Geographical Regions of Europe: Europe to the Urals

In area, the European Russian Federation is as large as the other six regions of peninsular Europe put together, but its population is less than half as great. This is a reflection of the marginal quality of its land, which, despite an overall topographic uniformity, runs the gamut of climate, vegetation, and soil types.

Rolling plains dominate the landscape of the region, but northwest of Moscow, along the middle Volga River, and in eastern Ukraine are hills whose elevations exceed 1,000 feet (300 meters). Because of its vast extent, the region drains in four different directions: northward into the Arctic Ocean, northwestward into the Baltic Sea, southwestward into the Black Sea, and southeastward into the Caspian Sea. The largest rivers in each of these drainage basins are the Northern Dvina, the Western Dvina, the Dnieper, and the Volga, respectively.

Temperatures decline toward the north and east, while precipitation decreases toward the south and east. As a result, the region has no fewer than seven vegetation zones between the Arctic Ocean and the Caspian Sea. From north to south they are the tundra, the coniferous forest (taiga), the mixed forest, the deciduous forest, the steppe, the semidesert, and the desert. In addition, the southern, mountainous margins of the Crimea support a Mediterranean type of scrub forest. All kinds of soils are likewise represented within this cross-section, including tundra, podzol, gray-brown podzol, chernozem ("black earth"), brown steppe, and gray desert types, with laterites being found along the Black Sea coast.

The subsoil is similarly diverse and rich. The region contains Europe's largest coalfield in the Donets Basin, its largest iron-ore deposits at Kryvyy Rih, and its largest petroleum deposits between the middle Volga and the Urals. The region also has major reserves of manganese, nickel, bauxite, and copper.

Moscow is the largest metropolis in Europe. The St. Petersburg, and Kiev (Kyiv) conurbations both exceed 2 million in population, and an increasing number of urban centers have topped the 1 million mark.

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