 |
Geography and nature
 |
Russia is located in the eastern part
of Europe and northern part of Asia. East European Plain occupies
the West of Russia, further the Ural mountain chain lies, behind
which West Siberian Plain stretches.
Russia has borders with North Korea, Chinese People's Republic,
Mongolia, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Ukraine, Byelorussia,
Lithuania, Poland, Latvia, Estonia, Finland and Norway.
Total area - 17 075,5 thousand sq. km.
|
 |
The highest peak - Elbrus (5642 m) in
the Caucasus, Altay mountains (highest point -Belukha mountain,
4506 m), Ala Tau, Sayans mountains in Southern Siberia, in the northeast
of Siberia - the Verkhoyansk mountain ridge, in the Far East - Sikhote
Alin mountains, etc. Along the Pacific Ocean coast of the Far East
- mountains of Kamchatka Peninsula (Klyuchevskaya Sopka mountain
- 4750 m) and the Kurile Islands with active volcanoes.
The largest rivers of the Arctic Ocean basin are: the Northern
Dvina, Pechora, Ob, Yenisei, Lena; Pacific Ocean - Amur; Atlantic
Ocean - Don, Neva, Kuban River. The Volga River flowing into the
Caspian Sea belongs to internal basin.
|
 |
The largest in the world fresh-water
Baikal Lake is situated in Siberia.
The largest cities are: Saint Petersburg, Nizhny Novgorod, Novosibirsk,
Ekaterinburg, Samara, Omsk, Chelyabinsk, Perm, Kazan, Ufa.
There are 11 time zones.
|
 |
The Climate: The most Part of Russian
territories lies in the temperate climatic zone; islands of the
Arctic Ocean and northern continental areas lie in arctic and subarctic
zones; the Black Sea coast of Caucasus is located in the subtropical
zone. The climate is almost everywhere continental, with cold winters
and hot summers.
The coldest point of the northern hemisphere (with the minimal
temperature in January -68 C) is city of Oimyakon in the Eastern
Siberia. In the south of the Far East the climate is of temperate
- monsoon type with average temperature in January from -5 C up
to 0 C. The greatest amount of precipitations fall in mountains
of the Caucasus and Altai (up to 2000 mm per year), the most dry
area - Prikaspiyskaya Lowland (about 150 mm of precipitations per
year).
|
 |
Natural dangers:
Strong frosts - the temperature in winter in continental areas of
Siberia may reach -70 C. The dangers connected with rest are in
the mountain - volcanic activity and possible earthquakes in the
Kurile Islands and Kamchatka. In woods - bogs, marches, wild bears
and wolves, in the Far East - tigers and leopards.
Many rivers especially in Siberia have fast current, whirlpools.
Besides there are a lot of insects in summer time in Siberia which
stings are painful. Encephalitic mite becomes active in May - June
in woods of Russia. Regions adjoining to former nuclear ranges and
chemical manufactures have adverse ecological conditions.
|
|
