We are all familiar with such a multifaceted science as geography. It combines so many things that scientists decided to divide it into several separate sciences with more narrow specializations. And the most interesting, in my opinion, is the section of physical geography. After all, it is he who is studying those zones of the Earth on which we live. But do we know everything about physical geography? Let me share my knowledge about it with you.
What is physical geography
From a scientific point of view, physical geography is a science whose task is to study geographical envelope our planet, its structure, functioning and dynamics. And this geographical shell means such parts of the Earth as the earth's crust, biosphere, troposphere, stratosphere and hydrosphere. Between all these parts there is a constant exchange of energy and certain substances.
It is also impossible not to mention that physical geography is a branch not only of geography, but also of natural science.
What is physical geography divided into and what is it connected with
Being also a very extensive science, physical geography is divided into two main sections - this general geography and landscape science.
Geography is the foundation of physical geography, it focuses its study precisely on the geographical shell.
BUT landscape science deals, as its name implies, with terrestrial landscapes, their detailed structure, functioning and changes.
Returning again to physical geography, it is worth noting that it is inextricably related to economic geography. This connection is due to the following phenomena:
- any production is always built and developed in certain natural conditions;
- the use of resources created by nature is the basis for any production;
- we must not forget that the location and activities of these same industries, as a rule, have an impact (often negative) on the geographical envelope. And knowledge of physical geography about preventing (or correcting) these dangerous changes is simply necessary.
As you can see from my story, such a science as physical geography is no less important than its foundation - geography. She is inextricably linked to her.. And I hope that from my story you have learned something new for yourself. Good luck on your travels!
Geography is a science that originated in antiquity. For many centuries it has been describing the nature, population and economy of various regions and the Earth as a whole. Now it is no longer the only science, but a whole system of natural and social sciences. All of them together deeply explore the structure of the geographic envelope of our planet, its constituent components, study the causes of the development of certain natural phenomena and processes, analyze the socio-economic and environmental problems etc. The system of geographical sciences consists of independent sciences, scientific disciplines and branch sciences.
The independent sciences include physical geography, socio-economic geography, history of geography, and cartography. Physical geography studies the nature of the Earth's surface and its various natural complexes. Socio-economic geography studies the population, its economic activity, patterns of production location. Both of these sciences are the main branches of geography. The history of geography studies the development of theoretical thought, the history geographical research and discoveries, describes the stages of the emergence and formation of all geographical sciences. Cartography - the science of geographical maps, methods and processes for their creation and use. Note that cartography has a special place in geography, because it serves not only geographical sciences, but sciences and branches of the national economy are quite far from it - maps are widely used, for example, in military affairs, aviation, shipping, administrative institutions.
As part of physical geography, the main scientific disciplines are geography, regional physical geography and landscape science. Each of them has its own subject of study. So, geography studies the geographic shell of the Earth as an integral system, its structure, structure, dynamics, development and changes under the influence of economic activity. Regional physical geography studies the nature of various regions of the Earth, including individual continents, oceans, and countries. An important part of modern physical geography is landscape science, which studies natural and transformed (anthropogenic) landscapes and their components.
Socio-economic geography also consists of three main disciplines. These are economic and social geography of the world, regional economic and social geography and regional studies. Each of these sciences has its own subject of research. Thus, the economic and social geography of the world studies the foundations of the geography of world production, investigates the structure, distribution and development of the economy of individual countries as a whole and its main branches, analyzes the quantitative and qualitative state of the population, formulates questions of theory and discovers the laws of development of subjects of study. Regional economic and social geography studies the economies of countries and economic regions (industrial-territorial complexes) and the connections between them. Country studies gives general characteristics nature and economy of individual states or large territories. A component of regional studies is local history, the subject of which is small territories - their nature, economy, history, life of people, etc.
The science of nature conservation has crystallized in physical and economic geography and therefore combines issues of nature and economics. This is the doctrine of natural resources and their rational use. The task of this science is to ensure the effective use natural resources, their expanded reproduction, preservation of valuable and endangered species of plants and animals, unique landscapes.
Individual branches of science are also actively involved in issues of nature protection. They separated from geography as a result of the accumulation of a large amount of scientific knowledge about the Earth and due to the need for a deep study of various components of nature and industries, as well as the laws of development of nature and society. Let us first name the branches of science that have emerged from general physical geography. Geomorphology - the science of the Earth's relief, the origin and patterns of development of its forms. Oceanology studies the physical, chemical, geological and biological processes and phenomena in the World Ocean, the ocean floor, the spatial differentiation of waters and the influence of these factors on the formation of the nature of the planet. Hydrology essentially studies water bodies on land: rivers, lakes, swamps, groundwater, glaciers. Soil geography studies the regularities in the distribution of soils on the earth's surface. Biogeography studies the patterns of geographical distribution and distribution of plants, animals and their groups on the planet, as well as the nature and history of the formation of fauna and flora of individual territories.
Socio-economic geography also gave rise to several separate branch sciences. Each of them explores separate objects. Population geography studies the territorial patterns of the formation, distribution and development of the population in a certain socio-economic and geographical environment, social geography - the features and patterns of the territorial organization of society in various countries, regions, localities, natural zones. The geography and economics of natural resources studies natural resources and makes an economic assessment of them in a country, region, district or any other specific area. Industry geography explores territorial structure industrial production, objective patterns and features of the development of industry as a whole and for individual groups of industries as part of territorial systems of different levels. The subject of studying the geography of agriculture is agrarian-territorial complexes different types and regions, geography of transport - conditions, factors and patterns of formation, functioning and territorial organization of transport systems as a means of communication between territorial production complexes.
