1 Russia Is the Biggest Country in the World Russia is the world’s largest country It covers about one-tenth of all land on Earth Europe The eastern part lies in Asia The Ural Mountains form the border between Europe and Asia It is more than 6 6 million square miles 17 1 million sq km in size And almost twice the size of the United States Russia is so big it spans two continents The western part is in Russia has coasts on three of the world’s major oceans The Atlantic is to the west The Arctic Ocean is to the north The Pacific is to the east It shares borders with 14 countries These include China Mongolia Norway and Finland The Ural Mountains run north to south through western Russia 4
Two-thirds of all waterway traffic in Russia is on the Because Russia is so large its landscape is varied It has deserts icy coastlines and tall mountains Mt Elbrus in the south is the highest peak It reaches 18,510 feet 5,642 m into the air Russia’s giant lakes include Lake Baikal and Volga River Lake Ladoga Russia has around 100,000 rivers Much of the land consists of vast treeless plains called steppes 11 Time zones in Russia Russia is the world’s largest country Russia stretches across Europe and Asia The landscape includes mountains deserts and lakes Plains cover a large amount of Russia THE VOLGA RIVER The Volga is Russia’s most important river It’s the longest river in Europe The Volga begins northwest of Moscow It flows for about 2,300 miles 3,700 km to the Caspian Sea Most of Russia’s people live within the Volga region The river is used for transportation It is a source of irrigation It also provides hydroelectric power 5
Winters Are Long and Summers Are Short Because Russia is so huge the Earth Oymyakon is a remote village climate varies from place to place in Siberia In January 2018 the local In most of Russia winters are long thermometer broke after recording and summers are short Spring a temperature of 80 degrees and fall are brief The average Fahrenheit 62°C winter temperature is 14 degrees Russia has three main biomes They Fahrenheit 10°C Summers in are steppe taiga and tundra Each Moscow can get as hot as 99 has its own plants and animals degrees Fahrenheit 37°C The The steppe is dry grassland Many coast along the Black Sea has coniferous trees grow in the taiga a subtropical climate The city The tundra is mostly barren Mosses of Sochi has warm comfortable and lichens grow there Reindeer temperatures with much rainfall and musk oxen make their homes in Siberia is a vast region in northern the tundra Russia It is colder during the winter Some animals are unique to Russia than any other inhabited place on One is the Baikal seal found in Lake Baikal It's the only seal in the world that lives exclusively in fresh water Russia is also home to Average annual many endangered precipitation on the species These steppes is 10 18 include the inches 26 46 cm European mink and the beluga whale
540 Estimated number of Amur tigers left in the world Northern Russia is very cold Russia's three main biomes are steppe taiga and tundra Russia is home to a wide variety of animals THINK ABOUT IT In 1917 Czar Nicholas II created Russia's first zapovednik or nature reserve He set aside land near Lake Baikal in Siberia Do you think it is important for countries to protect certain natural areas Why or why not Over 100 000 seals live in Baikal Lake
