Chapter 15,16, and 17 Vocab Flashcards
Ural Mountains
the mountain ranges that separate the Northern European and West Siberian plains and used as the dividing line between Europe and Asia.
Chernozen
Black topsoil, one of the world’s most fertile soils
Eurasia
the combined continent of Europe and Asia
Transcaucasia
a region that consists of the republics of Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Georgia; located between the Caucasus Mountains and the borders of Turkey and Iran
Central Asia
a region that includes the republics of Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan.
Siberia
a region of central and eastern Russia, stretching from the Ural Mountains to the Pacific Ocean, known for its mineral resources and for being a place of political exile.
Continentality
a region distance from the moderating influence of the sea
Taiga
a nearly continuous belt of evergreen coniferous forests across the Northern Hemisphere, in North America and Eurasia
runoff
a rainfall not absorbed by soil, which can carry pesticides and fertilizers from fields into rivers, endangering the food chain
Trans-Siberian Railroad
a railroad that would eventually link Moscow to the Pacific port of Vladivostok; built between 1891 and 1903
Baltic Republics
the countries of Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia, located on the eastern coast of the Baltic Sea
czar
the emperor of Russia prior to the Russian Revolution of 1917 and the subsequent creation of the Soviet Union in 1922.
Russian Revolution
the revolt of 1917, in which the Russian Communist party, led by V. I. Lenin, took control of the government from the czars
USSR
the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, or Soviet Union, formed in 1922 by the Communists and officially dissolved in 1991.
Cold War
the conflict between the United States and the Soviet Union after World War 2, called “cold” because it never escalated into open warfare.
Command Economy
a type of economic system in which production of goods and services is determined by a central government, which usually owns the means of products. Also called a planned economy
Collective Farm
an enormous farm in the Soviet Union on which a large team of laborers were gathered to work together during Joseph Stalin’s revenge
Red Army
the name of the Soviet Union’s army
Silk Road
the 4,000-mile route between China and the Mediterranean Sea, named for the costly silk acquired in China
Yurt
a tent of Central Asia’s nomad
Caucasus
a region that straddles the Caucasus Mountains and stretches between the Black and Caspian seas
Chechnya
one of the republics that remains a part of Russia after the collapse of the Soviet Union despite independence movements and violent upheaval
Nagorno-Karabakh
the mountainous area of Azerbaijan, fought over by Armenia and Azerbaijan.
Privatization
the selling of government-owned business to private citizens
