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Kaliningrad Oblast

Kaliningrad Oblast

Kaliningrad Oblast (), informally called Yantarny kray (, meaning Amber region) is a federal subject of Russia (an oblast) on the Baltic coast, with no land connection to the rest of Russia; it is a non-contiguous exclave of Russia surrounded by Lithuania, Poland and the Baltic Sea. As Lithuania and Poland both are members of the European Union and NATO, the oblast is as well surrounded by territories of these organizations. It is the westernmost part of Russia. Its largest city is Kaliningrad (formerly Königsberg), which has historical significance as both a major city of Prussia and the capital of the former German province East Prussia, of which the region remains the core remnant.
- Population: 968,200 (2004) 2004.]]

Politics

The incumbent governor (since 2005) of the Kaliningrad Oblast is Georgy Valentinovich Boos. Up till then, Vladimir Yegorov was the governor.

History

Prussian people

Vladimir Yegorov A thousand years ago this area was inhabited by Prussian tribes of Baltic origin (not to be confused with "East Prussian", a later term meaning German people coming from this area). At this time the current capital Kaliningrad was a town known as Tvanksta. The indigenous Prussians were pagans and the Teutonic order entered the area under the pretext of spreading Christianity. According to the Teutonic chronicles, the centre of Baltic paganism, which was also adhered to by the Lithuanians, Samogitians and various other Baltic nations, was a sacred wood known as Romuva (by XVIII century scribbling and later interpretation close to Roman word "Rome" or by XX centurry linguistic research to baltic stem "rom-us, rom-ybė" - "Romovė" (quiet, sacred place) in the Prussian lands. This may well have been inaccurate because unlike Christianity the baltic religion had no central authority. Altough this is still not surely proven (nevertheless serious attempts exists), and might have varied at different times, as with Christianity throughout history.

Teutonic Order State

Unlike other Baltic nations, the Prussians were unable to establish their own state and thus their lands were quickly overrun by the Teutonic Knights and formed the bulk of the Teutonic Order State. Germans colonized many cities and the German language was dominant in government affairs. The Latvians were also colonised by the order. The Prussians had more nationalistic tendencies, which led to several organised revolts against the Teutonic Order, including the famous revolt led by Herkus Mantas. These uprisings ultimately failed, resulting in the eventual destruction of the original Prussian culture, as the nation became thoroughly Germanised. The Prussian language is known to have survived into the early modern period (16th and 17th centuries) as some Bibles from these periods (after the Protestant Reformation) were written in the Prussian language for people who did not speak German. The west of Königsberg was a centre for this language before it eventually died out. In the 13th century the Teutonic Order as well conquered what is now eastern half of the Kaliningrad Oblast - that area was previously ruled by the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. Warfare between the Order and the Grand Duchy, however, continued for several centuries (with some interruptions), and many battles took place in this area. The Second Treaty of Thorn in 1466 left western Prussia under Polish control under the name of "Royal Prussia", while the knights retained control of eastern Prussia, although it became a Polish fief. In 1525, the Order's Grand Master secularised the Prussian branch of the Teutonic Order and established himself as the Duke of Prussia and as a vassal of the Polish crown.

East Prussia

vassal Gradually, Ducal Prussia passed to the electors of Brandenburg, forming Brandenburg-Prussia. The elector-dukes freed themselves of their Polish vassaldom in the Treaty of Wehlau in 1660. They established the Albertina University, one of the most important centres of German-language education, in Königsberg (1544). The Hohenzollern dynasty transformed their state into the Kingdom of Prussia in 1701 and annexed an area of Poland known as Warmia in 1773. Prussian kings were crowned at Königsberg Castle, although the area was briefly overrun by Russians during the Seven Years' War. By this point Lithuanians made up the majority of the population in more than a half of what is currently Kaliningrad Oblast (eastern part of it) and significant minorities elsewhere. As a result this area was sometimes called Lithuania Minor. It was, however, not a part of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania (only the eastern half of what is now Kaliningrad Oblast was briefly ruled by the Grand Duchy of Lithuania in the 13th century, but then conquered it was by the Teutons). The Lithuanians living in Lithuania Minor (Lietuvininks) were Lutherans and not Catholics like Lithuanians in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. The four counties where Lithuanian was spoken were referred to collectively as the Lithuanian province ([http://www.istorija.net/kleinlitauen/images/kleinlitauen2.jpg map]). In this province church sermons were predominantly preached in Lithuanian; there were Lithuanian schools as well, but the number of them decreased over time (due to the Germanisation and government regulations). Germans formed a strong majority in the city of Königsberg and the areas around it. Curonian spit and some villages in the east of the Curonian lagoon as well as ones on the coast of the Baltic Sea were inhabited by the Courlandians. Since Germans had been the ruling ethnic group in East Prussia since the conquest of the area by the Teutonic Order, the German language was primarily used by the government. Other nationalities, despite inhabiting large chunks of land, were mostly peasants, while landowners were primarily German. Thus the Lithuanian-speaking areas gradually became Germanised due to the migration of wealthy Germans from other parts of the country into the Lithuanian areas and the fact that the German language was perceived to be more prestigious than Lithuanian. Lithuanian-speaking area was getting smaller over the time; the same could be said about the Courlandian area. In the 18th century Germans already made a majority of population in the southwest of what is now Kaliningrad Oblast and significant minorities in the other parts of the area as well. East Prussia was an important centre of German culture. Many important figures, such as Immanuel Kant, originated from this region. The cities of Kaliningrad Oblast, despite being heavily damaged during World War II and after, still bear the typical German architecture, such as Jugend Style (German form of Art Noveau), which shows the rich German history and cultural importance of the area. Despite the Germanisation, Lithuania Minor remained an important centre of Lithuanian culture. Due to Lutheranism (not as conservative as was Catholicism at the time) being the main religion and as well due to the policies of the government of Prussia, which promoted science, culture and education, Lithuania Minor advanced faster scientifically and culturally than the Grand Duchy of Lithuania (which was a direct part of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth). Thus, the Lithuanian national revival at first happened here rather than in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania (where there were less educated Lithuanians and Polish language was prefered over Lithuanian). First printed books in Lithuanian language were written and published in Koenigsberg in 16th century; the northern half of East Prussia (primarily Koeningsberg and the cities of Lithuania Minor) remained for long the place where the most of books and periodicals written in Lithuanian language were published. The numbers of publications were increasing and they furtherly increased after the Grand Duchy of Lithuania was annexed to Russia (and especially after the use of Lithuanian language in print and public performance was banned by Russian authorities in the mid 19th century) as then the books and periodicals were printed not only for the local market but as well to be smuggled accross the border. The Lithuanian-speaking population continued to diminish due to further Germanisation and in the 20th century Lithuanians made up a majority only in the northeast of what is now Kaliningrad Oblast, the rest of the area becoming predominantly German-speaking. 20th century.]] When the Nazis came to power in Germany in the 1930s they radically altered about a third of the topology of this area by eliminating all names of Polish or Lithuanian origin in 1938.

