Russia:
Industrial Core Areas

The core area of a country has a large percentage of the country's population, its largest cities, the largest transportation networks, and the most intensively cultivated lands.  It has the strongest imprints of the country's culture and history – often the most developed and oldest within a country. 

In Russia, the core area is the western Russian Plain [ruplain] [rueleves] centered on Russia's capital, Moscow, [rufb] and its former capital, St. Petersburg. This region is densely populated [rupopden] and has the countries most dense transportation network [rutransp]. It is also the center of its agricultural and industrial economies.

Moscow [rufb] maintains its decisive centrality – as a result of geography and communist planners.  Moscow is centrally located within Russia’s Central Industrial region, an area of intense coal and oil production.  Roads and railroads [rutransp] radiate out in all directions.  Canals link Moscow to the important Volga waterway [ruphysq].

St. Petersburg [rufb] was once capital of Russia until communists came to power in 1917.  They named it Leningrad but later it wa renamed St. Petersburg again (after Russia became democratic in 1991).  It was a focus of Russia's cultural life and the most European of Russian cities.  At one time it reflected Russia’s desire to integrate its economy with Europe during 18th and 19th centuries. 

Communists moved the capital back to Moscow reflecting their desire for internal self-sufficiency  (forward capital).  St. Petersburg is far away from Russian supplies of food and fuel.  It contributes roughly 10 percent of country’s manufacturing capacity.

Povolzyhe is the secondary manufacturing region along the Volga River [ruphysq] west of the Central Industrial region areound Moscow.  It has developed due to its protected location far from invaders.  It is the greatest source of postwar petroleum and natural gas [petroleum] – only exceeded by Siberian oil and natural gas fields.  In Volga the Don Canal directly connects Volga to the Black Sea.  Moscow Canal extends the northern navigability of river into Central Industrial Region.  Additional Canals link it to the Baltic Sea [ruphysq].  Povalzyhe is home to the Fiat auto manufacturing plant.  The Ural Mountain ranges are located to the east.  It has large concentration of metallic reserves and supports development northeast into Siberian oil and gas fields.

[Much of the text of the above was written by Scott Girhard, San Antonio College from his online course GEOG 1301 World Geography. Used with permission.]

READ: Oil and gas deposits in the Caspian Sea region: republic2.html