According to topschoolsintheusa, Russia is located between 19°38′ east longitude (Baltic Spit near Kaliningrad) and 169°40′ west longitude (Cape Dezhnev in Chukotka). The extreme northern point of Russia on the continent is Cape Chelyuskin (77°43′ north latitude) on the Taimyr Peninsula, the extreme southern point (41°11′ north latitude) is in the south of Dagestan.
It is washed by the seas of three oceans. The Arctic Ocean includes the following seas: Barents, White, Kara, Laptev, East Siberian, Chukchi. To the Pacific basin – the Bering, Okhotsk, Sea of Japan. To the Atlantic Ocean – the Baltic, Black and Azov. The southern border of Russia also runs along the water area of the endorheic Caspian Sea (lake).
In the waters of Russia there are large islands and island groups (archipelagos) – Novaya Zemlya, Franz Josef Land, Severnaya Zemlya, New Siberian Islands, Wrangel Island, Kuril Islands, Sakhalin Island. The largest archipelago is Novaya Zemlya, with an area of about 83,000 square kilometers. The largest island is Sakhalin (76.4 thousand km2). The shores of the Russian seas are mostly low and even. There are few bays, bays and harbors convenient for creating seaports. Therefore, seaports are being created at the mouths of the rivers – the Neva (St. Petersburg), the Northern Dvina (Arkhangelsk), the Ob (Salekhard), the Yenisei (Dudinka, Igarka), the Don (Rostov-on-Don), the Volga (Astrakhan) and in a few harbors (Murmansk, Novorossiysk, Vladivostok, Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky). The use of the northern and eastern seas of Russia is limited by severe natural and climatic conditions (storms and ice cover). However, during a short navigation (2-4 months), the Northern Sea Route from Murmansk to Provideniya Bay in Chukotka operates. The southern seas are suitable for navigation for 10-12 months. in a year.
The length of Russia’s borders is 60,932 km, incl. sea – 38,807 km, land – 22,125 km. Maritime borders distinguish the Russian sector of the Arctic (from the North Pole to the Rybachy Peninsula on the Kola Peninsula and Cape Dezhnev) and separate Russia from the United States (along the Bering Strait) and Japan (the La Perouse and Kunashir Straits between Sakhalin, the Kuril Islands and the Japanese island of Hokkaido). In the Asian part, Russia borders on North Korea, China, Mongolia, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan and Georgia. In the European part – with Ukraine, Belarus, Latvia, Estonia, Finland, Norway. Part of Russia – the Kaliningrad region – borders on Lithuania and Poland. The longest border is with Kazakhstan (7599 km), the shortest is with North Korea (39 km).
The relief of the country includes vast plains (about 70% of the entire territory of the country), low and middle mountains. Alpine regions exist only in the extreme south of the European part (the northern slopes of the Greater Caucasus with the highest point of the Russian Federation – Mount Elbrus 5642 m high), in the south of Siberia (Altai with Mount Belukha, 4506 m) and in the Far East (Klyuchevskaya Sopka in Kamchatka, 4750 m ). The general slope of the relief is from the elevated south and east to the low north and west. The European part of the country is located on the East European (Russian) Plain (average height 142 m).