Ecology in a broad sense is a science that studies the relationship between living organisms and their environment. Now, complex studies of the interaction between nature and society are becoming very important in order to justify the rational use of natural resources and conservation favorable conditions for life on our planet.
The described system of geographical sciences does not cover all its branches. In particular, it does not mention such sciences as medical, military and political geography, paleogeography, glaciology, permafrost, geoecology, and some others. And although the classification of the modern division of geography is not complete, it shows that all geographical sciences are united by a close relationship between the objects under study and the commonality of the ultimate goal, which is a comprehensive study of nature, population and economy and in determining the nature of the interaction between human society and the environment. .
Introduction
Geography is a diversified science. This is due to the complexity and diversity of the main object of its study - the geographic envelope of the Earth. Located on the boundary of the interaction of intraterrestrial and external (including space) processes, the geographic envelope includes the upper layers of the solid crust, the hydrosphere, the atmosphere, and the organic matter scattered in them. Depending on the position of the Earth in the ecliptic orbit and due to the tilt of its axis of rotation, different parts of the earth's surface receive different amounts of solar heat, the further redistribution of which, in turn, is due to the uneven ratio of land and sea in latitude.
The current state of the geographical shell should be considered as the result of its long evolution - starting from the emergence of the Earth and its formation on a planetary path of development.
A correct understanding of the processes and phenomena of various spatio-temporal scales occurring in the geographic envelope requires at least their multi-level consideration, starting from the global - planetary. At the same time, the study of processes of a general planetary nature has until recently been considered the prerogative of the geological sciences. In the general geographic synthesis, information of this level was practically not used, and if it was involved, it was rather passive and limited. However, the industry division natural sciences rather arbitrary and has no clear boundaries. They have a common object of research - the Earth and its cosmic environment. The study of the various properties of this single object and the processes occurring in it required the development various methods research, which largely predetermined their branch division. In this regard, geographical science has more advantages over other branches of knowledge, because. It has the most developed infrastructure, which makes it possible to conduct a comprehensive study of the Earth and its surrounding space.
In the arsenal of geography are methods for studying the solid, liquid and gas components of the geographic shell, living and inert matter, the processes of their evolution and interaction.
On the other hand, one cannot fail to note the important fact that even 10-15 years ago, most of the research on the problems of the structure and evolution of the Earth and its outer geospheres, including the geographical envelope, remained “waterless”. When and how water appeared on the surface of the Earth and what are the ways of its further evolution - all this remained outside the attention of researchers.
At the same time, as was shown (Orlyonok, 1980-1985), water is the main result of the evolution of the Earth's protosubstance and the most important component of the geographic envelope. Its gradual accumulation on the Earth's surface, accompanied by volcanism and various amplitude downward movements of the tops of the earth's crust, predetermined, starting from the Proterozoic, and possibly even earlier, the course of evolution of the gaseous envelope, relief, the ratio of the area and configuration of land and sea, and with them the conditions of sedimentation. , climate and life. In other words, the free water produced by the planet and brought to the surface essentially determined the course and all the features of the evolution of the planet's geographic envelope. Without it, the whole appearance of the Earth, its landscapes, climate, organic world would be completely different. The prototype of such an Earth is easily guessed on the waterless and lifeless surface of Venus, partly of the Moon and Mars.
System geographical science
Physical geography - Greek. physis - nature, geo - Earth, grapho - I write. The same, literally - a description of the nature of the Earth, or land description, geoscience.
The literal definition of the subject of physical geography is too general. Compare: "geology", "geobotany".
To give a more precise definition of the subject of physical geography, it is necessary:
show the spatial structure of science;
establish the relationship of this science with other sciences.
You know from your school geography course that geography deals with the study of the nature of the earth's surface and those material values that mankind has created on it. In other words, geography is a science that does not exist in the singular. This, of course, is physical geography and economic geography. It can be imagined that this is a system of sciences.
The systemic paradigm (Greek example, sample) came to geography from mathematics. System - a philosophical concept, meaning a set of elements that are in interaction. It is a dynamic, functional concept.
From a systematic standpoint, geography is the science of geosystems. Geosystem(s), according to V.B.Sochava (1978), are terrestrial spaces of all dimensions, where individual components of nature are in a system connection with each other and, as a certain integrity, interact with the cosmic sphere and human society.
Main properties of geosystems:
a) integrity, unity;
b) Component, elementary (element - Greek elementary, indivisible);
c) Hierarchical subordination, a certain order of construction, functioning;
d) Relationship through functioning, exchange.
Allocate internal connections, fixing the specific structure for a given science, and through it - and its inherent composition (structure). Internal communications in nature are, first of all, the exchange of matter and energy. External relations - internal and mutual exchange of ideas, hypotheses, theories, methods through intermediate, transitional scientific units (for example, natural, social, technical sciences).
Like physics, chemistry, biology and other sciences, modern geography is a complex system of scientific disciplines that separated themselves at different times (Fig. 2).
Rice. 2. The system of geographical science according to V.A. Anuchin
Economic and physical geography have their own various objects and subjects of study, indicated in fig. 2. But humanity and nature are not only different, but mutually influence, act on each other, forming the unity of the material world of the nature of the earth's surface (in Fig. 2, this interaction is indicated by arrows). People, forming a society, are part of nature and relate to it as a part to the whole.
The understanding of society as part of nature begins to determine the entire nature of production. Society, experiencing the impact of nature, also experiences the impact of the laws of nature. But the latter are refracted in society and become specific (the law of reproduction is the law of population). It is social laws that determine the development of society (solid line in Fig. 2).
community development occurs naturally on the earth's surface. The nature surrounding human society, experiencing its impact, forms a geographical environment. The geographic environment, thanks to technological progress, is constantly expanding and already includes Near Space.
