Russia

1
Russia

• Background
• Russia and newly independent neighbors once
  formed the USSR and cover an enormous area
• European part of region includes Baltic states of
  Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania / Belarus, Ukraine
  and Moldova. Also includes Transcaucasus states
  of Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan
• Asian part of region includes Central Asian
  republics of Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Turmenistan,
  Kyrgyzstan, and Tadzhikistan
• region occupies 1/6 of earths landsurface,
  stretches 6,000 miles from west to east and 3,000
  north to south spans 12 time zones

2

• image of unlimited raw materials and virgin lands
  compromised by difficulty of exploitation,
  remoteness of territory, lack of capital, and bad
  climate
• Russia occupies 3/4 of former USSR
• Natural Regions
• large Eurasian landmass and high latitudinal
  location strongly influence severe continental
  climate (southern most area same latitude as
  Memphis, TN)
• Moscow further north than Edmonton, Canada
• 75 of area is north of 49th parallel (northern
  border of US/Canada)

3

• Importance of Rivers to Russia
• Longest north-south river is Volga which flows
  from the north to Caspian Sea
• Dnieper River empties into Black Sea
• Don River into Sea of Azov
• Mutushka (mother) name of Volga
• Boatmen towed barges up Volga to Moscow (The
  Volga Boatmen)
• Volga-Don canal important for transportation

4

• Landforms
• European section
• Baltic states, Belarus, Moldova, Ukraine lie
  within Eastern European plain
• drained by numerous rivers like Volga and Dnieper
• fairly flat with low mountains on Kola peninsula
• mountains border plain on south- Carpathian Mts.,
  Crimean Mts., Caucasus Mts.
• Mt.. Elbrus 18.5 k, highest peak in Europe
• European plain ends at Ural Mts..
• Siberia
• western Siberian lowland 1,000 miles to Pacific

5

• Ob river drains most of western Siberian lowland
• Yenisey and Lena Kazakhstan and Central Asia
• Kazay uplands to south of western Siberian
  lowland
• Aral sea fed by two rivers that originate in
  Pamir and Tian Shan Mts- Amu Darya and Syr Darya

6

• Vegetation zones
• Tundra
• 13 of Russian republic
• mean temperature in warmest month 50-32 degrees F
• short growing season, poor soils, only hardy
  plants
• permafrost and high winds
• very sparsely populated with only a few military
  bases, tribes, hunters, trappers, and miners
• Forest regions
• taiga of Russia
• coniferous forests with swamps and meadows
• subartic climate with temperatures as low as 90
  degrees F
• Permafrost much of the year
• short summers, very cold winters, 100 day growing
  season

7

• transportation and constructions problems
• timber, fur-bearing animals, precious metals, oil
  and gas
• mixed forests of Baltics, Belarus, Ukraine and
  European Russia
• coniferous and broadleaf trees
• temperatures and growing season increase toward
  south
• less acidic and more fertile soils
• broadleaf forests of Siberia in Far East
• broadleaf forests
• cold, dry winters, hot, humid summers

8

• Forest steppe and steppe
• forest steppe gives way to true steppe in south
• Moldova, Ukraine, western Siberia, and Kzakhstan
• chernozerm (black earth) soils in steppe
• important for agriculture but unreliable rainfall
• Deserts
• trans-Volga area, southern Kazakhstan,
  Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan
• 10 inches of rain per year
• very hot, dry conditions in summer cold in
  winter
• vegetation consists of grasses and plants that
  can store moisture

9

• Subtropical south
• east coast of Black Sea (Georgia) and Crimean
  peninsula in Ukraine
• Crimean mountains help protect narrow coastal
  region from cold north winds
• famous resort areas on Black Sea
• specialized agriculture with tea, citrus fruits,
  fertile soils, good moisture
• Mountain areas
• Central Asia countries of Kyrgyzstan,
  Tadzhikstan, Uzbekistan, and Transcaucasus
• Russian Far East

10
(No Transcript)
11
(No Transcript)
12
Russia Physical Map
Kamchata Peninsula
Russian Plain
Ural Mts
Kazay uplands
13
Russian Climate Map
14

• Russian Climates
• Polar climate (permafrost, very cold)
• Continental climate (cold winters, cool summers,
  short growing season)
• Dry climate (mid latitude steppe and desert with
  limited rainfall
• Humid subtropical climate (hot summers, mild
  winters, longer growing season, good moisture)

