Climate+and+Geographic+Factors

Back General: • Russia was the largest country in the world (by square mile). • It extended (and still does) across northern Europe and Asia. • Landscape is mostly flat, punctuated only by the Urals, which rise no higher than 1900 meters and the ranges in the Far East. • Western Russia makes up the largest part of one of the great lowlands of the world, the Russian Plain. • To the east of the Urals Mountains lies Russia’s most extensive region, the Western Siberian Plain. • It covers the area of more than 2,600,000 square kilometers and contains some of the world’s largest swamps.
 * Climate and Geographic Factor: **

Climate: • In winter an intense high-pressure system causes winds to blow from the south and the southwest in all but the Pacific region of the Russian landmass. • In summer a low-pressure system brings winds from the north and the northwest to most of the landmass. • That combination reduces the wintertime temperature difference between north and south. • Average January temperatures are -8°C in St. Petersburg, -27°C in the West Siberian Plain, and -43°C at Yakutsk • While the winter average on the Mongolian border is barely warmer. • In the summer Arctic islands average 4°C, and the southernmost regions average 20°C. • Russia's potential for temperature extremes is typified by the national record low of -94°C, recorded at Verkhoyansk in north-central Siberia and the record high of 38°C, recorded at several southern stations. • The long, cold winter has a profound impact on the Russian way of life. • The bleak and bitter winters may have made the life of peasants particularly more frustrating, especially with no money to keep warm. • Could have affected attitudes and helped the revolution. • It affects where and how long people live and work, what kinds of crops are grown, and where they are grown (no part of the country has a year-round growing season). • Low to moderate amounts of precipitation. • Highest precipitation falls in the northwest, with amounts decreasing from northwest to southeast across European Russia. 