bank of the Volga River and has a population of 1.011 millon people...
. The
Kama RiverKama is a major river in Russia, the longest left tributary of the Volga and the largest one in discharge; in fact, it is larger than the Volga before junction....
, which flows west from the southern Urals to join the Volga in the
Republic of TatarstanRepublic of Tatarstan is a federal subject of the Russian Federation . Its size is 68,000 km² with a population of 3,800,000. Its capital is Kazan...
, is a second key European water system whose banks are densely populated.
Russia has thousands of rivers and inland bodies of water, providing it with one of the world's largest surface-water resources. However, most of Russia's rivers and streams belong to the Arctic drainage basin, which lies mainly in Siberia but also includes part of European Russia. Altogether, 84% of Russia's surface water is located east of the Urals in rivers flowing through sparsely populated territory and into the Arctic and Pacific oceans. In contrast, areas with the highest concentrations of population, and therefore the highest demand for water supplies, tend to have the warmest climates and highest rates of
evaporationEvaporation is the vaporization of a liquid and the reverse, of condensation. A type of phase transition, it is the process by which molecules in a liquid state spontaneously become gaseous . Generally, evaporation can be seen by the gradual disappearance of a liquid from a substance when exposed...
. As a result, densely populated areas such as the Don and
Kuban RiverKuban River is a river in Russia, in the North Caucasus region. It flows through the Karachay-Cherkess Republic, Stavropol Krai, Krasnodar Krai, and the Republic of Adygea....
basins north of the Caucasus have barely adequate (or in some cases inadequate) water resources.
Forty of Russia's rivers longer than 1,000 kilometers are east of the Urals, including the three major rivers that drain Siberia as they flow northward to the Arctic Ocean: the
IrtyshThe Irtysh River is a river in Siberia and is the chief tributary of the river Ob. Its name means White River. It is actually longer than the Ob to their confluence. Irtysh's main affluent is Tobol River...
-
ObThe Ob River , also Obi, is a major river in western Siberia, Russia. It is the country's fourth longest. The Ob River also has the longest estuary in the world.-Names:...
system (totaling 5,380 kilometers), the
YeniseiYenisei is the greatest river system flowing to the Arctic Ocean, and at 5,539 km is the fifth longest river in the world. Rising in Mongolia, it follows a northerly course to the Yenisei Gulf in the Kara Sea, draining a large part of central Siberia, the longest stream following the...
(4,000 kilometers), and the
LenaThe Lena is the easternmost of the three great Siberian rivers that flow into the Arctic Ocean . It is the 10th longest river in the world and has the 9th largest watershed. It is the greatest Russian river with its watershed entirely within national ranges...
(3,630 kilometers). The basins of those river systems cover about eight million square kilometers, discharging nearly 50,000 cubic meters of water per second into the Arctic Ocean. The northward flow of these rivers means that source areas thaw before the areas downstream, creating vast swamps such as the 48,000-square-kilometer
Vasyugan SwampThe Vasyugan Swamp is one of the largest swamps in the world, occupying 53,000 km² of western Siberia. The swamp is located in the Novosibirsk, Omsk, Tomsk oblasts of Russia along the left bank of the Ob River....
in the center of the West Siberian Plain. The same is true of other river systems, including the
PechoraPechora is a major river in European Russia . It is 1,809 km long....
and the
Northern DvinaThe Northern Dvina is a river in Northern Russia flowing through the Vologda Oblast and Arkhangelsk Oblast into the Dvina Bay of the White Sea. The length is . It should not be confused with Western Dvina.- Navigation and canals :...
in Europe and the
KolymaThe Kolyma River is a river in northeastern Siberia, whose basin covers parts of the Sakha Republic, Chukotka Autonomous Okrug, and Magadan Oblast of Russia. Itrises in the mountains north of Okhotsk and Magadan, in the area of and...
and the Indigirka in Siberia. Approximately 10% of Russian territory is classified as swampland.
A number of other rivers drain Siberia from eastern mountain ranges into the Pacific Ocean. The Amur River and its main tributary, the
UssuriThe Ussuri River is a river in the east of Northeast China and south of the Russian Far East. It rises in the Sikhote-Alin range, flowing north, forming part of the Sino-Russian border based on the Sino-Russian Convention of Peking in 1860, until it joins the Amur River at Khabarovsk . It is...
