The length of Russia: diversity of landscapes at the same latitudes

2024 Author: Henry Conors | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-02-12 02:55

The length of Russia from west to east (from the extreme western point - the Kaliningrad enclave to Ratmanov Island in the Bering Strait) is almost ten thousand kilometers. Our country is rich in geographical records. For example, the length of land borders is 20,322 kilometers, sea borders - 38,000. There are 11 time zones in the country. The deepest and largest lake in the world (Baikal and the Caspian Sea). True, four more states have access to the Caspian Sea.

The length of Russia from north to south is 4 thousand kilometers. The northernmost land point of the country is on Rudolf Island, which is located in the archipelago called Franz Josef Land. The island got its name from the Arctic expedition of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, which discovered it in 1873. On the island for a long timethe Soviet (later Russian) Arctic station operated, but in 1995 it was mothballed. The southernmost point is the vicinity of Mount Bazarduzu in Dagestan, on the border with Azerbaijan.

The considerable extent of Russia has made possible the existence of a large number of natural and landscape zones on the territory of the country. If the lifeless arctic desert dominates in the far north, where a small number of herbaceous plants appear and quickly bloom only during the short polar summer, then the southern territories lie in the subtropical zone. This is the Black Sea coast south of Tuapse. Palm trees grow here, and the average minimum of January temperatures is positive.

Due to the peculiarities of the country's landscape, the change in climatic zones is also felt when moving from west to east. The length of Russia affects here as well. The Ural Mountains are not in vain considered the border of Europe and Asia. Moving along the 55th parallel (the latitude of Moscow) along the federal highway M5, one can clearly see the difference in natural and climatic conditions. Broad-leaved forests predominate on the western slopes of the Urals: linden, oak, even coniferous (spruce) European species grow here. The European subspecies of grayling is found in mountain rivers. There are many examples!

Having crossed the mountains, we find that the forests become mostly birch, and in the mountains - pine. And linden and oak are almost never found. And the isotherms of both January and July at the same latitude in the European part of the country and beyond the Urals are slightly different.

The entire vast territoryThe country borders on three oceans and the interior plains of Asia, which lie in zones of a sharply continental climate. This has left its mark on the formation of climate in various regions of the country. Since the extent of Russia is very large, the influence of the Pacific Ocean, the largest in the world, on the territory of the country is relatively small. It strongly affects only the climate of the Far East.

In the Far East seemingly incompatible things are combined. In the taiga there, next to the traditional Russian bear, there is a tropical animal tiger. True, in the struggle for survival in a harsh climate, he became much larger than his tropical counterpart. And on the cold island of Sakhalin grapes grow, and wild, and bamboo, although not high, up to three, maximum - up to five meters in height. Interestingly, Vladivostok is located half a degree south of Sochi. And the climatic zones of these cities have nothing in common.

The length of Russia in space is such that the country contains within its borders territories with a variety of natural conditions. There is no such diversity in any country in the world, with the possible exception of the USA, where there is Alaska (an analogue of our Chukotka) and Florida with California - “American Sochi”.