H. GEOGRAPHY — CHAPTERS 15 AND 16 (RUSSIA AND CENTRAL ASIA)
The Great Game
19th century battle between Great Britain and the Russian empire over Central Asia.
The Silk Road
4000 mile journey between China and the Mediterranean Sea.
Chernozem
Black topsoil; one of the earth's most fertile soils.
Thermal pollution
Dams and the plants' discharge of unusually hot water (causes significant damage to surrounding plant and animal habitats)
Territorial - rapid; industrial - science and tech lagged behind many European rivals. They began industrializing at the end of the 1800s, rather than the beginning.
Describe Russia's territorial and industrial growth.
80% Russian, 20% other cultures. Religions include orthodox Christianity, Judaism, Buddhism, and Islam.
Describe the ethnic and religious diversity in Russia and the Republics.
Contientality
Effect of distance on climate
Russia invaded them for the first time. They controlled more than 2/3rds of the territory. The Chechen rebels continued to fight Russia.
Explain what happened in Chechnya in 1994.
Collective farms
Groups of laborers that were gathered together and worked on very large areas of land.
A heated building thaws the permafrost, causing it to sink, tilt, and eventually topple over.
How are buildings in Siberia impacted by permafrost?
3 times the size of the US. Eleven.
How big is Russia and how many time zones does it cover?
A mile deep. 20%.
How deep is Lake Baikal? What percentage of the world's fresh water is stored there?
They placed bombs in a subway in Moscow.
How did Chechnya retaliate on Russia in March 2010?
As people came in on the railroad, coal and iron were shipped out.
How did the railroad impact Siberia's use of natural resources?
They carved the region into t new nations which corresponded with ethnic groups.
How did the soviets divide Central Asia?
They are among the highest in the world.
How do Central Asia's child mortality rates compare with the rest of the world?
Snow melts into water that becomes home to many mosquitoes and black flies.
How does the season change between winter and spring impact Siberia?
No native fish species still live in the Aral Sea?
How has runoff impacted the fish species in the Aral Sea?
It linked Moscow to the Pacific part of Vladivostok.
How has the Trans-Siberian Railroad impacted Siberia?
They were picked up by runoff and carried into the rivers that feed the Aral Sea, with devastating effects.
How have pesticides and fertilizers impacted the Aral Sea?
The waters of the Aral Sea exposed fertilizers, pesticides, and salt that were then blown onto nearby populations.
How have windstorms impacted local populations?
5700 miles. 7 time zones.
How many miles does the Trans-Siberian Railroad cover? How many time zones?
32 million people.
How many people live in Siberia?
283 million.
How many people live on the European Plain
Millions starved.
How were Russians affected by collective farms?
Harshly. Stalin was responsible for 14 million deaths.
How were Russians treated under Stalin's rule?
It has been maintained as independent republics.
In what state has Central Asia existed since 1991?
Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania
Name the Baltic Republics.
Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan.
Name the Central Asian republics
Belarus, Moldova, Ukraine, and the Baltic Republics.
Name the western republics.
Nomads
People who have no permanent home. They move from place to place with their animals in search of food, water, and grazing land.
Runoff
Rainfall not absorbed by the soil that runs into streams and rivers.
Describe travel through Siberia at the end of the 1800s.
Slow and dangerous.
Eurasia
The combined continent of Europe and Asia
California
The size of Caucasus is the size of what US state?
Harsh climates, rugged terrain, and vast distances.
What are the 3 reasons Russia and the Republics have had trouble removing resources from transporting them to markets.
Uplands, mountains, and plateaus
What are the dominant landforms in the Central Siberian Plateau and the Russian Far East?
Northern European Plain, West Siberian Plain, Central Siberian Plateau, and Russian Far East.
What are the four different regions in the northern 2/3rds of Russia called?
Tundra, forest, temperate grassland, and desert.
What are the four major vegetation regions in Russia and the Republics?
Arctic Ocean, Caspian Sea, Pacific Ocean, Baltic Sea, Black Sea, and Aral Sea basins
What are the major drainage basins in Russia and the Republics?
The expansive grasslands
What area in Central Asia was ideal for nomadic peoples?
Large scale irrigation projects that take a lot of water from the rivers that lead into the sea.
What caused the flow of the Aral Sea's water to slow to a trickle?
Extreme cold, subtropical, and semiarid deserts.
What climates is Russia home to?
Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan.
What countries comprise Central Asia?
Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Georgia.
What countries comprise Transcaucasia?