Kaliningrad Oblast

The Soviet Red Army entered the eastern-most tip of Prussia on August 29 1944. Rumours of massacres committed by the Soviet troops spread panic in the province and caused a mass flight westward. More than 2 million people were evacuated, many of them via the Baltic Sea. The Yalta Conference of world powers assigned northern East Prussia to the Soviet Union. Sir Winston Churchill remarked that "this part of East Prussia is red from the Russian blood liberally shed for the common cause. Therefore the Russians have historical and well grounded claims on this German area" [http://www.pseudology.org/Pobeda/Kenigsberg.htm]. The northernmost part of the assigned area (Klaipėda region, known in German language as Memelland), which was a part of Lithuania in the interwar period and had been occupied by Germany in 1939, was added to Lithuanian SSR. According to some documents written during the administration of Nikita Khrushchev, the Soviet government had planned to make the rest of the area a part of the Lithuanian SSR. The area was administered by the planning committee of LSSR, although the area had its own Party committee. However, the leadership of the Lithuanian SSR (especially Antanas Sniečkus) refused to take the territory mainly because of its devastation in World War II. Instead the region was added to the Russian SFSR and since 1946 it has been known as Kaliningrad Oblast. The Soviet government changed city names into Russian ones and encouraged Russians to migrate to the area along with Ukrainians and Belarusians (see the demography section). After the collapse of the USSR Germans once again began to migrate to the area, especially Volga Germans from other parts of Russia. Almost none of the original Lietuvininks (Lithuanian) population remains in Kaliningrad Oblast. Some Lithuanians were moved into the area from elsewhere after World War II. Ethnic Lithuanians currently comprise 1.9% of the population of Kaliningrad Oblast. During the time of the USSR, the use of the Russian language was heavily promoted. There were no schools that taught in German, Lithuanian or other languages, and few cultural activities for minorities. In recent times the situation has slowly changed as the people of Kaliningrad begin to look back to their past. Germany and Lithuania have renewed contact with Kaliningrad Oblast through twin towns and other projects. This has helped to promote interest in the past and the culture of the East Prussian and Lietuvinink communities.

Administrative divisions

Districts

twin townss).]] Kaliningrad Oblast consists of the following districts (районы):
- Bagrationovsky (Багратионовский)
- Chernyakhovsky (Черняховский)
- Guryevsky (Гурьевский)
- Gusevsky (Гусевский)
- Gvardeysky (Гвардейский)
- Krasnoznamensky (Краснознаменский)
- Nemansky (Неманский)
- Nesterovsky (Нестеровский)
- Ozersky (Озерский)
- Polessky (Полесский)
- Pravdinsky (Правдинский)
- Slavsky (Славский)
- Zelenogradsky (Зеленоградский)

Cities and towns

Main article: List of cities of Kaliningrad Oblast The territory also includes the following towns (old names in italics are German, Polish, and Lithuanian in that order):
- Bagrationovsk (Preußisch Eylau, Iława Pruska, Yluva/Prūsų Ylava)
- Baltiysk (Pillau, Piława, Piliava)
- Chekhovo (Uderwangen, no Polish name, Udravangis)
- Chernyakhovsk (Insterburg, Wystruć, Įsrutis)
- Dobrovolsk (Pillkallen/Schloßberg, no Polish name, Pilkalnis)
- Druzhba (Allenburg, Alembork, Alna/Alenburgas)
- Gusev (Gumbinnen, Gąbin, Gumbinė)
- Gvardeysk (Tapiau, Tapiawa, Tepliava)
- Kalinino (Mehlkehmen/Birkenmühle, Mehlkehmen, Mielkiemis)
- Kamenskoye (Saalau, Żuława, Želvai)
- Krasnolesye (Groß Rominten/Hardteck, Rominty, Raminta)
- Krasnoznamensk (Lasdehnen/Haselberg, no Polish name, Lazdėnai)
- Krylovo (Nordenburg, Nordenburg, Nordenburgas/Ašvėnai)
- Mamonovo (Heiligenbeil, Święta Siekierka, Šventapilis)
- Mayovka (Georgenburg, Sparge, Jurbarkas/Spargė)
- Neman (Ragnit, Ragneta, Ragainė)
- Nesterov (Stallupönen/Ebenrode, Stołupiany, Stalupėnai)
- Ozyorsk (Darkehmen/Angerapp, Darkiejmy, Darkiemis)
- Polessk (Labiau, Labiawa, Labguva)
- Pravdinsk (Friedland, Frydląd, Frydlandas/Romuva)
- Primorsk (Fischhausen, Rybaki, Žuvininkai/Skanavikas)
- Slavsk (Heinrichswalde, Jedrzychowo, Gastos)
- Sovetsk (Tilsit, Tylża, Tilžė)
- Ushakovo (Brandenburg, Pokarmin, Pokarviai)
- Yasnaya Polyana (Trakehnen, Trakenach, Trakėnai)
- Zheleznodorozhny (Gerdauen, Gierdawy, Girdava )
- Znamensk (Wehlau, Welawa, Vėluva)

Demographics

2002

Znamensk are two most important resorts in the oblast. The picture shows an East Prussian town of Cranz (now Zelenogradsk) as it looked in 1920.]] According to the All-Russian Census (2002), the population of the region is 955,300; 78% urban, 22% rural. The Kaliningrad Oblast is the fourth most densely populated oblast in the Russian Federation (62.5 persons per sq.km). 97 nationalities and ethnic groups live in the region, including Russians - 78.1%, Byelorussians - 7.7%, Ukrainians - 7.6%, Lithuanians - 1.9%, Armenians - 0.8%, Germans - 0.6%, Poles - 0.5%.

Symbols

[http://narod.yandex.ru/100.xhtml?kdbg.narod.ru/himn_ko.mp3 Anthem of the Kaliningrad Oblast]

External links

- [http://www.gov.kaliningrad.ru/ Official site]
- [http://www.euronet.nl/~jlemmens/trakehnen.html Recent photos] taken by Joost Lemmens of the Netherlands shows examples of small towns neglected under the Soviet Union around Kaliningrad Oblast. This site gives the Prussian German town names and the corresponding Russian names after 1945/49. It starts out with the gate of the horse breeding stables in Trakehnen, and hopeful signs of new beginnings for this devastated land.
- [http://www.tilsit.com Kaliningrad oblast Town of Tilsit (now Sovetsk) website in English] Category:Exclaves Category:Oblasts of Russia ko:칼리닌그라드 주 ja:カリーニングラード州

Russia

The Russian Federation (, transliteration: Rossiyskaya Federatsiya or Rossijskaja Federacija), or Russia (Russian: Росси́я, transliteration: Rossiya or Rossija), is a country that stretches over a vast expanse of Europe and Asia. With an area of 17,075,200 km² (6,595,600 mi²), it is the largest country in the world (by land mass), covering almost twice the territory of the next-largest country, Canada. It ranks eighth in the world in population. It shares land borders with the following countries (counter-clockwise from NW to SE): Norway, Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland (only through Kaliningrad Oblast), Belarus, Ukraine, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, China, Mongolia and North Korea. It is also close to the United States and Japan across stretches of water: the Diomede Islands (one controlled by Russia, the other by the United States) are just 3 km apart, and Kunashir Island (controlled by Russia but claimed by Japan) is about 20 kilometers from Hokkaido. Formerly the dominant republic of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR), Russia is now an independent country, and an influential member of the Commonwealth of Independent States, since the Union's dissolution in December 1991. During the Soviet era, Russia was officially called the Russian Soviet Federated Socialist Republic (RSFSR). Russia is usually considered the Soviet Union's successor state in diplomatic matters. Most of the area, population, and industrial production of the Soviet Union, then one of the world's two superpowers, lay in Russia. After the breakup of the USSR, Russia's global role was greatly diminished, and cannot be compared to that of the former Soviet Union. In October 2005, the federal statistics agency reported that Russia's population has shrunk by more than half a million people dipping to 143 million.

