Geographers traditionally divide the vast territory of Russia into five natural zones: the
tundra zone; the
taiga, or forest, zone; the
steppe, or plains, zone; the
arid zone; and the
mountain zone. Most of Russia consists of two
plains (the
East European Plain and the
West Siberian Plain), three
lowlands (the
North Siberian, the
Central Yakutian and the
East Siberian), two
plateaus (the
Central Siberian Plateau and the
Lena Plateau), and two systems of mountainous areas (the
East Siberian Mountains in far northeastern Siberia and the
South Siberian Mountains along the southern border).
Ecoregions File:Pontic Caspian climate.png|The wider area of the
Urals, showing the transition of
temperate forest,
taiga,
steppe and
semi-desert File:Russia vegetation.png||alt=Ice sheet and polar desert Tundra Alpine tundra Taiga Montane forest Temperate broadleaf and mixed forest Temperate steppe Dry steppe
East European plain The
East European Plain encompasses most of
European Russia. The
West Siberian Plain, which is the world's largest, extends east from the
Urals to the
Yenisei River. Because the terrain and vegetation are relatively uniform in each of the natural zones, Russia presents an illusion of uniformity. Nevertheless, Russian territory contains all the major vegetation zones of the world except a
tropical rain forest.
Icecaps The Russian Arctic stretches for close to west to east, from
Karelia and the
Kola Peninsula to
Nenetsia, the
Gulf of Ob, the
Taymyr Peninsula and the
Chukchi Peninsula (
Kolyma,
Anadyr River,
Cape Dezhnev). Russian islands and archipelagos in the
Arctic Sea include
Novaya Zemlya,
Severnaya Zemlya, and the
New Siberian Islands. About 10 percent of Russia is
tundra—a treeless, marshy plain. The tundra is Russia's northernmost zone, stretching from the Finnish border in the west to the
Bering Strait in the east, then running south along the Pacific coast to the northern
Kamchatka Peninsula. The zone is known for its herds of wild
reindeer, for so-called
white nights (dusk at midnight, dawn shortly thereafter) in summer, and for days of total darkness in winter. The long, harsh winters and lack of sunshine allow only
mosses,
lichens, and
dwarf willows and shrubs to sprout low above the barren
permafrost. Although several powerful Siberian rivers traverse this zone as they flow northward to the Arctic Ocean, partial and intermittent thawing hamper drainage of the numerous lakes, ponds, and swamps of the tundra. Frost weathering is the most important physical process here, gradually shaping a landscape that was severely modified by
glaciation in the
last ice age. Less than one percent of Russia's population lives in this zone. The fishing and port industries of the northwestern Kola Peninsula and the huge
oil and
gas fields of northwestern Siberia are the largest employers in the tundra. With a population of 180,000, the industrial frontier city of
Norilsk is third in population to
Murmansk and
Arkhangelsk among Russia's settlements above the Arctic Circle. From here you can also see the auroras (
northern lights).
Taiga Taiga, the most extensive natural area of Russia, stretches from the western borders of Russia to the Pacific. It occupies the territory of the Eastern Europe and West Siberian plains to the north of ° N and most of the territory east of
Yenisei River taiga forests reach the southern borders of Russia in Siberia taiga only accounts for over 60% of Russia. In the north–south direction the eastern taiga is divided (east of the Yenisei River), with a continental climate, and west, with a milder climate, in general, the climate zone is moist, moderately warm (cool in the north) in the summer and harsh winter, there is a steady
snow cover in the winter. In the latitudinal direction, the taiga is divided into three subzones - northern, middle and southern taiga. In the western taiga dense spruce and
fir forests on wetlands alternate with
pine forests, shrubs, and meadows on the lighter soils. Such vegetation is typical of the eastern taiga, but it plays an important role not fir and larch. Coniferous forest, however, does not form a continuous array and sparse areas of birch,
alder,
willow (mainly in river valleys), the wetlands - marshes. Within the taiga are widespread fur-bearing animals -
sable,
marten,
ermine,
moose,
brown bear,
Wolverine,
wolf, and
muskrat. In the taiga is dominated by
podzolic and cryogenic taiga soils, characterized by clearly defined horizontal structure (only in the southern taiga there is sod-podzolic soil). Formed in a leaching regime and in poor
humus. Groundwater is normally found in the forest close to the surface, washing
calcium from the upper layers, resulting in the top layer of soil of the taiga being discolored and oxidized. Few areas of the taiga, suitable for farming, are located mainly in the European part of Russia. Large areas are occupied by
sphagnum marshes (here is dominated by podzolic-boggy soil). To enrich the soil for agricultural purposes
lime and other
fertilizers should be used. Russian Taiga has the world's largest reserves of coniferous wood, but from year to year - as a result of intensive logging - they decrease. Development of hunting, farming (mainly in river valleys).
