Economic geographical location. Geographical location of Russia: pros and cons
The main categories of economic geography include the concept of “economic-geographical location”. Since the object of study of this academic discipline is the territory of our country, we will characterize the economic and geographical position of modern Russia.
Under economic-geographical position(EGP) of Russia is understood as the relationship of its territory to external (usually adjacent or border) natural and man-made objects that have economic significance for it. External natural objects that influence the economic development of Russia include high mountains that impede free transport and economic communication with foreign countries; cold or warm seas and sea currents that wash the Russian coast, preventing or facilitating the development of domestic and global maritime transport; navigable and non-navigable rivers; rivers as sources of hydropower; mineral deposits (fuels and raw materials).
Anthropogenic objects that influence the economic development of Russia include economically and politically developed (or undeveloped) countries, the proximity of which has a positive (or negative) effect on the level of trade and economic relations; industrial and agricultural areas and bases, global transport communications, markets for skilled labor, markets for raw materials and sales of finished products.
In addition to the relationship of the territory of Russia to external natural and anthropogenic objects that are economically significant for its development, the concept of EGP may also include a provision on the economic significance of the location of Russia for the development of neighboring states and regions of the world.
The Russian Federation (Russia) is a federal state located in the eastern part of Europe (about 1/3 of the country's territory) and the northern part of Asia (about 2/3 of the country's territory) and currently consists of 88 subjects of the highest rank. The country's territory is located in the temperate and high latitudes of the Northern Hemisphere. Russia is the largest state in the world by territory (its area is 17 million 75 thousand km 2). Let us give the following data for comparison: the surface area of the Earth is 510.2 million km2, 2 including the land area - 149.1 million km2. 2 The area of the abolished USSR was 22.4 million km. 2 The areas of the largest countries in the world are as follows: Canada - 9.97 million, China (PRC) - 9.6 million, USA - 9.364 million, Brazil - 8.5 million, Commonwealth of Australia - 7.7 million, Argentina - 2.8 million km. 2
In the meridional direction, the territory of Russia in its different parts extends for 2.5-4.0 thousand km (from archipelagos in the cold seas of the Arctic Ocean to the coasts of the relatively warm Azov, Black, Caspian and Japanese Seas), and in the latitudinal direction - approximately for 9 thousand km (from the enclave Kaliningrad region to Chukotka).
The extreme points of the territory of Russia: in the north - Cape Fligeli on Rudolf Island in the Franz Josef Land archipelago (the northernmost continental point is Cape Chelyuskin on the Taimyr Peninsula); in the south – the northern slope of the high-mountain massif Bazardyuzyu on the Main Caucasus Range, on the border with Azerbaijan; in the west – the Baltic Spit at the junction of the Kaliningrad and Gdansk bays, on the border with Poland; in the east - the small island of Ratmanov (with an area of only about 10 km2) in the Diomeda archipelago (Gvozdev Islands) in the Bering Strait (the easternmost mainland point is Cape Dezhnev on the Chukotka Peninsula).
The enormity of Russia’s territory is well illustrated by the following data: 1) our country has a common land border with 14 countries of the world and with another 2 countries it has only a maritime state border (Russia’s closest “pursuers” - China and Brazil - border on land with 13 and 10 countries, respectively ); 2) 11 of the Earth’s 24 time zones are located within our country; 3) the coast of our state is washed by the waters of 12 seas, 3 oceans (Arctic, Pacific and Atlantic) and another closed sea-lake (Caspian); 4) the total length of the Russian coastline, including the length of the coastline of the sea islands, is 108 thousand km.
The total length of the state borders of Russia (excluding the length of the coastline of the sea islands belonging to our country) is 58.6 thousand km, including land – 14.3 thousand km, sea – 44.3 thousand km. The length of Russia's maritime state border is 75.6% of its total length.
The Russian state border in the west is mainly land. It extends from north to south. From the coast of Varanger Fjord in the Barents Sea to the Kerch Strait, which connects the Azov and Black Seas, Russia shares land borders with Norway, Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Belarus and Ukraine. On this long stretch of the western border, Russia has narrow access to the Finnish, Kaliningrad and Curonian Lagoons of the Baltic Sea.
South of the Kerch Strait, Russia's western border stretches along the Black Sea coast to the mouth of the Psou River, which borders Georgia (Abkhazia). With its first-order neighbors to the west (excluding Latvia and Belarus), Russia also shares a common maritime border (running along the Barents, Baltic, Azov and Black Seas).
Due to the terrain conditions, the western border of Russia is convenient for transport communications, as it stretches along the Russian Plain. The seas washing Russia from the west freeze briefly or do not freeze at all.
The Russian state border in the south is predominantly land. In general, it extends in a west-east direction. In the space from the mouth of the Psou River to the mouth of the Tumenjiang River, which flows into the Sea of Japan, Russia has a common border by sea and land with Georgia, Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan, then only a land border with the PRC and Mongolia, and a land and sea border with North Korea ( DPRK).
The southern border of Russia has several specific features. Firstly, here is the world’s longest interstate border between Russia and Kazakhstan (sea and land sections almost 7,600 km long) and the shortest interstate border between Russia (with the DPRK, with a total length of about 40 km, including a land section of up to 20 km ). Secondly, the interstate border of Russia with the PRC consists of two isolated sections - western (in the hard-to-reach Altai mountains, up to 50 km long) and eastern (mainly along the navigable rivers Argun, Amur and Ussuri, about 4260 km long). Thirdly, through the drainless Caspian Sea, Russia has access not only to Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan, but also to Turkmenistan and Iran, which do not border our country by land.
For a long distance, the southern border of Russia is difficult for transport communications due to terrain conditions. On the Caucasian Isthmus, due to the complex high-mountainous terrain, only two meridional year-round railway and road passages are used (along the shores of the Black and Caspian Seas) and three seasonal road passages (Georgian Military, Ossetian Military and Sukhumi Military roads).
The border highlands of the Altai Mountains, Western and Eastern Sayans, as well as the Transbaikalia ranges are difficult for transport development.
The eastern state border of Russia is maritime. Along the Pacific Ocean, the border extends from south to north. It crosses the Sea of Japan, the La Perouse Strait (between the Russian island of Sakhalin and the Japanese island of Hokkaido), the southern part of the Sea of Okhotsk and the Kuril Straits. In this section of the water area, Russia has a common maritime border with the DPRK and Japan. Then the maritime border of Russia goes around the Kuril Islands, Kamchatka and Chukotka peninsulas with the adjacent islands (Komandorsky, Karaginsky) on the western side and reaches the Diomede archipelago in the Bering Strait along the Bering Sea. In this archipelago, the Russian Ratmanov Island is separated from Kruzenshtern Island and Fairway Rock (USA) by a strait several nautical miles wide.
The northern state border of Russia is also maritime. It outlines the Russian sector of the Arctic (the area of this sector is about 9 million km2, including 6.8 million km2 of water).
