The largest state in the world - the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics occupied the sixth of the planet. The area of the USSR is forty percent of Eurasia. The Soviet Union was 2.3 times larger than the United States and quite a bit smaller than the continent of North America. The area of the USSR is a large part of the north of Asia and the east of Europe. About a quarter of the territory was in the European part of the world, the remaining three quarters were in Asia. The main area of the USSR was occupied by Russia: three quarters of the entire country.
The largest lakes
In the USSR, and now in Russia, is the deepest and cleanest lake in the world - Lake Baikal. This is the largest freshwater reservoir created by nature, with unique fauna and flora. Not for nothing that people have long called this lake the sea. It is located in the center of Asia, where the border of the Republic of Buryatia and the Irkutsk region passes, and stretches for six hundred twenty kilometers with a giant crescent. The bottom of Lake Baikal is 1167 meters below the sea level, and its mirror is 456 meters higher. Depth - 1642 meters.
Another lake in Russia - Ladoga - is the largest in Europe. It belongs to the basin of the Baltic (sea) and Atlantic (ocean), the northern and eastern shores are in the Republic of Karelia, and the western, southern and southeastern ones are in the Leningrad Region. The area of Lake Ladoga in Europe, like the area of the USSR in the world, has no equal - 18,300 square kilometers.
The largest rivers
The longest river in Europe is the Volga. It is so long that the peoples inhabiting its shores gave it different names. It flows in the European part of the country. This is one of the largest waterways in the world. In Russia, a huge part of the territory adjacent to it is called the Volga region. Its length was 3690 kilometers, and the catchment area - 1 360 000 square kilometers. Four cities with a population of more than a million people are located on the Volga - Volgograd, Samara (Kuibyshev in the USSR), Kazan, Nizhny Novgorod (Gorky in the USSR).
In the period from the 30s to the 80s of the twentieth century, eight huge hydroelectric power plants were built on the Volga - part of the Volga-Kama cascade. The river flowing in Western Siberia is the Ob still more full-flowing, although a little shorter. Starting in Altai from the confluence of Biya and Katun, it runs 3650 kilometers across the country to the Kara Sea, and its catchment basin is 2,990,000 square kilometers. In the southern part of the river is the man-made Ob Sea, formed during the construction of the Novosibirsk hydroelectric station, the place is surprisingly beautiful.
The territory of the USSR
The western part of the USSR occupied more than half of all Europe. But if we take into account the entire area of the USSR before the collapse of the country, the territory of the western part amounted to only a quarter of the entire country. The population was nevertheless significantly higher: only twenty-eight percent of the country's inhabitants settled on the entire vast eastern territory.
In the west, between the Ural and Dnieper rivers, the Russian Empire was born and it was here that all the prerequisites for the emergence and prosperity of the Soviet Union appeared. Before the collapse of the country, the area of the USSR changed several times: some territories, for example, Western Ukraine and Western Belarus, the Baltic States, joined. Gradually, the largest agricultural and industrial enterprises were organized in the eastern part, due to the presence there of diverse and richest minerals.
Frontier Length
The borders of the USSR, since our country is still now, after the separation of the fourteen republics, the largest in the world, extremely long - 62,710 kilometers. From the west, the Soviet Union stretched east for ten thousand kilometers - ten time zones from the Kaliningrad region (Curonian Spit) to Ratmanov Island in the Bering Strait.
From south to north, the USSR ran for five thousand kilometers - from Kushka to Cape Chelyuskin. By land, I had to border with twelve countries - six of them in Asia (Turkey, Iran, Afghanistan, Mongolia, China and North Korea), six in Europe (Finland, Norway, Poland, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Romania). The USSR had sea borders only with Japan and the USA.
Frontier Wide
From the north to the south of the USSR, it stretches for 5000 km from Cape Chelyuskin in the Taimyr Autonomous Okrug of the Krasnoyarsk Territory to the Central Asian city of Kushka, Mary Region, Turkmen SSR. By land, the USSR bordered on 12 countries: 6 in Asia (DPRK, PRC, Mongolia, Afghanistan, Iran and Turkey) and 6 in Europe (Romania, Hungary, Czechoslovakia, Poland, Norway and Finland).
