World Regional Geography Week 8 - Russia/Central Asia Realm PDF

WORLD REGIONAL GEOGRAPHY Week 8 The Russia/Central Asia Realm Russia/Central Asia  Global warming in Eurasia’s Arctic  Oil, natural gas, and economic power  Russia’s population decline and its consequences  The rise and fall of USSR  Near Ab...

WORLD REGIONAL GEOGRAPHY Week 8 The Russia/Central Asia Realm Russia/Central Asia  Global warming in Eurasia’s Arctic  Oil, natural gas, and economic power  Russia’s population decline and its consequences  The rise and fall of USSR  Near Abroad  Militarizing the Arctic Russia Is Profiting Off Global Warming VICE on HBO Russia/Central Asia Major Geographic Qualities  Enormous realm lacking warm-water access  “Widest” geographic realm; Baltic Sea to Pacific Ocean; spans 11 time zones  Cold and dry; rugged mountains separate warm south from cold north  Borders Europe, North Africa/Southwest Asia, South Asia, and East Asia  Relatively small, declining population  Development concentrated west of Ural Mountains, major cities, leading industrial regions, transport network, productive farming areas https://www.freeworldmaps.net/russia/mountains.html Climate And Vegetation  No natural barriers to Arctic air masses  Moscow lies farther north than Edmonton, Canada  St. Petersburg lies at the same latitude as the southern tip of Greenland  Winters—long, dark, bitterly cold  Summers—short and growing season limited  Dfb and Dfc Climates  Taiga—”Snowforest”—boreal forest dominated by coniferous trees  E Climates—Arctic latitudes  Tundra—mosses, lichens, patches of low grass and hardy shrubs https://www.kidcyber.com.au/taiga-biome https://www.nationalgeographic.org/encyclopedia/tundra-biome/  Climate—Weather— challenge the peoples of the realm  Majority of population concentrated in the west and southwest  Population in east sparse and clustered along southern margin  Central Asia’s population concentrated along water supplies  Rich and varied natural resources  Oil and natural gas  From North Caucasus to Sakhalin Island  From arctic shore of Siberia to Caspian Basin  Coalfields  East and west of Ural Mountains and southern Siberia  Iron ore  Border of Ukraine to Siberia’s Arctic north  Gold, lead, aluminum, zinc, uranium, chromium, titanium Playing Russia’s Energy Card  Non-Russian republics’ dependency on Russian energy reserves, plays a critical role in the geopolitics of the realm  Abundant oil and gas supplies in Central Asia lessen dependency on Russia  European countries rely on Russian energy supplies Why Ukraine is trapped in endless conflict Energy security, EU relations and political power plays What the Nord Stream 2 debate is all about The Soviet Union (1922-1991) The Soviet Territorial Framework  Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR)  Divided into 15 Soviet Socialist Republics (SSRs)  Broadly corresponded to a major nationality’s territory  Russian Republic—largest SSR  Vladimir Lenin—Soviet Union’s founder  Federation  Russification  Moved minority peoples eastward and replaced with Russians  Substantial ethnic Russian minorities in all non-Russian republics Soviet Economic Framework  Centrally Planned Economy  Two Objectives  Accelerate industrialization  Collectivize agriculture  Command Economy—assigned the production of particular manufactures to particular places The Downfall of the Soviet Union  December 25, 1991—Soviet Union expired  Mikhail Gorbachev resigned  SSRs declared their independence, depriving Russia of crucial agricultural and mineral resources The Breakup of the Soviet Union Explained Near Abroad  Satellite States  Former eastern Europe and Soviet republics  Near Abroad  Newly formed countries that surround Russia  Former Soviet republics from Baltic states to Tajikistan  Russia reserves the right to intervene if necessary  Geographic shorthand for an enduring Russian sphere of influence https://www.armyupress.army.mil/Journals/Military-Review/English-Edition- Archives/March-April-2018/Sencerman-Russian-Diaspora/ Militarizing the Arctic  Russia has in recent years stepped up its military presence in the Arctic, and the Russian Defense Ministry in early 2019 announced it had built nearly 500 new military “infrastructures” in the Arctic since 2006 Shrinking Population Russia’s Shrinking Population  Population implosion  Population declines as death rate exceeds birth or immigration rates  Male life expectancy dropped  71 years in 1991 to 65 years in 2013  Males more likely to be afflicted by alcoholism, related diseases, AIDS, heavy smoking, suicide, accidents, murder  Out-migration https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=If61baWF4GE https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-27155885 Regions Of Russia And Central Asia  Russian Core  Southeastern Frontier  Siberia  Russian Far East  Transcaucasia  Central Asia  Core Area  Population concentration, biggest cities, leading industries, densest transportation networks, most intensively cultivated lands  Extends from western border to the Ural Mountains  Moscow  List of metro systems  One of the richest cities  St. Petersburg SIBERIA  Extends from Ural Mountains to the east  Larger than coterminous United States  Population fewer than 20 million  Russia’s freezer  Resources  Oil, natural gas, gold, diamonds, precious minerals, metallic ores including iron ore and bauxite http://petroneft.com/operations/west-siberian-oil-basin/ Welcome to Oymyakon, the COLDEST City in the WORLD!  Area beyond the Southeastern Frontier to the Pacific coast, the island of Sakhalin, the Kamchatka Peninsula  Significant reserves of oil and natural gas  Potential trade with Japan and China  Land of fire and ice http://skiinginkamchatka.com/kamchatka/welcome-to-kamchatka/ Transcaucasia  Georgia  Orthodox Christian (86%), Muslim (10%)  Tourism  Azerbaijan  Oil  Natural Gas (the land of fire)  Shi’ite Islam, the religion that also dominates neighboring Iran  Territorial Conflict with Armenia—Nagorno- Karabakh  Armenia  Christian  Landlocked  RUSSIA’S EXTERNAL PERIPHERY Tbilisi by a Local | Travel Tips for Tbilisi | Visit Georgia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Land_of_Fire The Armenia and Azerbaijan war, explained Central Asia  Lies directly between Russia and China  Large deposits of oil and natural gas  Turkic cultural influences  Islam  Enormous ethnic complexity and diversity Kazakhstan Uzbekistan Turkmenistan Kyrgyzstan Tajikistan Gorgeous Footage Journey Through Two of Central Asia’s Stunning 'Stans'