The basis of the Russian sector of the Arctic is the coast of the Arctic Ocean, the lateral edges are the meridians extending to the North Pole from the Varanger Fjord and the Rybachy Peninsula (approximately 32° E, the border of Russia and Norway) and the Diomede Archipelago (169° W ., the border between Russia and the USA), and the top is the North Pole.
The Russian sector of the Arctic includes the waters of the White, Barents (partial), Kara, Laptev, East Siberian and Chukchi (partial) seas. In addition, the Russian Arctic sector includes archipelagos and islands: Franz Josef Land, Novaya Zemlya, Severnaya Zemlya, New Siberian Islands, Wrangel, Kolguev, Vaigach and many others.
The northern and eastern borders of Russia along almost the entire length are very difficult for the development of maritime navigation due to the exceptional severity of the seas of the Arctic and Pacific Oceans (long-term freeze-up, large ice thickness, stormy winds, and in the Pacific seas - typhoons, cyclones and tsunamis).
After the collapse of the USSR, a difficult problem for Russia became the lack of infrastructure for the new state border adjacent to the former Soviet republics, and now independent countries. The insecurity and transparency of many sections of the new state border of Russia leads to serious negative consequences: 1) the economic security of the country is weakened (illegal, and therefore duty-free, import of goods from abroad, sold within our country at reduced prices, undermines domestic producers; illegal and uncontrolled labor migration); 2) the already difficult crime situation in our country is worsening due to the illegal migration of criminal elements, smuggling of weapons, currency, jewelry and drugs; 3) the socio-political situation in some regions of our country is becoming more complicated due to the invasion of armed gangs into their borders (repeated incursions of large gangs of Chechen militants from Transcaucasia into the territory of the Southern Federal District); 4) the countries of the European Union (EU) refuse to facilitate conditions for access to their territory for Russian citizens until the Russian state border is developed according to international standards along its entire length.
Currently, measures are being taken to strengthen the most vulnerable sections of the Russian state border. In the highlands of the Greater Caucasus, border outposts and border checkpoints on the border with Georgia and Azerbaijan are being created and equipped. Long-standing border disputes with the PRC have been resolved, and almost the entire Russian-Chinese border is now demarcated (that is, border markers have been installed on this border). The state border of Russia with Kazakhstan is completely delimited (that is, precisely defined on the ground). Modern technical arrangement and international legal registration of weakly protected sections of the new state border of Russia is an extremely expensive and complex matter, requiring a lot of time and expense.
There are still unresolved issues about the alignment of Russia’s state border with the new Baltic states (especially Estonia and Latvia), as well as about the alignment of the maritime border between Russia and Ukraine on the Sea of Azov and in the Kerch Strait. Russia and other Caspian countries have not yet determined their borders in the Caspian Sea, which is rich in hydrocarbon deposits.
EGP of Russia and its regions, as well as any territory in general, is a historically changing category. The EGP of a territory may change over time due to the influence of certain natural and anthropogenic factors.
A good example of the influence of natural and anthropogenic factors on EGP is the Murmansk region of Russia. It is known that thanks to the branch of the warm Gulf Stream, the Kola Bay of the Murmansk region, located beyond the Arctic Circle, practically does not freeze in winter. However, until the construction of a seaport in the Kola Bay in 1916 and the construction of a railway in Romanov-on-Murman, this favorable natural condition was not used in any way. Therefore, the territory of the present Murmansk region at that time had an unprofitable EGP. Currently, large sea and fishing ports have been built on the coast of the Kola Bay, operating year-round. Consequently, the external natural factor (warm sea currents in cold Arctic latitudes) now determines the favorable EGP of the Murmansk region as one of Russia’s four maritime transport “windows” to the west. At the same time, in recent years, ocean scientists have discovered a cooling trend in the warm Gulf Stream. If the cooling of the Gulf Stream does not stop, then in the foreseeable future not only the Kola Bay, but also the north-eastern coast of Norway will begin to freeze. In this case, the EGP of the Murmansk region and the entire Northern economic region will noticeably worsen.
An example of the beneficial influence of an anthropogenic factor on the EGP of a territory is the Russian-Norwegian state border, which crosses moss-lichen and shrub tundra and forest-tundra for approximately 200 km. Just 5-7 years ago, this border did not have any tangible practical significance for the development of the Murmansk region and the Northern economic region as a whole. But after the opening of a modern international road transport crossing on the Russian-Norway border, trade and economic ties expanded, and the EGP of the Murmansk region and the Northern economic region improved.
To this we add that the implementation of existing projects for the pipeline transportation of hydrocarbon raw materials from Western Siberia to the Kola Bay and the creation of large oil export complexes on its shores will make the EGP of the Murmansk region truly unique.
An important feature of EGP is the potential nature of this category. Indeed, the benefits of the EGP of a particular territory may be “mothballed” and not always realized. We already know that 100 years ago the EGL of the current Murmansk coast was assessed as very low, but now it is quite high. The same applies to the assessment of the EGP of the Northern Sea Route (NSR), the shortest sea route from the western to the eastern borders of Russia. When there was no seaport of Murmansk - the current starting point of the NSR - and the level of development of science and technology in the world was low, the economic significance of this waterway was negligible. Although it was known that the distance from St. Petersburg to Vladivostok along the NSR is 14,280 km, and through the Suez Canal - 23,200 km.
Scientific and technological progress and the creation of a nuclear icebreaker fleet have changed the EGP of the NSR - modern cargo ships cover the distance from St. Petersburg to Vladivostok in less than a month, and the period of active navigation has increased to 4 months. After modernization and re-equipment of the main points of the NSR, this route can have great international significance. After all, the delivery of goods along the NSR from the countries of East Asia to Western Europe and in the opposite direction is much shorter in distance and time than all currently operating global water communications.
Another important feature of EGP is the remoteness of this category, that is, the need to determine distances between regions. Unhindered communication between regions over the shortest distances is the most important condition when assessing the favorableness of a territory’s EGP. In this case, the capacity of the transport network, the degree of its congestion, as well as the speed and cost of transportation must be taken into account.
The EGP of a territory is a complex conceptual system in geography, represented by several interrelated components. In relation to the main elements of social production, the following components of the EGP are distinguished: 1) transport-geographical location (TGP); 2) industrial-geographical location (IGP); 3) agrarian-geographical location (AGP); 4) market position (RP); 5) demographic location (DGP); 6) recreational-geographical location (RGP).
It is difficult to assess the EGP of such a huge country as Russia due to the extreme heterogeneity and specificity of the geographical location of its regions. Therefore, the assessment of EGP and its components is carried out at the macro level (assessment in relation to the entire territory of the country) and mesolevel (assessment in relation to individual large regions of the country).
The most important components of the territory's EGP include TGP. The TGP of a territory is understood as its location in relation to external transport communications (land, water and air), and the possibility of using this territory for global transit cargo and passenger transportation, laying pipelines, shipping canals, high-voltage power lines and telecommunication lines.