A reasonable person should not forget about the existing system connection. N.N. said this very well. Baransky: "There should be neither "inhuman" physical geography, nor "unnatural" economic geography."
In addition, the modern geographer must take into account the fact that the nature of the earth's surface has already been changed. human activity, that's why modern society should measure its impact on nature with the intensity of the natural process.
Modern geography is a triune science that unites nature, population, and economy.
Each of the sciences: physical, economic, social geography, in turn, represents a complex of sciences.
Complex of physical and geographical science
The physical-geographical complex is one of the main concepts of physical geography. It consists of parts, elements and components: air, water, lithogenic base (rocks and unevenness of the earth's surface), soil and living organisms (plants, animals, microorganisms). Their combination forms a natural-territorial complex (NTC) of the earth's surface. NTC can be considered as the entire earth's surface, individual continents, oceans, and small areas: slope of a ravine, bog. PTK is a unity that exists in origin (in the past) and in development (present, future).
The nature of the earth's surface can be studied in general and as a whole (physical geography), by components (private sciences - hydrology, climatology, soil science, geomorphology, etc.); can be studied by countries and regions (country studies, landscape studies), in the present, past and future tenses (general geography, paleogeography and historical geography).
Animal geography (zoogeography) is the science of the patterns of distribution of animal species.
Biogeography is the geography of organic life.
Oceanology is the science of the World Ocean as part of the hydrosphere.
Landscape science is the science of the landscape environment, the thin, most active central layer of the geographic envelope, consisting of natural territorial complexes of various ranks.
Cartography is a general geographical (at the system level) science of geographical maps, methods of their creation and use.
Paleogeography and historical geography - the sciences about the nature of the earth's surface of past geological eras; about the discovery, formation and history of the development of natural and social systems.
Country studies are physical and geographical, studying the nature of individual countries and regions (the physical geography of Russia, Asia, Africa, etc.).
Glaciology and geocryology (permafrost) are the sciences about the conditions for the emergence, development and forms of terrestrial (glaciers, snowfields, snow avalanches, sea ice) and lithospheric (permafrost, underground glaciation) ice.
Earth science (actually physical geography) studies the geographical shell (the nature of the earth's surface) as an integral material system - the general patterns of its structure, origin, internal and external relationships, functioning to develop a system for modeling and controlling ongoing processes.
General geographic (or synthetic) sciences are physical-geographical and economic-geographical at the same time.
Applied physical and geographical sciences (engineering geomorphology, synoptic meteorology, etc.) study practical problems associated with branches of the national economy.
Modern geography studies terrestrial spaces of all dimensions, their structure, movement, as well as their interaction in nature and society.
Development of basic ideas about the system and complex of geographical science
It is known from the history of geography that geographers did not immediately come to the concept of geography in our modern sense - to a geography that studies the PTK and TPK in some interconnected unity.
In the development of geography, several chronological eras are distinguished: geography ancient world, the Middle Ages, the Great Geographical Discoveries, Modern and Modern Times, but all of them are grouped according to the goals and objectives of research into two major stages:
Until the middle to the end of the 19th century,
Early 20th century to the present day.
In the first stage, geography was a comprehensive, ideological science. Mapping is her main task. For centuries, its goal has been to collect information about the globe, its environment - space, about the peoples inhabiting near and far corners of the Earth, their territories, occupations, beliefs.
The main questions of interest to geography:
What it is? Where is it? These are questions of description. Any science begins with the answer to them.
By the middle of the XIX century. the collection of material on the earth's surface was basically completed. Only the areas of the extreme north and extreme south remained undiscovered.
By this time, a single science no longer existed, private sciences arose within it: botany (first in the form of plant taxonomy), geology (first in the form of mining); the social and economic sciences stood out. These new sciences, with greater completeness and depth than the former geography, explored nature and society. Geography, having lost the subject of its study (a single, indivisible nature), entered a period of crisis and lost its former glory. From an avant-garde science, it has turned into a backward one. It took decades for a revolution in knowledge to take place, and geography in the modern sense of the word (a systemic and complex science) arose. The success of any science is based on the work and achievements of scientists from all over the world community.
Among the forerunners of this scientific revolution in geography, Russian and German geographers should be mentioned first of all. Germany in the 19th century - an advanced industrial country with a developed science and culture, the experience of which traditionally went to Russian scientists. Returning home to Russia on a rich and varied "soil", they created Russian geography, original, unlike any other.
Varenius Bernhard (1622-1650). The main work is "General Geography" (1650). Born in Hamburg. He graduated from the Hamburg and Koenigsberg universities, later lived in Holland. Modern geography begins the countdown from it. According to Varenii, geography studies the amphibious circle formed by interpenetrating parts - earth, water, atmosphere. The amphibious circle studies general geography, separate areas - private geography. This is the first experience of a broad generalization of geography since ancient times, the first attempt to determine the subject and content of geography, based on new data on the Earth collected during the era of the Great Geographical Discoveries.
Humboldt Alexander (1769-1859). German naturalist, encyclopedist, geographer and traveler, who set himself the goal of creating a unified picture of the world. Exploring nature South America, revealed the significance of the analysis of relationships as a universal thread of all geographical science. He identified the bioclimatic latitudinal zonality and altitudinal zonality, proposed to use isotherms in climatic characteristics, laid the foundations of comparative physical geography. In his main work - "Space, the experience of the physical world description" - he substantiated the view of the earth's surface (a subject of geography) as a special shell of the interaction of air, sea, Earth - the unity of inorganic and organic nature. He owns the term "life sphere", similar to the content of the biosphere, and in the final lines of the first part of "Cosmos ..." it is said about the sphere of the mind, which later received the name of the noosphere. Main works: “Pictures of Nature” (1808, Russian translation in 1959), “Central Asia” (1843, in three volumes, Russian translation: T. 1 - M., 1915), “Space, the experience of physical world description”, 5 volumes (1845-62).
