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48 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
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czar
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tsar
ruled Russia from 1547-1917 |
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autocrat
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rulers with no established limits on authority and power
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USSR
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Union of Soviet Socialist Republics
created by Lenin in 1922 Russia was no longer an empire, but a land of equals. |
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Cold War
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no shots fired
between US and USSR time when one feared the other would attack with nuclear weapons |
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perestroika
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restructuring
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glasnost
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openness
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Commonwealth of Independent States
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formed by Yeltsin to retain economic ties among the former Soviet states
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devolution
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passing down or de-evolution of power
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oblast
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large region or administrative district similar to a state or province
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okrug
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area
ten large, sparsely populated areas, mostly in the north |
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krais
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six territories governed by Moscow
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autonomous republics
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self-governing
also called ethnic republics or internal republics |
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federal districts
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political divisions based on geography
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Federation Assembly
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Russian legislature
divided into two houses |
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Supreme court
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Russia's Judicial Branch of government
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Moscow
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largest city in all of Europe
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Kremlin
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a massive fortress in the middle of Moscow
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Central Federal District
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Moscow and 17 other oblasts
1/4 population of Russia |
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St. Petersburg
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second largest city in Russia
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Volga-Baltic Waterway
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allows ships to reach inland to Moscow and beyond
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Karelia
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flat glaciated plain north of St. Petersburg
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White Sea-Baltic Canal
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1939
linked Karelia's Arctic coast to St. Petersburg |
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Kola Peninsula
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north of Karelia
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Murmansk
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key Arctic port
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Kaliningrad
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Russian port on Baltic Sea
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Volga River
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longest river in Europe
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Nizhniy Novgorod
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formerly Gorki
third largest city in Russia |
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Tatarstan
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one of six greater Volga Republics
Tatars (ethnic minority in Russia) make up half the population |
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Volgograd
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formerly called Stalingrad
important shipping hub in south produces much of Russia's steel |
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Don River
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1224 miles long
flows south through a fertile valley region of Russia |
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steppes
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grasslands
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Black Earth
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productive region of Russia
rich in humus and nutrients |
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Rostov
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vital port at mouth of Don River
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Volga-Don Canal
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links Don and Volga Rivers
completed in 1956 63 miles long with 13 locks |
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Cossacks
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fiercely independent nomads
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Mount Elbrus
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Highest mountain in Caucasus range
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Caucasus Mountains
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separate Europe from Asia between Black Sea and Caspian Sea
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Ural Mountains
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separate Europe from Asia
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Yekaterinburg
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industrial city
Russia's 5th largest city |
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Siberia
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All of Asian Russia east of the Urals
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Trans-Siberian Railway
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5778 miles
from Moscow to Vladivostok |
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taiga
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great coniferous forests
important source of wood products |
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Ob-Irtysh
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fourth longest river system in Eurasia
seventh longest river system in the world |
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Novosibirsk
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largest city in Siberia
on Ob River many natural resources nearby |
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Taymyr Peninsula
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northernmost mainland area in the world
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Sakha
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largest Russian republic
world's harshest climate of any inhabited area |
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Kamchatka Peninsula
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extends south into Pacific Ocean
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Kuril Islands
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chain from Kamchatka to Japan
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