In the modern world, a convenient TGP largely determines the nature of the socio-economic development of states. For example, the former Soviet republic of Latvia, and now a sovereign state, has ensured its comfortable existence throughout the 15-year period of independence through the use of a convenient TGP and transport communications created in Soviet times. The state budget of Latvia is largely formed from revenues from export-import cargo transportation (mainly Russian oil supplied through a pipeline to the Ventspils seaport). However, Latvia's convenient TGP relative to Russian oil flows is currently changing for the worse. Large foreign exchange costs for oil transit through Latvia forced Russia to build a large oil export complex in Primorsk (Leningrad region). Thus, Russia significantly weakened its transport dependence on Latvia, and the Latvian budget lost part of its transit profits.
In the modern world, the beneficial TGP of states (for example, their location at the intersection of international maritime communications), highly involved in global economic relations, determines the emergence and development of industries that are not typical for these states based on the structure of natural resource potential. For example, Singapore is a major center of the world oil refining industry, although this mini-state has no oil of its own. The main reason for the emergence of powerful oil refining in Singapore is its proximity to oil-rich Brunei and Singapore’s convenient TGP on the sea routes along which huge flows of oil are transported from the Persian Gulf countries to Japan. A similar example in the West Indies is the creation of large oil refineries in the Netherlands Antilles in the Caribbean Sea, which lie on the routes for sea transportation of oil from Venezuela to the United States.
A Russian example of using the advantageous TGP of a territory is the creation of a large metallurgical production facility in Cherepovets (Vologda region). As is known, neither in the Vologda region nor in its immediate surroundings there are industrial reserves of fuel and raw materials necessary for the development of ferrous metallurgy. However, firstly, Cherepovets turned out to be conveniently located on counter flows of primary raw materials and fuel. In Soviet times, primary raw materials were supplied to Cherepovets both from the south (iron and manganese ores of Ukraine) and from the north (iron ores of Karelia and the Murmansk region). Fuel (coking coal) was supplied in the same way - from the Donbass in the south and the Pechora basin in the north. Secondly, Cherepovets was conveniently located in relation to large engineering centers (Moscow and what was then Leningrad, now St. Petersburg) as suppliers of secondary raw materials (scrap metal) and consumers of metallurgical products. Thus, the profitable TGP of Cherepovets according to the parameters discussed above, along with the presence of a sufficient amount of labor resources and reserves of local natural resources (limestone, water), became the reason for the emergence of industrial giants - a metallurgical plant and a steel rolling plant (now JSC Severstal).
When assessing the modern TGP of Russia at the macro level, it should be noted that the territory of our country, especially after the collapse of the USSR, turned out to be “moved away” from the world’s most important transport communications even further to the north and east. This is due to the loss of convenient access to ice-free and short-term frozen seas, the territorial distance of Russia from the highly developed countries of Western Europe, as well as the complication of political, legal, technical and economic problems in the activities of land transport in servicing connections with these countries.
Despite the fact that Russia has wide access to the World Ocean and a gigantic length of coastline, the economic significance of the country's coastal position is not so significant. The fact is that almost all the seas washing the Russian coast belong to the category of long-term frozen ones. Thus, the seas of the Arctic Ocean are frozen for most of the year (only the southwestern part of the Barents Sea, which is under the influence of a warm current, does not freeze). The average thickness of sea ice in these seas is 2 m. The Okhotsk and Bering Seas of the Pacific Ocean freeze for 8 months (except for the southern part of the Bering Sea, which is ice-free all year round). The bays of the Russian coast of the Sea of Japan freeze for 3-4 months. However, despite this, the Peter the Great Bay (with several internal bays and bays) is used for year-round entry of ships, and the seaports of Vladivostok, Nakhodka and Vostochny located on its shores operate continuously. It is clear that the harsh nature of Russia's northern and eastern seas seriously impedes the development of shipping.
The Baltic Sea washes the Russian coast in the east and southeast. The easternmost part of the Baltic Sea is represented by the Gulf of Finland, which juts deep into the land, covered with ice for 4 months (maximum 6 months). The freezing of the Gulf of Finland is associated with its distance from the open part of the Atlantic Ocean and its warm Gulf Stream current.
The southeastern part of the Baltic Sea, facing the coast of the Kaliningrad region of Russia, is most often ice-free throughout the year. However, this natural advantage, rare for Russia, is offset by the geopolitical realities that emerged in post-Soviet times: the Kaliningrad region today has a dead-end position relative to the main territory of Russia. Foreign cargo arriving at the ports of Kaliningrad and Baltiysk cannot be freely delivered to the main territory of the country, as they are subject to customs duties in Lithuania.
An obstacle to the widespread development of maritime navigation in the Sea of Azov is its shallowness (average depth 7 m). In addition, the sea freezes for 2-3 months (but the thickness of the ice is insignificant). The Russian ports of Taganrog, Azov, Yeisk and Temryuk are located on the Sea of Azov.
The Black Sea off the Russian coast does not freeze. Russia has three ports here - Novorossiysk, Tuapse and Sochi (the latter is a passenger port).
The northern part of the Russian coast of the Caspian Sea is covered with a thin layer of ice for 2-3 months. The seaports of Astrakhan (in the Volga delta), Olya and Lagan are located here (the last two ports are under construction and partially operated). Located on the western shore of the Caspian Sea, the Makhachkala port does not freeze and operates all year round.
Thus, Russia has only 6 ice-free sea cargo and passenger ports (Baltiysk, Kaliningrad, Makhachkala, Murmansk, Novorossiysk, Tuapse) and another 6 sea cargo and passenger ports (Vladivostok, Vostochny, Vyborg, Nakhodka, Primorsk, St. Petersburg), which operate year-round, despite the annual freezing of their water areas. Such a small number of operating seaports on Russia’s gigantic sea coastline sharply reduces the value of its coastal TGP and does not in any way meet the needs of the development of the modern economy.
To assess Russia's TGP at the macro level relative to external transport communications (land, water and air), we point out that the main world communications pass south of the territory of our country and are directed from different parts of the planet to Western Europe, North America and the countries of the Asia-Pacific region (APR) , especially to Japan, China, South Korea, Taiwan.
A noticeable improvement in Russia's TGP at the macro level could occur with the active involvement of the country's territory in international transcontinental (from Europe to Asia and back) freight and passenger transportation using rail transport (along the Trans-Siberian and Baikal-Amur Mainlines), sea transport (along the Northern Sea Route ) and air transport (the airspace of our country has already been partially mastered by the world's leading airlines).
At the meso level, a number of large regions of Russia, subject to modernization of transport infrastructure, have a fairly favorable TGP.
The inland seas of the Atlantic Ocean (Baltic, Black and Azov) play a significant role in the development of trade and economic relations between Russia and the countries of Western Europe and North America. However, on the Baltic Sea, for Russia, the year-round former Soviet ports of Tallinn, Paldiski, Pärnu, Riga, Ventspils (one of the largest ports in the USSR in terms of cargo turnover), Liepaja, and Klaipeda have now become foreign to Russia (and therefore require foreign currency payment for the transport services provided). On the Black and Azov Seas, the seaports of Ilyichevsk, Odessa, Nikolaev, Kherson, Evpatoria, Sevastopol, Feodosia, Yalta, Kerch, Mariupol and Berdyansk became foreign, and on the Danube - the river ports of Reni, Izmail, Kiliya and Vilkovo. In addition, on the Black Sea, the former Soviet (Georgian) ports of Batumi, Sukhumi and Poti, as well as the recently built oil export port of Supsa, became foreign ports for Russia.
