Russia Geography

Vegetation

In the northern arctic deserts of Russia, practically no plants survive except for a few species of lichens and grasses. Richer growths of mosses and grasses with the occurrence of dwarf birches and willows characterize the vegetation formation of the tundra. Further south, the tundra passes into the most extensive plant zone – the forest zone, known as the taiga. Both in the transition zone between tundra and taiga (forest-tundra), and in the taiga itself, larch forests prevail in the east, while birch, pine and spruce forests prevail in the west. A typical tree of western and southern Siberia is limba.

In the central part of the East European Plain and on huge areas of southeastern Russia, the original vegetation is a mixed forest. The southern parts of the East European and West Siberian plains are covered with forest-steppe. Steppe formations fill the Central Volga and the southeast of the West Siberian Plain. Semi-deserts are located in the southwest in the Caspian region. The Caucasus abounds with the greatest plant diversity, unprecedented in these latitudes.

Animals

According to The Makeup Explorer, the northern coast of Russia is home to arctic species such as polar bears, seals and walruses, and birds include gulls, auks and eiders. Arctic foxes and snowy owls hunt white hares and mouse-like lemmings in the tundra. Herds of reindeer roam freely here. The forest zone has a richer fauna.

Elk, reindeer, wolves, bears, lynx, sables, squirrels, foxes and wolverines are found in the northern taiga. Mosquitoes are ubiquitous in summer.

The more southerly forests provide shelter for wild boars, deer, woodpeckers and grouse. The seaside region in the Far East is home to the rare Ussuri tiger. Steppe squirrels (Burunduci), marmots and groundhogs, hamsters that are hunted by polecats and Korsak foxes live in the steppes, but there is also a rare saiga antelope. Birds are represented by falcons, cranes, eagles and bustards. The greatest variety of game in Russia can be found in Altai and the Caucasus.

History

Throughout its long history, Russia has been the crossroads of the Eurasian continent. Although in ancient historical times it was constantly threatened by nomadic invaders from Asia, it built up during the 16th-19th century. century a huge multinational empire.

Population

The Russian Federation brings together a huge number of nations, nationalities and countless ethnic groups on its territory. More than 100 different nationalities and ethnic groups live here (in addition to the dominant Russians, however, only 6 have more than 1 million members and Tatars alone are more than 5 million), which belong to approximately 4 main language groups (branches). The Indo-European group includes more than 130 million mainly Russian-speaking Slavic people inhabiting the territory from the Baltic to the Pacific (in addition to Russians, these are mainly Ukrainians and Belarusians). The other three language groups are: Finno-Ugric, widespread in the regions of the European taiga and tundra (Karelians, Komians) and in the Volga region (Mordvins, Mariians and Udmurts); Turkic or Turko-Tatar languages ​​are spoken in places in the North Caucasus, and especially in the Volga region (Tatars, Bashkirs, Chuvash) and Asia, and finally the Caucasian group, which includes the languages, which are spoken in the Western Caucasus and Daghcstan. A relic in this area is the Mongolian language of the Kalmyks.

The Russian majority differs significantly from the multitude of non-Slavic ethnic groups in terms of culture, religion and language. A strong Orthodox tradition has survived in the Slavic population, there are also many Baptists, and many nationalities have preserved their traditional religions: Islam among some Turko-Tatar and Caucasian peoples, and Buddhism among many Kalmyks and Buryats. The number of Jews is constantly decreasing through migration.

In the last three years, Russia has experienced a huge decline in the birth rate, which has resulted in such a decrease in population in natural terms, which has no parallel in the world. Beginning in 1993, even large-scale immigration cannot prevent population decline.

Russia Geography