, form a long stretch of the winding boundary between Russia and China. The Amur system drains most of southeastern Siberia. Three basins drain European Russia. The
DnieperThe Dnieper River or Dnipro River is one of the major rivers in Europe that flows from Russia, through Belarus and Ukraine, to the Black Sea. Its total length is , of which lie within Russia, within Belarus, and within Ukraine. Its basin covers , of which are within Ukraine...
, which flows mainly through Belarus and Ukraine, has its headwaters in the hills west of Moscow. The 1,860-kilometer Don originates in the
Central Russian UplandCentral Russian Upland is an area of approximately 200,000 miles² in Southern European Russia and Northeast of Ukraine, located inside East European Plain....
south of Moscow and then flows into the
Sea of AzovThe Sea of Azov is the world's shallowest sea, linked by the Strait of Kerch to the Black Sea to the south. It is bounded on the north by Ukraine, on the east by Russia and on the west by the Crimean peninsula. The Don River flows into it.-Geology and bathymetry:The sea is long and wide and has...
and the
Black Seaur a loser!The Black Sea is an inland sea bounded by Europe, Anatolia and the Caucasus and is ultimately connected to the Atlantic Ocean via the Mediterranean and Aegean Seas and various straits. The Bosporus strait connects it to the Sea of Marmara, and the strait of the Dardanelles connects it to...
at
Rostov-on-DonRostov-on-Don is the city and the administrative center of Rostov Oblast and the Southern Federal District of Russia, located on the Don River, just 46 km from the Sea of Azov. Population: -Geography:...
. The
VolgaThe Volga is the largest river in Europe in terms of length, discharge, and watershed. It flows through western Russia, and is widely viewed as the national river of Russia. Out of the twenty largest cities of Russia, eleven, including its capital Moscow, are situated in the Volga's drainage basin...
is the third and by far the largest of the European systems, rising in the
Valdai HillsThe Valdai Hills are an upland region in north-west of central Russia running north-south, about midway between Saint Petersburg and Moscow, spanning the Novgorod, Tver, Pskov, and Smolensk Oblasts....
west of Moscow and meandering southeastward for 3,510 kilometers before emptying into the
Caspian SeaThe Caspian Sea is the largest enclosed body of water on Earth by area, variously classed as the world's largest lake or a full-fledged sea. It has a surface area of 371,000 square kilometres and a volume of 78,200 cubic kilometres...
. Altogether, the Volga system drains about 1.4 million square kilometers. Linked by several canals, European Russia's rivers long have been a vital transportation system; the Volga system still carries two-thirds of Russia's inland water traffic.
Russia's inland bodies of water are chiefly a legacy of extensive glaciation. In European Russia, the largest lakes are
LadogaLake Ladoga is a freshwater lake located in Republic of Karelia and Leningrad Oblast in northwestern Russia, not far from Saint Petersburg. It is the largest lake in Europe, and the 14th largest lake by area in the world.-Geography:The lake's area is 17,891 km²...
and
OnegaLake Onega is a lake in Russia.-Geography:...
northeast of
Saint PetersburgSaint Petersburg is a city and a federal subject of Russia located on the Neva River at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea. The city's other names were Petrograd and Leningrad...
,
Lake PeipusLake Peipsi-Pihkva, sometimes also called Peipus is the biggest transboundary and fourth largest fresh water lake in Europe, on the border between Estonia and Russia....
on the
EstoniaEstonia , officially the Republic of Estonia , is a country in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea, to the south by Latvia , and to the east by the Russian Federation...
n border, and the
Rybinsk ReservoirRybinsk Reservoir , informally called the Rybinsk Sea, is a vast water reservoir on the Volga River and its tributaries Sheksna and Mologa, formed by Rybinsk Hydroelectric Station dam, located on the territories of Tver, Vologda, and Yaroslavl Oblasts. At the time of its construction, it was the...
north of
MoscowMoscow is the capital and the largest city of Russia. It is also the largest metropolitan area in Europe, and ranks among the largest urban areas in the world. Moscow is a major political, economic, cultural, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the world, a...