Ritter Karl (1779-1859) worked at the same time as A. Humboldt. Main works: "Earth science in relation to nature and to the history of man, or General comparative geography", "Ideas on comparative geography". Professor at the University of Berlin, founder of the first department of geography in Germany, which he led from 1820 until the end of his life. A brilliant teacher who listened to the young Karl Marx, Elise Reclus, P.P. Semyonov-Tyan-Shansky. The author of many works, one "Earth Science" covers 19 volumes, in which he contrasted the spatial and historical development. There are many contradictory judgments in his writings, so some geographers admired his works, others subjected them to devastating criticism. But his main judgment is clear: the Earth is the subject of geography, "the dwelling of the human race." Ritter is given the same place in geography as Hegel is in philosophy.
Semyonov-Tyan-Shansky Pyotr Petrovich (1827-1914) - an outstanding Russian geographer, explorer of Asia. From 1873 to 1914 headed the Russian Geographical Society. It was during this period that the famous expeditions of N.M. Przhevalsky, N.N. Miklukho-Maclay and other Russian geographers brought worldwide fame to Russian geography. Main works: "Journey to the Tien Shan in 1856-57." (first published in 1946; new edition - M., 1958), “Foreword to the book“ Geography of Asia. Under his leadership, the "Geographic and Statistical Dictionary" was written and published. Russian Empire“, 5 volumes, St. Petersburg, 1865-1885; "Russia. A complete geographical description of our fatherland”, 1911, 1899-1914. He understood geography as “a whole natural group of sciences”, including hydrology, climatology, meteorology, orography, cartography, biogeography, geognosy (geomorphology), as well as a number of social disciplines: anthropology, historical geography, demography, statistics, political geography. Combining theoretical and practical matters development of the natural environment, created the original geographical school.
Richthofen Ferdinand (1833-1905). Prominent German geographer, traveler. In various years he was a professor at Bonn, Leipzig and Berlin universities. One of the creators of geomorphology. He believed that geography is designed to reveal the process of interaction of diverse phenomena with the relief of the earth's surface. He attached decisive importance in revealing the essence of geographical knowledge to the study of human interaction with the totality of natural phenomena within the earth's surface, and he represented geography as a science bordering between natural and social sciences. Major works: "Problems and methods of modern geography" (1883); "China. Results of my own travels”, 5 volumes with an atlas (1877-1911); „Geomorphological studies East Asia", 4 volumes (1903-11).
Dokuchaev Vasily Vasilyevich (1846-1903). Naturalist, professor at St. Petersburg University, founder of the first Russian department of soil science (1895) and the study of natural areas. V.V. Dokuchaev is an exceptional phenomenon on the scale of our country and in world science. He and his students created a strong and fruitful scientific school, which enriched many sciences: geology, mineralogy, soil science, botany; the teaching about the forest appeared in the school. Among the sciences that have experienced the strongest influence of Vasily Vasilyevich is geography. Among the students of Dokuchaev were the mineralogist and geochemist V.I. Vernadsky, geologist and petrographer F.Yu. Levinson, Lessing, soil scientists N.M. Sibirtsev and K.D. Glinka, botanists and geographers A.N. Krasnov, G.I. Tanfiliev, G.N. Vysotsky, hydrogeologist P.V. Ototsky, the founder of the doctrine of the forest G.F. Morozov. Soil scientists and geographers L.I. Prasolov, B.B. Polanov, S.S. Neustroev, Yu.A. Liverovsky, botanists and geographers V.N. Sukachev (student of G.F. Morozov), geochemists A.E. Fersman and A.P. Vinogradov (students of V.I. Vernadsky). Soil scientists and geographers In.P. Gerasimov, M.A. Glazovskaya, A.I. Perelman and others. A student of A.N. Krasnov was G.G. Grigor, for a long time Head of the Department of Geography at Tomsk University. The students and associates of G.G. Grigor are professors L.N. Ivanovsky, A.A. Zemtsov, A.M. Maloletko, P.A. Okishev. The geographical ideas of the Dokuchaev school are preserved and developed to this day. Major works: "Russian Chernozem" (1883), "Our steppes before and now" (1892), "On the doctrine of natural zones" (1886).
Geography studies the origin and development of the earth's surface on the basis of complex studies, considers natural processes in space and time. It is a combination of theory and practice of science.
At the first stage of the development of science, geographers were engaged in collecting factual material: a description of what and where is located. But by the end of the 19th century, when the collection of material was completed, they turned to the analysis and synthesis of the collected material, to the study of the internal laws of natural and social development. Now the main questions of geography - why? - explanation, identification of the reasons for the existence and development of natural and socio-economic complexes, as well as questions: therefore? when? - foresight, prediction, forecast of the identified patterns of development. This is the most difficult thing that can be in science. And finally, the last question: what is it for? - To construct natural, social and economic processes, in order to manage them.
Modern geography is no longer a descriptive science. It is constructive - engineering-transformative, according to In.P. Gerasimov, and forecasting, dealing with fundamental developments of the problems of modern interaction between nature and society - the noosphere.
Physical geography- a system of sciences that study the structure, dynamics and functioning of the geographical envelope and its structural parts - natural territorial complexes and their components, for the purposes of scientific justification territorial location of the company, environmental management and geographic forecast. Physical geography is part of geography and natural science.
Each of them also applies to one of the related natural sciences (for example, geomorphology and paleogeography - to geology, biogeography - to biology, etc.). Physical geography is also related to geoecology, cartography, geoinformatics, and economic geography.