On the Baltic Sea, in addition to the already mentioned seaports, Russia retained the small seaports of Lomonosov, Kronstadt, Vysotsk, Primorsk, Ust-Luga (the last two ports are under construction and partial operation), located on the coast of the Gulf of Finland.
The loss of the best transport and geographical opportunities for access to the World Ocean occurred only on the western border of Russia and did not affect the basins of the Arctic and Pacific oceans and the Caspian Sea.
Unfavorable changes have occurred in the implementation of economic relations between Russia and the countries of Western Europe through the territories of the former union republics of the USSR, and now sovereign states, via railways and roads and using main pipeline transport. Russia has lost most of the specially equipped railway and road checkpoints on the former western border of the USSR, and the conditions for our country’s use of the transport infrastructure of the newly independent states have become the subject of constant trade and the cause of political and legal misunderstandings (especially in Russia’s relations with Lithuania, Ukraine, Belarus, and also with Poland). Russia has fallen into a strong “pipeline” dependence on Ukraine for the supply of oil and natural gas to Western Europe.
In the post-Soviet era, on the initiative of the United States, new pipeline systems were built in Azerbaijan and Georgia to transport oil from the fields of the Caspian Sea to the ports of the Black and Mediterranean Seas (Baku-Supsa, Baku-Ceyhan) bypassing the territory of Russia, which further alienated our country from the world transport communications.
In order to improve the TGP and weaken Russia’s “pipeline” dependence on neighboring states, the Blue Stream gas pipeline (North Caucasus - Turkey) was built along the bottom of the Black Sea (bypassing the territory of Georgia). Russia has begun construction of a large North European gas pipeline to Western Europe along the bottom of the Baltic Sea (bypassing the territory of Ukraine and other “problematic” transit countries).
Currently, Russia is constructing a large main oil pipeline from Siberia to China and is developing a project for the construction of a pipeline from Siberia to the ice-free Kola Bay in the Murmansk region. The implementation of these projects will significantly strengthen Russia's TGP and weaken its transport dependence on transit countries.
Let us briefly describe the other components of the EGP. The Russian PRGP refers to the position of the territory of our country relative to global and regional centers of the manufacturing industry. Russia's current PrGP cannot be considered successful. Among the 14 countries - Russia's first-order neighbors - there are only two economically developed capitalist countries - Norway and Finland (the latter is a member of the EU). But in terms of the scale of industrial production, Finland and Norway are far behind European and world leaders. In addition, the border between Russia and Norway is located in the harsh climate of the Arctic, on the northern periphery of both countries.
Russia's closest neighbors are mainly countries with economies in transition (the Baltic countries, Ukraine, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan). China is one of the neighboring countries with a dynamically developing socialist-type economy. However, the PRC borders Russia with its northern, least developed and economically developed provinces. In addition, there is no close relationship between Russia and China in the manufacturing industry. The PRC exports cheap consumer goods to Russia and imports industrial raw materials. The economy of the Far East is significantly undermined by the smuggling of various types of raw materials to China (especially industrial wood, furs) and mass illegal labor migration, which is associated with a serious demographic problem (Sinicization of the Far East).
AGP of Russia - the position of the territory of our country relative to large areas of agricultural production and food bases in adjacent countries. The AGP of Russia in comparison with the PrGP looks preferable, since along the perimeter of the southern and southwestern border of Russia there are countries with less severe agro-climatic conditions, which allow the cultivation of a wider range of agricultural products needed by our country. At the same time, the profitability of modern Russian AGP is reduced due to the fact that the economies of many countries - the southern and southwestern neighbors of the first and second order - are far from in the best condition. In addition, some sectors of the agro-industrial complex of these countries are now reoriented from the Russian market to the world market. For example, after the collapse of the USSR, the former Central Asian republics began to supply raw cotton not to Russia, but to the world market (thus, the textile industry of our country lost traditional raw materials and found itself in a deep crisis). Some other types of agricultural products supplied to Russia (in particular, Georgian and Moldavian wines) turned out to be of poor quality and were banned.
RP of Russia is the position of the territory of our country relative to external markets for finished products and markets for industrial raw materials. Potential regional markets for the sale of industrial and consumer goods are located in the immediate surroundings of Russia (newly independent states in the territory of the former USSR, countries of Eastern and Southern Europe). However, the current position of Russia in relation to markets for finished products is not favorable enough due to the well-known difficulties in the development of the Russian economy. With the progressive development of the domestic economy, Russia’s position in relation to markets for finished products will steadily improve.
Russia's position in relation to the world market of industrial raw materials (mineral and fuel and energy resources) is determined by the fact that Russia, as a great raw materials power, depends little on supplies from this market, and in the future it will itself have an increasing economic impact on the formation of the world raw materials market.
DGP of Russia is the position of the territory of our country relative to population clusters, labor resources and centers of technical culture located in near and far countries. In Russia's immediate surroundings there are countries with large populations and large labor markets (PRC, countries of Central Asia and Transcaucasia, Turkey, Ukraine). Labor from these countries migrates to Russia mainly with a low level of qualifications (while our country needs qualified specialists). In some regions of Russia, labor migration from Asian countries is beginning to disrupt the historically established national and religious composition of the population and worsen the crime situation. All this allows us to assert that the current DPP in Russia is not favorable.
RGP of Russia - the position of the territory of our country relative to large international recreation and tourism areas. The international recreational zones closest to Russia are located in Ukraine and in other countries of the Black Sea region (Bulgaria, Georgia) and the Mediterranean (Turkey, Greece, Cyprus, Egypt). The recreational areas of Georgia (especially Abkhazia and Adjara) are currently almost unused due to military-political instability in the region. The recreational areas of the Black Sea and Mediterranean countries are now quite accessible to Russian vacationers and tourists thanks to air transport. When assessing the RGP of Russia, the time spent on travel to the place of recreation and transportation costs of recreationists, as well as the safety of recreation in the states in which recreation areas are located (absence of terrorist danger) are important.
An important problem of modern economic geography is the development of uniform criteria for a synthetic (possibly cost or score) assessment of Russia's EGP, which consists of a general characteristic of the border and an aggregate assessment of individual EGP components. For now, it is impossible to unambiguously assess Russia’s EGP. If we proceed from the division of the concept of Russian EGP into types depending on the position of the territory of our country in relation to external natural and anthropogenic objects, then certain regions of Russia will have a more or less economically advantageous coastal position (Northwestern region, North Caucasus, Primorye), others - unfavorable or unprofitable peripheral, marginal, deep and continental location (most regions of the Urals, Siberia and the Far East).