Mixed and deciduous forests forest in
Novosibirsk. Birch is a
national tree of Russia. The mixed and
deciduous forest belt is triangular, widest along the western border and narrower towards the
Ural Mountains. The main trees are
oak and
spruce, but many other growths of vegetation such as
ash,
aspen,
birch,
hornbeam,
maple, and
pine reside there. Separating the taiga from the wooded steppe is a narrow belt of birch and aspen woodland located east of the Urals as far as the
Altay Mountains. Much of the forested zone has been cleared for
agriculture, especially in
European Russia. Wildlife is more scarce as a result of this, but the
roe deer,
wolf,
fox, and
squirrel are very common.
Steppe The
steppe has long been depicted as the typical Russian landscape. It is a broad band of treeless, grassy plains, interrupted by mountain ranges, extending from
Hungary across
Ukraine, southern Russia, and
Kazakhstan before ending in
Manchuria. In a country of extremes, the steppe zone provides the most favorable conditions for human settlement and agriculture because of its moderate temperatures and normally adequate levels of sunshine and moisture. Even here, however, agricultural yields are sometimes adversely affected by unpredictable levels of
precipitation and occasional catastrophic
droughts. The soil is very dry.
Topography volcano towering over
Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky Russia's mountain ranges are located principally along its continental dip (the Ural Mountains), along the southwestern border (the
Caucasus), along the border with
Mongolia (the eastern and western
Sayan Mountains and the western extremity of the
Altay Mountains), and in eastern Siberia (a complex system of ranges in the northeastern corner of the country and forming the spine of the
Kamchatka Peninsula, and lesser mountains extending along the
Sea of Okhotsk and the
Sea of Japan). Russia has nine major mountain ranges. In general, the eastern half of the country is much more mountainous than the western half, the interior of which is dominated by low plains. The traditional dividing line between the east and the west is the
Yenisei River valley. In delineating the western edge of the
Central Siberian Plateau from the West Siberian Plain, the Yenisei runs from near the Mongolian border northward into the Arctic Ocean west of the
Taymyr Peninsula.
Ural Mountains . The
Ural Mountains form the natural boundary between
Europe and
Asia; the range extends about from the
Arctic Ocean to the northern border of
Kazakhstan. Several low passes provide major transportation routes through the Urals eastward from Europe. The highest peak,
Mount Narodnaya, is . The Urals also contain valuable deposits of minerals.
West Siberian Plain To the east of the Urals is the
West Siberian Plain, stretching about from west to east and about from north to south. With more than half its territory below in elevation, the plain contains some of the world's largest
swamps and
floodplains. The plain is largely flat and featureless. The only slightly elevated areas are the
Siberian Uvaly across the central part and the
Ob Plateau in the south. There are steppe areas in the southern part reaching into Kazakhstan, such as the
Ishim Steppe with the
Kamyshlov Log trench. Most of the plain's population lives in the drier section south of 77 degrees north
latitude.
Central Siberian plateau The region directly east of the West Siberian Plain is the
Central Siberian Plateau, which extends eastward from the Yenisei River valley to the
Lena River valley. The region is divided into several
plateaus, with elevations ranging between ; the highest elevation is about , in the northern
Putorana Mountains. The plain is bounded on the south by the
Primorsky Range and the
Baikal Mountains, and on the north by the North Siberian Lowland, an extension of the West Siberian Plain extending into the Taymyr Peninsula on the Arctic Ocean.