. Smaller man-made reservoirs, 160 to 320 kilometers long, are on the Don, the Kama, and the Volga rivers. Many large reservoirs also have been constructed on the Siberian rivers; the
Bratsk ReservoirBratsk Reservoir is a reservoir of the Angara River, located in Irkutsk Oblast, Russia. It is named after the city of Bratsk, the largest city adjacent to the reservoir. It has a surface area of and a maximum volume of 169.27 billion cubic metres .This earth fill dam of the Bratsk...
northwest of
Lake BaikalLake Baikal is the world's second most voluminous lake, after the Caspian Sea. It is the most voluminous freshwater lake in the world with an average depth of 744.4 m and contains a total of roughly 20 percent of the world's surface fresh water...
is one of the world's largest.
The most prominent of Russia's bodies of fresh water is Lake Baikal, the world's deepest and most capacious freshwater lake. Lake Baikal alone holds 85% of the freshwater resources of the lakes in Russia and 20% of the world's total. It extends 632 kilometers in length and 59 kilometers across at its widest point. Its maximum depth is 1,713 meters. Numerous smaller lakes dot the northern regions of the European and Siberian plains. The largest of these are lakes Belozero, Topozero, Vygozero, and
IlmenIlmen is a historically important lake in the Novgorod Oblast of Russia, formerly a vital part of the Trade route from the Varangians to the Greeks. The city of Novgorod lies six kilometers below the lake's outflow....
in the European northwest and
Lake ChanyAlthough Lake Chany is not well-known outside of Russia, it is one of the largest lakes in Russia . Lake Chany is a shallow, freshwater lake that has a fluctuating water level, which can change from season to season and year to year...
in southwestern Siberia.
Climate
Russia has a largely continental
climateClimate encompasses the statistics of temperature, humidity, atmospheric pressure, wind, rainfall, atmospheric particle count and numerous other meteorological elements in a given region over long periods of time...
because of its sheer size and compact configuration. Most of its land is more than 400 kilometers from the sea, and the center is 3,840 kilometers from the sea. In addition, Russia's mountain ranges, predominantly to the south and the east, block moderating temperatures from the
IndianThe Indian Ocean is the third largest of the world's oceanic divisions, covering about 20% of the water on the Earth's surface. It is bounded on the north by South Asia ; on the west by Africa; on the east by Indochina, the Sunda Islands, and Australia; and on the south by the Southern Ocean...
and
Pacific OceanThe Pacific Ocean is the largest of the Earth's oceanic divisions. Its name is derived from the Latin name Tepre Pacificum, "peaceful sea", bestowed upon it by the Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan. It extends from the Arctic in the north to Antarctica in the south, bounded by Asia and...
s, but European Russia and northern Siberia lack such topographic protection from the
ArcticThe Arctic Ocean, located in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Arctic north polar region, is the smallest, and shallowest of the world's five major oceanic divisions.
The International Hydrographic Organization recognizes it as an ocean, although some...
and North
Atlantic OceanThe Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's oceanic divisions. With a total area of about 106.4 million square kilometres , it covers approximately one-fifth of the Earth's surface and about one-quarter of its water surface area. The first part of its name refers to the Atlas of Greek...
s.
Because only small parts of Russia are south of 50° north
latitudeLatitude, usually denoted by the Greek letter phi gives the location of a place on Earth north or south of the equator. Lines of Latitude are the imaginary horizontal lines shown running east-to-west on maps that run either north or south of the equator...
and more than half of the country is north of 60° north latitude, extensive regions experience six months of snow cover over
subsoil----Subsoil Sub:under or beneath.Soil:Earth and groundis the layer of soil under the topsoil on the surface of the ground. The subsoil may include substances such as clay and/or sand that has only been partially broken down by air, sunlight, water,wind etc., to produce true soil...
that is
permanently frozenIn geology, permafrost or permafrost soil is soil at or below the freezing point of water for two or more years. Ice is not always present, as may be in the case of nonporous bedrock, but it frequently occurs and it may be in amounts exceeding the potential hydraulic saturation of the ground...
