Central Asia/ Russia

Physical and Human Geography

Major Landforms

• Northern European Plain• Ural Mountains • Caucasus Mountains• Turan Plain

Northern European Plain

Chernozem: black earth•Moscow, St. Petersburg, Kiev•75% live here

Ural Mountains –the divider between Asia and Europe. –Tilts north = rivers flow to Arctic Ocean

Caucasus Mountains-Separates Black and Caspian Seas-Transcaucasia

Turan PlainIncludes 2 large deserts•Kara Kum Desert•Kyzyl Kum Desert–Aral Sea

Bodies of Water

• Volga River – Europe’s longest• Caspian Sea – saltwater lake,

largest inland sea• Aral Sea-has lost 80% of water

content

Caspian Sea

• saltwater lake, largest inland sea

• Oil and natural gas• sturgeon live in its

waters, and the caviar produced from their eggs is a valuable commodity

Lake Bailak –Deepest lake in the world–About 1 mile deep–Holds 20% of world’s

freshwater–Tourist attraction

Human Geography

Russia and the Western Republics

• Russian state began in region between Baltic and Black Seas–9th Century, Vikings settled and

adopted the customs of the local Slavic population•Settlements began to expand

• 13th Century, Mongolian invaders entered–Controlled this region until the

1500s when Ivan the Great, Prince of Moscow, put an end to their rule

• Russia began to expand to the Pacific Ocean

• Russia’s growth was rapid, but it lagged behind in science and technology–Peter the Great, tried to change this•He moved the capital to St.

Petersburg –Russia did not begin to industrialize

until the end of the 1800s

Trans- Siberian Railroad

• Czar Alexander III. • 5,700 miles • 10 years to build• This was the first

major step towards connecting all of Russia together physically and economically.

Rise and Fall of the Soviet Union

• Russian Revolution (1917): ended rule of the czars–Communist

Party, led by Lenin, took control

• By 1922, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) was formed• Stalin had taken

over by WWII

Building a Command Economy

• Inspired by Karl Marx• Soviet leaders adopted

a command economy.• Soviet government

created collective farms

–After the war, Stalin installed pro-Soviet governments in parts of Eastern Europe–The Cold War soon began

between the U.S. and USSR and continued until the 1980s.

• By the 1980s, Mikhail Gorbachev began to give more freedom to the Soviet people–This led to the collapse of the

Soviet Union in 1991•The region was divided into 15

independent republics

Area of Conflicts After the Fall of USSR

• Chechnya– Remained part of Russia– Russia invaded in 1994 and 1999– 2009 Russia pulled out

• Georgia– In a conflict with the Ossetian people

• Armenia and Azerbaijan– Fought of the Nagorno-Karabakh

Transcaucasia• Consists of Armenia, Azerbaijan

and Georgia• Used as a migration route

between Europe and Asia–This has led to a variety of

cultures

• Transcaucasia has a history of outside control–The czars of Russia entered in the

1700s–Transcaucasian countries enjoyed

some independence during the Russian Revolution until the Soviet Red Army retuned in the 1920s

Central Asia• Consists of

Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan

History of Central Asia

• The Great Game–Competition between Great Britain and

Russia over Central Asia–By the end of the 19th century, Russia won

control of Central Asia– In 1920s the USSR took control and

governed until 1991

Silk Road

–4,000 mile journey from China to the Mediterranean Sea• Gold, Silver, Ivory• Wine, Spices, Porcelain

–Spreading of ideas, technology, and religion

Steps Toward Capitalism

• Privatization– Government-owned businesses to individuals and

private companies– Economic crash in 1998– 40% of Russians live below the poverty line

• Distance Decay– Long distances between places is an obstacle

facing economic reformers.

• Russia covers 11 time zones

Environmental Concerns

• Nuclear testing• Lack of federal regulations• Nuclear testing• Nuclear power plants

Chernobyl

• Ukraine• April 26, 1986 • everyone living within the 30 kilometer

radius was evacuated. • The last reactor was not shut down until

December 2000.