15

• Population
• General Observations
• population of 15 republics that once constituted
  the former USSR was 290 million Russia alone has
  150 million
• 6th most populous country of the world
• former soviet states vary in size from Estonia at
  1.5 mil to 52 mil in the Ukraine
• Formation of a Multinational State
• present state of Russia about 3/4 size of USSR
• Tsarist and Soviet rulers able to expand
  territory at expense of indigenous peoples

16

• Latvians, Lithuanians, Armenians, and Tadzhiks
  also speak languages belonging to Indo-European
  family
• pervasive power of state maintained empire with
  allowance for a few ethnic rights- native
  languages, ethnic customs, etc
• CPSU dominated by Russians
• practice of Russification
• after 73 years of communist rule, ethnic
  cleavages could not be contained any longer
• Ethnic Composition
• eastern Slavs- Russians, Ukrainians, and
  Belorussians speak languages belonging to
  Indo-European family

17

• 50 million in Central Asia speak a language
  belonging to the Altaic family. Live in Central
  Asia, middle Volga Valley and Caucasus
• small representation of Uralian family (5
  million) in Estonia, northern Europe, western
  Siberian section
• variety of other languages spoken by Georgians,
  Mongols, Koreans, tribes in Siberia
• Religious composition
• Eastern Orthodox- Moscow core region
• Christianity- Baltic states
• Islam- Southern Muslim Republics
• Roman Catholicism- Baltic states
• Jewish- Russia

18
(No Transcript)
19

• Political Divisions
• Former political units of USSR were the 15 union
  republics (S.S.R.s)
• In early 90s all become independent republics
• CIS- Commonwealth of Independent States (12/15
  SSRs)
• host of other ethnic groups wanted representation
• Russians were significant minorities in the
  Baltics, Central Asian republics, and other
  territories
• Gorbachevs call for demokratizatsiya opened up
  Pandoras box
• old Soviet constitution said USSR was a
  voluntary federation with right of succession

20

• demonstrations and conflicts all over Russia
• Lithuania took boldest step in declaring
  independence
• abortive 1991 coup by right wing Communist
  officials leads to other declarations of
  independence in Latvia and Estonia
• By 1992 all former SSRs declared statehood
• hammer and sickle on Soviet flag replaced by old
  Tsarist flag Gorbachev resigns as president
• Post-Independence Nationality Problems
• challenge of political cooperation among
  different ethnic groups
• 80 border disputes due to ethnic conflicts
• citizenship questions for Russian minorities in
  ethnic republics

21

• Russians and Ukrainians in Moldova declared
  Dniester Republic
• War between Armenia and Azerbaijan over
  Nagorno-Karabakh
• Southern Ossetians and Abkhazy declared
  independence from Georgia
• Tatars in middle Volga demand independence
• Chechnya war raging since 1990.Devastation of
  Grozny, the capital of Chechnya today.
• 50 million Muslims in Central Asia desire
  pan-Islamic federation
• Russian federation main successor to RSFSR
  (Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic)

22

• demographic characteristics
• Slavs and Baltic peoples have low birth rates and
  low death rates
• ethnic groups in Central, Caucasus, and Siberia
  have high birth rates and low death rates
• Tadzhikistan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan,
  Kyrgyzstan and Azerbaijan have birth rtes like
  Third World
• between 1979-89 Russian grew by 5.6 and
  Ukrainians grew by 4.2
• Tadzhiks, Turkmen, Uzbeks, Kyrgyz grew by 45,
  34, 34, and 33 respectively
• Slavs have declined from 75 of total population
  in 1959 to 51 today

23

• life expectancy in Russia is 64 years for Russian
  males vs 72 in US
• life expectancy in Russia is 74 years for Russian
  females vs 79 in US
• Alcoholism and inadequate health care
• imbalance of male/female ratios (USSR lost 20
  million men in WW II)
• imbalances slowly being rectified
• use of females in labor force
• shortages in labor force
• pronatal policies of Marxist ideology plus
  stipends have not increase birth rate
• birth rate too high in Central Asia, Kazakhstan,
  and Caucasuses but too low in urbanized, Slavic
  Russia

24
Russia Fertile Triangle
25

• distribution of population
• fertile triangle from St. Petersburg to Urals to
  Crimea on Black Sea (Russian core area)
• distribution varies from 250 people per sq. mile
  western Ukraine to virtually nothing in Russian
  tundra and Asian deserts
• 75 of total population lives in European Russia
• outside European Russia, heaviest populations
  concentrated in foothills and valleys of Central
  Asia, along rivers, and irrigated areas
• urbanization
• 18 of population lived in cities in Tsarist
  Russia
• industrialization in Stalinist Russia increased
  urbanization to 33 before WW II

