Russia Flashcards

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1
Q

Where is Russia located?

A

Russia is in the continent Europe and Asia. It spreads over the top half of Asia and into Europe. Russia is mostly in the continent Asia. It is 82km from Alaska.

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2
Q

Name the countries that border of Russia:

A

Mongolia, China, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan , Georgia, Ukraine, Belarus, Latvia, Estonia, Finland, North Korea, Lithuania, Norway and Poland

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3
Q

Name the oceans bordering Russia:

A

The Arctic Ocean in the north, the Atlantic Ocean in the west, the pacific ocean in the east and the stretch of water between Russia and Alaska is called the Bering Strait.

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4
Q

How big is Russia?

A

Russia is 17,100,000 km², 70 times bigger than the UK.

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5
Q

How many time zones does Russia have?

A

Russia has 11 time zones at midday in Kaliningrad it’s 10pm in Kamchatka.

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6
Q

What is the population of Russia?

A

The population of Russia is 146 million people 2.3 times more than the UK

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7
Q

Secluded areas

A

Huge areas of Russia are empty you can’t reach them by road or rail.

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8
Q

Arctic Circle

A

The Arctic Circle runs across Russia

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9
Q

Types of terrain

A

Frozen tundra, vast forests, grassy plains, sunny beaches, mountains, volcanoes and long rivers these are the different landscapes.

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10
Q

Money

A

You’ll find quite a few billionaires in Moscow, the capital of Russia. Russia also has many poor people too.

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11
Q

Natural resources

A

Russia is rich with natural resources such as oil, gas, timber, metals, diamonds etc. It depends heavily on exporting oil and gas.

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12
Q

Space

A

Russia was first to send people into space. Today it’s spacecraft ferry scientists to the International Space Station 400km above Earth.

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13
Q

The Russian Empire

A

The Russian state began around 1300 AD, as the state of Muscovy about the size of Wales it was centred on Moscow and it was ruled by princes. The princes were ambitious and took over more and more land. Muscovy grew larger and more powerful. The,OST ambitious prince was called Ivan the Terrible he made himself Tsar (emperor) of Russia. By the time he died in in 1548 Russia was 270 times bigger than in 1300 AD. Tsars continued to expand the empire. People of different ethnic groups were taken over. The Tsars and nobility grew more and more. Most other people were peasants. Many were serfs owned by noble men. Nicholas II was Tsar when world war 1 began. He brought Russia into the war on the side of the Allies: UK, France and others. The Allies won. But the Russian army suffered huge losses and back home people were short of fuel and food they blamed the Tsar. So in 1917 before the war had ended, there was a revolution in Russia. Nicholas II was desposed, no more emperors. The revolution was soon followed by another in 1919. The Bolsheviks led by Lenin took over. The Bolsheviks were communists. Lenin reorganised the Russian Empire to form the USSR: Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. The republics were created along ethnic lines. Lenin died in 1924. Stalin took over he aimed to make the USSR a great industrial power often by brutal means, he achieved this very quickly. Next came World War II the USSR joined the Allies. In 1941 and played a big part in helping to defeat Germany. But after the war Stalin seized the chance to expand the USSR further into Europe. This made the countries very hostile. Stalin died in 1953 other leaders followed. In 1985 Mikhail Gorbachev took over. He wanted people to have more freedom. That led to an unexpected result. The republics which formed the USSR broke up. Russia was alone.

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14
Q

What is Russia’s full title today?

A

Russian Federation

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15
Q

Russia today

A

It is divided into federal districts to make it easier to govern. Russia is still governed from Moscow but the Communist party is no longer in power. People can choose who governs them by voting.

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16
Q

What is the population of Russia

A

Around 146 million

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17
Q

Where does Russian’s population live?

A

The population is denser in Europe 77% of Russia’s population lives in Europe. Large areas of Siberia are completely empty. Large areas of it don’t even have roads.

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18
Q

How many ethnic groups are there in Russia?

A

The Russian empire took over people with different languages, cultures and religions, so Russia now has over 160 ethnic groups.

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19
Q

The types of Russian ethnic groups:

A

The Russian ethnic group is the biggest, about 81% of the population say they are Russian on census forms. The next biggest groups are Tartars (3.9%), Ukrainians (1.4%) and Bakshirs (1.2%).

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20
Q

Did the Russian population fall?

A

Russia’s population fell in the tough years after the USSR broke up, but now it is slowly rising again, largely thanks to immigration. (The government welcomes Russians from ex soviet republics).

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21
Q

How much of the population is urban?

A

74% it is 80% in the UK

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22
Q

What is population density?

A

Population density is the number of people living in a given area.

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23
Q

What is choropleth map?

A

A type of map which uses colour to show variation between different places.

24
Q

What does densely populated mean?

A

Places that are crowded

25
Q

What does sparsely populated mean?

A

Places that only have a few people living there

26
Q

How is population density calculated?

A

Total population
——————— =population density
Area

For Example

144,000,000
—————— = 8.4 people per km2
17,098,246

27
Q

Reasons for population distribution

A

People usually live in places that have positive features and that make life easy and help communities to grow and prosper. Such as rich soils for farming, good communication options like ports, and temperate weather conditions. People are less attracted to places with negative factored that make life harder such as difficult landscapes like mountains and desserts, harsh climates and risk of earthquakes or floods.

28
Q

The Taiga biome

A

Taiga is a biome characterised by coniferous forests consisting mostly of pines, spruces and larches. The taiga is the worlds largest biome not including the oceans. It has as many trees as the worlds rainforests. The Taiga circles the earth in the northern hemisphere and contains one third of the worlds trees. It is the largest biome in Russia. The Russian Taiga represents the largest forested region on Earth (approximately 12 million km). It is larger than the amazon and it contains 55% of the worlds conifers.

