Eurasia

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Eurasia

• Physical Features and Current Issues

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FAST FACTS

• 11 time zones
• Largest territorial state in world
• Largest contiguous empire in world during time of
  czars
• Population of 150 million that lives on 1/5 land
• 21 internal republics
• No real warm water ports
• Very cold/dry due to artic air and Siberian plain

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Physical Features

• Land of many rivers
• Many mountain ranges, but mountains are low and
  dont impede migration
• Location extreme north 60 degrees farther north
  than Edmonton, Canada with St. Petersburg at
  southern tip of Greenland
• Very cold and dry, European air looses moisture
  by time it hits Russia and arctic air comes down
  with no mountains to stop or halt it

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Nationalities

• Chechnya refuses to sign Russian Federation
  Treaty
• Fate of 20 million Russians living in former SSRs
• Wants to be champion of Slavs in Europe
• Nationality issues on Periphery
• Democratization minority and ethnic groups
  struggle for power in federal system

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Other Problems

• Size of Russia
• Moscow and treatment of sub national political
  entities, outside of Moscow, people hate Russians
  and Moscow
• Population is shrinking
• Major decrease in life expectancy
• Decline in national institutions parties, armed
  forces, universities, etc.

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Problems, cont.

• Corruption/modern mafia
• Still owns nuclear arsenal
• Increase in drug/alcohol/suicide/HIV rates
• Russian oil and natural gas reserves owned by
  former SSRs
• Desire to maintain world power