As a result of studying this chapter, the student should:
know
- the content of the concept of “economic-geographical location”;
- main types of geographical location and the place of economic-geographical location in it;
- the history of the formation of the doctrine of economic and geographical position;
- basic approaches to assessing the economic and political geographic situation;
be able to
- characterize the economic and geographical position of individual countries, regions and localities;
- build graphs of railways in large economic regions to assess the profitability of the economic and geographical location;
- characterize the macro-, meso- and micro-position of administrative centers
region - subject of the Russian Federation;
Apply a historical approach to the analysis of the economic and geographical position of various objects;
own
- skills in determining “topological distance”;
- techniques for studying changes in economic and geographical location over time;
- methods of quantitative assessment of economic and geographical position;
- methodology for assessing various types of economic and geographical location.
Geographical location and economic-geographical location
The concept of “geographical location” is key for the entire system of geographical sciences. Actually, geography originated as the science of methods for determining and recording the location of objects on the earth’s surface relative to each other or in a certain coordinate system. Later it turned out that determining the location of an object not only helps to find it (for example, for a navigator), but also to explain some of the properties of this object and even predict its development. The most important element of geographical research is the establishment and analysis of connections between objects located in space, determined precisely by their location.
The position on the earth's surface, determined in a system of geographic coordinates (degrees of latitude and longitude), giving the most accurate address of the object is mathematical and geographical location.
The position of some natural objects relative to others that have a significant impact on them is called physical and geographical location. This is, for example, the position in relation to the prevailing wind directions of the islands - windward and leeward.
Economic-geographical location(EGP) is the position of objects in economic and social space relative to each other, as well as relative to borders (state, administrative or other). At the same time, the EGP category also includes the position relative to natural objects (non-freezing sea water, a navigable river, a mineral deposit, a forest, an area of natural focal diseases) that have had, are having or may in the future have an impact on the functioning and development of the studied social -geographical objects. The particular importance of the position regarding political (state) borders in the system of interstate and inter-bloc relations emerging in a certain historical period necessitates the use of the category "political-geographical (geopolitical) position" (GGP).
The concepts of “geographical location” and “political-geographical location” were used in the 19th century. Their meanings were analyzed in general terms and with specific examples in the works of K. Marx and F. Engels, among geographers - d). Ratzel. The EGP category was proposed in the USSR at the turn of the 20s and 30s. XX century I. Alkin and later developed in detail N. N. Baransky, I. M. Maergoiz and a number of other authors. But without formalization with a special term, it was used before. So, in the book N. P. Oganovsky “Popular Essays on the Economic Geography of the USSR” (1926) we read: “Geographical location is the proximity of a given country to the seas and oceans, but along which world trade routes pass, as well as to countries with which trade relations are of great benefit.” This definition characterizes only a special case of EGP - both from the point of view of the object (the country as a whole), and solely from the point of view of the convenience of interstate economic relations.
N.N. Baransky drew attention to the fact that EGP is “the relationship of any place, region or city to external data that has one or another economic significance - no matter whether these data are of a natural order or created in in the process of history..." He wrote: "For economic geography, the position of a given country (or region, city, or area under study in general) to routes, markets, large centers (industrial, commercial, administrative, cultural) is extremely important."
N. N. Baransky believed that EGP has the greatest methodological significance: “The place occupied by any area - whether it is a country, region, city, etc. - in the system of geographical division of labor is largely determined by its economic and geographical location.” And one more important point. N. Baransky is that EGP, like other aspects of the economic-geographical order, should be considered in historical terms. In other words, the economic-geographical position, in contrast to the mathematical position and the physical-geographical position, is a historical category, and it must be determined each time in time coordinates. This means that we must reason here from the point of view of a certain era, certain historical conditions.
Of lasting importance are the deep developments of the EGP theory in the works of I.M. Maergoiz (mainly the first half of the 1970s). He wrote: “An economic-geographical location is a complex, genetically interconnected set of territorial relations that are currently important or may become important for the economic development of an object and for the formation of such objects as countries and regions, for their territorial structures... EGP is understood from the very beginning as a system of territorial-temporal relations, and very dynamic ones at that (which makes it difficult to study)... Hence the increasing dynamism of the EGP - an independent concept, although closely related to the cultural-geographical, political-geographical, as well as military-geographical position."
“Modern EGP contains many features of the future, just as in “yesterday’s” position we find the reasons why our object has become this way today,” believed I.M. Maergoiz. “Therefore, studying the current position of an object means to a certain extent determining , what an object can become tomorrow, i.e. find one of the components of the forecast of its development under the influence of external forces."
In its most formalized form, geographic location is the position of objects recorded on a map in the two-dimensional space of the earth's surface. In physical geography, less often in economic geography, a third dimension is also assessed - absolute or relative height. On the map, all objects are depicted as point, linear (non-scale symbols) or area (contour, occupying a certain area). In fact, of course, both point and linear objects on a small-scale map (a populated area, a multi-lane highway) occupy areas, but with the appropriate scale of study this circumstance can be neglected. Then the following options for the relative position of these categories of objects are possible:
- a point relative to another point: Moscow relative to St. Petersburg;
- point relative to the line (and reverse): Saratov on the Volga;
- point relative to the area - the capital of the state;
- line relative to line: BAM highway relative to the Great Siberian Railway;
- line within the range: the Yana River in the northeast of Yakutia;
- area relative to another area: the republics of Mordovia and Chuvashia.
The following position options are also possible:
- a point on the line or outside it: Tver on the Moscow - St. Petersburg, Novgorod railway - outside it;
- a point within the range, on its border, outside it: Naryan-Mar is in the tundra zone, Kudymkar is outside it; Brest is located on the border of Belarus and Poland, the other Brest is on the French coast of the Atlantic Ocean;
- the lines are located isolated from each other, like the Pechora and Northern Dvina, or intersect, like the BAM with the Lena River;
- the line is located within the range entirely (like the Yana River) or partially (the Lena River) in Yakutia or entirely outside the range (for example, the Dudinka-Norilsk railway has no connection with the country’s railway network);
- the areas are adjacent (Mordovia and Chuvashia) or distant from each other (Mordovia and Tatarstan).
To determine the relative position of objects, indicate the distance between them and the direction (north, southeast).
To determine the position of a point, line, or smaller area within a larger area, the following terms are used: " central ", "deep", "peripheral", "marginal ", "border position." The position of the capital of Brazil was chosen as close to the central one in the country; the position in the city of Rio Grande (in the south) is close to the border; The city of Fortaleza (in the northeast) has a peripheral position, and the city of Manaus (in the Amazon) has a deep position. Some territories, even states, in their names indicate a marginal position - Ukraine, Kraina in the former Yugoslavia.
For quantitative measurement There are several ways to EGP objects: the distances from the object to others that influence or could potentially influence it are measured.