See also[ | the code]
Physical geography- a system of sciences that study the structure, dynamics and functioning of the geographic shell and its structural parts - natural territorial complexes and their components, for the purposes of scientific substantiation of the territorial distribution of society, rational nature management and geographical forecasting.
Physical geography is part of geography and natural science.
Article examples
Physical geography is divided into the following sections:
- general geography, which studies the general patterns of structure and development of the geographic envelope of the Earth and its large structural parts;
- landscape science, which studies natural geosystems of a regional-local rank.
Physical geography partially includes a group of physical and geographical sciences that study individual components of the natural environment:
The hydrometeorological direction is distinguished separately:
Each of them also applies to one of the related natural sciences (for example, geomorphology and paleogeography - to geology, biogeography - to biology, etc.).
Physical geography is also related to geoecology, cartography, geoinformatics, and economic geography.
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Physical geography of Russia
PHYSICAL AND GEOGRAPHICAL CHARACTERISTICS OF RUSSIA
Geographical position
Russia is located in the northeastern part of the world's largest continent, Eurasia, and occupies about a third of its territory (31.5%). The extreme northern and eastern points of the continent are also the extreme points of Russia. Being in two parts of the world - Europe and Asia - Russia occupies the eastern part of Europe and the northern latitudes of Asia.
The border between these parts of the world inside Russia runs along the Urals, where in many places close to railways and highways crossing the mountains, there is an old stone obelisk or modern illuminated memorial signs "Europe-Asia", and in the Kumo-Manych depression.
Approximately slightly more than 1/5 of the country (about 22%) are in Europe, but more often we are talking about European Russia, which means the entire territory lying west of the Urals (about 23% of the area). In any case, the share of the Asian part of Russia is more than 3/4 of the country. In Tuva, not far from Kyzyl, this is the center of Asia. The 180th meridian passes through the Wrangel Islands and Chukotka, so the eastern edge of Russia lies on the western hemisphere.
Given the size of the territory, our country ranks first in the world.
The territory of Russia is 17.1 million km2. It's more than a field of all European countries. On the territory of Russia, this is quite comparable not with individual countries, but with all continents.
The territory of Russia is larger than the territory of Australia and Antarctica and slightly lower than South America (18.2 million km2). Russia is 1.6-1.8 times larger than the largest country in the world - Canada, the USA and China, and 29 times the largest country in Europe - Ukraine.
Russia is in the northern hemisphere.
Its extreme northern point of the continent - Cape Chelyuskin on the Taymir Peninsula - lies at 77 ° 43'N, and the northern point of the island - Cape Fligli on Rudolph Island in the Franz Josef Land archipelago - 81 ° 49'N.
Only 900 km separates it from the northern course. The extreme southern point is located southwest of Mount Bazardyuz in the eastern part of the main or water region Greater Caucasus, on the border of Dagestan with Azerbaijan. Its width is 41° 11'S.
The distance between the extreme northern and southern points is over 40° along the meridian, and the northern continental point is 36.5° from the south. This is just over 4000 km.
Such a length from north to south, in combination with the latitude of the position, causes an uneven supply of heat to the surface of the country and its appearance in three climatic zones(arctic, temperate and subarctic) and ten natural zones from the arctic to the desert, leaving the temperate zone.
The main part of the territory of our country is located between 70 and 50 ° north latitude.
Approximately 20% of the territory is outside the Arctic Circle.
In the Kaliningrad region on the sand of the Baltic Spit of the Baltic Sea in Gdansk at 19 ° 38 ‘N. is the westernmost point of our country. However, due to the fact that the Kaliningrad region is separated from the rest of Russia from the territory of other countries (an enclave), it has become somewhat of an "island" point.
The main territory of Russia begins almost 500 km in the east. The farthest western point of the compact territory of Russia lies north of the closing point of the borders of three countries: Russia, Latvia and Estonia, on the border with Estonia, on the banks of the Pededze River (right tributary of the Tier Daugava) 27 ° 17 "E.
The extraordinary eastern points of Russia flood the waters of the Bering Passage. Here, in the Chukchi peninsula, a sharply continental point is Cape Dezhnev (169 ° 40 "W), as well as on Ratmanov Island, included in the group of Diomede Islands - extreme point islands (169°02" W).
The distance between the western and eastern margins of Russia is 171°20' or almost 10,000 km. Largely the area from west to east, the level of continental climate change is reflected in the manifesto of the sector in nature change. Differences in time across the country (ten time zones) are also very large: when evening enters the Baltic coast, a new day begins in Chukotka.
borders .
The total length of Russia's borders is 60,932 km. Of these, 38,807 km (approximately 2/3) is reduced to the sea border, 2212 km of land (including 7616 km along rivers and lakes).
The northern and eastern borders are mainly maritime, western and southern borders. The great extent of the Russian state borders depends on the size of its territory and the disturbing outlines of the coastlines from the Arctic, Pacific and Atlantic Oceans, which wash away their shores.
The nature of the land border in the western and eastern parts is not the same.
Where borders were inherited from imperial Russia, they often cross natural borders. When the state expanded its borders, it had to be clearly fixed. In sparsely populated areas, they should be easily recognizable. This ensured the clarity of the borders: river, mountainous area, etc. This symbol essentially preserves the eastern part of the southern border.
Russia's existing western and southwestern borders were created quite differently.
These are the boundaries that were previously inside the country, the boundaries between the individual subjects of the country, which often change arbitrarily, i.e., to a large extent, administrative boundaries. It is clear that such boundaries need not be associated with natural boundaries.
Since these internal borders have become interstate borders, they have become almost unrelated to natural objects. Thus, Russia's borders with Finland and Poland were formed. This is even more true of the borders that emerged when the Soviet Union collapsed.
The western border has practically no natural boundaries along its entire length.
