Russia

How is the land laid out?

Russia(1) possess more than 17 million square kilometers spread across northern Eurasia. Scandanavia lies west of the northwest; the rest of Europe is west and southwest of more southerly parts of Russia; the Gulf of Finland separates the two sets of neighbors. A small piece of Russia, Kaliningrad Oblast, is discontiguous from the rest and is squeezed between the Baltic Sea, Poland(2) and Lithuania(3). West of southernmost Russia is the Black Sea(4) and its extension, the Sea of Azov(5). The north borders the Arctic Ocean and its seas. Up there is a scattering of islands. Novaya Zemlya(6), Franz Josef Land(7), Northern Land(8) and the New Siberian Islands(9) are the largest. The east is bounded by the Bering Strait and the Pacific Ocean and its seas and straits. The south borders--from west to east: the Trans-Caucasian republics; the Caspian Sea(10); Kazakhstan; a tiny bit of China's(11) northwest; Mongolia; China's northeast; and a tiny piece of North Korea(12).

There are six geophysical zones, some of which extend beyond Russia and one of which is a composite of contiguous features: the East European Platform(13); the Caucasus(14); the Ural Mountains(15); the West Siberian Lowland(16); the Siberian Platform(17); and the southern and eastern basins and ranges(18).

The East European Platform is most of European Russia, and is a mix of plains, low plateaus, hills, low mountains and marshes. To its north are the White(19) and Barents(20) seas, with the double island of Novaya Zemlya in between. Far north of that pair is a set of Arctic islands: Franz Josef Land. The platform continues west into Scandanavia, the Baltic states and Belarus, with the Gulf of Finland between, and southward into the Ukraine. It is bounded to its southeast by three features. First is the Black Sea (and its extension, the Sea of Azov). Second is the Greater Caucasus Range(21), which reach above 5,000 meters; they are Europe's tallest. Third is the Caspian Sea, the world's largest lake. In the very southeast this zone continues into Kazakhstan.

The chief rivers of the west are: the Northern Dvina(22), which is formed by the Sukhona(23) and the Vychegda(24), and flows to the White Sea; the Pechora(25), which flows to the southeast corner of the Barents Sea; the Neva(26), which goes to the Gulf of Finland; the upper Western Dvina(27), which heads into Belarus; the source of the Dnepr(28), which also flows into Belarus; the Don, which flows through the Tsimlyanskoye(29) Reservoir(30) to the Black Sea; the Volga, which flows through the Rybinskoye(31) and the Kuybyshevskoye(32) reservoirs to the Caspian Sea; the Kama and the Oka, the Volga's main tributaries; the Belaya(33), which flows into the Kama; and the Ural, which goes south toward the Caspian. Also in this area are lakes (ozero) Onezhskoye(34), northeast of Lake Ladozhskoye, and Chudskoye(35), along the Estonian border.

The West Siberian Lowland is a low, flat land; it is bounded west by the Ural Mountains; south by Kazakhstan; southeast by the Altay Mountains(36), the Sayan Range(37) and by two high basins that the mountains define: the Kuznetsk(38) and the Minusinsk. The West Siberian Lowland is bounded east by the Siberian Platform; and north by the western Kara Sea(39). The Ob' River system dominates much of the plain, with the Yenisey's(40) lower course flowing on its east edge after it emerges from the Sayans and Tuva. The great tributary of the Ob' is the Irtysh(41), which enters from China, flows through the Zaysan(42) Reservoir as it passes between the Altay Mountains and the Kazakh Uplands, and receives the Tobol on its left.

The Siberian Platform is a mix of plateaus and low mountains. To its south are the eastern Sayans, rugged Pre- and Trans-Baykalia(43) (surrounding Lake Baykal(44)), with the Yablonovy (45) and the Stanovoy ranges beyond them. To the east are the Verkhoyansk(46) and the Dzhugdzhur ranges. Right bank tributaries of the Yenisey cover the western part of this area, among them the Lower(47) Tunguska, the Podkamennaya(48) Tunguska and the Angara. The last flows out of Lake Baykal and through the Bratskoye(49) Reservoir. Further east the Lena system dominates. Its key tributaries are the Vitim, which flows through Trans-Baykalia, the Vilyuy(50) and the Aldan. The Aldan in turn receives the Maya(51), which drains the west side of the Dzhugdzhurs.

Another river system, the Amur, is on the far side of the southeastern mountains. One of its headwaters is the Shilka(52), which begins south of the Yablonovoys and joins the Amur south of the Stanavoys, and heads north of the Pacific Ocean between the Bureya(53) and the Sikhote Alin'(54). One of the Amur's left bank tributaries is dammed to form the Zeyskoye(55) Reservoir. The Ussuri(56) joins on the right, starting from Lake Khanka(57) and following the Chinese border. Beyond the mouth of the Amur is Sakhalin(58) Island. The only large lake within the platform that has not been mentioned is Taymyr(59) in the northwest. North in the sea, beyond the lands surrounding that lake, is Northern Land and far to the east, across the Laptov Sea, the New Siberian Islands.

East of the southern Verkhoyansk Range the land rises again as the Chersky Range(60). Between them is the Indigirka River, and wrapping around behind the Cherskiys is the Kolyma, whose lower course centers in the Arctic-fronting Kolyma Lowlands(61). Still further east are: the Anadyr' Range at the easternmost end of Asia; the Koryak Range(62) at the head of the Kamchatka(63) Peninsula; and the Kamchatka Mountains(64) along the peninsula with a volcano that tops 4,000 meters. South of the peninsula are the Kuril Islands(65).

Who lives there?

In most of this area, inhabited by about 145 million people (2006), Russian is the majority language. The chief exceptions are Bashkortostan, where Russian is only the plurality(66); northern Sakha, where Yakut is the probable majority language; and Tuva, where Tuva is spoken by the most.

