In stark contrast to the grasslands and deserts of the Volga Delta region are the beautiful subtropical forests of the western Caucasus Black Sea coast.

South of the semidesert is the true desert, where vegetation is scant and species limited.

The steppe grassland blends southward into the semidesert.

South of the wooded steppe is the true steppe, a continuous belt of short grasses that extends from western Russia to southwest Siberia and Kazakhstan.

Between the mixed and deciduous forests and the taiga of the north, and the semidesert and desert vegetal bands of the south, lies a vast expanse of wooded steppe and steppe grasslands.

South of the taiga, in the western portion of the Russian cultural realm, is a wedge of mixed and deciduous forests.

The tundra is a belt of distinctive plants and shrubs that forms a continuous strip from the Norwegian border to the Kamchatka Peninsula.

Vladimir Köppen believed that the natural vegetation native to an area reflects the total physical environment of that place.

Russia also has other complex climatic regions.

The BW, or very dry desert climate, characterizes areas north of the Caspian Sea.

The BS or dry steppe climates are found in a belt south of the forests of southern Russia.

C climates are the mildest found in Russia.

D climates with short summers and long, severe winters characterize most of Russia.

The ET or tundra climate is found along Russia’s Arctic coast, from the Norwegian border to the Bering Strait that separates Russia from Alaska.

The landscape of Russia is impacted greatly by its climate. In particular, temperature extremes characterize Russia’s weather.

Throughout the past century, Russia and the United States have been at the center of world political and economic events. In 1904–05, Russia fought Japan in the Russo-Japanese War.

A BROAD AREA WHERE two tectonic plates are colliding is a zone of convergence. An area where plates are moving apart is a zone of divergence.

ZIMBABWE IS a landlocked country in southern Africa. It is bordered by South Africa, Mozambique, Botswana, and Zambia.

ZAMBIA IS LOCATED in central Africa and is slightly larger than the state of Texas. It is completely landlocked, with the Zambezi River forming a natural boundary between Zambia and Zimbabwe to the south.

THE ZAGROS MOUNTAINS are a complex chain of mountains and ridges in the westernmost part of Iran.

ZAGREB IS THE capital of Croatia, and it is emerging as one of the leading cities of the regeneration of the Balkan Peninsula.

THE YUCÁTAN PENINSULA is made up of three states: Campeche, Quintana Roo, and Yucatán, which also include major resort areas such as Cancún, Cozumel, and Playa del Carmen.

THE YENISEY AND ANGARA rivers form a dividing line between western and eastern Siberia. Like the other major rivers of the region, they flow from highlands in the south across the flat north Siberian plains to the Arctic Ocean.

YEMEN, NO MATTER how it is defined or what its current political structure, has always controlled the southwestern tip of the Arabian Peninsula—the Bab el Mandeb choke point to and from the Red Sea.

THE XINJIANG UYGUR Autonomous Region (eastern Turkistan) is one of the China’s five autonomous regions and the largest provincial division.

BIOGEOGRAPHERS AND ecologists usually classify plants according to their water needs. Since the global distribution of water varies from dry to wet, plants also vary in their adaptation to the availability of water.

Wyoming is one of the Rocky Mountain states located in the west-central United States. Rectangular in shape, it is bordered by Montana to the north, South Dakota and Nebraska to the east, Colorado and Utah to the south and Idaho to the west.