It starts on the shores of the Barents Sea from the Varanger Fjord and runs first along the hilly tundra and then along the Pasvik river valley. From this side, Russia borders on Norway. In addition, the Russian neighboring Finland. The border is located on the Manselkja hill, there are many wetlands and lake areas, on the slopes of the low Salpuselkja ridge and 160 km southwest of Vyborg, it reaches the Gulf of Finland.
In the far west, along the coast of the Baltic Sea and its Gulf of Gdansk, is the Kaliningrad region of Russia, bordering Poland and Lithuania. Most of the region's border with Lithuania runs along the Nemunas (Nemunas) and its tributaries to the Šešupa River.
From the border of the bay it runs along the Narva River, Lake Peipus and Pskov and further mainly low plains, crossing more or less important hills (Vitebsk, Smolensk and Moscow, on the southern slopes of the environment, the Donetsk Ridge) and the river (the upper reaches of the Western Dvina, Dnieper, Proper Diet and Donets and Oskol), sometimes with secondary river valleys and small lakes, through wooded hills and ravines step Space, preferably plowed, empty spaces of the Taganrog Bay of Azov from the sea.
There is neighboring Russia more than 1000 km from the former fraternal republic Soviet Union: Estonia, Latvia, Belarus and Ukraine.
The southern border, such as the western border, is predominantly mainland.
What physical geography is studied as a science?
It starts with Kerch Strait, which connects the Sea of Azov with the Black Sea and passes through the territorial waters of the Black Sea to the ear of the Psou River. Here begins the land border with Georgia and Azerbaijan.
It runs on the Psou valley, and then mainly on the Main or watershed of the Greater Caucasus Range, which occurs on the side of the ridge in the area between Conditions and Kodori, but then again in the Dividing Range to Mount Bazardyuzyu, where it turns north to the Samur River on which the valley reaches the Caspian Sea.
Thus, in the region of the Greater Caucasus, the Russian border is clearly defined by natural natural boundaries. This is due to the fact that nature limited the possibilities of settling. Caucasian peoples steep high mountain slopes. The length of the border in the Caucasus is more than 1000 km.
In addition, the Russian border runs along the Caspian Sea drainage basin, off the coast near the eastern edge of the Volga Delta, Russia's border with Kazakhstan.
It passes through the deserts and dry stairs of the Caspian lowland, at the intersection of the Mugodzhar region with the Urals, on the southern steps of Western Siberia and the Altai Mountains. The border with Kazakhstan, Russia is the longest (over 7500 km), but it is almost not the main natural border. For example, in the region of the Kulunda plains, for example, at a distance of about 450 km from the border, it extends from northwest to southeast almost in a straight line, parallel to the direction of the Irtysh stream.
However, for about 1500 km the border runs along the Small üzenet River (Caspian Sea), the Urals and its left tributary ILEC, the Tobol and its left tributary, the Yu River (the longest river of the border with Kazakhstan), as well as several small tributaries of the Tobol.
The eastern part of the border - along the Altai - is pronounced orographically. A passage through the ridge separates the basin from the Katun Bukhtarmi Basin, the right tributary of the Irtysh (Koksu, Holtsunsky, Listvyaga into small sections - Katun and Southern Altai).
Almost the entire border of Russia runs from Altai to the Pacific Ocean through the mountainous zone.
In the junction of the Southern Altai Range, Mongolian Altai and Saylyuge, there is the Tabin-Bogdo-Ula mountain range (4082 m). There are three countries: China, Mongolia and Russia. The length of the Russian border with China and Mongolia is 100 kilometers longer than the Russian-Kazakh border.
The boundary extends along the Sayyugem ridge, the northern edge of the Ubsunur basin, the Tuva trenches of the Eastern Sayan and Trans (Dzhida, Erman, etc.).
It continues along the rivers Argun, Amur, Ussuri and the left tributary - the Sungach River. More than 80% of the Russian-Chinese border crosses rivers. The state border crosses the northern part of the water area of Lake Khanka, crosses the ridges of the Border and the Black Mountains. In the far south, Russia borders on North Korea along the river Tumintsian. The length of this border is only 17 km.
Along the river valley, the Russian-Korean border runs to the coast of the Sea of Japan south of Posyet Bay.
Physical geography, the science of the geographic shell of the Earth and its structural parts, f. is divided into main sections: geography, studying the general laws of the structure and development of the geographic shell of the Earth, and landscape science– the doctrine of natural territorial complexes (geosystems) of different ranks; in addition, F. g. include paleogeography(which is also part of historical geology).
The group of physical and geographical sciences includes sciences that study individual components of the natural environment - geomorphology, climatology, land hydrology, oceanology, glaciology, geocryology, soil geography, biogeography.
Each of them simultaneously belongs to one of the related natural sciences (for example, geomorphology - to geology, biogeography - to biology, etc.). F. geography is also closely connected with cartography and economic geography. At the junction with the technical, agricultural, medical, and other sciences, applied areas of FG are being formed, covering various aspects of the assessment of natural territorial complexes and developing ways to protect and rationally use them.
The main stages of development of F.
d. The beginnings of physical-geographical ideas are already contained in the works of ancient authors. The initial, purely speculative natural-philosophical attempts to explain natural phenomena observed on the earth's surface belong to the philosophers of the Ionian school (Thales, Anaximander, 7-6 centuries BC). At the turn of the 6th-5th centuries. BC e. the idea of the sphericity of the Earth and the concept of thermal belts arose. The physical and geographical concepts of the ancient Greeks in the most complete and systematic form outlined (in the 4th century BC).
BC e.) Aristotle. His work "Meteorologica" contains the ideas of the interpenetration of the earth's shells, the circulation of water and air, considers the causes of various atmospheric phenomena, questions of the origin of rivers, their accumulative activity, and other problems related to the field of general geography.