The simplest way is to measure the “aerial” (geodesic) distance on the ground or on a map of the appropriate scale (to avoid distortion) in a straight line. But in most cases, the distance between objects is covered along communication routes that deviate from the straight line, i.e. real distances are subject to measurement (the length of a section of a railway line or a section of a navigable river). In both cases, the distance is measured in kilometers. Sometimes (including in everyday life) distance is measured in time (in hours, minutes) required to cover the distance to an object along the available communication routes. This method is especially often used to determine the location in the accessibility zone (half-hour, hour, two-hour), for example, the center of an urban agglomeration by rail. What matters here is the speed of movement (of electric trains) and the intervals between them. It is believed that the actual travel time (excluding the time needed to approach the station) is the sum of the travel time and half the duration of the interval between trips (this is the waiting time). If different points are served by lines along which trains move at different speeds, then the point located closer to the center (by distance in kilometers) may be at a greater time distance. And even points located on the same line, if not all trains stop there (i.e. the intervals are lengthened), seem to move away from the center.
As you know, “time is money,” so the time dimension is often interpreted as economic distance. More precisely, it is measured by the tariff cost of transporting cargo or traveling for a passenger.
A unique way to determine "topological distance" without exact expression in meters or minutes. An example of such a reference is an assessment of the distance to an object by the number of blocks and public transport stops. The position of objects, for example metro stations, individual cities in urban settlement systems, is depicted in this case using a drawing or graph. Objects - cities, stations - are indicated by dots - these are the vertices of the graph. They are connected by “edges,” which simply show the presence of connections between the vertices. The relative position of the vertices in the drawing is close to the real one. The distance between vertices is measured by the number of edges - according to the shortest option. For example, the distance from Moscow - the center of the graph of the railway network of European Russia - to the tops of regional centers is equal to one edge to Vladimir, Yaroslavl, Tver, and to Vologda, Nizhny Novgorod - two: it is easy to see from the map that with an equal topological distance to Vladimir and Yaroslavl different number of kilometers.
Using the graph, you can quantify the centrality and advantageous position, for example, in the system of cities - administrative centers of Western Siberia (located on the railway). The distance is measured by the sum Koenig numbers (i.e. by the number of edges) from one center to all the others. The results are entered into the matrix (Table 6.1).
Table 6.1
Topological distance matrix
The smaller the sum of Koenig numbers, the more neutral and advantageous the position of the point in the system. In our case, the best situation is in Novosibirsk, the worst is in Tyumen (Fig. 6.1). Gives special advantages transit position on the lines along which communications of large economic objects (centers and areas) are carried out. At the intersection of transit lines, good conditions are created for the development of production even where there are no local resources. The position is very advantageous at the intersection of large navigable rivers and railways (Omsk, Novosibirsk, Barnaul, Krasnoyarsk, Volga region cities), at the confluence of large navigable rivers into the seas along which international routes pass (Arkhangelsk), with combinations of different transit routes (St. Petersburg, Yaroslavl, etc.).
Rice. 6.1.
Deserves great attention" neighbor's " position. Here we distinguish between neighbors of the first (immediate), second (neighbors of neighbors) and subsequent order. Thus, the Leningrad region within the Russian Federation, not counting St. Petersburg, has four first-order neighbors (Karelia, Vologda, Novgorod and Pskov regions) and seven second-order neighbors (Murmansk, Arkhangelsk, Kirov, Kostroma, Yaroslavl, Tver, Smolensk regions) . The more neighbors and the greater the number of transport exits on their territory, the more advantageous the situation. Of course, the level of economic development and specialization of neighboring areas matter. You can rely on developed neighbors, cooperating with them, but in a competitive environment they can suppress the development of certain industries of a weaker neighbor, which turns into an agricultural and raw materials appendage, a supplier of labor resources, and a sales market.
Our modern world is distinguished by a wide variety of existing countries. And each of them has its own set of unique properties and traits. For the convenience of their analysis and comparison, a tool such as “characteristics of the economic and geographical position of the country” is used. It describes countries according to a certain algorithm, which we will consider further.
Types of economic and geographical location
It can be potential and real (realized). Any undeveloped place is a potential EGP. Implemented EGP refers to the historical sequence of how EGP was used in various temporary social and economic conditions.
Change in EGP
Estimates of the economic and geographical situation may change over time with the improvement and development of the global division of labor and non-stop scientific and technological progress. The biggest impact is on transport, communications, construction changes, as well as the search for new deposits. The Age of Great Geographical Discovery, the exploration of America, and the development of railway and motor transport are catalysts for some of the world's biggest changes.
Standards for describing economic and geographical location
One of the ideas on which the use of a plan for characterizing a country’s EGP is based is the desire to show the diversity of cultures and worlds. With modern processes of integration and globalization, it is important to see the difference between subjects.
A typical plan for characterizing the EGP of a country or region consists of the following points:
- Location relative to neighboring countries.
- Location relative to main land and sea transport routes.
- Location relative to the main fuel and raw material bases, industrial and agricultural areas.
- Location relative to main product distribution areas.
- Change in EGP over time.
- General conclusions about EGP and its influence on the development of the country's economy.
Most frequently reviewed countries
In order to track patterns of economic and political development, identify relationships and interdependencies between countries around the world, and also find out the patterns of social development, let us consider the most developed European countries.
Most often, the objects of research are countries such as Germany, France, Italy and Spain as representatives of all parts of Europe.
Germany
Let's consider the first characteristic of the EGP of a foreign European country. According to the plan indicated in one of the previous paragraphs, we obtain the following situation:
1) Germany has borders with 9 countries: north - Denmark; east - Poland, Czech Republic; southeast - Austria; south - Switzerland; southwest - France, Luxembourg; west - Belgium.
2) Germany is a traffic flow.
3) In Germany, hard and brown coal are mined in the Ruhr region; a similar mining site is located nearby in Poland. Oil fields are far away. Nearby is natural gas production (North Sea).
4) Intra-German production covers 60% of the population's demand. The most popular products include baked goods, dairy products, eggs, a wide variety of vegetables and fruits, meat and meat products. The production of products of plant origin is well developed - cereals, cereals, etc. Germany is known as the largest importer of natural food products. 38% of all natural products are German imports.
5) Germany's position is very favorable. It is a connecting link between the states of Central and Eastern Europe.
This is what the plan for characterizing the country’s EGP looks like. Germany is an important economic and political unit in Europe.
France
This country is the European hope. Many processes taking place in Europe are connected with it. Let's consider her plan for characterizing the country's EGP. France has its own unique features and characteristics.
1) France can be called a country of the Atlantic and Mediterranean, the Rhine and the Pyrenees mountains. Sea borders are longer than land borders. It borders the UK along the English Channel and Pas de Calais. French land borders follow various natural boundaries, such as mountains. In the southeast, France borders on Monaco, in the northeast on Luxembourg and Belgium.
2) France has a great natural advantage in the form of a central geographical location, as a result of which it has access to the main Western European commercial routes: the Mediterranean Sea, the English Channel, and the Atlantic.
3) France is famous for coal mining. The main regions where it is mined are Lorraine and the Massif Central. French imports consist of oil and gas. Gaz de France is known as one of the largest gas companies in Europe.
