Russian Federation
The largest country in the world
Landforms:
Northern European Plain- where most Russians live
Caucasus Mts- highest peak Mt Elbrus 18,510 feet
Ural Mts- low mts & hills, separate Europe from Asia
Siberia- W Siberian Plain & Central Siberian Plateau
Kamchatka Peninsula- active volcanoes, earthquakes
Sakhalin Islands- off E coast of Siberia, active volcanoes, earthquakes …oil & mineral resources– JAPAN also claims
–Kuril Islands- active volcanoes, earthquakes…good commercial fishing- JAPAN also claims
Physical Features
Rivers- about 100, 000 here!
–Volga R.- in European Russia,
Europe’s longest river, impt
transportation route
–Don R.- in European Russia
–Lena R.- Siberia & Russian Far
East
–Yenisey R.-Siberia & Russian
Far East
–Amur R.- Siberia & Russian
Far East
Physical
Features
Climate- high latitudes
–Tundra
South- is Taiga forest
of evergreens
–Subarctic
–Humid Continental
–Steppe/Semiarid
•Grasslands- crops &
livestock
•Natural Resources
–Wood, oil, coal, iron ore,
copper, manganese, gold,
nickel, platinum, & diamonds
Fast Facts
Largest Country in the world
–6.6 million sq miles (almost 2x that of US),
1/10 of all land in the world!
–stretches across 9 time zones and 2 continents
•Tied with China for country with most bordering
countries at 14
•Federation of 86 republics, provinces, territories,
and districts, all controlled by the government in Moscow.
•Russia has the world’s largest area of forests.
•9th in population: 142,500,482
•Capital City is Moscow- 10.5 million people live there
•Russians drive on the right-hand side of the road.
•The currency used in Russia is the ruble
•Literacy Rate M99.7%, F99.5% (99%,99%)
•Use Cyrillic alphabet
Fast Facts Continued
Life Expectancy: M64, F76 (76/81)
•Religion: Russian Orthodox 15-20%, Muslim 10-15%, other Christian 2%
(2006 est.)
•About 120 ethnic groups
•Basketball, ice hockey and football (soccer) are popular sports in Russia.
•The world’s first satellite, named Sputnik, was launched by the Soviet
Union in 1957.
•Russia is one of 5 permanent members of the UN Security Council ( US, UK,
China and France)
•Famous people–
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–
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writers Dostoevsky & Tolstoy,
composer Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky,
ballet dancer Rudolf Nureyev, Mikhail Baryshnikov
hockey players like Fedorov, Larionov, Konstantinov, Malkin, Ovechkin
•Lake Baikal- deepest lake in the world
–Hold 1/5 of world’s fresh water (20%)