26

• today 75 of Russian live in cities
• 70 of Estonians, Belarussians, Latvians, and
  Lithuanians live in cities
• 30-40 of Tadzhiks, Kyrgyz and Uzbeks live in
  cities
• most large cities in European Russia
• large cities in Russian Siberia mostly in
  southern part of region or along Trans-Siberian
  railway
• Summary
• Russia has diverse environmental and human
  resources
• serious environmental disruption, polluted
  atmosphere and contaminated lakes, rivers, soil
• Nuclear wastes Novaya Zemlya biological toxins
  Aral Sea
• control over diverse ethnic mosaic very
  challenging problem for Russian government

27
(No Transcript)
28
Russia Political Map
29
Russia
30
Russia-Economic Activities

• Background
• prior to Russian Revolution 80 of population
  were peasants
• grinding rural poverty, high debts, no land,
  inadequate food, unyielding autocracy
• industry growing in 1890s
• history of revolts, revolutions, demands for
  freedom and democracy in Russia
• influence of World War I and the Bolshevik
  Revolution

31

• Bolshevik Revolution and establishment of Union
  of Soviet Socialist Republics
• Soviet Approach to Development
• Dictatorship of Communist Party of Soviet Union
  would lead backward country through economic
  development and eventually communism
• significant achievement of industrialization
  under Stalinist Five-Year Plans
• heavy costs on workers and rural peasants
• human toll of Stalinist economic policy in 20s
  and 30s

32

• Planned Development
• Stalinist Five-Year Plans
• planned economy, production goals for all goods
  and services
• complexity of economic blueprints created
  problems in allocating resources
• achievement of notable success in heavy industry
  and military arms (heavy metal eaters)
• performance in agriculture and light industries
  poor
• performance in consumer industries dismal

33

• Gorbachevs economic reforms
• economic stagnation and decreasing growth in 70s
• USSR could not feed itself, importing food
• ruble valueless (not convertible) outside Russia
• military spending consuming 25 of budget
• nothing available to buy in state stores
• Gorbachev promised glasnost (more openness),
  demokratizatsiya (democratization), and
  perestroika (restructuring of the economy).
• plan was to improve economic performance by
  introducing market reforms

34

• high inflation unemployment in the short run
• unemployment increased, prices rose, inequality
  of incomes apparent, decrease in the standard of
  living for many people, political instability
• Challenge of Development
• reformers losing political influence
  nationalists and ex-communists gaining influence
• level of economic well-being differs from
  republic to republic
• difficulties in privatizing state enterprises
• by 1993 most retail shops in private hands

35

• agricultural and industrial production dropped by
  50 in 5 years of market reforms
• defense spending and other government spending
  cut, land privatized, inflation, declining
  economic growth, joblessness, poverty
• centrally controlled distribution system
  curtailed
• Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, Belarus, and Azerbaijan
  have made fewest changes
• Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Armenia, Lithuania and
  Moldova committed to reform but little progress
  so far
• Estonia and Latvia experiencing some success

36

• military/security problems with soldiers not
  being paid, equipment deteriorating, command and
  control structures fragile, possibility of
  nuclear thefts
• former republics highly dependent on trade with
  other republics under market reforms trading
  between these former republics is more
  complicated
• inability to pay for imported goods
• Commonwealth of Independent States created to
  facilitate trade and political ties most new
  republics suspicious of Moscow, fear dominance
• Russia benefiting today due to high prices for
  gas and oil. New markets East and West.

37

• Economic Development Potential
• Russia and Ukraine have best chance of economic
  success
• Ukraine has extensive agricultural land,
  industrial resources, good manufacturing
  capability
• Russia has extensive natural resources, largest
  industrial regions, good agricultural land
• Baltics have good prospects for industrialization
  and agricultural development
• most other regions except the Baltics have
  economic problems
• Central Asian Republics particularly weak

38

• Industrial Resources
• Russian region ranks among the leaders in natural
  resources, but these are not evenly distributed
• many resources in remote areas, costly to obtain,
  harsh environment
• Energy
• good growth potential for oil and gas production
• USSR prior to 1992 was worlds leading producer
  of oil and gas
• 1/2 of regions oil comes from West Siberian
  fields
• problem of permafrost
• antiquated equipment and poor management