4) France is considered a highly developed country and is one of the first in terms of industrial production. French products such as clothing, shoes, jewelry, perfumes and cosmetics, cognacs, cheeses, etc. are in great demand on world markets. France is also a major agricultural player. Separately, it is worth considering such an industry in French production as winemaking. Each province grows its own grape variety and produces its own wine. In addition to wine, France is famous for drinks such as cognac and Calvados.
5) At the moment, France is a member of many international organizations, for example, the European Union, the UN, the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD), the International Monetary Fund (IMF), NATO and other organizations. The EGP is strengthening every year. France is trying to extract more and more advantages from it for its development.
6) France has great potential, which can be successfully realized by using the advantageous aspects of its geographical location.
Italy
In Europe, there is one more state worthy of consideration in terms of characterizing the country’s EGP. Italy represents Southern Europe with all its characteristics.
1) Geographically, Italy is a southern European country located on the Apennine Peninsula. It has borders with France, Switzerland, Austria, Slovenia, San Marino and the Vatican.
2) Italy has a large number of roads and railways to European countries. The sea port network is developed.
3) In relation to the world's raw material points, to the south of Italy is North Africa, which produces oil and gas, in the northeast - Russia with oil, gas and coal production, in the east - the Gulf countries, rich in oil and gas, in the north - Germany and Poland with coal mining.
4) The main sales area for Italy is the countries of the European Trade Area, where it itself belongs.
5) Over time, geopolitical factors have the greatest impact and influence on Italy’s EGP.
6) In general, Italy’s EGP can be characterized as advantageous, since it is located in the area of one of the largest markets (EU) and has access to sea routes.
Spain
This state represents southwestern Europe. This is what his plan for characterizing the country’s EGP will look like. Spain is currently experiencing its own development difficulties, but overall has prospects for further successful development.
1) Spain is located in the European southwestern territory on the Iberian Peninsula. It has borders: in the west - Portugal, in the north - France and Andorra, from the north and west Spain is washed by the waters of the Atlantic Ocean, from the south and east - the Mediterranean Sea.
2) Spanish roads are centralized six-lane highways connecting Madrid and the Basque Country, Catalonia, Valencia, Andalusia, Extremadura and Galicia. Expressways also run along the Atlantic and Mediterranean coasts.
3) One of the most industrial sectors is mining. Spain is rich in mineral resources and is listed as one of the world leaders in the production of mercury and pyrite, polymetallic and uranium ores, as well as silver. Oil and gas are classified as imports.
4) For Spain, the sales markets are Western and Eastern Europe, and the country is also gradually entering the Asian and African markets. Exports mainly consist of finished products in the form of machinery, equipment, textiles, as well as fruits. The largest trade turnover was recorded with Switzerland and the USA.
5) Spain's EGP changes over time under the influence of all processes occurring in Europe.
6) Spain has an advantageous position and has prospects for good and sustainable development, which we see based on the above plan for characterizing the country’s EGP.
Developed skills and abilities
Any task implies the improvement of some skills and abilities. Using such a tool as drawing up a description of the state according to the plan for characterizing the country’s EGP allows one to develop the ability to assess the impact of the situation on development.
The history of how the country was settled and the national characteristics of its citizens and workforce help identify areas that have potential for development. Another skill that is formed when using a plan for characterizing a country’s EGP is the ability to identify and highlight similarities and differences and their interpretation and application. Forecasting future trends and development prospects is an integral analytical tool.
22. Economic-geographical and geopolitical position of countries, regions, cities. Changes in the EGP of the Russian Federation and its regions after the collapse of the USSR.
EGP– the position of the object in the economic space, which is determined in relation to the natural elements of the environment, to the elements of the original environment and to the location of the entire population.
An important feature of the EGP– historical variability, i.e. EGP is a dynamic category, so the progress of transport and communication systems changes it.
EGP components:
1. Industrial and geographical location
2. Transport and geographical location
3. Agro-geographical location
4. Market position
5. Demographic situation
6. Recreational-geographical location
Types of EGP:
Central
Peripheral
Border
Transit
Deep
Geopolitics– a scientific doctrine that substantiates the policy of a given state or region in relation to surrounding states or regions. When implementing this policy, the following are taken into account:
1. Level of conflict or opposition from one state to another
2. Level of socio-economic development
3. Population density
4. Military-strategic development
Due to the collapse of the USSR, the EGP and political-geographical position of the Russian Federation significantly worsened.
Access to the world's sea routes has been significantly weakened, since Russia has lost the ports of the Baltic states (Klaipeda, Riga, Tallinn) and Ukraine (Odessa, Feodosia, Kerch). Borders with European countries have moved deeper into the continent and to the east. A more continental location dictates the need to look for new outlets to world markets, to create new ports in the Gulf of Finland, in the north of the European part, in the Azov-Black Sea region. New circumstances require more attention to be paid to increasing the transportability of exported products, which are still dominated by fuel and energy and other natural raw materials, as well as intermediate products and semi-finished products.
Changes in the geopolitical situation will also affect intraregional development: of the 11 economic regions of the Russian Federation, previously only 6 had access to state borders and the ocean, now - 10 (except for the Volga-Vyatka region); of the 76 current republics. territories and regions, previously there were 20 border ones, today there are 44 of them. These changes are associated with new problems of specialization of production, the structure of commodity exchange, including foreign trade, population migration, redeployment of armed forces, etc.
23. Characteristics of the state border of the Russian Federation. The history of its formation.
The total length of the borders of the Russian Federation is approximately 60 thousand km (the largest figure in the world), while the sea borders are almost twice as large as the land ones (about 40 thousand km).
Northern borders countries completely pass through the waters of the Arctic Ocean seas: Barents, Kara, Laptev, East Siberian and Chukotka. Except for the western part of the Barents Sea, all of them are covered with drifting ice all year round, so navigation here is difficult.
Our Russian sector of the Arctic is located within the Arctic Ocean from the coast of Russia to the North Pole. The islands of this sector belong to our country.
Eastern borders Russia pass through the waters of the Pacific Ocean: Bering, Okhotsk, and Japanese. At the same time, all the Far Eastern seas washing the shores of Russia are partially frozen. Our country's closest maritime neighbors here are Japan and the USA.
In the west there are sea borders Russia pass through the waters of the Baltic Sea, which connect our country with many European countries. This sea belongs to the Atlantic Ocean and forms bays off the coast of our country, on the shores of which Russian ports are located. Moreover, only off the coast of the Kaliningrad region the Baltic Sea does not freeze in winter.
In the southwest the maritime borders pass through the waters of the Azov and Black Seas, where Ukraine and Georgia border on our country. The waters of the Azov and Black Seas are of great importance for Russia’s transport links with the Mediterranean countries and other European countries.
Border with some countries of the so-called “near abroad” - Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan on South on the waters of the internal Caspian Sea.
The length of our country's land borders is also large. After the collapse of the USSR, the number of neighbors changed from 10 to 16 (with two neighboring states, the Russian Federation has only maritime borders - with Japan and the USA).