By sea, the USSR bordered on two countries - the United States and Japan. The country was washed by the twelve seas of the Arctic, Pacific and Atlantic oceans. The Thirteenth Sea is the Caspian Sea, although in all respects it is a lake. That is why two-thirds of the borders were located on the seas, because the area of the former USSR had the longest coastline in the world.
Republic of the USSR: association
In 1922, at the time of the formation of the USSR, it included four republics - the Russian SFSR, the Ukrainian SSR, the Belarusian SSR and the Transcaucasian SFSR. Further, delimitation and replenishment took place. In Central Asia, the Turkmen and Uzbek SSR were formed (1924), there were six republics within the USSR. In 1929, the autonomous republic located in the RSFSR was transformed into the Tajik SSR, of which there were already seven. In 1936, Transcaucasia was divided: three union republics were allocated from the federation: Azerbaijan, Armenian and Georgian SSR.
Then, two more Central Asian autonomous republics that were part of the RSFSR were separated as the Kazakh and Kyrgyz SSR. Total republics became eleven. In 1940, several more republics were admitted to the USSR, and there were sixteen of them: the Moldavian SSR, the Lithuanian SSR, the Latvian SSR and the Estonian SSR joined the country. Tuva joined in 1944, but the SSR Tuva Autonomous Region did not. The Karelian-Finnish SSR (ASSR) changed its status several times, so the republics became fifteen in the 60s. In addition, there are documents according to which Bulgaria asked to join the ranks of the Union republics, but the request of Comrade Todor Zhivkov was not granted.
Republic of the USSR: collapse
From 1989 to 1991, the so-called parade of sovereignty took place in the USSR. Six out of fifteen republics refused to join the new federation - the Union of Soviet Sovereign Republics and declared independence (Lithuanian SSR, Latvian, Estonian, Armenian and Georgian), as well as the Moldavian SSR announced the transition to independence. With all this, a number of autonomous republics decided to remain part of the union. These are Tatar, Bashkir, Chechen-Ingush (all - Russia), South Ossetia and Abkhazia (Georgia), Transnistria and Gagauzia (Moldova), Crimea (Ukraine).
Collapse
But the collapse of the USSR took a landslide character, and in 1991 almost all the Union republics declared independence. The Confederation also failed to create, although Russia, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan and Belarus decided to conclude such an agreement.
Then Ukraine held a referendum on independence and the three founding republics signed the Bialowieza agreement on the dissolution of the confederation, creating the CIS (Commonwealth of Independent States) at the level of an interstate organization. The RSFSR, Kazakhstan and Belarus did not declare independence and did not hold referenda. Kazakhstan, however, did this afterwards.
Georgian SSR
It was formed in February 1921 under the name of the Georgian Soviet Socialist Republic. Since 1922, it was part of the Transcaucasian SFSR as part of the USSR, and only in December 1936 it directly became one of the republics of the Soviet Union. The Georgian SSR included the South Ossetian Autonomous Region, the Abkhaz Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic, the Adzharian Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic. In the 70s, a dissident movement under the leadership of Zviad Gamsakhurdia and Mirab Kostava was intensified in Georgia. Perestroika brought new leaders to the Communist Party of Georgia, they lost the election.
South Ossetia and Abkhazia declared independence, but this did not suit Georgia, the invasion began. Russia took part in this conflict on the side of Abkhazia and South Ossetia. In 2000, a visa-free regime was canceled between Russia and Georgia. In 2008 (August 8), a “five-day war” took place, as a result of which the Russian president signed decrees recognizing the republics of Abkhazia and South Ossetia as sovereign and independent states.
Armenia
The Armenian SSR was formed in November 1920, at first it also belonged to the Transcaucasian Federation, and in 1936 it was separated and directly became part of the USSR. Armenia is located in the south of Transcaucasia, it borders with Georgia, Azerbaijan, Iran and Turkey. The area of Armenia is 29,800 square kilometers, the population is 2,493,000 people (1970 census of the USSR ). The capital of the republic is Yerevan, the largest city among twenty-three (comparing with 1913, when there were only three cities in Armenia, one can imagine the volume of construction and the scale of development of the republic during its Soviet existence).
