Geography chapter 5 Russia and the Post-Soviet States

Geographic themes 4 factors

- The region's economy is dependent on resource exports. -This region has a long history of authoritarianism. -Outside of Moscow, most cities are stagnating. -Populations are shrinking and life expectancy is decreasing.

1. East extension of the North European Plain

-Also known as European Russia -Densely settled -Russia's agricultural and industrial core -Volga: Most important river -Cities: Moscow, St. Petersburg -Access to Baltic Sea and Arctic Ocean

what is Moscow and why is it significant?

-Capital and primate city of Russia -Population of 12 million -Moscow's population is larger than the next six largest cities combined. -Moscow produces more than 20% of Russia's GDP

Favorable agriculture in

-Caucasus -European Russia and Ukraine -Irrigated lands in Central Asia

6. Russia's southern flank

-Caucasus Mountains on the western side -Grasslands in the central area -Mountain chains on the east side

The region's transition to a market economy 3 facts

-Disorderly -Only a few could purchase the state-owned industries (privatization). -These wealthy few became oligarchs.

Human patterns over time

-Early human occupiers were nomadic pastoralists. -Towns arose in the dry land of Central Asia and forests of Caucasia, Ukraine, and Russia. -Slavs were farmers who built settlements in the area of Kiev and Moscow. -Slavs maintained a lucrative trade route along the Volga River. -800 C.E.: Orthodox Christianity/Cyrillic alphabet were introduced.

Environment 6 factors

-Economic development in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries took precedence over environmental concerns. -Nonpoint source pollution is rampant. -Nuclear catastrophe at Chernobyl (1986) -Pollution from resource extraction -Water pollution in rivers, coastlines, and loss of the Aral Sea -Post-Soviet states inherited Soviet environmental disasters.

4. & 5. Central Siberian Plateau and Pacific Mountain Zone

-Except for Pacific coastal area, permafrost prevails. -Low population densities are the norm. -The area is isolated from urbanized and industrialized western Russia.

2. Ural Mountains (dividing line between European Russia and Siberia)

-Extend in fairly straight line from -Arctic Ocean into Kazakhstan -Were never a barrier for transport or invasion -Once dense forest now gone -Region of resource extraction and industry

Conflict in Chechnya

-In the 1990s, internal Russian republics demanded more autonomy. -Chechnya demanded independence. Majority Muslim population Geographically significant to Russia Failed guerilla insurgency -Russia now invests in Chechnya. -Russia maintains strong military presence. -Terrorist attacks continue and are linked to global terrorism.

Sixteenth century:

-Ivan IV conquered the Mongols. Russian empire began, centered in Moscow. -Policy of Russification accompanied conquest -The Russian Empire was ruled by a powerful monarch (the czar) along with a tiny aristocracy. -Most Russians were serfs, tied to the land.

3. West Siberian Plain

-Largest plain in the world -Marshy lowland -Long, bitter winters -Permafrost -Northern region covered with tundra

The region's transition to a market economy: shock therapy

-Many lost their jobs. -Inflation destroyed savings. -Average incomes have grown minimally. -Wealth disparities have increased.

Moldova and Ukraine

-Moldova: Romanian in the west; Slavic in the east -Ukraine: Slavic -Good agricultural resources (chernozem soil) -Both are potential future members of the EU. -Oil and gas pipelines from Russia cross their territory.

Oil and gas development 5 facts

-Natural gas and crude oil are the region's most lucrative exports. -Russia is the world's largest exporter of natural gas and second largest exporter of oil. -Gazprom: The state-owned company is the largest gas company in the world. -Russia uses fossil fuel exports to promote geopolitical interests. -Central Asia relies on pipelines through neighbors to reach world markets.

Population and gender

-Populations are shrinking in many areas. -High levels of women in the workforce -Economic decline -Housing shortages

Most urban areas in Russia...

-Shaped by legacy of Communist central planning -Housing is typically in giant apartment blocks. -Infrastructure needs repair. -Housing shortages exist everywhere. -Oil wealth may help some cities to revive.

