Questions on Russia's Geographical and Socio-Cultural History
1. How does the Russian Federation suffer from its location, physical features, and climate? What is unique about the Transcaucasus area in terms of climate?
Long cold winters, short warm summers
Russia is a huge country with a lot of different resources, climates and natures. The climate differs a lot from north to south and from west to east. The coldest part is the north-east, the hottest – south-west. Russia has an exit to waters, but on the north it is mostly iced water, east waters are shared with China and Japan, and the most important connection to the sea is Black Sea in the south-west. Most of the population can be found in the north-west part where the biggest cities are – Moscow and St. Petersburg. Other parts of Russia are less developed with high unemployment rates and poverty. Because of its location Russian culture is influenced by Europe from one side and Asia from another and it creates a sort of misunderstanding between people who live in different regions. Russia is rich with natural resources especially gas and is able to play almost a monopolistic role exporting these resources. However whenever I travel around Russia I see that many things are not brought for tourists consumption and many areas require improvement. Let’s take Ural Mountains for example – a massive area with beautiful mountains that could be perfect for winter sports. But it is embarrassing to bring foreign tourists there because the quality of service leaves much to be desired. The main money capital is centered in Moscow and St. Petersburg so the other parts of Russia have to suffer.
2. How did climate and physical geographic features spur Russia’s imperial expansion?
To start with, Russia had a huge territory from the 10th century. Century through century it was expanding its territory in order to get the access to waters, warmer climate lands and gain more natural resources. As the climate was quite harsh, people were conquering and gaining lands with better
Long cold winters, short warm summers
Russia is a huge country with a lot of different resources, climates and natures. The climate differs a lot from north to south and from west to east. The coldest part is the north-east, the hottest – south-west. Russia has an exit to waters, but on the north it is mostly iced water, east waters are shared with China and Japan, and the most important connection to the sea is Black Sea in the south-west. Most of the population can be found in the north-west part where the biggest cities are – Moscow and St. Petersburg. Other parts of Russia are less developed with high unemployment rates and poverty. Because of its location Russian culture is influenced by Europe from one side and Asia from another and it creates a sort of misunderstanding between people who live in different regions. Russia is rich with natural resources especially gas and is able to play almost a monopolistic role exporting these resources. However whenever I travel around Russia I see that many things are not brought for tourists consumption and many areas require improvement. Let’s take Ural Mountains for example – a massive area with beautiful mountains that could be perfect for winter sports. But it is embarrassing to bring foreign tourists there because the quality of service leaves much to be desired. The main money capital is centered in Moscow and St. Petersburg so the other parts of Russia have to suffer.
2. How did climate and physical geographic features spur Russia’s imperial expansion?
To start with, Russia had a huge territory from the 10th century. Century through century it was expanding its territory in order to get the access to waters, warmer climate lands and gain more natural resources. As the climate was quite harsh, people were conquering and gaining lands with better