RUSSIA 



5114 



RUSSIA 



The Ural Mountains, forming a part of the 

 boundary between Russia and Siberia, are low 

 mountains whose highest peaks do not exceed 

 5,000 feet, and are broken by cross valleys into 

 three sections, known respectively as the North- 

 ern, Central and 

 Southern Urals. 

 These and the 

 Yaila Mountains, 

 on the south 

 coast of the Cri- 

 mea, are the only 

 mountains in 

 Russia proper, but 



in the Caucasus, LOCATION MAP 



extending be- Russia In Europe occupies 

 tween the Black about half of that co ^ inen ^- 

 and the Caspian seas, there is a range whose 

 snow-capped peaks of 18,000 feet rival the Alps 

 in grandeur. 



Rivers and Lakes. The river systems con- 

 stitute a distinguishing feature of the great 

 Russian plain, whose extent was favorable to 

 the development of the largest rivers of Eu- 

 rope, excepting the Danube. Most of the 

 streams have their sources about the central 

 height of land, from which they flow in all 

 directions. With few exceptions the rivers are 

 deep, with slow currents and channels so com- 

 pletely worn that their waters are navigable 

 for boats of light draft almost to their sources. 

 According to their drainage the rivers are di- 

 vided into the following systems: the Arctic 

 Ocean and the Baltic, the Black and the Cas- 

 pian Seas. 



The Arctic system includes the rivers flowing 

 Into the Arctic Ocean and the White Sea. The 

 most important of these are the Petchora, rising 

 in the Ural Mountains ; the Northern Dvina, noted 

 for its volume of waters, and the Onega. The lat- 

 ter flows into the White Sea. 



The Baltic system includes the Neva, the outlet 

 of Lake Ladoga, a stream of great volume upon 

 whose banks Petrcgrad is situated; the Dtina, 

 sometimes called the Western Dvina ; the Vistula, 

 flowing through Poland and having the Northern 

 Bug for its principal tributary, and a number of 

 smaller streams. 



From west to east the principal rivers from 

 Russia flowing into the Black Sea are the Dnies- 

 ter and the Bug, both of which are navigable; 

 and the Dnieper, the second largest river of Rus- 

 sia, draining an area as large as France. The 

 Don flows into the Sea of Azov, an arm of the 

 Black Sea. Its chief tributary is the Donetz. 



The chief river flowing into the Caspian Sea is 

 the Volga, the largest river of Europe, called in 

 national songs Mother Volga. Another river 

 emptying into this sea is the Ural, whose shallow 

 waters contain an abundance of fish. The Oka 

 and the Kama are tributaries of the Volga. 



There are thousands of lakes in Finland and 

 the other provinces bordering on the Baltic. 

 Lake Ladoga, the largest, has an area of 7,000 

 square miles and is about the size of Lake On- 

 tario. Lake Onega, about one-half as large, 

 is the second in size, and Lake Peipus is third. 

 Many of the lakes are connected by streams, 

 and in the far north some of them blend with 

 the marshes of the lowlands. 



Climate. The surface of Russia is reflected in 

 its climate. From the great extent of the 

 country one would expect to find marked dif- 

 ferences and sudden weather changes, yet this 

 is not the case. The absence of lofty highlands 

 and the southerly slope of the principal water- 

 sheds so modify the differences in latitude that 

 in traveling from one portion of Russia to an- 

 other they are scarcely noticeable. The Arctic 

 Ocean exerts some influence over the climate 

 of the extreme north, but the Baltic and the 

 Black seas are too small to affect so large a 

 plain. The climate is therefore continental; 

 that is, the winters are cold and the summers 

 warm. The difference between the mean sum- 

 mer and winter temperature amounts to 40 F. 

 in some parts and to 63 in others, the differ- 

 ence increasing from south to north, at the rate 

 of about 9.7 F. for each degree of latitude. 

 From west to east the difference in temperature 

 is more marked. The temperate winds from 

 Western Europe raise the mean temperature 

 of the western part of the country, but the 

 southeast winds from Asia are cold and raw. 

 There is, of course, a marked difference be- 

 tween the region bordering on the Arctic 

 Ocean and that around the Black Sea. The 

 former lies within the Arctic zone and is in the 

 grip of ice and snow for about eight months 

 each year; the latter lies in the warm temper- 

 ate region, where the grape and the olive thrive. 

 The transition from one extreme to the other, 

 however, is gradual. The average temperature 

 of Petrograd is 15 F. for winter and 64 for 

 summer, and the temperature at Odessa is 

 about the same as that of Boston. 



The rainfall is less than that required for 

 agriculture in the United States. It decn 

 from the northwest to the southeast. It is 

 eighteen inches at Petrograd, fourteen inches at 

 Kazan and 4.8 at Astrakhan. A heavy mantle 

 of snow covers the entire country during the 

 winter, and contributes immeasurably to the 

 fertility of the soil. 



In Petrograd the longest day lasts eighteen 

 hours and forty-five minutes. For two months, 

 during the long winter, there is practically no 