In North-west Russia borders on land with Norway and Finland.
In the West The Russian Federation has borders with the Baltic states - Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, as well as with Poland.
Along the western and southwestern border Russia is home to Belarus and Ukraine.
On South with our country border Georgia, Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan.
The Republics of Altai, Tuva, Buryatia, as well as the Chita region, which are part of the Russian Federation, are located along the border with Mongolia.
More to the east Russia borders with China.
In the extreme southeast Primorsky Krai of the Russian Federation borders with North Korea.
Thus, most of Russia’s borders pass along natural boundaries: seas, mountains, rivers. Some of them complicate international contacts, others favor them, allowing the construction of international land and river routes for economic ties, etc.
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In this lesson you will become familiar with the topic “Economic-geographical, transport-geographical and geopolitical position of Russia.” At the beginning of the lesson, remember what the concept of “economic-geographical location” is, repeat who first introduced this definition, at what levels it is studied. After this, proceed to study the economic-geographical, transport-geographical and geopolitical position of Russia.
Topic: Geographical location of Russia
Lesson: Economic-geographical, transport-geographical and geopolitical position of Russia
The concept of “economic-geographical position” was introduced to geographical science by the theorist and popularizer of geography, author of school textbooks Nikolai Nikolaevich Baransky. (see figure 1)
Rice. 1. N.N.Baransky (1881 - 1963)
To assess the economic and geographical position of Russia at different levels, we should pay attention to our neighbors. Russia borders by land with 14 countries. Border states are neighbors of the first order. Most of the first order neighbors are countries CIS [L1].
The main task of the CIS is to unite the states that formed it for economic, cultural and military cooperation.
The CIS countries are important for the Russian economy because they account for 16% of Russia's exports and 24% of its imports. The main trading partners are Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Belarus. In turn, the CIS countries are interested in maintaining economic cooperation with Russia, since it accounts for more than 70% of their economic ties.
Russia's EGP at the global level (macro level) characterizes the country's position in relation to the main centers of the world economy and trade. This position is extremely advantageous. Russia has potential opportunities to develop and deepen its economic ties with countries on all continents. Today this is reflected in the fact that Russia is a member of more than 200 international organizations. And yet, the main foreign economic partners, besides the CIS, for Russia are the countries EU [L2] and more recently - countries Asia-Pacific [L3] . For example, European countries account for 59% of Russia's trade turnover, and of this, EU countries account for 51%. The share of countries in the Asia-Pacific region
(except for countries in the Americas region) -18%.
(see Fig. 2).
Rice. 2. Factors of Russian EGP at the macro level
The peculiarities of the geographical location are influenced by the transport and geographical position of Russia. After the collapse of the USSR, many railway, road, pipeline, and gas pipelines remained within the borders of independent states. Their use will require additional costs for the transportation of transit goods. Therefore, the country is currently developing the construction of new roads and the reconstruction of old ones. The Russian Empire and the USSR had four main outlets to the world ocean: firstly, to the Baltic, cut by Peter in the 18th century, secondly, the Black Sea, thirdly, to the North and fourthly, to the Pacific. Due to the collapse of the USSR and the formation of new independent states, Russia's transport and geographical situation worsened. The number of ports in the Baltic and Black Seas has sharply decreased. Russia retained the Kaliningrad, St. Petersburg and Vyborg ports in the Baltic, and Stalinsky, Ventspils, and Riga became ports of sovereign states. (see Fig. 3)
Rice. 3. Baltic ports (Russian ports are marked in white, ports of sovereign states are marked in red)
In the Azov-Black Sea basin, the situation is almost the same, Russia owns two ports: Tuapse and Novorossiysk, and Odessa and Kherson became ports of independent Ukraine. (see Fig. 4)
Rice. 4. Ports of the Azov-Black Sea basin (Russian ones are marked in white, ports of sovereign states are marked in red)
The ports of the Baltics and Ukraine are rarely used by these countries, since they were built to supply the entire USSR. Russia needs to conclude new trade agreements on the operation of these transport routes.
The transport and geographical position in the Far East is characterized as quite favorable for our country. Since Russia can act as a transcontinental “corridor” between the countries of the Asia-Pacific region and Europe, this requires new construction of bridges.
Before the collapse of the USSR, Russia lived in a “bipolar world”: on the one hand, the Soviet Union, and on the other, the United States; on the one hand, these are the NATO countries, and on the other, the Warsaw Pact countries.
After the collapse of the USSR, the world gradually became multipolar (see Fig. 5) and therefore, to determine its geopolitical position, Russia needs to focus on the following points:
· Russia is the largest country in the post-Soviet space and therefore it needs to build a new relationship with the CIS countries;
· Russia is the largest country in the world, which stretches across the Eurasian space from the Atlantic in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east;
· Russia is a northern country because 64% of its territory belongs to the planetary zone of the North.
Rice. 5. The current geopolitical situation of Russia
The new Russia in its geopolitics should focus on the following groups of countries:
· The CIS countries and other newly independent states are not only border states, but also second-order neighbors (Moldova, Armenia, Central Asian states) and third order (Tajikistan);
· Countries of Western and Southern Europe, united in the European Economic Community (EU), among which the role of Germany, the new global geopolitical pole, is growing; (see Fig. 6)
Rice. 6. Germany - a new global geopolitical pole
· Countries of Eastern Europe, closely connected throughout the post-war period with the USSR, with which Russia must renew and strengthen ties;
· Countries of the Baltic and Black Sea basins - Russia has already concluded multilateral agreements with them: cultural and economic, on environmental issues, on human rights;
· Countries of the Asia-Pacific region, especially the new poles of world economics and politics: Japan, China, South Asia, India;
· A special role belongs to the strengthening and development of diverse ties between Russia and the United States. Our country has already concluded an agreement on radical disarmament and space exploration, along with the development of economic, scientific and technical ties;
· Russia's ties with Canada and Northern Europe are gaining great importance in the exchange of experience in the development of northern territories.
Homework
- Name Russia's 1st and 2nd order neighbors?
- How can you assess the geopolitical situation in northern Russia?
- Geography of Russia. Nature. Population. 1 hour 8th grade / author. V.P. Dronov, I.I. Barinova, V.Ya Rom, A.A. Lobzhanidze
- Geography of Russia. Population and economy. 9th grade / author V.P. Dronov, V.Ya. Rum Atlas.
- Geography of Russia. Population and economy / ed. "Drofa" 2012
Other lessons on this topic
- Geographical location and borders of Russia. Geopolitical position ().
learn more
- Official website of the CIS ().
- On this site you can find out everything about the ports of Russia ().
[L1] In December 1991, the USSR ceased to exist, most of the new independent states that emerged within its former borders decided to create the CIS (Commonwealth of Independent States)
[L2] The European Union (European Union, EU) is an economic and political union of 27 European states aimed at regional integration (unification).
[L3] The Asia-Pacific region (APR) is a political and economic term that refers to the countries located along the perimeter of the Pacific Ocean and the numerous island states in the ocean itself.