Table Of ContentA GEOGRAPHY OF RUSSIA AND ITS NEIGHBORS
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A Geography of Russia
and Its Neighbors
SEC OND EDITION
Mikhail S. Blinnikov
THE GUILFORD PRESS
New York London
Copyright © 2021 The Guilford Press
A Division of Guilford Publications, Inc.
370 Seventh Avenue, Suite 1200, New York, NY 10001
www.guilford.com
All rights reserved
No part of this book may be reproduced, translated, stored in a retrieval system,
or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying,
microfilming, recording, or otherwise, without written permission from the publisher.
Printed in the United States of America
This book is printed on acid-free paper.
Last digit is print number: 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Blinnikov, Mikhail S., author.
Title: A geography of Russia and its neighbors / Mikhail S. Blinnikov.
Description: Second edition. | New York : The Guilford Press, 2021. |
Includes bibliographical references and index. |
Identifiers: LCCN 2020025709 | ISBN 9781462544592 (paperback) |
ISBN 9781462544615 (cloth)
Subjects: LCSH: Russia (Federation)—Geography. | Former Soviet
republics—Geography.
Classification: LCC DK510.28 .B55 2021 | DDC 914.7—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020025709
Preface
The Need for This Book 14 former Soviet republics. Such a “scissors” ap-
proach reflects the familiar two sides of geogra-
Northern Eurasia (former Soviet Union [FSU]), phy (Gersmehl, 2014), namely, topical and subre-
including Russia, is a major world region that gional, and allows each instructor to customize
is rarely covered in English-language geography teaching using only one of the two, or both.
textbooks. A number of excellent textbooks pub- While it is generally expected that the book will
lished about the region in the 1990s have not be read from the first to the last chapter, some
been reprinted (see Further Reading in Chapter moving around is expected and even encouraged.
1). There is no shortage of good books on Rus- Many chapters have cross-references to material
sia’s history and politics, but regional, cultural, included in other chapters, but there is relatively
or even physical geography remains relatively un- little repetition.
derstudied by outsiders, and there are as yet few
if any adequate translations of existing Russian
college-level textbooks. This textbook is the sec- New Coverage iN This ediTioN
ond edition of the successful text released by The
Guilford Press in 2011. That edition was widely The new edition has been thoroughly updated
adopted by the English-language instructors all with respect to population, economic, and politi-
around the world. This new edition reflects many cal data since 2011. Most datasets used here are
changes that have happened recently and benefits from 2018, with some data available from 2019.
from extensive reviewer and customer feedback. Approximately 80 figures were either updated or
replaced, and a few new figures were added. Most
are now available in full color on the compan-
orgaNizaTioN ion website. While most photographs were taken
by me, approximately 25 other people from the
The book is organized in a traditional way, with region contributed their photographs, and most
the topical geographies (physical, political, cul- have not been published elsewhere. Many maps
tural, and economic) discussed sequentially. were professionally produced by Dr. Jeff Torguson
This is followed by a few regional chapters on of St. Cloud State University, a renowned Ameri-
all major regions of Russia and the remaining can thematic cartographer. We decided to keep
v
vi Preface
some of the old maps from the previous edition, PedagogiCal feaTures
when no major changes were needed. While
some reviewers and students expressed a desire The textbook has a number of pedagogical fea-
to see more diverse sets of maps, we decided to tures that should assist the instructors and the
keep a relatively small amount due to the book’s students:
size constraints. However, a few new maps in the
second edition will be undoubtedly useful, and • The vignettes (usually one per chapter) provide
we added a few new data tables and charts. opportunities to highlight a major issue, tell
A number of key political changes have hap- a personal story, or list some important items
pened in the region that required some major that one needs to know.
updates. The most significant, arguably, was the • End-of-chapter review questions and exercises
political crisis in Ukraine in the spring of 2014 help students to recall needed material from
that led to Russia’s intervention in Donbass and each chapter and to create in- and out-of-class
the controversial “return” (annexation) of Crimea. assignments for the instructors. These might
This issue alone warranted an addition of a sepa- include, for example, role-playing games, en-
rate chapter on Ukraine and Crimea. Some major hanced online homework, or opportunities to
political and economic shifts have also occurred write in-depth essays.
in Russia—for example, the return of Vladimir • End-of-chapter further reading and websites
Putin to the presidency in 2012 and a major contain the most up-to-date literature and on-
slowdown in Russia’s economy since 2014, under line sources. The readings are necessarily se-
foreign sanctions imposed by Western powers be- lective and subjective, but many more recent
cause of the situation in Ukraine. Central Asian articles and books have been included, as com-
republics have seen changes in their top leader- pared to the first edition. All websites listed in
ship (e.g., the death of Islam Karimov in Uzbeki- the book were active as of the fall of 2020, but
stan in 2016 and the resignation of Nursultan their availability cannot be guaranteed.
Nazarbayev as the president of Kazakhstan in • The companion website contains all of the
2019), while Belarus, Moldova, and the Caucasus book’s figures, downloadable as four-color or
republics have likewise experienced a number of gray-scale images. In addition, the book has a
political changes. From a geographic perspective, thorough index at the end to look up specific
some major changes added to the new edition in- place names, personalities, and various key-
clude shifts in the Russian airline industry, slow- words.
down in manufacturing, rise in export-oriented
grain agriculture, tourist flows in and out of the
region, shifts in Russia’s landscapes of leisure and The audieNCe for The Book
associated consumer class, expansion of the city
of Moscow, addition of two new subjects of the This volume is ideally suited to second- or third-
Russian Federation (Crimea and the city of Sev- year college students who are taught primarily
astopol), and increased engagement of Russian- in English. Above all, I was striving to provide
backed forces in the conflicts in Syria, Libya, and lucid and engaging prose, not overly academic or
the Central African Republic. There have been a comprehensive. The book can be a gateway to a
number of fascinating, and sometimes terrifying, lifelong learning adventure through using many
developments in the political sphere between other books on the region and, above all, actual
Russia and the United States, some of which have engagement with the region through travel. It
produced certain geographical impacts (e.g., the may appeal to advanced high school students in-
renewed arms race between the two and the dis- terested in the regional geography of the world.
continuation of a number of academic exchange It can be of some assistance to graduate students
programs between schools and universities). Not and of interest to the general audience to quickly
everything could be included, but most relevant gain some general knowledge about the region.
items were. For example, one of the instructors who adopted
Preface vii
the textbook has since traveled with me in Rus- be able to use the book. There are many excellent
sia. The treatment of FSU republics other than specialized geography textbooks in Russian (see
Russia is complementary but is not at all at the Further Reading at the end of each chapter), and
level that would be needed for teaching courses one can and must add to their knowledge by uti-
on those subregions. However, many good ref- lizing those texts, whenever possible.
erences to the relevant literature are included
here. While most of the relevant comparisons
are with the United States, some are with the furTher readiNg
United Kingdom or other European countries,
Gersmehl, P. (2014). Teaching geography (3rd ed.). New
and Canadian or Australian audiences will have
York: Guilford Press.
no trouble following along. I hope that some stu-
dents in Asia, Africa, or Latin America will also
