RUSSIAN DOMAIN
This region includes Russia, Belarus, Ukraine, Moldova, Georgia & Armenia. All were part of
the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (U.S.S.R.) which dissolved in 1991
MAIN THEMES
Environmental Geography – Many areas suffered severe environmental damage during
the Soviet era (1917-1991), and today air, water, toxic chemical, & nuclear pollution
plague many portions of the region
Population & Settlement – One of the key demographic challenges facing this region is
its declining population, given the rising death rates & low birth rates recently
experienced
Cultural Coherence & Diversity – Although Slavic cultural influences dominate, many
non-Slavic minorities shape the cultural & political geography, including various
indigenous peoples in Siberia & a complex collection of ethnic groups in the Caucasus
Mts.
Geopolitics – Pres. V. Putin’s attempt to centralize Russian political power has
contributed to economic stability within the region
Economic & Social Development – Russia’s large supplies of oil & natural gas have
made it a major player in the global economy, but future prosperity may increasingly
hinge on unpredictable world prices for fossil fuels
RUSSIA BELARUS UKRAINE MOLDOVA GEORGIA ARMENIA
Area (mi2)
6592819
T & E Species (animals)
132
T & E Species (plants)
4
80154
14
6
233089
54
1
13012
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26911
---
11506
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Geographic Aspects of the Russian Domain
1) Russia is the largest country in the world & spans 11 time zones
2) resource rich
3) has some of the harshest climates on Earth (extreme continentality)
4) region has experienced rapid political & economic changes in recent years (from
communism to capitalism)
5) the present economy is weak
PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY
Moscow is as far north as Ketchikan, AK & Kiev is north of the Great Lakes in Canada
Physical Geography consists of:
1) Russian Plain (European Russia) – eastward extension of the European lowland; as
four separate drainages:
a) Dneiper & Don to the Black Sea
b) West Dvina to the Baltic Sea
c) North Dvina to the White Sea
d) Volga to the Caspian Sea
2) Ural Mts. – 2000 miles long; separates the two plains
In the north is tundra, south of that is taiga (coniferous forest) which dominates a large part of
the Russian interior; in the east, there is much permafrost
West Siberian Plain – level & poorly drained
Central Siberian Plateau – remote, sparsely settled, permafrost
Yakutsk Basin – oil & gas
Eastern Highlands – ranges, ridges, volcanic activity, Lake Baikal (deepest
freshwater lake)
7) Central Asian Ranges – dry & mountainous, sparsely settled
8) Caucasus Mts – Russia’s southern boundary; bet. The Black & Caspian Seas
3)
4)
5)
6)
South of the Caucasus Mts is Transcaucasia where Georgia & Armenia are located – lowland &
Low plateaus
CLIMATE
Continental climates dominate with mild midlatitude climates in only a few small zones
ENVIRONMENTAL GEOGRAPHY
1) severe environmental degradation caused by industrialization, urbanization, resource
extraction, & nuclear energy production
2) air pollution due to clustering of factories & minimal environmental controls
3) water pollution due to raw sewage, oil spills, & industry; & in Lake Baikal from pulp
& paper factories
4) nuclear waste & nuclear fallout (from above ground testing in the past)
5) Belarus & Ukraine affected by the Chernobyl accident
POPULATION & SETTLEMENT
Russian domain has > 200 million people; most live in cities; mostly concentrated in European
Russia (110 million), Siberia (35 million), & Belarus/Moldova/Ukraine (65 million).
Moscow metropolitan area (8.5 million), St. Petersburg (4.7 million), Minsk (1.7 million), Kiev
(2.6 million)
In Siberia, in the south, there are isolated but sizable urban centers which follow the TransSiberian RR &, a little to the north, the Baikal-Amur Mainline RR.
Migration
1) 1860-1914: eastward after the completion of the Trans-Siberian RR – attracted by its
agricultural opportunities & greater political freedom; also political dissidents &
troublemakers were sent to the Siberian south
2) 1917-1991 (during the USSR ): Russification – resettling of Russians into non-Russian
portions of the Soviet Union, ex: Kazakhstan (38% Russian), Latvia (34%), Estonia
(30%)
3) post-1991: reverse Russification
4) post-1991: emigration from older industrial areas
5) Chinese immigration for trade, work & living; Jewish emigration to Israel & U.S.;
Ukrainian women as “mail order brides”
Russian City – designed in concentric circles
1) center – good transportation, dept. stores, housing & offices; no inner-city decay
2) sotzgorods – socialist neighborhoods based on closeness between the workplace & the home,
often dormitories, (built during early part of Soviet Union)
3) chermoyuski – large poorly-built uniform apt. blocks (built in 1950s/60s)
4) mikrorayons – larger housing projects which were self-contained communities (built in
1970s/80s)
5) rural dachas – country homes of the elite
Population is declining due to uncertain economy, declining health of women of child-bearing
age, stress-related diseases, rising murder & suicide rates, toxic environments
CULTURAL COHERENCE & DIVERSITY
When Spain, Portugal, France & Great Britain were expanding their empires, Russia expanded
east & south. It’s expansion was stopped by its defeat in the 1905 Russo-Japanese War. It’s
empire remained intact until 1991. This resulted in a tightly integrated Russian culture from St.
Petersburg to the Sea of Japan with pockets of linguistic, national & religious differences.
Languages
Slavic languages dominate:
a) in Ukraine, Russian speakers dominate in the east & in the Crimea
b) in Moldova, 13% are ethnic Russians & 13% are ethnic Ukrainians
Finno-Ugric (Finnish) speakers are found in the north
Uralic-Altaic speakers
Eskimo-Aleut speakers
Transcaucas languages – 3 language families & 11 languages in an area smaller than
Ohio
Religion
Eastern Orthodox (Russian), 75 million, under the Soviet Union religion was discouraged
& persecuted, a revival has occurred since the Soviet Union’s fall
Catholicism in the Ukraine
Armenian Christians
Moslems (mostly Sunni), 20 million
Jews, 1 million
Buddhists, 1 million
With the fall of the Soviet Union, there was an inrush of global cultural influences into the urban
areas; these were mostly from the west but also Hong Kong & Indian movies & televised
romance novels from Latin America