Geography Study Guide

1)
How many people in total live in the Russian Federation, Central Asia and the
Transcaucasus?
236,468,997

2)
The average GNI PPP per capita in the Russian Federation, Central Asia and the
Transcaucasus?
US $7,456

3)
Understand the VASTNESS of this region
6,000 miles east to west
15,000 miles north to south
Vast territory, sparsely populated
The arctic sea to the north
Pacific Ocean to the east
Mountains to the south
Europe to the west
Long, intense winters

4)
Which parts of the region are affected by SEVERE CLIMATES
North

5)
Know what PERMAFROST is
Frozen grounds with no vegetation
If permafrost melts, in permafrost there is carbon dioxide and other harmful gases, if it
melts, those gases will be released

6)
Which parts of the region are affected by ARIDITY
- Central Asia

7)
Which country in the region has a MEDITERRANEAN climate
- Western Georgia

8)
The positive and negative effects of climate change in the region
- Positive longer growing seasons
- Negative melting of permafrost and geopolitical implications


9)
Changing climatic and geopolitical issues in THE ARCTIC
- Global trade Northwest passage, locked now, but because of global warming and ice
melt, the arctic will be free of ice in the summer in 15 years
- Global climate change
- New commercial routes
- Access to seafloor allow oil and gas reserves to open
- Negative impact on wildlife polar bears and other mammals

10)
Which body of water is the largest inland sea in the world, and which lake is the deepest
Caspian sea the largest inland sea in the world
Lake Baikal deepest lake, 20% of the worlds unfrozen fresh water

11)
TUNDRA, TAIGA, MIXED FOREST, STEPPE, SEMIDESERT, DESERT.
Where do these landscapes exist in the region, and what are their defining characteristics

Tundra - most northerly
Arctic wilderness - Winters: weak daylight, snow/ Summers: long days, bogs and
marshes
Indigenous peoples - Reindeer herders

Taiga - Largest zone
Coniferous forest - Spruce, fir, and pine
Fur bearing animals

Mixed Forest Large scale logging operations - Loosely regulated
Environmental concerns

Steppe Prairie grassland
Cleared for agriculture - Wheat farming & Dry farming methods

Semi-desert & Desert - Central Asia - Salt pans & Boulder
Strewn landscapes
Nomadic pastoralists
Kara-Kum (Black Sands) and Kyzyl-Kum (Red Sands)
Desert farming

12)
When did the RUSSIAN EMPIRE begin to spread, where from, and in what directions
did it expand?
Desire for more land and subjects
Also a warm water port
Expanded territory was contiguous
No overseas territories like the ones owned by European monarchies
1904 brought the end of Russian expansion
100+ nationalities forced under Russian cultural dominance

13)
What were the reasons leading to REVOLUTION AND THE RISE OF THE SOVIET
UNION
Emancipating serfs in 1861 this accelerated industrialization as the serfs became
farmers
Rural poor people flooded into the cities, which resulted in overcrowding
Soviets began to protest

World War I ended tsar rulers
Started the Bolshevik Revolution
Established the Soviet Union

14)
What were the major differences between LENIN AND STALIN
Revolution of 1917 Lenin Internationalist / Union of Soviet Socialist Republics wanted
to break down national barriers and be inclusive of the many nationalities in the Soviet
Union
Stalin - Anti-nationalism, strict enforcer that wanted to get rid of Nationalism and create
a Soviet unified state
Expansion into Eastern Europe
Command economy
Severe repression took the world by storm and the iron curtain was pulled over the
Soviet Union and set the stage for the cold war
Modernization

15)
Know the key features of a COMMAND ECONOMY
Economic system in which the means of production are publicly owned and economic
activity is controlled by a central authority that assigns quantitative production goals and
allots raw materials to productive enterprises

16)
The impact of the COLD WAR on the Soviet Union
1950 1989
Where the world was split with people that sided with the Soviet Union and the US
The US was afraid of the domino effect, if a country made the decision to side with the
USSR that surrounding states would also fall, which lead to proxy conflicts like Vietnam
US Government wanted to stop any socialist activity
Communism challenged the dominance of capitalism (The US)

17)
When the Soviet Union collapsed and the speed at which it did so
Between 1989 and 1991, the Soviet Union broke apart into 15 independent states
Economic stagnation in the 1970s, peasants worked with obsolete equipment and an
informal economy
Economic crisis in the 1980s
Failure to deliver consumer goods
Population was becoming informed of consumerism elsewhere
Regional inequities
Economic drain of the arms race too much money spent on the arms race
Inflexibility and lack of computer technology

18)
The reasons why the ARAL SEA has dried up, and the impacts of this
Aral Sea dropped 33 feet since 1960
Fishing industry devastated
Monoculture of cotton main impact of the Aral sea drying
Irrigation of semi-desert
Net evaporation has also decreased, but at a slower rate while the groundwater inflow has
remained approximately the same. As a result, there was a net deficit of water to the sea.


19)
The difficulties BUILDING A MARKET ECONOMY in Russia, and the role of
OLIGARCHS in this process
Economically weak despite nuclear capabilities, a large standing army, and rich natural
resource wealth
Russia inherited inefficient industries, poorly developed infrastructure, obsolete
technology, and suppression of information technology

20)
The regions of Russia that remain poor, and the reasons why
Regions of territorial conflict and resource poor regions, not the central region
The Caucasus

21)
The conflict surrounding CHECHEN INDEPENDENCE
Sunni Muslims
Soviet treatment of Chechens
1989 Declaration of Independence Glasnost
Russian invasion
Fall of Grozny 2000

22)
GENDER AND INEQUALITY issues in Russia, specifically the changing role of women

23)
The history of POPULATION GROWTH AND DECLINE in the region
Stage 1: High birth rate and death rate - preindustrial society
Stage 2: Death rate falls, birth rate High Early industrial society: rapid population
increase
Stage 3: Rapid population increase giving way to lower birth rates in developed industrial
society
Stage 4: Low birth rate and death rate slow population growth
Low population density
Higher urbanization in Russia
Population growth and decline
Slow growing population
Higher birthrates in Central Asia
Increased death rates


24)
Russian MIGRATION STREAMS since the collapse of the Soviet Union
Bolshevik Revolution many moved to the United States
Russians spread out with growth of Soviet empire
Encouraged to settle in new areas to further Russian influence
Breakup of Soviet empire 25 million Russians suddenly became foreigners
Return migration in the 1990s