The same questions interested the followers of Aristotle - the Peripatetics of Theophrastus, Strato. Elements of F. g. are found in Eratosthenes (3rd–2nd centuries BC), Posidonius (2nd–1st centuries BC), Strabo (1st century BC - 1st century AD). . e.).
Feudal isolation and religious outlook in the Middle Ages did not contribute to the development of the study of nature.
The earth was depicted as flat and inhabited by fantastic inhabitants. The Arabs and other peoples of the East retained the idea of the sphericity of the Earth, but they did not make a significant contribution to the description and interpretation of its nature.
Great geographical discoveries 15th–17th centuries laid the foundation for the formation of a unified geographical outlook.
The sphericity of the Earth was proved, the unity of the World Ocean, the approximate ratio of land and sea were established, zones of constant winds were discovered, and the most important sea currents were discovered. AT geographical descriptions of this period, the greatest attention was paid to those natural phenomena that were of practical importance for navigation (winds, tides, currents). The general geography direction in geography began to acquire an applied character: it was primarily subordinated to the needs of navigation.
The scientific results of the Great geographical discoveries were summed up by B. Varenius in his work "Geographia generalis" (1650), which was the first attempt to define geography as a natural science about the surface of the globe, considered as a whole and for individual regions.
Varenius emphasized the importance of experience as a source of geographical knowledge and mathematics as a basis for the formation of geographical laws. In the 2nd half of the 17th century.
- 1st half of the 18th century. interest in the study of physical and geographical phenomena steadily increased (I. Newton, G. Leibniz, E. Halley, J. Buffon, and others).
The development of geography in Russia is connected mainly with the works of M. V. Lomonosov (“On the Layers of the Earth”, 1763, etc.). In the 2nd half of the 18th century. monographic studies of the nature of individual territories appear (among them - "Description of the Land of Kamchatka" by S.
P. Krasheninnikov). The term F. G." becomes generally accepted, although its content has not yet been clearly defined. Advances in the natural sciences, and primarily in physics, contributed, especially from the second half of the 18th century, to a gradual transition from natural-philosophical concepts to a natural-scientific explanation of a number of natural processes on the earth's surface, in the atmosphere, and in the ocean.
This became possible thanks to the experimental study of many natural phenomena (using a barometer, thermometer, hygrometer, and other instruments). Accurate topographic surveys and the creation of survey maps on a mathematical basis were of great importance for FGs. By the 2nd half of the 18th century. include the first attempts at natural zoning of the earth's surface in France and Russia.
In the 1st half of the 19th century. An important role in the development of the physical and geographical sciences was played by their close connection with physics (F.
g. has often been considered as part of physics and in its development Active participation accepted by physicists, for example, E. Kh. Lenz), and later - with biology (especially under the influence of the ideas of Ch.
Darwin). During the 19th century An intensive specialization of FGs took place, and climatology, biogeography, hydrology, geomorphology, and soil science began to take shape.
Along with the deepening differentiation of FGs, there has been increased interest in the study of mutual relations between individual components of the nature of the earth's surface.
A. Humboldt (“Cosmos”, vol. 1, 1845) saw the goal of F. g. in the study general laws and relationships between individual natural phenomena on Earth as a whole. Special attention at the same time, he paid attention to the relationships between vegetation and climate. In his research on FG, he made extensive use of the comparative geographical method and insisted on the need to use the historical method. An integrated approach to the study of natural phenomena is also found in the works of Rus. travelers-naturalists of the 40-60s.
19th century – E. A. Eversman, A. F. Middendorf, N. A. Severtsova, I. G. Borshchova and others.
In the last quarter of the 19th century The works of V. V. Dokuchaev laid the foundations of modern FG. Based on the theory of soil, in 1898 he expressed the idea of the need for a new science, of the relationship and interaction between all components of animate and inanimate nature, and formulated the law of zonality.
Dokuchaev laid the foundation for complex (including stationary) physical and geographical research. The geographical school he created (A. N. Krasnov, G. N. Vysotsky, G. F. Morozov and others) continued to develop the problem of zoning and the idea of a natural-territorial complex.
Studying intrazonal physical and geographical patterns, the followers of Dokuchaev came to the idea of geographical landscape. L. S. Berg emphasized (in 1913) the unity of its components and the connection between landscapes and certain natural zones. The doctrine of natural zones was taken as the basis for the physical-geographical zoning of Russia (incl.
including for applied purposes - agricultural, forestry, agroforestry, etc.)
Out of touch with landscape-geographical ideas, P. I. Brounov formulated (in 1910) the concept of the outer shell of the Earth (combining the litho-, hydro-, atmospheric, and biosphere). According to Brounov, the study of the structure of this shell, the interaction of its parts, is the subject of F.
G.; this important idea did not attract the attention of geographers at that time, and the doctrine of the landscape developed for a long time in isolation from general earth science concepts. In 1914, R. I. Abolin approached the understanding of the unity of the general and the particular in FG more closely than others. He proposed a system of natural complexes of the Earth, starting from its outer shell (epigeneme) to an elementary territorial unit (epifacies), and clearly pointed out 2 most important patterns of physical and geographical differentiation - zonality and azonation.
In the same years, the studies of A. I. Voeikov, G. I. Tanfiliev, D. N. Anuchin, and some other Rus. geographers.
In foreign countries in the late 19th - early 20th centuries. F. g. has not yet taken shape as a scientific discipline, although physical and geographical information was given a significant place in regional geographic descriptions, especially in the works French school of "human geography". Separate physical-geographical studies are singled out, in particular, on natural zoning and landscape studies (E.
Herbertson, Z. Passarge). Reports on general land ownership (E. Martonne and others) were usually built according to a sectoral plan.
