Russia

Russia — page 1
CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCING RUSSIA THE NEW RUSSIA NORWAY FROM EUROPE TO ASIA he Russian Federation nine time ones and straddles two continents On May 25 Russian teenagers are celebrating the Last Bell the end of their final term at school The boys dress in Smarts ts The girls wear formal black dresses with sashes and lacy ribbons in their hair Presentations are given to teachers with speeches laughter and tears CHILDREN OF CHANGE Ki When today s teenagers leave school they face a very different future from their parents and grandparents In the last hundred years Russia has experienced rule by an emperor two world wars European Russia occupies the vast plain that FINLAND stretches from Central Europe to the Ural KALININGRAD ESTONIA DAVIA Mountains The Caucasus Mountains and St Petersburg the coasts of the Black Sea and the Caspian BELARUS Sea are in the south Elbrus is Europe s Moscow highest mountain pe soaring to 18 500 Nizhny Novgorod feet 5 600 m Asian Russia extends all UKRAINE the way from the Urals to the volcanoes of the Pacific Rim This region of plains and Samara plateaus is known as Siberia It is crossed by Sar of Rostov na Dou Vol three of the ten longest rivers in the world Black Sear the Yenisey Ob Irtysh and Amur Baikal is world s deepest lake and may hold as much as 20 percent of the world's fresh water GEORGIA oU revolutions civil war communism and capitalism Even the national borders have altered Great social and economic anges have swept across the land Today Russia is more prosperous than at any time in its history But what kind of nation has it become How would today s teenagers ike it to be in the fi uture A GIANT NATION Russia is the largest nation on Earth It occupies about one eighth of the planet s surface What happens there affects almost every part of the world With an area of 6 6 million square n miles 17 mi ion sq k is about 1 8 times the size of the United States Russia s bleak dee frozen tundra borders the Arctic coast Fart her south are he great forests known as taiga In the far south grassy steppes are bordered by high mountains Russian summers can be warm and sunny but the winters are snowy and bitterly cold School grade luates in the city of Vladimir line up for the Last Bell ceremony