Food production in the post-Soviet era Agriculture is precarious at best because...

-Short growing season -Boggy soils -Lack of necessary inputs -Harsh climates and unpredictable rainfall -Rugged landforms

Religion and nationalism

-Soviet ideology was atheism. Russian orthodoxy was tolerated. -Religious resurgence is occurring. Orthodox Christianity (supported by Putin) Those of Jewish heritage Islam Militant Islam movements -Russia and other post-Soviet states are experiencing a rebirth of nationalism.

Belarus

-Terrain: Flat, glaciated, many lakes, stony soil -Absorbed 70% of radiation from Chernobyl -Thoroughly Russified -Receives subsidies from Russia -Independent in 1991 but authoritarian leader -Russia sees Belarus as a useful buffer state (A buffer state is a country that is situated between two rival and more powerful political entities and serves as a neutral territory, limiting direct contact and potential conflict between the two powers) against EU or NATO influence.

Climate and vegetation

-The climate is largely continental. -The northern latitudes of this region make agriculture difficult. -Massive mountain ranges on the southern border block access to warm, wet air from the Indian Ocean. -Most rainfall comes from storms generated in the Atlantic. -Taiga forests blanket the area south of the tundra.

Crisis in Ukraine

-The crisis positions Russia against the EU and the United States. -The crisis is a seeming throwback to the Cold War. -Russia annexed Crimea. With support from ethnic Russians in Crimea -Ukraine has two geopolitical orientations. Western region looks to Europe. Economically oriented to capitalism Eastern region looks to Russia. Has ethnically Russian population Receives military support from Russia

Power and politics

-The region has a long history of authoritarianism. -The public has few avenues for influencing the political processes. -Elected representative bodies often rubber stamp strong presidents' initiatives. -Vladimir Putin is the most dominant political person in the region. -Color revolutions have brought some greater freedoms. -The role of an independent press is tenuous.

5 Themes of Central Asia

-The subregion's history revolves around the Silk Road. -Russia used the area's climate for cotton production by means of irrigation. -Islam has become reinstated, but governments fear a radical version. -International investments focus on oil and gas resources. -Oil wealth is helping to improve well-being.

Themes of Caucasia

-There is ethnic and religious diversity within each of the three countries and seven Russian internal republics. -Emigration intensified after 1991. -Political boundaries do not correspond to ethnic boundaries which makes for conflict. -Contested territories also lead to conflict. -Gaining access to significant oil and gas reserves is a contested issue.

Sociocultural issues: Gender

-Under Soviet policies, women worked full time. -The double day has always been a challenge for women. -Today's female labor force is more educated than the male labor force. -Trafficking in women increased in the post-Communist era. -Sex work has also increased. -Political empowerment of women is gradually increasing.

how Life expectancy varies along gender lines

-Women live 10+ years longer than men. -Male life expectancy has increased after a steep decline but is shortest of any developed country. -Alcohol abuse, accidents, suicides among men

Russia's Resource extraction and environmental degradation

-World's largest natural gas reserves -Major oil deposits -Coal deposits -Minerals (nickel) -Central Asia: Oil and natural gas -Few environmental laws protect the environment.

Landforms: West to east

1. East extension of the North European Plain 2. Ural Mountains (dividing line between European Russia and Siberia) 3. West Siberian Plain 4. Central Siberian Plateau 5. Pacific Mountain Zone (Russian Far East)

The former Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) ended in? and was replaced with?

1991 and has been replaced by Russia and 11 independent post-Soviet states: Ukraine, Belarus, Moldova (European states); Georgia, Armenia, and Azerbaijan (the Caucasian states) and Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan (the Central Asian states).

______of central Siberia is permafrost and is home to only ____million people who for the most part live in cities

60% 31 million

Food in Ukraine

Beets are an extremely nutritious root vegetable that tolerates cold weather well, enabling farmers to make the most out of the short growing season

Southern flank mountains and uplands

Caucasia Steppes Central Asian mountains

Subregion: Caucasia: Caucasia: Georgia, Armenia, and Azerbaijan

Caucasia is located around the rugged spine of the Caucasus Mountains which stretch from the Black Sea to the Caspian Sea and is about the size of California. The southern flank of the Caucasus mountains is Transcaucasia, a band of subtropical intermountain valleys and high volcanic plateaus. This subregion is characterized by great cultural diversity consisting of 50 ethnic groups and three religions (Judaism, Orthodox Christianity, and Islam).