to depths as far as several hundred meters. The average yearly temperature of nearly all of European Russia is below freezing, and the average for most of Siberia is freezing or below. Most of Russia has only two seasons, summer and winter, with very short intervals of moderation between them. Transportation routes, including entire railroad lines, are redirected in winter to traverse rock-solid waterways and lakes. Some areas constitute important exceptions to this description, however: the moderate maritime climate of
Kaliningrad OblastKaliningrad Oblast , informally called Yantarny kray is a federal subject of Russia situated on the Baltic coast. Population: 968,200 ; ....
on the
Baltic SeaThe Baltic Sea is a brackish inland sea located in Northern Europe, from 53°N to 66°N latitude and from 20°E to 26°E longitude. It is bounded by the Scandinavian Peninsula, the mainland of Europe, and the Danish islands. It drains into the Kattegat by way of the Øresund, the Great Belt and the...
is similar to that of the
American NorthwestThe Pacific Northwest is a region in the northwest of North America, bound by the Pacific Ocean to the west. There are several partially overlapping definitions of the region, but they generally include the Canadian province of British Columbia and the U.S. states of Washington and Oregon, and...
; the
Russian Far EastRussian Far East is a term that refers to the Russian part of the Far East, i.e., extreme east parts of Russia, between Siberia and the Pacific Ocean...
, under the influence of the Pacific Ocean, has a
monsoonA pennis is traditionally defined as a seasonal reversing wind accompanied by seasonal changes in precipitation, but now is used to describe seasonal changes atmospheric circulation and precipitation The major monsoon systems of the world consist of the African and Asia-Australian monsoons...
al climate that reverses the direction of wind in summer and winter, sharply differentiating temperatures; and a narrow,
subtropicalThe subtropics are the geographical zone of the Earth immediately north and south of the tropical zone, which is bounded by the Tropic of Cancer and the Tropic of Capricorn, at latitudes 23.5°N and 23.5°S...
band of territory provides Russia's most popular summer resort area on the
Black Seaur a loser!The Black Sea is an inland sea bounded by Europe, Anatolia and the Caucasus and is ultimately connected to the Atlantic Ocean via the Mediterranean and Aegean Seas and various straits. The Bosporus strait connects it to the Sea of Marmara, and the strait of the Dardanelles connects it to...
.
In winter, an intense high-pressure system causes winds to blow from the south and the southwest in all but the Pacific region of the Russian landmass; in summer, a low-pressure system brings winds from the north and the northwest to most of the landmass. Russia is the coldest country of the world (average annual temperature is −5.5 °C). That meteorological combination reduces the wintertime temperature difference between north and south. Thus, average January temperatures are −6 °C in Saint Petersburg, −27 °C in the
West Siberian PlainThe West Siberian Plain is a large plain that occupies the western portion of Siberia and Russia, between the Ural Mountains in the west and the Yenisei River in the east, and by the Eastern Sayan Mountains and the Baikal Mountains on the south. Much of the plain is poorly drained and consists of...
, and −43 °C at
YakutskYakutsk is a city in the Russian Far East, located about 4° below the Arctic Circle. It is the capital of the Sakha Republic , Russia and a major port on the Lena River. It is served by Yakutsk Airport as well as the smaller Magan Airport...
(in east-central Siberia, at approximately the same latitude as Saint Petersburg), while the winter average on the
MongoliaMongolia is a landlocked country in East and Central Asia. It borders Russia to the north and the People's Republic of China to the south, east and west. Although Mongolia does not share a border with Kazakhstan, its western-most point is only 24 miles from Kazakhstan's eastern tip. Ulan Bator,...
n border, whose latitude is some 10° farther south, is barely warmer. Summer temperatures are more affected by latitude, however; the Arctic islands average 4 °C, and the southernmost regions average 20 °C. Russia's potential for temperature extremes is typified by the national record low of −68 °C, recorded at
VerkhoyanskVerkhoyansk Verkhoyansk Verkhoyansk is a town in the Sakha Republic, Russia, situated on the Yana River, near the Arctic Circle, 675 km from Yakutsk. There is a river port, an airport, a fur-collecting depot, and the center of a reindeer-raising area...
in north-central Siberia and the record high of 43 °C, recorded at several southern stations (Volgograd).