In parallel, Russian Orthodox Christians are the majority, at least in cultural background. In Bashkortostan and in some smaller political units, Sunni Moslems are the majority. Tuvans are Lamist Buddhists.

There are 13 cities with over one million residents in their metropolitan areas:

Northwest Federal District
Central Federal District
Southern Federal District
Volga Federal District
Ural Federal District
Siberian Federal District
Far Eastern Federal District

Footnotes

(1) Rossiya or Rossija in strictly transliterated Russian.
(2) Polska in Polish.
(3) Lietuva in Lithuanian.
(4) Chernoye More in one version of transliterated Russian.
(5) Azovskoye More in one version of transliterated Russian.
(6) Novaja Zeml'a in an alternate transliteration from Russian. It means New Land.
(7) Zemlya Frantsa-Iosifa in one version of transliterated Russian.
(8) Severnaya Zemlya in one version of transliterated Russian.
(9) Novsibirskiye Ostrova in one version of transliterated Russian.
(10) The world's largest lake.
(11) Zhongguo in one version of transliterated Chinese.
(12) Choson-minjujuui-inmin-konghwaguk in transliterated Korean.
(13) Vostochno-Evropeyskaya Platforma in one version of transliterated Russian.
(14) Kavkazsky Khrebet in one version of transliterated Russian.
(15) Ural'skiy Khrebet in one version of transliterated Russian.
(16) Zapadno-Sibirskaya Nizmennost' in one version of transliterated Russian.
(17) Sibirskaya Platforma in one version of Russian transliteration.
(18) This is the periphery from the Altays to the Anadyr Range.
(19) Beloye More in one version of transliterated Russian.
(20) Barentsevo More in one version of transliterated Russian.
(21) Bol'shoy Kavkaz in one version of transliterated Russian.
(22) Severnaya Dvina in one version of transliterated Russian.
(23) Also transliterated from Russian as Suchona.
(24) Also transliterated from Russian as Vycegda, with a diacritical on the c.
(25) Also transliterated from Russian as Pecora, with a diacritical on the c.
(26) Beyond the Neva's source of Lake Ladoga (Ladozhshkoye or, with a diacritical on the z, Ladozskoje Ozero) is the Volkhov (or Volchov), which, beyond Lake (ozero) Il'men is known as the Lovat'.
(27) Zapadnaya Dvina in one version of transliterated Russian. It has another spelling in Belarus and another name in Latvia.
(28) Also called the Dnepr (English), and spelled differently in Belarus.
(29) Also transliterated from Russian as Ciml'anskoje, with a diacritical on the c.
(30) Vodokranilishche in one version of transliterated Russian.
(31) Also transliterated from Russian as Rybinskoje.
(32) Also transliterated from Russian as Kujbysevskoje, with a diacritical on the s.
(33) Also transliterated from Russian as Belaja.
(34) Also transliterated from Russian as Onezskoje, with a diacritical on the z. Also called Onega.
(35) Also transliterated from Russian as Cudskoje, with a diacritical on the c. Also called Peipus.
(36) Gory Altay in one version of transliterated Russian. They top 4,000 meters.
(37) Sayanskiy Khrebet in one version of transliterated Russian.
(38) Also called the Kuzbass.
(39) Karskoye More in one version of transliterated Russian.
(40) Jenisej is an alternate tansliteration from Russian.
(41) Also transliterated from Russian as Irtys (with a diacritical on the s) and called the Ertix in China.
(42) Also transliterated from Russian as Zajsan.
(43) Pribaykal'ye and Zabaykal'ye in one version of Russian transliteration.
(44) Also transliterated from Russian as Bajkal.
(45) Yablonovyy in one version of Russian transliteration.
(46) Verkhoyanskiy in one version of transliterated Russian.
(47) Nizhnyaya in one version of transliterated Russian.
(48) An alternate transliteration from Russian is Podkamennaja.
(49) An alternate transliteration from Russian is Bratskoje.
(50) An alternate transliteration from Russian is Vil'uj.
(51) An alternate transliteration from Russian is Maja.
(52) Silka, with a diacritical on the s, is an alternate transliteration from Russian.
(53) Bureinskiy Khrebet in one version of Russian transliteration.
(54) Sichote-Alin' is an alternate transliteration from Russian.
(55) Zejskoje is an alternate transliteration from Russian.
(56) Called the Wusuli in China.
(57) An alternate transliteration from Russian is Chanka. It is called Xingkathu in China.
(58) Sachalin is an alternate transliteration from Russian.
(59) Tajmyr is an alternate transliteration from Russian.
(60) Also called the Khrebet Cheskogo in one version of transliterated Russian.
(61) Kolymskaya Nizmennost' in one version of Russian transliteration.
(62) Koryakskiy Khrebet in one version of transliterated Russian.
(63) Also transliterated from Russian as Kamcatka, with a diacritical on the c.
(64) Also called the Central (Sredinnyy) Range.
(65) Kurilskiye Ostrova in one version of transliterated Russian.
(66) There is no majority language group there.
(67) Federal city, constituent republic.
(68) As of 2006.
(69) Sankt-Peterburg in one version of transliterated Russian.
(70) Moscow in English.
(71) Also transliterated from Russian as Niznij-Novgorod, with a diacritical on the z. The city was formerly known as Gor'kiy (Gor'kij).
(72) Formerly Kuybyshev (or, with a diacritical on the s, Kujbysev).
(73) Formerly Stalingrad.
(74) Also transliterated from Russian as Jekaterinburg. Formerly Sverdlovsk.
(75) Also transliterated from Russian as Celjabinsk, with a diacritical on the c.
(76) Sibirskaya in one version of transliterated Russian.
(77) It translates from Russian as New Siberia.