History

Ancient Rus

:This section covers the pre-Russ ancient history of present Russia and its early medieval period, which is historically referred to as Ancient Rus. The vast lands of present Russia were home to disunited tribes who were variously overwhelmed by invading Goths, Huns, and Turkish Avars between the third and sixth centuries C.E. The Iranian Scythians populated the southern steppes, and a Turkic people, the Khazars, ruled the western portion of these lands through the 8th century. They in turn were displaced by a group of Scandinavians, the Varangians, who established a capital at the Slavic city of Novgorod and gradually merged with Slavic ruling classes. The Slavs constituted the bulk of the population from the 8th century onwards and slowly assimilated both the Scandinavians as well as native Finno-Ugric tribes, such as the Merya, the Muromians and the Meshchera. Meshchera The Varangian dynasty lasted several centuries, during which they affiliated with the Byzantine, or Orthodox church and moved the capital to Kiev in 1169 A.D. In this era the term "Rhos", or "Russ", first came to be applied to the Varangians and later also to the Slavs who peopled the region. In the 10th to 11th centuries this state of Kievan Rus became the largest in Europe and was quite prosperous, due to diversified trade with both Europe and Asia. Nomadic Turkic people Kipchaks (Polovtsi) conquered southern Russia at the end of 11th century and founded a nomadic state in the steppes along the Black Sea (Desht-e-Kipchak). In the 13th century the area suffered from internal disputes and was overrun by eastern invaders, the Golden Horde of the pagan Mongols and Muslim Turkic-speaking nomads who pillaged the Russian principalities for over three centuries. Also known as the Tatars, they ruled the southern and central expanses of present-day Russia, while its western zone was largely incorporated into the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and Poland. The political dissolution of Kievan Rus divided the Russian people in the north from the Belarusians and Ukrainians in the west. The northern part of Russia together with Novgorod retained some degree of autonomy during the time of the Mongol yoke and was largely spared the atrocities that affected the rest of the country. Nevertheless it had to fight the Germanic crusaders who attempted to colonize the region. Like in the Balkans and Asia Minor long-lasting nomadic rule retarded the country's economic and social development. Asian autocratic influences degraded many of the country's democratic institutions and affected its culture and economy in a very negative way. In spite of this, unlike its spiritual leader, the Byzantine Empire, Russia was able to revive, and organized its own war of reconquest, finally subjugating its enemies and annexing their territories. After the fall of Constantinople in 1453 Russia remained the only more or less functional Christian state on the Eastern European frontier, allowing it to claim succession to the legacy of the Eastern Roman Empire.

Imperial Russia

While still nominally under the domain of the Mongols, the duchy of Moscow began to assert its influence, and eventually tossed off the control of the invaders late in the 14th century. In the beginning of the 16th century the Russian state set the national goal to return all Russian territories lost as a result of the Mongolian invasion and to protect the borderland against attacks of hordes. The noblemen, receiving a manor from the sovereign, were obliged to serve in the army. The manor system became a basis for the nobiliary horse army. The Russian state persistently battled against Nogai-Horde and Crimean khanat which were successors of the Golden Horde. Russians, captivated by nomads, were on sale on Crimean slave markets. In 1571 Crimean khan Devlet-Girei, with a horde of 120 thousand horsemen, devastated Moscow. Annually thousands of Russians became victims of attacks by nomads. Tens of thousand of soldiers protected the southern borderland--a heavy burden for the state--which slowed its social and economic development. Ivan the Great first took the title Tsar (from the Roman Caesar, also written Czar) of Moscow following his marriage to Sofia, a Byzantine Princess (niece of the last Byzantine Emperor) consolidated surrounding areas under Moscow's dominion. At the end of 16 centuries Russian cossacks established the first settlements in Western Siberia. To the middle of 17th century Russian settlements were in Eastern Siberia, on Chukotka, the river Amur, coast of Pacific ocean. In 1648 Cossack Semyon Dezhnev opened the passage between America and Asia. The Russian Empire was born. Russian Empire] Muscovite control of the nascent nation continued after the Polish intervention 1605-1612 under the subsequent Romanov dynasty, beginning with Tsar Michael Romanov in 1613. Peter the Great, who ruled from 1689 to 1725, succeeded in bringing ideas and culture from Western Europe to a Russia which had been affected by primitive nomadic cultures. Catherine the Great, ruling from 1762 to 1796, enhanced this effort, establishing Russia not just as an Asian power, but on an equal footing with Britain, France, and Germany in Europe. She enlarged the Russian territory by the Partitions of Poland. Russia has taken territories with the ethnic Belarus and Ukrainian population, earlier parts of the medieval Kievan Rus'. As a result of victorious Russian-Turkish wars Russia reached to Black sea and has set as the purpose protection of Balkan Christians against a Turkish yoke. In 1783 Russia and Georgian Kingdom (which was almost totally devastated by Persian and Turkish invasions) have signed the treatise of Georgiev according to which Georgia has received protection of Russia. In 1812, having gathered nearly half a million soldiers from France, as well as from all of its vassal states in Europe, Napoleon entered Russia and was defeated by Russian troops. In 1813 Russian army defeated the French armies in Germany. Russia has won in the War of 1877-1878 and Ottoman Empire recognized the independence of Romania, Serbia and Montenegro and autonomy of Bulgaria. Unrest of the peasants and suppression of the growing Intelligentsia were continuing problems however, and on the eve of World War I, the position of Tsar Nicholas II and his dynasty appeared precarious. Repeated devastating defeats of the Russian army in World War I led to widespread rioting in the major cities of the Russian Empire and to the overthrow in 1917 of the Romanovs. At the close of this Russian Revolution of 1917, a Marxist political faction called the Bolsheviks seized power in St. Petersburg and Moscow under the leadership of Vladimir Lenin. The Bolsheviks changed their name to the Communist Party. A bloody civil war ensued, pitting the Bolsheviks' Red Army against a loose confederation of anti-socialist monarchist and bourgeois forces known as the White Army. The Red Army triumphed, and the Soviet Union was formed in 1922.