The long, cold winter has a profound impact on almost every aspect of life in Russia. It affects where and how long people live and work, what kinds of crops are grown, and where they are grown (no part of the country has a year-round growing season). The length and severity of the winter, together with the sharp fluctuations in the mean summer and winter temperatures, impose special requirements on many branches of the economy. In regions of permafrost, buildings must be constructed on pilings, machinery must be made of specially tempered steel, and transportation systems must be engineered to perform reliably in extremely low and extremely high temperatures. In addition, during extended periods of darkness and cold, there are increased demands for energy, health care, and textiles.
Because Russia has little exposure to ocean influences, most of the country receives low to moderate amounts of
precipitationIn meteorology, precipitation is any product of the condensation of atmospheric water vapor that is deposited on the Earth's surface. The main forms of precipitation include rain, snow, ice pellets, and graupel...
. Highest precipitation falls in the northwest, with amounts decreasing from northwest to southeast across European Russia. The wettest areas are the small, lush subtropical region adjacent to the Caucasus and along the Pacific coast. Along the Baltic coast, average annual precipitation is 600 millimeters, and in Moscow it is 525 millimeters. An average of only twenty millimeters falls along the Russian-Kazakh border, and as little as fifteen millimeters may fall along Siberia's Arctic coastline. Average annual days of snow cover, a critical factor for agriculture, depends on both latitude and altitude. Cover varies from forty to 200 days in European Russia, and from 120 to 250 days in Siberia.
Area and boundaries
Area:
total:
17,075,200
km²Square kilometre , symbol km2, is a decimal multiple of the SI unit of surface area, the square metre, one of the SI derived units.1 km2 is equal to:* 1,000,000 m2...
land:
16,995,800 km²
water:
79,400 km²
Area — comparative:
- Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the continental mainland , the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans...
comparative: slightly more than 2.2 times the size of Australia
- Canada
Canada is a country occupying most of northern North America, extending from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
comparative: slightly more than 1.7 times the size of Canada
- United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is a sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe. It is an island country, spanning an archipelago including Great Britain, the northeastern part of Ireland, and many small islands...
comparative: slightly more than 70 times the size of the UK
- United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
comparative: slightly more than 1.8 times the size of the U.S.
Land boundaries:
total:
19,917
kmThe kilometre , symbol km is a unit of length in the metric system, equal to one thousand metres and is therefore exactly equal to the distance travelled by light in free space in of a second....
Kaliningrad OblastKaliningrad Oblast , informally called Yantarny kray is a federal subject of Russia situated on the Baltic coast. Population: 968,200 ; ....
is a small part of west Russia with no land connection to the rest of Russia.
border countries:
- Russia excluding Kaliningrad Oblast—Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan , formally the Republic of Azerbaijan , is a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia. Located at the crossroads of Western Asia and Eastern Europe, it is bounded by the Caspian Sea to the east, Russia to the north, Georgia to the northwest, Armenia to the west, and Iran to the south...
; 284 km; BelarusBelarus is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe, bordered by Russia to the north and east, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the north. Its capital is Minsk; other major cities include Brest, Grodno , Gomel , Mahilyow and Vitebsk...
: 959 km; ChinaThe People's Republic of China , commonly known as China, is the largest country in East Asia and the most populous in the world with over 1.3 billion people, approximately one-fifth of the world's population...
: (southeast) 3,605 km, China (south): 40 km; EstoniaEstonia , officially the Republic of Estonia , is a country in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea, to the south by Latvia , and to the east by the Russian Federation...
: 294 km; FinlandFinland , officially the Republic of Finland
, is a Nordic country and democracy situated in the Fennoscandian region of northern Europe. It borders Sweden on the west, Russia on the east, and Norway on the north, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland...
: 1,313 km; GeorgiaGeorgia Georgia Georgia is a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia. Situated at the juncture of Western Asia and Eastern Europe, it is bounded to the west by the Black Sea, to the north by Russia, to the south by Turkey and Armenia, and to the east by Azerbaijan...
: 723 km; KazakhstanKazakhstan , officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a country situated in Eurasia that is ranked as the ninth largest country in the world. It is also the world's largest landlocked country. Its territory of 2,727,300 km² is greater than Western Europe...
