Chapter 15 Vocabulary – RUSSIA & THE REPUBLICS
Chernozem
Ural Mountains
Eurasia
Central Asia
Siberia
Transcaucasia
Taiga
continentality
steppe
runoff
Trans-Siberian
Railroad
Lake Baikal
Aral Sea
Caucasus
Mountains
Turan Plain
1. the combined continent of Europe and Asia
2. a region of central & eastern Russia, stretching
from the Ural mountains to the Pacific Ocean,
known for its mineral resources
3. a nearly continuous belt of evergreen coniferous
forests across the northern hemisphere, in North
America & Eurasia
4. a railroad that would eventually link Moscow to
the pacific port of Vladivostok; built between 1891
and 1903
5. the term used for the temperate grassland region
in the northern hemisphere
6. rainfall not absorbed by soil, which can carry
pesticides and fertilizers from fields into rivers,
endangering the food chain
7. black topsoil, one of the world’s most fertile soils
8. the deepest lake in the world
9. an extensive lowland which lies between the
Caspian Sea & the mountains & uplands of Central
Asia; mostly very dry
10. a region that includes the republics of
Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan,
and Uzbekistan
11. receives most of its water from two rivers, Amu
Darya and the Syr Darya
12. separates the Black and Caspian Sea
13. the mountain ranges that separate Northern
Europe & the West Siberian Plains & used as the
dividing line between Europe & Asia
14. a region’s distance from moderating influence of
the sea
15. a region that consists of the republics of Amenia,
Azerbaijan, & Georgia; located between the
Caucasus Mountains & the borders of Turkey and
Iran