_______ ________ climates (Continental-winter dry and continental-moist all year) dominate this northerly land mass.

Cool humid

Subregions: What is considered the heart of Russia? (economy, urbanization, global connections, government and Russian/Slavic culture).

European Russia

1922−1953:

Joseph Stalin industrialized the USSR, increasing living standards but brutally murdering or deporting any opposition.

Transportation in Central Siberia

Railway station Transport routes

What is the largest forest in the world in Siberia?

Siberian taiga

Wealth disparity and unemployment increased after the fall of the ____________ __________.

Soviet Union

1918−1921:

The Communist Party, led by Lenin, set up a powerful government based in Moscow.

Twentieth century:

The Russian Empire ended amidst the Communist revolution and civil war. Bolsheviks, led by Vladimir Lenin, planned an egalitarian society.

World War II:

The Soviet Union was ultimately responsible for the defeat of Nazi Germany. 23 million Soviets were killed in the war. After the war, the Cold War evolved as a geopolitical rivalry between the Soviet Union and the United States and their respective allies.

The southern flank includes...

The Steppes and desserts, semiarid, and arid climates.

Human impacts on the biosphere :(

The region is home to the worst pollution in the world which resulted from 70 years of industrial development with few, if any, environmental safeguards. A few attempts are being made to become cleaner and less polluting.

Twelfth century: Mongol armies conquered _____________ & ______________.

Ukraine and Russia

Subregions: Belarus, Ukraine, and Moldova each have a distinct?

a distinct ethnic group

Subregions: The Russian Far East

an extensive territory of mountain plateaus with long coastlines on the Pacific and Arctic oceans and 2/3 the size of the U.S. 75% of the people live in a few cities along the Trans-Siberian Railway and on the Pacific Coast. The majority of the residents are indigenous people or immigrants and exiles from Russia. This is the location of many labor camps (gulags) for political crimes in the Soviet era. Foreign investments are coming to the subregion as it sells natural resource products around the Pacific Rim.

Communism is

an ideology, based largely on the writings of the German revolutionary Karl Marx. It calls on workers to unite to overthrow capitalists, and establish an egalitarian society where workers share what they produce. Capitalists are a wealthy minority that owns the majority of factories, farms, businesses, and other means of production. Centrally planned or socialist economy is an economic system in which the state owns all land and means of production.

Oligarchs in Russia define

are those who acquired great wealth during the privatization of Russia's resources and used their wealth to gain power.

The dependence of so many Central Asians on agriculture makes them very sensitive to__________ and ___________ ____________.

drought water scarcity

Economic development has taken precedence over __________ _________ in this region

environmental concerns

Much of the region has a medium level of vulnerability to climate change, but Central Asia has _____ and _______ levels. Vulnerability will increase as temperatures rise and glaciers in the Pamirs and other mountains melt.

high extreme

Nomadic pastoralism define

is a way of life and economy that are centered on tending grazing animals who are moved seasonally to gain access to the best pastures.

Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan are...

low-lying plains while Kazakhstan has plains in the north and west with uplands in the southeast.

Russia and post-Soviet states fall in the ___________ range of the three well-being indicators

middle

Russia and the post-Soviet states have tremendous __________ and _________ resources

natural mineral

Early human occupiers were ___________________ ____________________.

nomadic pastoralists

study slide 30!!

study slide 30!!

Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan lie high in...

the Hindu Kush.

In 1991

the Soviet Union disbanded.

Subregions: Siberia includes

the Ural mountains, the West Siberian Plain and about half of the Central Siberian Plateau.

Central Asia lies in...

the center of the Eurasian continent and in the rain shadow of mountains to the south and southeast.

Privatization is

the sale of industries formerly owned and operated by the government to private companies or individuals.