Fact Sheet on Imperial Russia in 1914 :: Russian History

Landformsthe European side is most(prenominal)ly flat plainsthe Ural Mountain and several(prenominal) large rivers (Volga, Ob, Yenisey, Lena) run in a south-north directionmuch of the Asian side (west of the Ural) is in the tundra zonehigh mountain ranges along the Mongolian border and in the far east of the stateClimatethe largest country in the world.extreme temperate conditions temperatures below freezing for several months, although it buns get very hot in the summermost of the ports arrest in wintertime, living the country with only limited year-round approach shot to important sea routesResources rich soil and grazing overthrow in most places in the European sidecoal and iron kindly in the European parthuge mineral wealthiness in the Asian part (gold, diamond, oil, iron and heavy metals, etc.) hard to access messpopulation is about 174 million, the second largest in the world after China, with a 50% population rise between 1860 and 1914about four one-fifth of the popu lation lived in the European part, about 80% of them peasants, had been owning small pieces of impose since 1861the Tsar, Nicholas the II, was an autocratic ruler most of the population lived in poverty.most of the land was owned by the church and a few noble families, the magnificence accounting for 1% of the population owned 25% of the land lamentable education system, only a selected few could read and write ailment and starvation was commononly 40% of the masses are communicativeComment Russia, the worlds largest country, covered one sixth of the artificial satellites total landmass (Warnes, 1999), excluding Antarctica. The country had a huge wealth of resources, most located in hardly accessible or all in all inaccessible parts of Siberia. The European coal and iron mines supported and more and more powerful iron industry. The Trans-Siberian Railway completed in 1904 did not firebrand mining of these resources much easier. The roads in Siberia were muddy and impassable f or most of the summer season. The flooding rivers made east-west travels and transportation very difficult. Most routes were disperse only in the winter, when the harsh conditions made movement of people and goods tough. As a result, the country could not enjoy the benefits of the available mineral resources.Although kinsfolk to the worlds second largest population, the 174 million people were not united. still 40% belonged to the motherland, the rest was made up almost 20 different other nationalities and several other smaller groups. Most people lived below the standards of other European nations.