Russia as part of Soviet Union

The Soviet Union was to be a transnational worker's state free from nationalism, which Leninism teaches is a ruse used by the bourgeoisie to keep the international working classes from realizing their common exploited position and overthrowing the bourgeois. The concept of Russia as a separate national entity was therefore downplayed in the early Soviet Union. Although Russian institutions and cities certainly remained dominant, many non-Russians participated in the new government at all levels. One of these was a Georgian named Joseph Stalin. A brief power struggle ensued after Lenin's death in 1924. Stalin gradually eroded the various checks and balances which had been designed into the Soviet political system and assumed dictatorial power by the end of the decade. Leon Trotsky and almost all other Old Bolsheviks from the time of the Revolution were killed or exiled. As the 1930s began, Stalin launched the Great Purges, a massive series of political repressions. Millions of people who Stalin suspected of being a threat to his power in some way were executed or exiled to Gulag labor camps in remote areas of Siberia. Stalin forced rapid industrialization of the largely rural country and collectivization of its agriculture. Stalin also strengthened Russian dominance within the Soviet Union as he buttressed his own hold on power. In 1928, Stalin introduced his "First Five-Year Plan" for modernizing the Soviet economy. Most economic output was immediately diverted to establishing heavy industry. Civilian industry was modernized and heavy weapon factories established with German and US assistance. The plan worked, in some sense, as the Soviet Union successfully transformed from an agrarian economy to a major industrial powerhouse in an unbelievably short span of time, but widespread misery and famine ensued for many millions of people as a result of the severe economic upheaval. In 1939 the USSR was in strong opposition to nazi Germany, and supported the republicans in Spain who struggled against German and Italian troops. However, in 1938 Germany and the other major European powers signed the Munich treaty. Germany then divided Czechoslovakia with Poland. The Soviet government, being afraid of a German attack to the USSR, began diplomatic maneuvers. In 1939 Poland refused to participate in any measures of collective safety, so the USSR signed the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact with Nazi Germany. On September, 17, 1939, when German armies were within 150 kilometers of the Soviet border, the Soviet army invaded eastern portions of Poland, populated by ethnic Ukrainians and Belorussians. The Soviet Union staged an artillery attack it claimed had come from neighboring Finland, and invaded it in an attempt to secure itself against future invasion by Germany (which Finland had good relations with) and to gain control of the country, separating it from Europe, and most importantly, from Germany. This conflict is now known as the Winter War. The invasion was a slight disappointment as only the eastern parts of Finland (Karelia) were occupied. This lead to Finland allying with Germany in order to gain revenge. Germany and its allies (Hungary, Italy, Finland, Romania) invaded the Soviet Union in 1941. Although the Wehrmacht reached the outskirts of Moscow, the Red Army stopped the Nazi offensive at the Battle of Stalingrad in 1943, which became the decisive turning point for Germany's fortunes in the war. The Soviets drove through Eastern Europe and captured Berlin before Germany surrendered in 1945 (see Great Patriotic War). About 10 million Soviet citizens became victims of the oppressive policies and war crimes of Germany and its allies in the occupied territory. Although ravaged by the war, the Soviet Union emerged from the conflict as an acknowledged great power. The Red Army occupied Eastern Europe after the war, including the eastern half of Germany. Stalin installed loyal Communist governments in these satellite states. During the immediate postwar period, the Soviet Union first rebuilt and then expanded its economy, with control always exerted exclusively from Moscow. The Soviets extracted heavy war reparations from the areas of Germany under their control, mostly in the form of machinery and industrial equipment. The Soviet Union consolidated its hold on eastern Europe (see Eastern bloc). The United States helped the western European countries establish democracies, and both countries sought to achieve economic, political, and ideological dominance over the Third World. The ensuing struggle became known as the Cold War, which turned the Soviet Union's wartime allies, the United Kingdom and the United States, into its foes. Stalin died in early 1953 without leaving any instructions for the selection of a successor. His closest associates officially decided to rule the Soviet Union jointly, but secret police chief Lavrenty Beria appeared poised to seize dictatorial control. General Secretary Nikita Khrushchev organized an anti-Beria alliance and staged a coup d'etat. Beria was arrested in June of 1953 and executed later that year; Khrushchev became the undisputed leader of the USSR. Under Khrushchev, the Soviet Union launched the world's first artificial satellite, Sputnik 1, and Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin became the first person to orbit the earth. Khrushchev's reforms in agriculture and administration, however, were generally unproductive, and foreign policy toward China and the United States suffered reverses, notably the Cuban Missile Crisis, when he began installing nuclear missles in Cuba and nearly provoked a war with the United States. Over the course of several angry outbursts at the United Nations, Khrushchev was increasingly seen by his colleagues as belligerent, boorish, and dangerous. The remainder of the Soviet leadership removed him from power in 1964. Following the ousting of Khrushchev, another period of rule by collective leadership ensued, lasting until Leonid Brezhnev established himself in the early 1970s as the preeminent figure in Soviet political life. Brezhnev is frequently derided by historians for stagnating the development of the Soviet Union. In contrast to the revolutionary spirit that accompanied the birth of the Soviet Union, the prevailing mood of the Soviet leadership at the time of Brezhnev's death in 1982 was one of aversion to change. In the mid and late 1980s, the reform-minded Mikhail Gorbachev came to power. He introduced the landmark policies of glasnost (openness) and perestroika (restructuring), in an attempt to modernize Soviet communism. Glasnost meant that the harsh restrictions on free speech that had characterized most of the Soviet Union's existence were removed, and open political discourse and criticism of the government became possible again. Perestroika meant sweeping economic reforms designed to decentralize the planning of the Soviet economy. However, his initiatives provoked strong resentment amongst conservative elements of the government, and an unsuccessful military coup that attempted to remove Gorbachev from power instead led to the collapse of the Soviet Union. Boris Yeltsin seized power in Russia and declared the end of exclusive Communist rule. The USSR splintered into 15 independent republics, and was officially dissolved in December of 1991 (see History of the Soviet Union (1985-1991)). Since then, Russia has struggled in its efforts to build a democratic political system and a market economy to replace the strict centralized social, political, and economic controls of the Soviet era.

Post-Soviet Russia

market economy Prior to the dissolution of the Soviet Union, Boris Yeltsin had been elected President of Russia in June 1991 in the first direct presidential election in Russian history. In October 1991, as Russia was on the verge of independence, Yeltsin announced that Russia would proceed with radical market-oriented reform along the lines of Poland's "big bang," also known as "shock therapy." After the disintegration of the USSR, the economy of Russia went through a crisis. Outside Russia, in the newly independent states, were most of the nonfreezing ports, consumer goods factories, former Soviet pipelines, and significant numbers of the hi-tech enterprises (including the atomic power station). In Russia there was mainly heavy and military industry. Russia has taken up the responsibility for payment of the USSR's external debts, though its population is 50% of the population of the USSR. The largest state enterprises (a petroleum industry, metallurgy) have been privatized for the small sum of $US 600 million, which is far less than they were worth. Russia's Congress of People's Deputies attempted to impeach Yeltsin on 1993-03-26. Yeltsin's opponents gathered more than 600 votes for impeachment, but fell 72 votes short. On 1993-09-21, Yeltsin disbanded the Supreme Soviet and the Congress of People's Deputies by decree, which was illegal under the constitution. On September 21 there was a military showdown, the Russian constitutional crisis of 1993. With military help, Yeltsin held control. The conflict resulted in a number of civilian casualties, and was resolved in Yeltsin's favor. Elections were held on 1993-12-12. Since the Chechnyan seperatists declared independence in the early 1990s, an intermittent guerrilla war (First Chechen War, Second Chechen War) has been fought between disparate Chechen groups and the Russian military. Some of these groups have become increasingly Islamist over the course of the struggle. It is estimated that over 200,000 people have died in this conflict. Minor conflicts also exist in North Ossetia and Ingushetia. After Yeltsin's presidency in the 1990s, Vladimir Putin was elected in 2000. Under Putin, the intensified state control of the Russian media has raised Western concerns over Russian civil liberties. At the same time, the rising oil prices, tensions, and war in the Middle East have helped increase Russia's revenue from oil production and export, and have stimulated economic expansion. Putin's presidency has shown improvements in the Russian standard of living, as compared to the 1990s; despite acute crises, human rights abuses, and largely criticized government failures.

