Study guide for Quiz6 on chapter 5: Russia/Central Asia ...

Study guide for Quiz6 on chapter 5: Russia/Central Asia

Box 5-1Major Geographic Features of Russia/Central Asia

o Russia/Central Asia is an enormous realm that is almost entirely lacking in warm-water access to the world ocean.

o This is by far the "widest" geographic realm on Earth, stretching from the Baltic Sea in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east for some 10,000 kilometers (6200 mi) and spanning no less than nine time zones.

o Much of Russia/Central Asia is cold and/or dry. Extensive rugged mountain zones separate the realm from warmer subtropical air, and most of it lies open to Arctic air masses.

o Russia/Central Asia borders four other realms: Europe, North Africa/Southwest Asia, South Asia, and East Asia. These boundaries have shifted throughout history, and today some of them must be mapped as transition zones.

o For so large a territory, the population size of Russia/Central Asia (nearly 230 million) is relatively small. In Russia itself, the population has been declining in recent decades, especially in the country's east and in most of the rural areas.

o This realm's core area is located in western Russia. New development is now mostly concentrated to the west of the Ural Mountains; here are most of the major cities, leading industrial complexes, densest transport networks, and most productive farming areas. Outside Russia, certain parts of Central Asia (most notably Kazakhstan) have experienced rapid development based on their rich natural resources.

o For a monocentric realm, this one is decidedly multicultural and has a complex political geography. Russian domination has long inflamed tensions within this ethnic mosaic, especially Muslim concentrations along the realm's southern periphery.

o Central Asia is a region that highly interests China, for both its natural resources and its geopolitical role on China's western frontier. There is now much talk in China about forging a "New Silk Road."

o The country's powerful position as a leading exporter of oil and natural gas has been a springboard in Russia's quest to reclaim its Soviet-era role as a major player on the international stage.

1. Examine Russia's territorial size in terms of time zones Defining the Realm; Physical Geography of Russia/Central Asia; The Natural Riches of Russia and Central Asia

2. Locate the mountain chain in west-central Russia that is regarded as the "boundary" between Europe and Asia Question Section Reference: Defining the Realm; Physical Geography of Russia/Central Asia; The Natural Riches of Russia and Central Asia

3. What is the name of the mountains in the corridor between the Black and Caspian seas? Section Reference: Defining the Realm; Physical Geography of Russia/Central Asia; The Natural Riches of Russia and Central Asia

4. How large is Russia's population? Section Reference: Regions of Russia and Central Asia; The New Russia; Russia's Shrinking Population

5. What is the dominant religion in Russia? Section Reference: Post-Soviet Russia and Central Asia

6. Locate Kazakhstan and the capital of Kazakhstan? Section Reference: Regions: Central Asia; A Realm in Flux

7. What the USSR acronym stands for and when it disintegrated? Section Reference: Regions of Russia and Central Asia; The New Russia; A Volatile Economy

8. What is the so-called "Mississippi of Russia"? Section Reference: Defining the Realm; Physical Geography of Russia/Central Asia; The Natural Riches of Russia and Central Asia

9. Examine the location and economic significance of Sakhalin Section Reference: Regions: The Southeastern Frontier; Siberia; The Russian Far East

10. How many Soviet Socialist Republics existed when the Soviet Union disintegrated?

Section Reference: Russia's Czarist Roots; The Soviet Union (1922-1991)

11. Which U.S. state was first settled by the Russians? Section Reference: Russia's Czarist Roots; The Soviet Union (1922-1991)

12. Through which country does Azerbaijan export its oil via a pipeline opened in 2006? Section Reference: Regions: Transcaucasia

13. Which religion dominates in Chechnya? Section Reference: Regions: Transcaucasia

14. Locate Russia's core area region Section Reference: Regions: The Russian Core

15. How could Global Warming affect Russia's maritime access to the world? Section Reference: Defining the Realm; Physical Geography of Russia/Central Asia; The Natural Riches of Russia and Central Asia

Points to Ponder

o Russia has land borders with 14 countries and three other geographic realms. Compare that to the conterminous United States, which borders only two countries and only one other realm.

o High-speed rail travel, so urgently needed in this far-flung realm, has been extremely slow to develop. The first such route opened in 2010, linking the capital, Moscow, with the leading port and second city, St. Petersburg; but since then, not a kilometer of new track has been laid.

o One out of seven Russian villages has been abandoned, with many turning into ghost towns. o According to a poll marking the twentieth anniversary of the Soviet Union's demise, 70 percent of Russians

agreed that the changes since 1991 had not benefited ordinary people. o Landlocked, once-remote Central Asia could soon become a first-order global geopolitical hotspot involving

Russia, China, India, and a host of lesser regional powers.

Current issues

US European Command (USEUCOM, )

Trump's plans to scrap a nuclear pact with Russia could heighten tensions in Asia, 10/31/2020,

China, Russia Cementing Rising Eastern Bloc as Trump Rattles G-7, Bloomberg News, 6/11/2018,

Russia suggests creating single virtual currency for BRICS and EEU, RT, 12/28/2017,

Russia accuses U.S. of training former Islamic State fighters in Syria, Reuters, 12/27/2017,

Russia accuses U.S. of backing Syrian rebels who use poison gas on civilians, Reuters, 8/4/2016,

"In the case of Syria, the [leaked] cables show that regime change has been a long-standing goal of US policy; that the US promoted sectarianism in support of its regime-change policy." Robert Naiman, "10. Syria," page 297; pp. 297-321 (in The Wikileaks Files, Verson, London, 2015).

Putin merges Crimea into Russia's southern federal district, UPA, 7/28/2016,

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