ABSTRACT
Moving ea s tw a rd s a c ro ss E u ro p e , th e H ercyn ian and A lpine m ountain zones dip so u th w ard s and g ive p lace to th e m assive en la rg em en t of th e N orth E urop ean P lain w hich s tr e tc h e s ea s tw a rd s to th e U rals and so u th w ard s to th e B lack Sea and th e C asp ian . T he p r in c ip a l a rea l d iffe re n tia tio n of th is o th erw ise p h y s ica lly hom ogeneous reg io n is p ro v id e d b y th e v eg e ta tio n b e lts a lign ed from w est to e a s t a c ro ss i t . A con sid e rab le ra n g e of v eg e ta tio n a l ty p e s is to be found in th e
la titu d in a l s p re a d from 40° n o rth to th e A rc tic C ircle and b ey o n d . T hese a re sc ru b and se m i-d e se rt, tem p era te g ra s s land (S te p p e ) , dec idu ou s w oodland, con ife ro us fo re s t (T aiga) and fina lly th e s h o rt g ra s s and moss (T u n d ra ) of th e A rctic re g io n s . T hese v eg e ta tio n a l zones a re lin k ed b y th e g re a t r iv e r s which tr a v e r s e th e p la in . T he la rg e s t of them , in c lu d in g th e Volga, Don an d D n iep r, flow so u th w a rd s , b u t th e re a re also a num ber w hich flow n o rth w a rd s to th e A rc tic Ocean and w est to th e B altic . T he major w a te rsh ed is aligned from so u th -w e st to n o r th -e a s t and p a sse s th ro u g h th e V aldai H ills, one of th e few e lev ations of o v e r 300 m e tre s . T hese h ills lie w ith in th e dec idu ou s and mixed fo re s t b e lt which form s a tr ia n g le w ith i t s b ase in th e w est and i t s apex in th e so u th e rn U ra ls , and th is is th e h is to r ic hom eland of th e E ast S lav s, th e po pu la tion g ro u p to w hich th e R u ssian s be lon g .