: 6,846 km; LatviaLatvia , officially the Republic of Latvia is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by Estonia , to the south by Lithuania , to the east by the Russian Federation , and to the southeast by Belarus . Across the Baltic Sea to the west lies Sweden...
: 217 km; MongoliaMongolia is a landlocked country in East and Central Asia. It borders Russia to the north and the People's Republic of China to the south, east and west. Although Mongolia does not share a border with Kazakhstan, its western-most point is only 24 miles from Kazakhstan's eastern tip. Ulan Bator,...
: 3,441 km; North KoreaNorth Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea , is a state in East Asia, occupying the northern half of the Korean Peninsula. Its capital and largest city is Pyongyang. The Korean Demilitarized Zone serves as the buffer area between North Korea and South Korea...
: 19 km; NorwayNorway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a country in Northern Europe occupying the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, as well as Jan Mayen and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard under the Spitsbergen Treaty...
: 167 km; UkraineUkraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Russia to the east; Belarus to the north; Poland, Slovakia, and Hungary to the west; Romania and Moldova to the southwest; and the Black Sea and Sea of Azov to the south. The city of Kiev is both the capital and the largest city of...
: 1,576 km
- Kaliningrad Oblast—Lithuania
Lithuania , officially the Republic of Lithuania is a country in Northern Europe, the southernmost of the three Baltic states. Situated along the southeastern shore of the Baltic Sea, it shares borders with Latvia to the north, Belarus to the southeast, Poland, and the Russian exclave of...
: 227 km; PolandPoland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe . Poland is bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
: 206 km
Coastline:
37,653 km
Maritime claims:
Russian continental shelf:
200 m depth or to the depth of exploitation
exclusive economic zone:
territorial sea:
Elevation extremes:
lowest point:
Caspian SeaThe Caspian Sea is the largest enclosed body of water on Earth by area, variously classed as the world's largest lake or a full-fledged sea. It has a surface area of 371,000 square kilometres and a volume of 78,200 cubic kilometres...
: −28 m
highest point:
Mount ElbrusMount Elbrus is an inactive volcano located in the western Caucasus mountain range, in Kabardino-Balkaria and Karachay-Cherkessia, Russia, near the border of Georgia. Mt. Elbrus's highest peak is the highest mountain in the Caucasus and in whole Europe. Mt. Elbrus stands at and is the highest...
: 5,642 m
See also: Extreme points of RussiaThis is a list of the extreme points and extreme elevations in Russia.The northermost and easternmost points of Russia coincide with those of Eurasia ....
Natural resources and land use
Russia holds the greatest reserves of mineral resources of any country in the world. Though they are abundant, they are in remote areas with extreme climates, making them expensive to mine. The country is the most abundant in mineral fuels. It may hold as much as half of the world's
coalCoal is a readily combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock normally occurring in rock strata in layers or veins called coal beds. The harder forms, such as anthracite coal, can be regarded as metamorphic rock because of later exposure to elevated temperature and pressure...
reserves and even larger reserves of
petroleumPetroleum or crude oil is a naturally occurring, flammable liquid found in rock formations in the Earth consisting of a complex mixture of hydrocarbons of various molecular weights, plus other organic compounds.The term "petroleum" was first used in the treatise De Natura Fossilium, published in...
. Deposits of coal are scattered throughout the region, but the largest are located in central and eastern
SiberiaSiberia , is the vast region constituting almost all of Northern Asia and for the most part currently serving as the massive central and eastern portion of the Russian Federation, having served in the same capacity previously for the USSR from its beginning, and the Russian Empire beginning in the...
. The most developed fields lie in western Siberia, in the northeastern European region, in the area around
MoscowMoscow is the capital and the largest city of Russia. It is also the largest metropolitan area in Europe, and ranks among the largest urban areas in the world. Moscow is a major political, economic, cultural, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the world, a...
, and in the
UralsThe Ural Mountains are a mountain range that runs roughly north-south through western Russia. They are usually considered the natural boundary between Europe and Asia....
. The major petroleum deposits are located in western Siberia and in the Volga-Urals. Smaller deposits are found throughout the country.