The Northern Uvaly Upland (with heights of 150-290 m), located along 60° north latitude, divides the Russian Plain into two parts. In the southern part, the slope towards the Caspian and Azov Seas prevails. The low Ural Mountains (800-1200 m, the highest point is Mount Narodnaya, 1895 m), stretching along 60 ° east longitude, separate the East European Plain from the West Siberian Plain, which is generally somewhat lower (average height is about 120 m). To the east of the West Siberian Plain, the relief rises sharply. Between the Yenisei and Lena is the Central Siberian Plateau (average height 480 m, maximum 1701 m). To the south and east of the Lena valley rise the Stanovoe Upland (maximum height 3073 m), the Aldan Highlands, the Verkhoyansk Range and the Chersky Range (maximum height 3147 m). The eastern outskirts of the country are occupied by Chukotka, The Koryak and Kolyma highlands, the mountains of Kamchatka, the Dzhugdzhur and Sikhote-Alin ranges. Along the northern outskirts of the country there is a strip of lowlands – the Pechora, North Siberian, Yano-Indigirskaya, Kolyma, the direct continuation of which to the north are the underwater plains of the shelf of the Arctic seas. The diverse relief and mining and geological conditions determine the exceptional wealth of Russia in minerals. According to World Bank experts, Russia’s total mineral reserves are estimated at 10 trillion. dollars compared to 3.3 trillion dollars for Brazil and 0.7 trillion. dollars for China. Russian experts’ estimates are much higher. the direct continuation of which to the north are the underwater plains of the shelf of the Arctic seas. The diverse relief and mining and geological conditions determine the exceptional wealth of Russia in minerals. According to World Bank experts, Russia’s total mineral reserves are estimated at 10 trillion. dollars compared to 3.3 trillion dollars for Brazil and 0.7 trillion. dollars for China. Russian experts’ estimates are much higher. the direct continuation of which to the north are the underwater plains of the shelf of the Arctic seas. The diverse relief and mining and geological conditions determine the exceptional wealth of Russia in minerals. According to World Bank experts, Russia’s total mineral reserves are estimated at 10 trillion. dollars compared to 3.3 trillion dollars for Brazil and 0.7 trillion. dollars for China. Russian experts’ estimates are much higher.
The share of Russia in the world reserves of natural resources is: apatite – 64.5%, natural gas – 35.4, iron – 32, nickel – 31, coal – 30, brown coal – 29, tin – 27, cobalt – 21, zinc – 16, uranium – 14, oil – 13, lead – 12, copper – 11, gold-platinum-diamonds – from 5 to 30%. Due to the growing demand of the world economy and consumers for hydrocarbon raw materials, Russian oil and gas reserves are of particular importance. Most of these reserves are concentrated in the meridional belt stretching from the Kara to the Caspian Sea and the Persian Gulf. The fields of the Yamal Peninsula, Western Siberia, the Volga-Ural oil and gas province, and the North Caucasus stand out here. Enormous reserves of oil and gas have also been explored on the shelves of Sakhalin Island and the Kamchatka Peninsula, in Yakutia and throughout Eastern Siberia. Bosom
Russia is rich in iron ores, non-ferrous and rare metals, precious and semi-precious stones. The main areas of concentration of metallic and non-metallic (graphite, apatite, phosphorites, asbestos, salts) minerals are the mountains of the Urals, Altai, Transbaikalia, Karelia, the Kola Peninsula and the Caucasus. The largest coal basins are located in Eastern Siberia (Tunguska, Lena, South Yakutsk, Kuznetsk and Kansk-Achinsk).
The flat relief of Russia and a large amount of precipitation determine the existence of large rivers (Table 1) and lakes (Table 2).
11% of the world’s annual renewable water resources are concentrated in the rivers of Russia. In Lake Baikal – 20% (23 thousand km3) of the world’s fresh water reserves (excluding water in glaciers).
Table 1. The largest rivers in Russia
| Length, km. | Basin area, thousand square meters km. | |
| Ob (with Irtysh) | 5410 | 2990 |
| Amur (with Argun) | 4440 | 1855 |
| Lena | 4400 | 2490 |
| Yenisei (with Greater Yenisei) | 4102 | 2580 |
| Volga | 3531 | 1360 |
| deer | 2270 | 219 |
| Kolyma | 2129 | 643 |
| Don | 1870 | 422 |
Table 2. The largest lakes in Russia
| Area, thousand square meters km. | Height above sea level, m | Maximum depth, m | |
| Baikal | 31.5 | 456 | 1637 |
| Ladoga | 18.1 | 4 | 230 |
| Onega | 9.7 | 33 | 127 |
| Taimyr | 4.6 | 6 | 26 |
| Khanka | 4.2 | 69 | ten |
| Chudskoye | 3.5 | thirty | fifteen |
