Russia and the Near Abroad

Top 10 NotesChapters 6 and 7

#1 – What is Eurasia?

• Some geographers suggest that the huge connected landmass of Europe and Asia should be seen as ONE continent – Eurasia!– The landmass is nearly ½ of the Northern

Hemisphere (8.5 million square miles).– Spans 11 time zones– Largest country in this

region is Russia (2x the size of USA).

#2 – Independent Republics• 15 Countries within 4 regions

– Slavic States: Belarus, Moldova, Russia, and Ukraine.

– Central Asia: Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan (tuh-jik-uh-stan) , Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan (ooz-bek-uh-stan).

– Caucasus Region: Armenia, Azerbaijan (ah-zer-bahy-jahn), and Georgia.

– Baltic States: Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania – closer to Europe than Russia.

#3 – Physical Features of Eurasia

• Ural Mountains – usually considered the boundary between Europe and Asia.– In the west the land is flat and becomes

increasingly mountainous toward the east and south.

– Steppes – vast grassland plains in central Russia.

– Siberia – the Asian part of Russia – harsh climate.

#4 – People and Cultures• Northern Eurasia population – 280

million and population density is low (32 people per square mile)– Losing population as the death rate is

higher than birth rate (poverty, smoking, alcohol abuse, abortion related deaths, suicide)

– Over 100 ethnic groups and speak more than 200 languages.

#5 – Climate and Vegetation

• Four broad bands of vegetation: tundra, forest, steppe, and desert.– Largest continuous area of forest in the

world is the Russian Taiga – coniferous trees.

#6 – Economy and Resources

• Russia has many resources…in remote locations: huge deposits of coal, oil, natural gas, gold, diamonds, etc. lie under permafrost (permanently frozen soil) in Siberia!

• Longest railroad in the world is the Trans Siberian Railroad – 5,700 miles long!

#7 – Chernobyl• 1986: Accidental explosion destroyed a

nuclear reactor at Chernobyl, Ukraine.• Cloud of radiation went into the air.• 26 people were killed, hundreds injured,

millions exposed to radiation.• 12.3 million acres of land were polluted

from radiation• Long term effects: water pollution, birth

defects, various kinds of cancer.• Town of Chernobyl no longer exists –

people were evacuated, buildings bulldozed to the ground, nuclear reactor was encased in steel to prevent further radiation from escaping and causing harm.

• Not fit for human occupation for a long time!

#8 – Armenian Genocide

• WWI – Turks attempted to deport the entire Armenian population of 1,750,000.

• 1/3 died during transportation or were massacred by the Turks

• Intentional destruction of these people.

• Many fled to Russia to escape persecution.

#9 – Chechnya Issues

• This region declared its independence from Russia in 1991– Russia continues to fight to keep it

• Chechens are Sunni Muslims• 2002: Terrorists from Chechnya seize

a theater in Moscow and over 300 die(receiving aid from al-Qa’ida)

• Sept. 1, 2004: Terrorists from Chechnya take hostages at a Beslan elementary school in Russia and 344 killed (including 186 kids) and hundreds wounded

#10 – Brief History of Russia• 800 B.C.E: Vikings settle city of Kiev (in Ukraine)

• 1240-1440: Mongols invade and settle city of Moscow.

• 1480-1900s: Czars (emperors) conquer other lands and add the territory to Russia (included most of Northern Eurasia)– Famous Czars: Ivan the Terrible, Peter the Great,

Catherine the Great• 1917: Bolshevik Revolution (led by Vladimir Lenin)

overthrew the Czar Nicholas (Anastasia) and set up a Communist dictatorship, aka: Soviet Union (USSR).

• 1924: Josef Stalin comes to power as a ruthless dictator and Leon Trotsky leads Red Army

• 1957: Russia sent up the first satellite (Sputnik) and starts the space race with the USA with Secretary Nikita Khrushchev

#10 Brief History of Russia• 1950s-1980s: USSR and USA are enemies in the

Cold War• 1985: Mikhail Gorbachev began reforms

– Glasnost (openness) which allowed citizens to say what they wanted without fear of government.

– Perestroika – economic restructuring which called for a gradual change from command system to private ownership of goods and services.

• 1991: Soviet Union dissolved and major republics became independent nations. Russians voted for Boris Yeltsin as first democratic president.

• 2000-2008: Vladimir Putin is elected as president• 2008: Dmitri A. Medvedev is elected president and

Putin is Prime Minister• 2012: Putin is president, Medvedev Prime Minister-

CORRUPT!!!

Atlas Pages

• Europe-side of “Eurasia”– 134– 136– 145– 148

• Asia-side of “Eurasia”– 152– 154