In thirty-four districts, in addition to cities, twenty-eight new urban-type settlements were built. The terrain is mostly mountainous and harsh, so almost half of the population lived in the Ararat Valley, which makes up only six percent of the total territory. The population density is very high everywhere - 83.7 people per square kilometer, and up to four hundred people in the Ararat Valley. In the USSR, there was great crowding only in Moldova. Favorable climatic and geographical conditions also attracted people to the shores of Lake Sevan and to the Shirak Valley. Sixteen percent of the republic’s territory is not covered by the permanent population at all, because it is impossible to live for a long time at altitudes of more than 2500 above sea level. After the collapse of the country, the Armenian SSR, already being free Armenia, went through several very difficult ("dark") years of blockade by Azerbaijan and Turkey, the confrontation with which has a long history.
Belarus
The Byelorussian SSR was located in the west of the European part of the USSR, bordering Poland. The area of the republic is 207,600 square kilometers, the population is 9,371,000 as of January 1976. The national composition according to the 1970 census: 7,290,000 Belarusians, the rest was divided by Russians, Poles, Ukrainians, Jews and a very small number of people of other nationalities.
Density - 45.1 people per square kilometer. The largest cities: the capital is Minsk (1,189,000 inhabitants), Gomel, Mogilev, Vitebsk, Grodno, Bobruisk, Baranovichi, Brest, Borisov, Orsha. In Soviet times, new cities appeared: Salihorsk, Zhodino, Novopolotsk, Svetlogorsk and many others. In total, there are ninety-six cities and one hundred and nine urban-type settlements in the republic.
The nature is mostly flat type, in the northwest stretch moraine hills (Belorusskaya ridge), south under the swamps of the Belarusian Polesie. There are many rivers, the main ones are the Dnieper with Pripyat and Sozh, the Neman, the Western Dvina. In addition, there are more than eleven thousand lakes in the republic. Forest occupies a third of the territory, mostly coniferous.
History of the Belarusian SSR
Soviet power was established in Belarus almost immediately after the October Revolution, followed by occupation: first German (1918), then Polish (1919-1920). In 1922, the BSSR was already part of the USSR, and in 1939 it reunited with Western Belarus, torn away by Poland in connection with the treaty. In 1941, the socialist society of the republic rose completely to fight against the fascist-German invaders: partisan detachments operated throughout the territory (there were 1255 of them, almost four hundred thousand people participated in them). Since 1945, Belarus has been a member of the UN.
Communist construction after the war was very successful. The BSSR was awarded two Orders of Lenin, Orders of Friendship of Peoples and the October Revolution. From an agrarian poor country, Belarus turned into a prosperous and industrial one, which established close ties with the rest of the Union republics. In 1975, the level of industrial production exceeded the level of 1940 twenty-one times, and the level of 1913 - one hundred and sixty-six. Heavy industry, mechanical engineering developed. Power plants were built: Berezovskaya, Lukomlskaya, Vasilevichskaya, Smolevichskaya. The peat fuel industry (the oldest in the industry) has grown in the oil and refining sectors.
Industry and living standards of the population of the BSSR
By the seventies of the twentieth century, mechanical engineering was represented by machine-tool industry, tractor engineering (the well-known Belarus tractor), automotive engineering (the giant Belaz, for example), and radio electronics. The chemical industry, food, light, developed and strengthened. The standard of living in the republic rose steadily, for ten years from 1966, national income grew two and a half times, and real income per capita almost doubled. Retail trade turnover of cooperative and state trade (with public catering) has become ten times more.
In 1975, the amount of deposits in savings banks reached almost three and a half billion rubles (in 1940 there were seventeen million). The republic became educated; moreover, education has not changed to this day, since it has not departed from the Soviet standard. The world praised such loyalty to the principles: colleges and universities of the republic attract a huge number of foreign students. Two languages are used here equally: Belarusian and Russian.