Ask Me Everything 5

Which is the largest country in tne world?

Russia is so large that you could fit Canada (the second largest country) into it twice. Siberia—the part of Russia that is in Asia, stretching from the Ural Mountains to the Pacific Ocean —accounts for morę than 75 percent of the country’s total land area.

Siberia

01: Siberia consists of tundra (treeless plain with permanently frozen undersoil), taiga (swampy coniferous forest), and steppes (grasslands).

02: Lakę Baikal in Siberia is the deepest lakę in the world.

03:

04:

Check out the Kremlin

The Moscow Kremlin was the medieval fortress of the czars (rulers of Russia). In 1918, Russia’s new communist rulers set up their government in the Kremlin, and today it is the official residence of the president of Russia.

A The walls of the fortress are 1.25 miles (2 km) long and datę from the 1400s.

A The buildings inside the walls include three cathedrals, one church, and four palaces.

A The Kremlin houses the world's largest beli and the world's largest cannon.

05:

Siberia is rich in natural resources, especially coal, gold, iron ore, oil, and natural gas.

The original inhabitants of Siberia were nomadic herders. Today, they make up less than ten percent of the population.

Under the Soviets, millions of Russians were deported to forced labor camps in Siberia.

What was the Soviet Union?

■ A federation of 15 republics ruled by the Communist Party. The Soviet Union of Socialist Republics (U.S.S.R.) existed from 1921 to 1991.

■ The first leader of the Soviet Union was Vladimir llyich Lenin (1870-1924). He was succeeded by Joseph Stalin (1897-1953), a ruthless dictator responsible for the deaths of millions of people.

■ Following the collapse of communism, the 15 republics of the Soviet Union split up to form independent countries.

T^ans-Siberian

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raił ^line ?he port of Viadivostok ending^,n^ ^259 km) away.

six days.

Countries that were former Soviet republics

Armenia

Azerbaijan

Belarus

Estonia

Georgia

Kazakhstan

Kyrgyzstan

Latvia

Lithuania

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