You might be dreaming of a trip to the unique country of Russia, before you make the trip there is much you must know first. Russia is a country which covers a very large geographical area. The immense size of the country is responsible for the presence of great diversity in not only people but landscape. Russia has five ecological regions including the eastern European plains, ice caps, taiga, mixed and deciduous forests and steppe. Let’s explore a few of these landscapes.
The East
The eastern parts of Russia consist of plains; the largest of which is the West Siberian plain. This region extends from the Yensei River in the east to the Ural Mountains in the west. The area contains floodplains and swamps and most of it is not very high (about 100 meters or less above sea level). It does cover a very large area of about 2.7 million square kilometers. The plain has several vegetation regions including taiga, tundra, steppe and forest steppe. There are many peatlands and swamps in the area.
The Tundras
Tundra makes up over 50% of Russia. It consists of marshland with no trees and has a very cold climate. Animal and plant diversity is low because of this climate. The tundra also has permafrost in which the ground is frozen. Only about 1% of the Russian population lives in the tundra.
Taiga
This area extends from the western part of Russia to the Pacific Ocean and includes taiga forests. It is warmer than the tundra and is divided into north, middle and south taiga regions. There are forests with fir, spruce and pine trees and various marshes. Russia harvests many of the coniferous trees for timber and some areas have been cleared from the intensive logging. Forests cover much of the land and the timber industry is very big.
Forests
Mixed and deciduous forests are found mainly in the west of Russia and near the Ural Mountains. Spruce and oak are the main trees and quite a bit of wildlife exists in these areas, although some of the forests have been cleared for farming.
Steppe
This is a grassland region without trees that is found in southern Russia. Steppe has a much better climate for people and agriculture in that it has warmer temperature, enough sunshine and rainfall. Steppe does sometimes have droughts and too much rainfall on occasion though.
Mountain Ranges
Russia also has several mountains; it has 9 mountain ranges in total. The most famous of which is the Urals. Russia has more mountains on the eastern side of the country than the western side. Some of the mountains in northeastern Siberia even have active volcanoes present. Russia also has several rivers and lakes found throughout the country including the world’s deepest lake, Lake Baikal.
Most of the population of Russia lives in the southwest region of the country where conditions are most favorable. Russia is truly an impressive country with numerous geographical and ecological regions extending both north to south and east to west across the land.
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