Natural gasNatural gas is a gas consisting primarily of methane. It is found associated with fossil fuels, in coal beds, as methane clathrates, and is created by methanogenic organisms in marshes, bogs, and landfills...
, a resource of which Russia holds around forty percent of the world's reserves, can be found along Siberia's
ArcticThe Arctic is the region around the Earth's North Pole, opposite the Antarctic region around the South Pole. The Arctic includes the Arctic Ocean and parts of Canada, Greenland , Russia, the United States , Iceland, Norway, Sweden and Finland.The word Arctic comes from the Greek αρκτικός , "near...
coast, in the
North CaucasusThe North Caucasus is the northern part of the Caucasus region between the Black and Caspian Seas and within European Russia. The term is also used as a synonym for the North Caucasus economic region of Russia....
, and in northwestern Russia. Major iron-ore deposits are located south of Moscow, near the
UkrainianUkraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Russia to the east; Belarus to the north; Poland, Slovakia, and Hungary to the west; Romania and Moldova to the southwest; and the Black Sea and Sea of Azov to the south. The city of Kiev is both the capital and the largest city of...
border in the
Kursk Magnetic AnomalyKursk Magnetic Anomaly is a territory rich in iron ores located within the Kursk, Belgorod, and Voronezh oblasts, and constitutes a significant part of the Central Chernozyom Region...
; this area contains vast deposits of iron ore that have caused a deviation in the Earth's magnetic field. There are smaller deposits in other parts of the country. The Ural mountains hold small deposits of
manganeseManganese is a chemical element, designated by the symbol Mn. It has the atomic number 25. It is found as a free element in nature , and in many minerals...
.
NickelNickel is a chemical element, with the chemical symbol Ni and atomic number 28. It is a silvery-white lustrous metal with a slight golden tinge. It is one of the four ferromagnetic elements at about room temperature, other three being iron, cobalt and gadolinium...
,
tungstenTungsten , also known as wolfram , is a chemical element with the chemical symbol W and atomic number 74.A steel-gray metal, tungsten is found in several ores, including wolframite and scheelite...
,
cobaltCobalt is a hard, lustrous, gray metal, a chemical element with symbol Co and atomic number 27. Although cobalt-based colors and pigments have been used since ancient times for making jewelry and paints, and miners have long used the name kobold ore for some minerals, the free metallic cobalt was...
,
molybdenumMolybdenum , is a Group 6 chemical element with the symbol Mo and atomic number 42. The free element, which is a silvery metal, has the sixth-highest melting point of any element. It readily forms hard, stable carbides, and for this reason it is often used in high-strength steel alloys...
and other iron alloying elements occur in adequate quantities.
Russia also contains most of the nonferrous metals.
AluminiumAluminium or aluminum is a silvery white and ductile member of the boron group of chemical elements. It has the symbol Al; its atomic number is 13. It is not soluble in water under normal circumstances....
ores are scarce and are found primarily in the Ural region, northwestern European Russia, and south central Siberia.
CopperCopper is a chemical element with the symbol Cu and atomic number 29.It is a ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. Pure copper is rather soft and malleable and a freshly-exposed surface has a pinkish or peachy color...
is more abundant and major reserves are located in the Urals, the
NorilskNorilsk is a major city in Krasnoyarsk Krai, Russia, located between the Yenisey river and the Taymyr Peninsula. It was granted city status in 1953. It is the northernmost city in Siberia and the world's second largest city above the Arctic Circle. Norilsk with Yakutsk and Vorkuta are the only...
area near the mouth of the
YeniseyYenisei is the greatest river system flowing to the Arctic Ocean, and at 5,539 km is the fifth longest river in the world. Rising in Mongolia, it follows a northerly course to the Yenisei Gulf in the Kara Sea, draining a large part of central Siberia, the longest stream following the...
in eastern Siberia, and the
Kola PeninsulaThe Kola Peninsula is a peninsula in the far north of Russia, part of the Murmansk Oblast. It borders upon the Barents Sea on the North and the White Sea on the East and South...