Politics

The Russian Federation is a federal republic with a president, directly elected for a four-year term, who holds considerable executive power. The president, who resides in the Kremlin, nominates the highest state officials, including the prime minister (or premier), who must be approved by the State Duma, the lower house of Russian parliament, and governors, who must be approved by regional legislatures. The president can pass decrees (executive orders) without consent from Parliament and is also head of the armed forces and of the Russian National Security Council. Russia's bicameral parliament, the Federal Assembly (Russian: Федеральное Собрание, English transliteration: Federalnoye Sobraniye) consists of an upper house known as the Federation Council (Совет Федерации, Sovet Federatsii), composed of 178 delegates, which are appointed by executive and legislative bodies of each of 89 federal subjects for the term of four or five years, and a lower house known as the State Duma (Государственная Дума, Gosudarstvennaya Duma), comprising 450 deputies also serving a four-year term, of which 225 are elected by direct popular vote from single member constituencies and 225 are elected by proportional representation from nation-wide party lists. From the next elections, which are to be held in December 2007, all 450 members of the Duma will be elected from party lists.

Subdivisions

:See also: Federal districts of Russia, Federal subjects of Russia, Republics of Russia, Oblasts of Russia, Krais of Russia, Autonomous Oblasts of Russia, Autonomous Districts of Russia, Federal cities of Russia. Federal cities of Russia The Russian Federation consists of a great number of different federal subjects, making a total of 88 constituent components. There are 21 republics within the federation that enjoy a high degree of autonomy on most issues and these correspond to some of Russia's ethnic minorities. The remaining territory consists of 48 oblasts (provinces) and 7 krais (territories), as well as 9 autonomous okrugs (autonomous districts), and 1 autonomous oblast. Beyond these there are two federal cities (Moscow and St. Petersburg). Recently, seven extensive federal districts (four in Europe, three in Asia) have been added as a new layer between the above subdivisions and the national level.

