multi-national union formed from the Russian empire in 1922 and dissolved in 1991

Russia and its political subunits, which include 30 internal republics and more than 10 so-called autonomous regions

semiarid, grass-covered plains

permanently frozen soil just a few feet beneath the surface

a treeless area, between the ice cap and the tree line of arctic regions, where the subsoil is permanently frozen

subarctic forests

people whose way of life and economy are centered on tending grazing animals who are moved seasonally to gain access to the best pasture

a group of farmers who originated between the Dnieper and Vistula Rivers in modern-day Poland, Ukraine, and Belarus

a loose confederation of nomadic pastoral people centered in East and Central Asia, who by the thirteenth century had established by conquest an empire stretching from Europe to the Pacific

title of the ruler of the Russian empire; derived from the word "caesar," the title of the Roman emperors

a faction of communists who came to power during the Russian Revolution

an ideology, based largely on the writings of the German revolutionary Karl Marx, that calls on workers to unite to overthrow capitalists and establish an egalitarian society where workers share what they produce

the political organization that ruled the USSR from 1917 to 1991; other communist countries, such as China, Mongolia, North Korea, and Cuba, also have communist parties

an economic system in which the state owns all real estate and means of production, while government bureaucrats direct all economic activity, including the locating of factories, residences, and transportation infrastructure

the contest that pitted the United States and western Europe, espousing free market capitalism and democracy, against the USSR and its allies, promoting a centrally planned economy and a socialist state

in Russia, those who acquired great wealth during the privatization of Russia's resources and who use that wealth to exercise power

in Russia, the state-owned energy company; it is the tenth-largest oil and gas entity in the world

an organization of eight countries with large economies: France, US, Great Britain, Germany, Japan, Italy, Canada, and Russia

literally, "restructuring"; the restructuring of the Soviet economic system in the late 1980s in an attempt to revitalize the economy

literally, "openness"; the policies instituted in the late 1980s under Mikhail Gorbachev that encouraged greater transparency, openness, and publicity in the working of all levels of Soviet government

the sale of industries that were formerly owned and operated by the government to private companies or individuals

the condition in which people are working too few hours to make a decent living or are highly trained but working at menial jobs

the assimilation of all minorities to Russian (slavic) ways