. Another vast deposit located east of
Lake BaikalLake Baikal is the world's second most voluminous lake, after the Caspian Sea. It is the most voluminous freshwater lake in the world with an average depth of 744.4 m and contains a total of roughly 20 percent of the world's surface fresh water...
only became exploited when the Baikal-Amur Mainline (BAM) railroad was finished in 1989.
The North Caucasus, far eastern Russia, and the western edge of the
Kuznetsk BasinThe 'Kuznetsk Basin' in southwestern Siberia, Russia, is one of the biggest coal mining areas in the world, covering an area of around . It lies in the Kuznetsk Depression between Tomsk and Novokuznetsk in the basin of the Tom river...
in southern Siberia contain an abundance of
leadLead is a main-group element with symbol Pb and atomic number 82. Lead is a soft, malleable poor metal, also considered to be one of the heavy metals. Lead has a bluish-white color when freshly cut, but tarnishes to a dull grayish color when exposed to air...
and
zincZinc , also known as spelter, is a metallic chemical element; it has the symbol Zn and atomic number 30. It is the first element in group 12 of the periodic table. Zinc is, in some respects, chemically similar to magnesium, because its ion is of similar size and its only common oxidation state is +2...
ores. These are commonly found along with copper,
goldGold is a chemical element with the symbol Au and an atomic number of 79. It has been a highly sought-after precious metal for coinage, jewelry, and other arts since the beginning of recorded history. The metal occurs as nuggets or grains in rocks, in veins and in alluvial deposits. Gold is...
,
silverSilver is a chemical element with the chemical symbol Ag and atomic number 47. A soft, white, lustrous transition metal, it has the highest electrical conductivity of any element and the highest thermal conductivity of any metal...
, and a large amount of other rare metals. The country has one of the largest gold reserves in the world; mostly in Siberia and the Urals.
MercuryMercury , also called quicksilver or hydrargyrum , is a chemical element with the symbol Hg and atomic number 80...
deposits can be found in the central and southern Urals and in south central Siberia.
Raw materials are abundant as well, including
potassiumPotassium is the chemical element with the symbol K , atomic number 19, and atomic mass 39.0983. Potassium was first isolated from potash...
and
magnesiumMagnesium is a chemical element with the symbol Mg, atomic number 12 and common oxidation number +2. It is an alkaline earth metal and the eighth most abundant element in the earth's crust by mass, although ninth in the Universe as a whole...
saltA salt, in chemistry, is an ionic compound, and can result from the neutralization reaction of acids and bases. Salts are ionic compounds composed of cations and anions so that the product is electrically neutral...
deposits in the
Kama RiverKama is a major river in Russia, the longest left tributary of the Volga and the largest one in discharge; in fact, it is larger than the Volga before junction....
region of the western Urals. Russia also contains one of the world's largest deposits of
apatiteApatite is a group of phosphate minerals, usually referring to hydroxyapatite, fluorapatite, chlorapatite and bromapatite, named for high concentrations of OH
−, F
−, Cl
− or...
found in the central Kola Peninsula. Rock salt is located in the southwestern Urals and the southwest of Lake Baikal. Surface deposits of salt are found in salt lakes along the lower Volga Valley.
SulfurSulfur or sulphur is the chemical element that has the atomic number 16. It is denoted with the symbol S. It is an abundant, multivalent non-metal. Sulfur, in its native form, is a yellow crystalline solid. In nature, it can be found as the pure element and as sulfide and sulfate minerals...
can be found in the Urals and the middle Volga Valley.
Eight percent of the land is used for arable farming, four percent—for permanent pastures, forty-six percent of the land is forests and woodland, and forty-two percent is used for other purposes.
Natural hazards
Volcanic activity in the
Kuril IslandsThe Kuril Islands or Kurile Islands in Russia's Sakhalin Oblast region, is a volcanic archipelago that stretches approximately northeast from Hokkaidō, Japan, to Kamchatka, Russia, separating the Sea of Okhotsk from the North Pacific Ocean...
and volcanoes and earthquakes on the
Kamchatka peninsulaThe Kamchatka Peninsula is a 1,250-kilometer long peninsula in the Russian Far East, with an area of 472,300 km². It lies between the Pacific Ocean to the east and the Sea of Okhotsk to the west...
are other natural hazards.