Geography
federal districts The Russian Federation stretches across much of the north of the supercontinent of Eurasia. Although it contains a large share of the world's Arctic and sub-Arctic areas, and therefore has less population, economic activity, and physical variety per unit area than most countries, the great area south of these still accommodates a great variety of landscapes and climates. Most of Russia is in zones of a continental and Arctic climate. Russia is the coldest country of the world. Mid-annual temperature is −5,5 °C (for comparison, in Iceland +1,2 °C, in Sweden +4 °C). Most of the land consists of vast plains, both in the European part and the Asian part that is largely known as Siberia. These plains are predominantly steppe to the south and heavily forested to the north, with tundra along the northern coast. The permafrost (areas of Siberia and the Far East) occupies more than half of territory of Russia. Mountain ranges are found along the southern borders, such as the Caucasus (containing Mount Elbrus, Russia's and Europe's highest point at 5,633 m) and the Altai, and in the eastern parts, such as the Verkhoyansk Range or the volcanoes on Kamchatka. The more central Ural Mountains, a north-south range that form the primary divide between Europe and Asia, are also notable. Russia has an extensive coastline of over 37,000 km along the Arctic and Pacific Oceans, as well as more or less inland seas such as the Baltic, Black and Caspian seas. Some smaller bodies of water are part of the open oceans; the Barents Sea, White Sea, Kara Sea, Laptev Sea and East Siberian Sea are part of the Arctic, whereas the Bering Sea, Sea of Okhotsk and the Sea of Japan belong to the Pacific Ocean. Major islands found in them include Novaya Zemlya, the Franz-Josef Land, the New Siberian Islands, Wrangel Island, the Kuril Islands and Sakhalin. (See List of islands of Russia). Many rivers flow across Russia. See Rivers of Russia. Major lakes include Lake Baikal, Lake Ladoga and Lake Onega. See List of lakes in Russia.
Borders
The most practical way to describe Russia is as a main part (a large contiguous portion with its off-shore islands) and an exclave (at the southeast corner of the Baltic Sea). The main part's borders and coasts (starting in the far northwest and proceeding counter-clockwise) are:
- borders with the following countries: Norway and Finland,
- a short coast on the Baltic Sea, facing eight other countries on its shores from Finland to Estonia and including the port of St. Petersburg,
- borders with Estonia, Latvia, Belarus, and Ukraine,
- a coast on the Black Sea, facing five other countries on its shores from Ukraine to Georgia,
- borders with Georgia and Azerbaijan,
- a coast on the Caspian Sea, facing four other countries on its shores from Azerbaijan to Kazakhstan,
- borders with Kazakhstan, China, Mongolia, and North Korea,
- an extensive coastline that provides access with all the maritime nations of the world, and stretches
- from the North Pacific Ocean including
- the Sea of Japan (where the west shore of Russia's Sakhalin lies),
- the Sea of Okhotsk (where the east shore of Sakhalin and its Kurile Islands lie), and
- the Bering Sea,
- through the Bering Strait (where its minor island of Big Diomede is separated by only a few miles from Little Diomede, a part of the US state of Alaska),
- to the Arctic Ocean, including
- the Chukchi Sea (where the south and east shores of its Wrangel Island lie),
- the East Siberian Sea (where its west shore, and the east shores of its New Siberian Islands lie),
- the Laptev Sea (where their west shores lie),
- the Kara Sea (where the east shore of its Novaya Zemlya lies),
- the Barents Sea (where their west shore, the south shores of its Franz-Josef Land the port of Murmansk and important naval facilities lie, and where the White Sea reaches far inland). The exclave, constituted by the Kaliningrad Oblast,
- shares borders with
- Poland to its south and
- Lithuania to its north and east, and
- has a northwest coast on the Baltic Sea. The Baltic and Black Sea coasts of Russia have less direct and more constrained access to the high seas than its Pacific and Arctic ones, but both are nevertheless important for that purpose. The Baltic gives immediate access with the nine other countries sharing its shores, and between the main part of Russia and its Kaliningrad Oblast exclave. Via the straits that lie within Denmark, and between it and Sweden, the Baltic connects to the North Sea and the oceans to its west and north. The Black Sea gives immediate access with the five other countries sharing its shores, and via the Dardanelles and Marmora straits adjacent to Istanbul, Turkey, to the Mediterranean Sea with its many countries and its access, via the Suez Canal and the Straits of Gibraltar, to the Atlantic and Indian Oceans. The salt waters of the Caspian Sea, the world's largest lake, afford no access with the high seas.
Spatial extent
The two most widely separated points in Russia are about 8,000 km (5000 mi) apart along a geodesic (i.e. shortest line between two points on the Earth's surface). These points are: the boundary with Poland on a 60-km-long (40-mi-long) spit of land separating the Gulf of Gdańsk from the Vistula Lagoon; and the farthest southeast of the Kurile Islands, a few miles off Hokkaido Island, Japan. However, this is confusing because the points which are furthest separated in longitude are "only" 6,600 km (4,100 mi) apart along a geodesic. These points are: in the West, the same spit; in the East, the Big Diomede Island (Ostrov Ratmanova). It is also often mentioned that the Russian federation spans eleven time zones.
Cities
As of 2005 Russia has 13 cities with over a million inhabitants (from largest to smallest): Moscow, Saint Petersburg, Novosibirsk, Yekaterinburg, Nizhny Novgorod, Samara, Omsk, Kazan, Chelyabinsk, Rostov-on-Don, Ufa, Volgograd and Perm. See also: List of cities in Russia
Economy
More than a decade after the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, Russia is now trying to establish a market economy and achieve more consistent economic growth. Russia saw its comparatively developed centrally-planned economy contract severely for five years, as the executive and legislature dithered over the implementation of reforms and Russia's industrial base faced a serious decline. Moreover, an emergency livestock shortage in 1987, which triggered large-scale international aid, severely bruised the ego, as well as the economy, of the emerging Russian state. After the breakup of the USSR, Russia's first slight recovery, showing the signs of open-market influence, occurred in 1997. That year, however, Asian financial crisis culminated in the August depreciation of the ruble in 1998, a debt default by the government, and a sharp deterioration in living standards for most of the population. Consequently, the year 1998 was marked by recession and intense capital flight. Nevertheless, the economy started recovering in 1999. Then it entered a phase of rapid economic expansion, the GDP growing by an average of 6.7% annually in 1999-2005 on the back of higher petroleum prices, weaker ruble, and increasing service production and industrial output. The economic development of the country, however, has been extremely uneven: the capital region of Moscow contributes a third to the country's GDP having only a tenth of its population. The recent recovery, made possible due to high world oil prices, along with a renewed government effort in 2000 and 2001 to advance lagging structural reforms, has raised business and investor confidence over Russia's prospects in its second decade of transition. Russia remains heavily dependent on exports of commodities, particularly oil, natural gas, metals, and timber, which account for about 80% of exports, leaving the country vulnerable to swings in world prices. In recent years, however, the economy has also been driven by growing internal consumer demand that has increased by over 12% annually in 2000-2005, showing the strengthening of its own internal market. The country's GDP shot up to reach €1.2 trillion ($1.5 trillion) in 2004, making it the ninth largest economy in the world and the fifth largest in Europe. If the current growth rate is sustained, the country is expected to become the second largest European economy after Germany (€1.9 trillion or $2.3 trillion) and the sixth largest in the world within a few years. The greatest challenge facing the Russian economy is how to encourage the development of SME (small and medium sized enterprises) in a business climate with a young and dysfunctional banking system, dominated by Russian oligarchs. Many of Russia's banks are owned by entrepreneurs or oligarchs, who often use the deposits to lend to their own businesses. The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development and the World Bank have attempted to kick-start normal banking practices by making equity and debt investments in a number of banks, but with very limited success. Other problems include disproportional economic development of Russia's own regions. While the huge capital region of Moscow is a bustling, affluent metropolis living on the cutting edge of technology with a per capita income rapidly approaching that of the leading Eurozone economies, much of the country, especially its indigenous and rural communities in Asia, lags significantly behind. Market integration is nonetheless making itself felt in some other sizeable cities such as Saint Petersburg, Kaliningrad, and Ekaterinburg, and recently also in the adjacent rural areas. Encouraging foreign investment is also a major challenge due to legal, some cultural, linguistic, economic and political peculiarities of the country. Nevertheless, there have been significant inflow of capital in recent years from many European investors attracted by cheaper land, labor and higher growth rates than in the rest of Europe. Amazingly high levels of education and societal involvement achieved by the majority of the population, including women and minorities, secular attitudes, mobile class structure, better integration of various minorities in the mainstream culture set Russia far apart from the majority of the so-called developing and even some developed nations. So far, the country is also benefiting from rising oil prices and has been able to pay off much of its formerly huge debt. Equal redistribution of capital gains from the natural resource industries to other sectors is also a problem. Still, since 2003, exports of natural resources started decreasing in economic importance as the internal market has strengthened considerably largely stimulated by intense construction, as well as consumption of increasingly diverse goods and services. Yet teaching customers and encouraging consumer spending is a relatively tough task for many provincial areas where consumer demand is primitive, although some laudable progress has already been made in larger cities especially in clothing, food, entertainment industries. The arrest of Russia's wealthiest businessman Mikhail Khodorkovsky on charges of fraud and corruption in relation to the large-scale privatizations organized under then-President Yeltsin has caused many foreign investors to worry about the stability of the Russian economy. Most of the large fortunes currently prevailing in Russia seem to be the product of either acquiring government assets particularly at low costs or gaining concessions from the government. Other countries have expressed concerns and worries at the "selective" application of the law against individual businessmen. However, some international firms are investing heavily in Russia. According to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Russia had nearly $26 billion in cumulative foreign direct investment inflows during the 2001-2004 period (of which $11.7 billion occurred last year alone).
Demographics
Despite its comparatively very high population, Russia has a low average population density due to its enormous size. Population is densest in the European part of Russia, in the Ural Mountains area, and in the south-western parts of Siberia; the south-eastern part of Siberia that meets the Pacific Ocean, known as the Russian Far East, is sparsely populated, with its southern part being densest. The Russian Federation is home to as many as 160 different ethnic groups and indigenous peoples. As of the 2002 census, 79.8% of the population is ethnically Russian, 3.8% Tatar, 2% Ukrainian, 1.2% Bashkir, 1.1% Chuvash, 0.9% Chechen, 0.8% Armenian, and the remaining 10.3% includes those who did not specify their ethnicity as well as (in alphabetical order) Avars, Azerbaijanis, Belarusians, Buryats, Chinese, Evenks, Georgians, Germans, Greeks, Ingushes, Inuit, Jews, Kalmyks, Karelians, Kazakhs, Koreans, Maris, Mordvins, Nenetses, Ossetians, Poles, Tuvans, Udmurts, Uzbeks, Yakuts, and others. Nearly all of these groups live compactly in their respective regions; Russians are the only people significantly represented in every region of the country. The Russian language is the only official state language, but the individual republics have often made their native language co-official next to Russian. Cyrillic alphabet is the only official script, which means that these languages must be written in Cyrillic in official texts. The Russian Orthodox Church is the dominant Christian religion in the Federation; other religions include Islam, various Protestant faiths, Judaism, Roman Catholicism and Buddhism. Division into different religions takes place primarily along ethnic lines: majority of Russians are Orthodox, majority of people of Turkic descent are Muslim, Judaism is very uncommon among non-Jews. Neopaganism is on the rise, especially among Slavic people. See Religion in Russia for more.
Culture

