The Present State of Medical Geography in the USSR

A review of the present state of Soviet medical geography based on an analysis of papers presented at the Second National Medical Geography Conference held in Leningrad in November, 1965. The authors, representing four departments of the Geography Faculty of Moscow University, stress geophysical and geochemical causative factors of human disease and the contributions being made by medical landscape science in relating environmental prerequisites to particular diseases.     

The Geography of Radioactive Contamination in the Former USSR

A detailed survey of the location and scope of radionuclide contamination in the former USSR examines the character and spatial patterns of such contamination by source—e.g., commercial and military reactor operation (including reactors on submarines and icebreakers); uranium mining and enrichment; plutonium production; nuclear waste storage and disposal; and “peaceful” nuclear explosions and nuclear weapons tests. Attention also is focused on updating the situation at sites known to have sustained some of the most severe radionuclide contamination—e.g., Chornobyl' (Chernobyl') and adjacent areas; Mayak, Tomsk-7, and Krasnoyarsk-26; Novaya Zemlya; the Barents and Kara Seas; Lake Ladoga; and Semipalatinsk in Kazakhstan. 5 figures, 8 tables, 60 references.     

Geography in higher education in the USSR

Abstract

Soviet geography in higher education stems from a solid tradition long pre‐dating 1917, but in Soviet times the subject's practical relevance to environmental problems has been especially emphasised. University courses are very specialised, yet in certain respects they are also extraordinarily broad by British standards. Geography graduates usually enter either teaching or scientific/ research bodies, to which they are readily suited by their training. The practical emphasis of geographical education, however, occasionally produces certain strains in the discipline.     

The Economic Geography of the USSR by the Year 2000

A Soviet economic geographer uses a popular science monthly to predict some of the changes that may be expected in the Soviet Union over the next three decades. Urban population will tend to live in middle-size cities rather than gigantic urban complexes or excessively small settlements. Farm yields will be increased through more intensive use of the land. Conventional fuels and hydroelectricity will not be challenged by atomic power except in remote areas lacking other energy sources. Heavy industry will continue a gradual eastward shift beyond the Urals but will not be matched by an equal flow of population, which will remain concentrated in the European part of the country.     

Basic Problems of Middle-School Geography Education in the USSR

The author finds geography education neglected because educators lack a proper understanding of the role that can be played by geographic knowledge. He criticizes the present structure of geography courses as being excessively factual and encyclopedic, ignoring general concepts and failing to instill in students an ability to think for themselves in geographic terms. A new sequence of geography courses with improved content and methodology is proposed.     

Radiation Conditions in the Territory of the USSR in Various Geological Periods

The components of the radiation balance and the heat balance are computed for Lat. 45°, 60° and 75°N for various geological periods. Cloud cover is estimated for each geological period on the basis of continentality, the character of the underlying surface, type of climate and landscape as well as the known mean magnitude during the present geological period. Albedo is based on the character of the underlying surface indicated by paleogeographic data. Effective outgoing radiation is also based on the character of the underlying surface as well as cloud cover and atmospheric moisture. The disposition of net radiation at the earth's surface is broken down into sensible and latent heat fluxes, the soil heat flux being ignored. The resulting mean data on radiation and heat-balance components are then used to reconstruct the probable range of climatic situations that may have existed in what are now the polar, middle, and subtropical latitudes of the territory of the USSR.     

Basic Data on the Territory of the USSR and its Physical Characteristics

A gas-industry economist outlines a series of geographical and economic arguments in favor of transmitting natural gas from Tyumen' Oblast to the European part of the USSR via the Middle Urals rather than along the northern route through Komi ASSR, as now planned. In his view, the Middle Urals route would be more economical by providing more direct access to major consuming areas and avoiding the northern hostile environment with its inevitable increase in construction costs.     

Land Transport Reforms and the Economic Geography of the Northern Territory

Agreements at the special Premiers' Conferences in October 1990 and July 1991 removed Northern Territory Government control over the setting of heavy vehicle registration charges and arrangements for local roads funding on Aboriginal land. In relating the way in which the Northern Territory Government has traditionally administered these policy areas and reacted to the Premiers' Conference agreements, it is shown how land transport policy has been used to facilitate a preferred direction for development of the Territory's economic geography, namely, one in which costs to the private sector are subsidised and activities on privately-owned Aboriginal land are controlled. The agreements should result in a more equitable administration of land transport pol icy in the Territory. Changes to the administration of land transport reflect a broader shift in Australian Federal relations, in which the Commonwealth has sought greater national uniformity of transport policy. This has major implications for the future economic geography of the Northern Territory.     

The Work of the Institute of Geography of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR in 1958

The author defines satellites primarily on the basis of their commuting links with the central city or cities. He discusses characteristics of satellite cities and towns and their functions, trends in the development and location of satellites, and recommendations for Soviet city planning. In the following translation, the Russian term gorod has been translated as city, and poselok gorodskogo tipa (urban-type settlement) as town.     

A Canadian Scholar'S Views on Geography in Canada and in the USSR

There has long been controversy over the exact location of the middle segment of the great medieval trade route from the Varangians (Northmen) in the Baltic to the Greeks (Byzantium) in the Black Sea. There is no ambiguity about the northern segment, between Novgorod and the Baltic, or the southern segment, from Smolensk down the Dnieper to the Black Sea, but authors have tended to disagree about the various rivers, lakes and portages used by traders in the Russian heartland between Novgorod and Smolensk. A Russian chronicle describing a campaign led by Aleksandr Nevskiy against a Lithuanian force in 1245 sheds light on the alignment of the middle segment of the trade route. It appears that the route originally passed through Velikiye Luki in the 10th century. As this area became embroiled in clashes between warring Russian principalities, the trade route shifted eastward to the Toropets area, which became dominant by the 13th century. The existence of two additional minor routes is also noted.     

Economic Geography in the USSR on the 50th Anniversary of Soviet Power

Economic geography has, since the inception of the Soviet state, played an important utilitarian role in the planning and development of the national economy. The basic research of economic geographers in the preplanning stage should, however, be distinguished from the actual selection of an industrial site or of a railroad alignment, which must be the province of government design and planning agencies. Two approaches can now be noted in Soviet economic geography. One, closely related to economics, deals with the economic factors of economic location; the other, closely related to physical geography, emphasizes the regional approach to the man-environment system.