Taking large amounts of water from rivers.
What did officials begin doing in the 1950s t irrigate Central Asia's cotton field?
Britain's possessions in India.
What did the Great Game threaten?
Dramatic increases in leukemia, thyroid cancer, birth defects, and mental illness.
What did the Semey nuclear explosions cause?
They took control and governed Central Asia until 1991.
What did the Soviet Union do in the 1920s?
They exploded 470 nuclear devices.
What did the Soviets do in Semey from 1949-1989?
Coal, iron ore, and other metals.
What do Russia and the Republics have large deposits of?
The Black Sea and the Caspian Sea
What do the Caucasus Mountains separate?
Moist air from entering the region from the south, contributing to the arid climate of Central Asia.
What do the mountains of Central Asia prevent?
Extreme temperatures
What does Russia and the Republic's distance from the sea result in?
There are many varied climates across the region.
What does an expansive land area mean for climate?
Gold, silver, ivory, jade, wine, spices, linen, porcelain, and perfumes.
What fine goods were exchanged along the Silk Road?
1/4
What fraction of Russians lives in rural areas?
1/6. 8.5 million square miles
What fraction of the world's land surface does Russia cover? How many square miles?
Central authority in Russia and the Republics weakened; crime and conflict increased.
What happened after the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991?
Joseph Stalin installed pro-soviet governments in Eastern European countries that they had liberated during WWII.
What happened in Russia after WWII?
The Russian Revolution occurred, ending the rule of the czars. Lenin took control of the government.
What happened in Russia during WWI?
They fought the Nazis, Stalin took over leadership of the USSR.
What happened in Russia during WWII?
Communists organized different people who were absorbed during Russia's imperial expansion into the USSR (Soviet Union)
What happened in Russia in 1992?
It was divided into 15 independent republics. Russia had a popularly elected president.
What happened to Russia after the Soviet Union collapsed?
Russia invaded them, causing 100,000+ deaths.
What happened when Chechnya demanded independence in the 1990s?
It lost about 80% of its water.
What has happened to the Aral Sea since 1960?
Oil, natural gas, and hydroelectric power.
What is Russia a leading producer of?
Volcanic ranges
What is the Russian Far East home to?
Caspian Sea. Lake Baikal.
What is the largest inland salt-water lake in the world? What is the deepest lake in the world>
Extensive Lowland
What kind of area is the Northern European Plain?
Russian republics of Chechnya, Dagestan, Inigushetia, and North Ossetia.
What lies north of the Caucasus Mountains?
30%
What percentage of Russians own homes in the country?
Ural Mountains
What separates the Northern European and West Siberian Plain?
Moscow, St. Petersburg, and Kiev.
What three major cities are located in the Northern European Plain?
Humid continental and Subarctic climates.
What two climates dominate Russia and the Republics?
Kara Kum and Kyzyl Kum
What two major deserts live in the Turan Plain/
Syr Darya and Amu Darya
What two major rivers live in the Turan Plain?
Command economy. Central government makes all of the important economic decisions. Citizens owned property together; shared wealth.
What was the economy like in communist Soviet Russia?
Central government took control of land, mines, factories, banks, and transportation.
What was the harsh reality behind the Soviet command economy?
Russia won control of Central Asia in the 1800s.
What was the result of the Great Game?
Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan
What were the five nations in Central Asia?
The Islam and Turkish languages.
What were the unifying forces in Central Asia after the Soviets took over?
1991 (End of the Cold War)
When did the communist regime collapse?
The Atlantic Ocean
Where does most of the moisture that ends up in Russia and the Republics come from?
The Amu Darya and Syr Darya.
Where does the Aral Sea receive most of its water from?
In either side of the Caucasus Mountains between the black and Caspian seas.
Where is Caucasia?
1000 miles from the western border of Russia and the Republics to the Ural Mountains.
Where is the Northern European Plain located?
Chechnya
Which Russian Republic has experienced the worst violence since the collapse of the USSR?
They were trying to prevent opposition to their rule by playing the ethnic groups against each other.
Why did Central Asia leave large numbers of one ethnic group as minorities in the neighboring republics of other ethnic groups?
Result of extensive irrigation projects that have diverted water away from the rivers that feed the lake.
Why has the Caspian Sea lost about 87% of its water volume?
The don't know how to transport resources from harsh, distant, regions. They don't know how to use the resources without damaging the environment.
Why have Russia's and the Republics' regional leaders struggled to manage their wealth of natural resources?