- Cinema of Russia
- List of famous Russians
- Music of Russia
- Russian architecture
- Russian cuisine
- Russian humour
- Russian literature
- List of Russian language poets
- Russian formalism
- Russian folklore
- Russian music
- Russian painting
- Russian theatre
Name
:Main article: Etymology of Rus and derivatives. The name of the country derives from the name of the Rus' people. The origin of the people itself and of their name is a matter of controversy.
Miscellaneous topics

- Communications in Russia
- Education in Russia
- Foreign relations of Russia
- Law of the Russian Federation
- List of Russian companies
- Military of Russia
- Postage stamps and postal history of Russia
- Public holidays in Russia
- Russian Association of Scouts/Navigators
- Tourism in Russia
- Transportation in Russia
References

- The New Columbia Encyclopedia, Col.Univ.Press, 1975
- World Civilizations:The Global Experience, by Peter Stearns, Michael Adas, Stuart Schwartz, and Marc Gilbert
External links

Government resources

- [http://www.duma.ru/ Duma] - Official site of the parliamentary lower house (in Russian)
- [http://www.council.gov.ru/eng/index.html Federative Council] - Official site of the parliamentary upper house
- [http://www.kremlin.ru/eng/ Kremlin] - Official presidential site (in English)
- [http://www.gov.ru/ Gov.ru] - Official governmental portal (in Russian)
- [http://www.russianembassy.org/ Embassy of the Russian Federation to the United States]
- [http://www.eia.doe.gov/emeu/cabs/russia.html Russia Energy Resources and Industry from U.S. Department of Energy]
- [http://travel.state.gov/travel/cis_pa_tw/cis/cis_1006.html U.S. State Department Consular Information Sheet: Russia]
General information

- [http://www.russiaprofile.org/index.wbp Russia Profile]
- [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/country_profiles/1102275.stm Count

Oblast

An oblast (Slavonian verbalism or term, Czech: oblast, Slovak: oblasť, Russian, Ukrainian: о́бласть, Bulgarian: о́бласт) English equivalent area, province or zone. The oblast in Eastern Europe and Russian Federation geographic context is a subnational entity of Bulgaria, the Russian Federation, Ukraine, and the now-defunct Soviet Union. Official terms in other successor states of the Soviet Union differ, but some still use a cognate of the Russian term, e.g. voblast (voblasts, voblasts' ) is used for provinces of Belarus, and oblys (plural: oblystar) for provinces of Kazakhstan. The word is often (and sometimes inaccurately) translated as "province" or "region".

Oblasts in Bulgaria

Since 1999, Bulgaria has been divided into 28 oblasti, usually translated as regions. Before, the country was divided into 9 bigger units, also called oblast. See Regions of Bulgaria.

Oblasts in Soviet Union and its successor countries

In the mentioned post-Soviet republics, oblasts are one step below the national level and further subdivided into districts called raiony (Russian: райо́ны; Ukrainian: райони). A big city may also be a constituent part of oblast (Russian official: город областного подчинения; Ukrainian official: місто обласного підпорядкування) - being at the same level as raion. In the now-extinct Soviet Union, oblasts were two steps below the national level (the higher step being the Soviet Republics). Some oblasts of the Russian SFSR have had a complicated structure including not only raions and cities, but also autonomous entities. The oblasts in other post-Soviet countries are officially called:
- Voblast in Belarus (see: Provinces of Belarus)
- in Lacinka vobłaść
- Oblys in Kazakhstan (see: Provinces of Kazakhstan)
- Oblast in Kyrgyzstan (see: Provinces of Kyrgyzstan)
- Viloyat in Tajikistan (see: Provinces of Tajikistan)
- Welayat in Turkmenistan (see: Provinces of Turkmenistan)
- Viloyat in Uzbekistan (see: Provinces of Uzbekistan) Viloyat and welayat are derived from the Arabic language term wilayah.

Names of particular oblasts

One should note that a name of an oblast does not usually correspond with the name of the respective historical region. Oblasts are purely administrative units without any significant history: all of them have been formed in the middle of the 20th century. Typically, the Soviet/post-Soviet oblasts are named after their capital cities, officially called "oblast centers". The name of each oblast' is usually a relative adjective, formed by adding a feminine suffix to the name of respective center city. E.g. Poltava is the center of the Poltavs'ka oblast'. Exceptions to this rule include:
- Leningradskaya oblast of Russia keeps its Soviet-time name while the respective capital has readopted its historical name Saint-Petersburg.
- Volyns'ka and Zakarpats'ka oblasts of Ukraine retain the names of the respective historical regions (see Volyn and Transcarpathia), while their capital cities are Luts'k and Uzhhorod, respectively.

Political aspects of oblast subdivision

Generally, oblast is the typical subnational entity of a highly-centralized unitary state. Experts believe that Soviet government was applying not only the objective (socio-economic and geographic), but also particular political criteria in forming the oblasts. The administrative borders of several oblasts have sometimes been changed in order to reshuffle the local Communist Party organization, secure "the right" local administration for an industrial company, limit an ethnic activism etc. Such decisions were a Soviet version of the gerrymandering method of affecting a vote.

Recent trends in oblast policy

President Putin of Russia has dramatically reformed the actual status of the country's oblasts. Formally remaining the second level of subdivision, they de facto became included into the large federal districts (Russian: федеральные округа). In attempts to meet new regional socio-economic and political issues, numerous projects are suggested to reform the oblast system in both Russia and Ukraine (mostly aimed to merge particular oblasts or change their borders).

Former Yugoslavia

In the early stages of the Yugoslav wars Serbs declared oblasts (meaning region in Serbian) in Bosnia and Croatia. These oblasts were called Српска Аутономна Област Srpska Autonomna Oblast (SAO, Serbian Autonomous Oblast/Region). Oblast means region, but can also mean district. SAO's in Croatia:
- SAO Krajina
- SAO Eastern Slavonia, Baranja and Western Srem
- SAO Krajina
- SAO Western Slavonia SAO's in Bosnia and Hercegovina (total of 5):
- SAO Bosanska Krajina, sometimes called Autonomous Region Krajina (Autonomna Oblast Krajina)
- SAO Hercegovina
- SAO Romanija

Coast

.]] The coast is defined as the part of the land adjoining or near the ocean. A coastline is properly, a line on a map indicating the disposition of a coast but the word is often used to refer to the coast itself. The adjective, coastal describes something as being on, near or having to do with a coast. Coast is a very specific term and is only applied to that part of an island or continent that borders an ocean or its saltwater tributaries. A pelagic coast refers to a coast which fronts the open ocean, as opposed to a more sheltered coast in a gulf or bay. A shore on the other hand, can refer to parts of the land which adjoin any large body of water, including oceans (sea shore) and lakes (lake shore). Similarly, the somewhat related term bank refers to the land alongside or sloping down to a river (river bank) or of a body of water smaller than a lake. Bank is also used in some parts of the world to refer to an artificial ridge of earth intended to retain the water of a river or pond. In other places this may be called a levee. While many scientific experts might agree on a common definition of the term "coast", the delineation of the inland extents of a coast differ according to jurisdiction, with many scientific and government authorities in various countries differing for economic and social policy reasons. This is usually because defining lands as part of a coast may be seen to have environmental implications which would prevent development or attach regulations to their use.