Sayan and Stanovoy Mountains In the mountain system west of
Lake Baikal in south-central Siberia, the highest elevations are in the Western
Sayan, in the Eastern Sayan, and at
Belukha Mountain in the
Altay Mountains. The Eastern Sayan reach nearly to the southern shore of
Lake Baikal; at the lake, there is an elevation difference of more than between the nearest mountain, high, and the deepest part of the lake, which is below sea level. The mountain systems east of Lake Baikal are lower, forming a complex of minor ranges and valleys that reaches from the lake to the Pacific coast. The maximum height of the
Stanovoy Range, which runs west to east from northern Lake Baikal to the Sea of Okhotsk, is . To the south of that range is southeastern Siberia, whose mountains reach . Across the
Strait of Tartary from that region is
Sakhalin Island, Russia's largest island, where the highest elevation is about . The small
Moneron Island, the site of the shootdown of
Korean Air Lines Flight 007, is found to its west.
Caucasus Mountains Truly alpine terrain appears in the southern mountain ranges. Between the Black and Caspian seas, the
Caucasus Mountains rise to impressive heights, forming a boundary between Europe and Asia. One of the peaks,
Mount Elbrus, is the highest point in Europe, at . The geological structure of the Caucasus extends to the northwest as the
Crimean and
Carpathian Mountains and southeastward into
Central Asia as the
Tian Shan and
Pamirs. The Caucasus Mountains create an imposing natural barrier between Russia and its neighbors to the southwest,
Georgia and
Azerbaijan.
Northeast Siberia and Kamchatka Northeastern Siberia, north of the Stanovoy Range, is an extremely mountainous region. The long
Kamchatka Peninsula, which juts southward into the Sea of Okhotsk, includes many
volcanic peaks, some of which are still active. The highest is the
Klyuchevskaya Sopka, the highest point in the
Russian Far East. The volcanic chain continues from the southern tip of Kamchatka southward through the
Kuril Islands chain and into
Japan. Kamchatka also is one of Russia's two centers of seismic activity (the other is the Caucasus). In 1995, a major earthquake largely destroyed the oil-processing town of
Neftegorsk. Also located in this region is the very large
Beyenchime-Salaatin crater.
Drainage , near
Olkhon Island. Russia, home to over 100,000 rivers, Russia is second only to
Brazil by
total renewable water resources. Forty of Russia's rivers longer than are east of the Ural Mountains, including the three major rivers that drain Siberia as they flow northward to the Arctic Ocean: the
Irtysh-
Ob system (totaling ), the
Yenisey (), and the
Lena (), they are among the
world's longest rivers. Numerous smaller lakes dot northern Russia and Siberian plains. The largest of these are lakes
Belozero,
Topozero,
Vygozero, and
Ilmen in the country's northwest and
Lake Chany in southwestern Siberia. A number of other rivers drain Siberia from eastern mountain ranges into the
Pacific Ocean. The
Amur River and its main tributary, the
Ussuri, form a long stretch of the winding boundary between Russia and China. The Amur system drains most of southeastern Siberia. Three basins drain European Russia. The
Dnieper, which flows mainly through Belarus and Ukraine, has its headwaters in the hills west of Moscow. The
Don, which is the fifth-longest river in Europe, originates in the
Central Russian Upland south of Moscow and then flows into the
Sea of Azov at
Rostov-on-Don. The
Volga, widely seen as Russia's national river due to its historical and cultural importance, is the
longest river in Europe, it rises in the
Valdai Hills west of Moscow and meandering southeastward for before emptying into the
Caspian Sea. Altogether, the Volga system drains about . Linked by several canals, western Russia's rivers long have been a vital transportation system; the Volga remains the country's most commercial river, and carries about two-thirds of Russia's inland water traffic. == Agriculture geography ==