Mother RussiaGeography, Demographics, Economy, Environmental Issues Mr. Joe Rhodes

Geography

• Russia makes up most of E. Europe and spans into N. Asia

• Largest country in the world. Its friggin huge.• From north to south the East European Plain is clad

sequentially in tundra, coniferous forest (taiga), mixed and broad-leaf forests, grassland (steppe), and semi-desert (fringing the Caspian Sea) as the changes in vegetation reflect the changes in climate. Siberia supports a similar sequence but is taiga

Geography

• Russia holds the greatest reserves in mineral resources of any country in the world. Ex. Coal (C and W Siberia) Petro (W and Ural-Volga area) Natural Gas (own 40% of the world’s deposits –N to NW Siberia) Iron-Ore (S of Moscow)-manganese. Nickel, tungsten, cobalt, molybdenum and other iron

• Russia also contains many non-ferrous minerals-Aluminum and Copper-Ural Region

• Rare materials-gold, silver, mercury-Siberia and Urals• Raw Materials-potassium, magnesium salt, sulfur• 8% farming, 4% pasture, 46% woodland and forests, 42%

other purposes.

Demographics

• Population-143,030,106-Jan of 2012-• Population density-8.4% Per square Kilometer• 74% urban, 26% rural • Life Expectancy-Male-64 (75), Female-76 (80)• Ethnic Diversity or Lack Of-Serves as an instigator. No

matter the country, minority groups fight for their rights• Religion-73% Orthodox, 6% Muslim, 1% Catholics-the

rest are a whole bunch of other stuff.

Economy

• 9th largest economy in the world• Market Economy-rough transition since collapse of S.U.

Result is a serious crisis in 1998.• Has weathered the crisis well and bounced back…

remember free market systems can be like roller coasters.

Environmental Issues

• Conservation• Focusing on endangered animals

• Deforestation• There’s money in trees

• Energy• Produced by polluting fossil fuels

• Pollution (Water and Air)• Caused by industry

• Nuclear• Disposal of nuclear waste

Current Govt.

• Presidential-Parliamentary• President-Dmitry Medvedev• Prime Minister-Vladamir Putin

• Federal Assembly• Bicameral-State Duma and Federal Council

• Judiciary• Similar to U.S.