Environmental importance

The coast and its adjacent areas on and off shore is an important part of a local ecosystem as the mixture of fresh water and salt water in estuaries provides many nutrients for marine life. Salt marshes and beaches also support a diversity of plants, animals, and insects crucial to the food chain. Like the ocean which shapes them, coasts are a dynamic environment with constant change. The earth's natural processes, particularly sea level rise, waves and various weather phenomena, have resulted in the erosion accretion and reshaping of coasts as well as flooding and creation of continental shelves and drowned river valleys (rias).

Human impacts

Coasts also face many environmental challenges relating to human-induced impacts. The human influence on climate change is thought to be a contributing factor of an accelerated trend in sea level rise which threatens coastal habitat as natural systems struggle to adapt faster. Human development of coastal land, particularly for recreational or industrial uses are similarly threatened by sea level rise, but also contribute to aesthetic problems of land use and reduced natural coastal habitat. Pollution is an ongoing concern along coasts with garbage and industrial debris littering beaches and sometimes entire coasts. The transportation of petroleum in tankers is a major hazard both for the open ocean and along coasts, particularly when large oil spills occur. Another major hazard for coastal marine life is the large number of small oil spills created by large and small vessels powered by petroleum which flush bilge water directly into the ocean. Both the terms coast and coastal are often used to describe a geographic location or region. For example, New Zealand's West Coast, or the East and West Coasts of the United States. A large part of the global population inhabits areas near a coast, partly to take advantage of marine resources such as fish, but more importantly to participate in seaborne trade with other nations. Many of the world's major cities that have developed in recent centuries were built on or near good harbours and have large port facilities to take advantage of marine transportation. Jurisdictions which are landlocked and have no coast are often at an economic disadvantage with overseas trade being more difficult; sometimes being forced to go to extravagant measures such as building canals to permit ocean-going vessels to travel inland. Coasts, especially those with beaches and warm water are also an important draw for tourists. In many island nations such as those of the Mediterranean, South Pacific and Caribbean, tourism by those who come to enjoy the coast is central to the economy. Coasts are popular destinations because of recreational activities such as swimming, fishing, surfing, boating, and sun bathing. Many tourists and residents also enjoy the salt air by the sea coast which some consider to have health benefits. Coastal weather is heavily influenced by the ocean and while this can sometimes result in dangerous storms such as Nor'easters and hurricanes, the coastal climate is often cooler and more temperate than corresponding inland areas. Consequently tourists from areas experiencing extremely warm and humid weather seek coastal areas for these reasons. The coast, especially for isolated nations such as Japan, the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Canada or the United States is often a crucial defensive frontier, both for warding off military invaders but also smugglers and illegal migrants. Coastal defenses have thus long been erected in many nations. Most coastal countries also have a navy and some form of coast guard.

Types of coast

- emergent coastline - coast has risen or sea level has fallen from previous level.
- submergent coastline - coast has fallen or sea level has risen from previous level.
- concordant coastline - rock bands run parallel to shore.
- discordant coastline - rock bands run perpendicular to shore.

History

Main article: History of Lithuania First mentioned in a medieval German manuscript, the Quedlinburg Chronicle, on February 14 1009, Lithuania became a significant state in the Middle Ages. The official crowning of Mindaugas as King of Lithuania in Voruta on July 6 1253 marked Lithuania's birth, as warring dukes united to support his reign. Later, during Gediminas' conquests, the nation grew into the independent, multi-ethnic Grand Duchy of Lithuania, which joined the lands of modern Belarus and Ukraine. By the 15th century, the Grand Duchy stretched across Eastern Europe from the Baltic to the Black Sea. When Grand Duke Jogaila was crowned King of Poland on February 2, 1386, Lithuania and Poland became unified under one monarch. In 1569, Poland and Lithuania formally merged into a single state called the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. This union remained in place until the adoption of the May Constitution of 1791, which abolished all subdivisions of the states and merged them into the Kingdom of Poland. In 1795, this new state was soon dissolved by the third Partition of Poland, which ceded its lands to Russia, Prussia and Austria. On February 16, 1918, Lithuania re-established its independence in severely limited territories that had been designated Lithuanian, with non-Lithuanian areas of the Grand Duchy that had fallen to the Soviet Union remaining under Soviet control. From the outset, territorial disputes with Poland (over the Vilnius region and the Suvalkai region) and Germany (over the Klaipėda region, German: Memelland) plagued the new nation. During the interwar period, the constitutional capital of Lithuania was Vilnius, although the city itself was then ocupied by Polish (see History of Vilnius for more details). The Lithuanian government at the time was seated in Kaunas, which officially held the status of temporary capital. In 1940, at the height of World War II, the Soviet Union occuppied and annexed Lithuania in accordance with the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact. It later came under German occupation, during which time 90% of Lithuanian Jews were killed, one of the worst death rates of the Holocaust. Ultimately Lithuania fell again to the Soviet Union in 1945. Fifty years of communist rule ended with the advent of glasnost, and Lithuania, led by Sąjūdis, an anti-communist and anti-Soviet independence movement, proclaimed its renewed independence on March 11, 1990. Lithuania was the first Soviet republic to do so, though Soviet forces unsuccessfully tried until August 1991 to suppress this secession, including an incident at Vilnius' TV Tower in January 1991 that resulted in the death of several Lithuanian civilians. The last Russian troops left Lithuania on August 31, 1993 — even earlier than those in East Germany. On February 4, 1991, Iceland became the first country to recognize Lithuanian independence, and Sweden the first to open an embassy in the country. The United States of America never recognized the Soviet claim to Lithuania or the other two Baltic republics. Lithuania joined the United Nations on September 17, 1991. On May 31, 2001, Lithuania became the 141st member of the World Trade Organization. Since 1988, Lithuania has sought closer ties with the West, and so on January 4, 1994, it became the first of the Baltic States to apply for NATO membership. On November 21, 2002, NATO invited Lithuania to start membership negotiations, and on March 29, 2004, it became a full and equal NATO member. On February 1, 1998, it became an Associate Member of the EU, and on April 16, 2003, it signed the EU Acc

Kaliningrad Oblast

Politics

History

Prussian people

Teutonic Order State

East Prussia

Kaliningrad Oblast

Administrative divisions

Districts

Cities and towns

Demographics

2002

Symbols

External links

Russia

History

Ancient Rus

Imperial Russia

Russia as part of Soviet Union

Post-Soviet Russia

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Geography

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Spatial extent

Cities

Economy

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Culture

Name

Miscellaneous topics

References

External links

Government resources

General information

Oblast

Oblasts in Bulgaria

Oblasts in Soviet Union and its successor countries

Names of particular oblasts

Political aspects of oblast subdivision

Recent trends in oblast policy

Former Yugoslavia

See also

Coast

Environmental importance

Human impacts

Types of coast

See also

Coastal landforms & features

Processes

Related topics & articles

Famous coasts

Lithuania

History