29
Q

The Tundra Biome

A

The Tundra biome is the coldest of all biomes. Tundra comes from the Finnish word Tuntuaria meaning treeless plain. It is too cold for trees to grow. The Siberian Tundra is located in the Northeastern part of Russia between 60° to 80° latitudes death 70° to 180° east longitude. In the tundra winters are long and summers are short. Soil forms very slowly in such cold conditions, in fact much is frozen as permafrost. The plants of the Siberian tundra include, fungus, grasses and shrubs growing low to the ground to be protected from wind and cold. They group together to keep warm. Plant roots spread out on the surface to take in water. They don’t grow deep roots because the soil is always freezing and thawing and it could break up the roots.

30
Q

How coniferous trees have adapted

A
  • Evergreen so no need to renew leaves during the short growing season
  • The thick resinous bark acts as protection against the cold winds
  • Cones protect seeds in winter loss
  • Long shallow roots for Anchorage against strong winds
  • The coniferous trees have long thick needles which reduce moisture loss
  • Taiga soils tend to be thin, acidic and poor in nutrients. The thinness is due to the cold which hinders self development
31
Q

The Arctic Fox adaptation-Tundra

A
  • their thick coat provides insulation
  • their white fur acts as camouflage in winter to his them from their prey
  • they can curl their bushy tail around their face and nose to keep them warm
  • they have hair on the pads of their feet which stops them from slipping on the ice
32
Q

Where is Chechnya located?

A

Chechnya is situated in the Eastern part of North Caucasus.

33
Q

Where is the Kola Peninsula located?

A

The far north west of Russia

34
Q

Where is Crimea located?

A

Crimea is located in Eastern Europe it is officially in Ukraine but was voted to join the Russian Federation. It is a peninsula located on the Northern Coast of the Black Sea.

35
Q

Where is Kaliningrad located.

A

Kaliningrad is part of the Russian Federation. It is sandwiched between Lithuania and Poland and is partially bordered by the Baltic Sea and it has a port.

36
Q

What geographical features helped turn Sochi into Russia’s top holiday resort?

A

The mineral springs, beaches, mountains good for skiing and the warm, humid subtropical climate. Also Sochi is situated on the same latitude as Nice.

37
Q

Murmansk port is in the Arctic and is ice free why?

A

Because of the warm Gulf Stream waters.

38
Q

Where is Sakha?

A

The Sakha Republic is in Siberia

39
Q

What is another name for Sakha?

A

It is also called Yakutia after the Yakuts people who have lived there for many centuries

40
Q

How big is Sakha

A

It is Russia’s biggest administrative region 3.1 million sq km. It covers about a fifth of Russia and is almost as big as India which (3.3 million sq km). It is also Russia’s coldest region.

41
Q

The Population of Sakha

A

Fewer than 1 million people live there.

42
Q

When the Russians arrived there

A

The first Russian explorers arrived here in 1631 they found the Yakut people raising horses and cattle in grassy areas dotted through the Taiga. The Russians built a wooden fort near where Sakha’s capital Yakutsk now stands. They colonised the region and demand furs as taxes. Some Yakuts fled North to the Tundra to escape the Russians then they became reindeer herders.

43
Q

When did geologists explore Sakha’s natural resources?

A

1920

44
Q

Sakha’s natural resources

A

-Sakha produces a quarter of the worlds diamonds and 24% of Russia’s gold
-silver, tin, tungsten, and uranium are also mined there
-gas, coal and oil have been found but not extracted
Thanks to it’s resources Sakha’s population grew from around 290,000 to about 960,000. About 38% are ethnic Russians. Nearly 50% are Yakuts

45
Q

What is the population of Yakutsk, Sakha’s capital city

A

Around 270,000 around the same as Derby in the UK

46
Q

What is the climate in Yatsuk?

A

It is the worlds coldest city . The harsh winters last for 8 months. But Summers can rise to 25°C.

47
Q

Permafrost in Yakutsk

A

The permafrost around Yakutsk is up to 250m thick. Buildings are on concrete slits pushed deep into the ground to stop them collapsing in Summer.

48
Q

The problem in Yakutsk

A

As the capital city Yakutsk has a big problem. It is on the West Bank in the river Lena. The highway and the railway are on the East bank. The river is wide and there is no bridge across it. In Summer ferries sail across the Lena. In Winter trucks drive across it when the ice is thick enough. When the river is only partly frozen you need to take a plane.

49
Q

A bridge for the Yakutsk

A

They intend to build a bridge 3km long 29km from Yakutsk where the Lena narrows. Building it in the permafrost will be a huge challenge.

50
Q

The future of Sakha

A

The government plans to exploit more of Sakha’s resources and improve transport links . But it must think about it in global warming. This will cause at least some permafrost to melt. Mines transport links and other structures will be affected.

51
Q

Rivers in Sakha

A

Three rivers run through Sakha one of them is the River Lena.

52
Q

Highway in Sakha

A

The Lena Highway (A360) runs through Sakha and ends out of it in Magadan

53
Q

Railway in Sakha

A

A railway comes into Sakha and ends at Yakutsk.

54
Q

List some challenges that could be faced when building the bridge

A
  • global warming, at least some permafrost will melt making it harder for the bridge to be built
  • the bridge will have to have the necessary funding for it to be complete
  • working conditions, the harsh winter last for 8 months and temperatures have been known to drop to -40°C
55
Q

Why do the people need a bridge across the River Lena?

A

It makes it harder for people to transport themselves for work, and it makes it harder for goods to be transported over and it can be u safe for them to drive across the river when it hardens.