39

• Volga Urals fields second most important
  oil-producing area
• Caspian Sea area has major reserves rivaling that
  of the Persian Gulf
• Japan and US interested in foreign investment
• Soviet Union was worlds leading producer of coal
• good reserves in Siberia most coal production
  today in western Russia and Ukraine
• Donets Basin is major source of coal
• electric generation from peat, coal, oil or gas
• atomic power about 10 now could rise to 25 soon
• 15 of generation from hydroelectric with Volga
  and Kama rivers particularly important

40
Caspian Oil
41

• Metallic Ores
• diverse base of metals
• iron ore reserves largest in world (40 of known
  reserves)
• 50 of iron ore extracted in USSR came from
  Ukrainian Krivoi Rog fields
• Urals and Kursk deposits
• manganese and mercury in Ukraine
• Kazakhstan has bauxite, tungsten, molybdenum,
  chromium, led, zing, and worlds largest copper
  deposits
• mercury and gold in Uzbekistan

42

• Industrial Regions
• Soviets attempted to disperse location of
  industrial regions for security reasons
• Kuznetsk metallurgical base in Siberia
• impact of German occupation in WW II
• Soviet planning favored development of
  manufacturing in several areas (1) Center
  around Moscow (2) St. Petersburg (3) Mid-Volga
  area (4) the Urals (5) Kuznetsk Basin in
  Siberia (6) Ukraine Industrial
  District

43

• Center
• Moscow most populous and largest industrial city
• large market good supply of skilled labor
  good transportation
• good electrical supply from Volga hydroelectric
  and gas/oil pipelines from Ukraine
• manufacture linen, cotton, wool, silk fabrics
• machine construction, engineering, chemical, food
  processing and woodworking
• St. Petersburg
• Peter the Great, window to the West
• deficient in resources
• machine tools, shipbuilding

44

• Mid Volga
• extensive energy resources
• petroleum producing areas in Volga-Urals fields
• hydroelectricity
• good transportation along Volga with 60 of all
  freight transported by river
• automotive plant build at Tolyatti with Fiat
• Urals
• third largest industrial production center
• iron and steel industries
• copper smelting, zinc refining, aluminum
  production
• Yekaterinburg major rail center

45

• Siberia
• rich coal deposits in Kuznetsk Basin
• Novosibirsk, major rail junction on
  Trans-Siberian line
• great industrial potential but high
  transportation costs and high production costs
• location of industries with high power
  requirements because of good hydroelectric
  potential
• Baikal-Amur Mainline Railroad (BAM)
• development of Siberia could be facilitated by
  Japanese but political problems complicate
  relations

46

• Ukraine Industrial District
• principal heavy-manufacturing area
• good availability of coal, iron, ore,
  ferroalloys, heavy machinery construction
• gas fields to north and oil fields in Caucasus
• high productivity of agriculture
• food processing and agricultural equipment
• Kiev- capital with diversified industrial base
• Kharkov- important in production of heavy
  machinery
• Odessa- main port city

47
Russian Industrial Regions
48

• Agriculture
• agriculture not as developed historically as
  industry
• production increases from 1950s to 1980s
• productivity of Soviet farms poor with one
  American farm worker producing 8 times more than
  his Soviet counterpart
• 22 of Soviet work force in agriculture vs 2 in
  US
• one Soviet farm worker feeds 8 Russians while one
  US farmer feeds 52 Americans
• Collectivization of agriculture in 20s proved to
  be a disaster

49

• Problems of Collectives
• peasants thought to be a latent capital class
• wanted to control peasants
• forced peasants into collectives
• control of agricultural prices and wages at low
  levels
• feed industrial labor force cheaply
• mechanization possible
• millions of peasants (kulaks) killed
• livestock herds slaughtered rather than surrender
  them
• Types of farm organization
• collective farms (kolkhoz)
• state farms (sovkhoz)

50

• collective farms brought several villages
  together with centrally located machinery and
  private plots near houses
• state farms paid a set wage with bonuses for
  extra performance
• insufficient incentives to increase production
• state investment in fertilizers, machinery and
  technology inadequate
• private plots took up 4 of cultivated land but
  produced 48 of vegetables, 52 of meat, 67 of
  milk, and 84 of eggs.
• agriculture was Achilles heel of Soviet system