Russia and Central Asia
Physical Geography
The Land

Russia is a large country that is
located in Europe and Asia. Russia is
so long that it spans 11 time zones.

The dividing line between Europe and
Asia is the Ural Mountains.
The Land
The Land
The five countries in Central Asia are:
A. Kazakhstan
B. Uzbekistan
C. Turkmenistan
D. Tajikistan
E. Krygyzstan
The Land
The Land

The part of Russia located in Asia is
called Siberia. This area is isolated,
sparsely populated, and extremely cold
in the winter time.
The Land

The Northern European Plain extends
into Western Russia. This area has a
type of fertile soil called chernozem.
Chernozem means black earth and the
soil is dark in color.
The Land
Comparison of arable land
The United States
173,450
India
160,519
China
142,615
Russia
122,559
* unit in thousands of hectares
Arable land is land that can be used for farming.
The Land
The Land

The Kamchatka Peninsula in Eastern
Siberia is located on the Ring of Fire.
This area has a high concentration of
volcanoes, however, due to the low
population density it doesn’t present a
serious problem to people at the
moment.
The Ring of Fire
The Mountains

The Urals are the longest mountain
range in Russia.

The Caucasus Mountains run from the
Black Sea to the Caspian Sea and they
generally divide Russia from Georgia
and Azerbaijan.
Bodies of Water



Russia has many long rivers such as
the Volga, Ob, and Amur.
The Amur River forms part of the
border between Russia and China.
Some rivers flow northward to the
Arctic Ocean.
Bodies of Water

Lake Baikal is located in Siberia and it is
the deepest fresh water lake in the world.

The Caspian Sea is divided between
Russia, Kazakhstan, Iran, Turkmenistan,
and Azerbaijan. It is the world’s largest
body of enclosed water. Large reserves of
oil have been found on the bottom of the
lake.
Caspian Sea
Caspian Sea
Bodies of Water

The Aral Sea is located in Central
Asia between Kazakhstan and
Uzbekistan. Since the 1960s it has
been shrinking due to over irrigation.
It is now 20% of its original size. The
Soviets used the diverted water to
irrigate cotton fields.
Bodies of Water
Bodies of Water
The shrinking of the Aral Sea has
caused:
A. The collapse of the local fishing
industry
B. Increase in pollution due to fertilizer
run off, pesticides, and industrial
waste
C. Increase in respiratory illnesses in
the region
Bodies of Water
Climate and Vegetation

Russia is in the middle and high
latitudes but it is not warmed by
ocean currents and wind currents like
Europe so it is much colder. Western
Russia has a humid continental
climate zone but most of Siberia has
a subarctic climate zone. The
northern part of Russia is tundra.
Climate and Vegetation
Climate and Vegetation



Tundra has short grasses, lichens,
mosses, small shrubs, and flowers in
the summer time but underneath the
tundra there is permafrost
(permanently frozen subsoil).
The subarctic region of Siberia has a
large coniferous forest called Taiga.
Central Asia is covered in temperate
grassland called steppe.
Taiga
Tundra
http://www.blueplanetbiomes.org
Steppe