After the Great October Revolution in the USSR, extensive research was carried out on various natural components (climate, rivers, soils, vegetation, etc.), interest in complex physical and geographical problems increased - detailed physical and geographical zoning, landscape photography, and the creation of landscape maps.
For the development of the general theory of F. g. in the 20-30s. V. I. Vernadsky's ideas about the biosphere and the geological and geochemical role of organisms were of outstanding importance. The main directions of the theory of FG in the 30s.
developed by L. S. Berg and his followers (studies of the landscape, the interaction of its individual components, the main forms and factors of its dynamics) and A. A.
Grigoriev (development of the concept of the physical-geographical shell of the Earth and the main features of its structure, application quantitative methods for the study of physical and geographical processes). The works of L. S. Berg, I. P. Gerasimov, K. K. Markov made a significant contribution to paleogeography.
In the 50s and 60s. research in the field of landscape science has intensified significantly, with the main attention being paid to landscape photography and the creation of landscape maps.
In this regard, the issues of taxonomy of natural territorial complexes, morphology and classification of landscapes, as well as physical and geographical regionalization were developed (D. L. Armand, N. A. Gvozdetsky, A. G. Isachenko, S. V. Kalesnik, F. N Milkov, N. I. Mikhailov, V. S. Preobrazhensky, N. A. Solntsev, V. B. Sochava, etc.). An important direction in the work of physical geographers was the creation of regional reports, dedicated to nature USSR and foreign countries (B. F. Dobrynin, S.
P. Suslov, E. M. Murzaev, M. P. Petrov, etc.). Biogeocenology (V. N. Sukachev) and landscape geochemistry (B. B. Polynov) arose at the junction of FG with related sciences. The practical experience of integrated landscape research and the success of certain physical and geographical sciences in the field of studying planetary processes (the radiation and heat balance of the Earth, the global moisture cycle, the interaction of the atmosphere and the World Ocean, long-term fluctuations in the thermal regime and moisture) contributed to the further development of general geography (S.
V. Kalesnik, K. K. Markov, A. M. Ryabchikov, M. M. Ermolaev).
In a number developed countries In the West (USA, Great Britain, France, and others), where geography is considered mainly as a social science, FG in its modern sense has not been widely developed. The content of FG is usually limited to the study of only the abiotic elements of the nature of the earth's surface.
Some geographers of Germany, Austria, Switzerland are of the opinion that the subject of geography is the earth's shell (Erdhulle), or the geosphere, with its constituent landscapes, however, in this case, not natural systems proper, but integrations that unite nature and man are meant. Nevertheless, in the practical studies of a number of German geographers (K.
Troll, I. Schmithusen) landscapes are usually considered as natural complexes; This direction is called landscape ecology. Under the influence of the needs of practice (agricultural land valuation, forestry, regional planning), stimulated by the acute problem of protecting the environment, interest in the study of geosystems is growing in other capitalist countries - the USA, Canada, Australia, Great Britain, and France. Elements of the doctrine of geosystems are also found in some reports on general geography (for example, P.
Biro). From the 60s. Research on physical-geographical zoning and landscape ecology is being intensively developed in the GDR (E. Nef, G. Haze, H. Richter, G. Barcz), Poland (E. Kondratsky, T. Bartkowski), Czechoslovakia (J. Demek, E. Mazur, M.
Ruzicka, J. Drdos), Hungary (M. Peci), Romania (H. Grumesescu), Bulgaria (P. Petrov).
The current state, problems and prospects for the development of F. g. In the USSR, phytogeology took shape as a synthetic science of natural complexes at all levels, from the geographic envelope to the landscape facies. The study of the geographic envelope includes the study of the processes of energy and mass transfer between the components of this system, the circulation of substances, and changes in its structure.
Geographical landscapes are considered in relation to their origin, morphology, structure and functioning (energy transformation, gravitational transfer of matter, moisture circulation, migration chemical elements, biomass production and biogenic cycle), dynamics and development.
Among the topical problems of F. g. is the study cultural landscapes.
Comprehensive studies of natural territorial complexes required the use of a certain system of methods in FG. The expeditionary-descriptive, comparative-geographical, cartographic and historical methods traditional for geographical sciences began to be supplemented by stationary research using geophysical, geochemical, etc.
methods. Remote sensing data are essential for research in hard-to-reach areas and for the study of global physical and geographical patterns. To generalize field observations and obtain theoretical conclusions, it is promising to use mathematical methods, modeling of natural processes, principles of cybernetics and general systems theory.
Ideas and methods F.
g. find versatile application.
What does "physical geography" mean?
Already at the first stage of development (at the beginning of the 20th century), the doctrine of the landscape was used for the purpose of land assessment, forestry, and melioration. After the Great Patriotic War From 1941 to 1945, other applied areas of FG appeared—engineering, land reclamation, town planning, recreation, and so on, the main content of which was the assessment of natural territorial complexes from the point of view of the living conditions of the population and the possibilities for the development and development of various branches of the national economy.
Human impact on certain components of the natural environment causes a violation of intercomponent links in natural territorial complexes, their energy and water balance, geochemical circulation, and biological balance.
Due to the continuity of the geographic envelope and the links between individual landscapes, local impacts spread (through the circulation of air masses, runoff, gravitational movement of material, migrations of organisms, etc.) beyond the boundaries of a particular landscape, acquiring a broader (sometimes even planetary) significance, ultimately affecting the structure of the entire geographic envelope.
The growing needs of production in natural resources necessitate a reasonable combination of measures to protect and transform nature.
The main tasks of F. g. present stage: development of ways of directed regulation of landscape functions (moisture circulation, thermal regime, biological productivity, etc.) and rational organization of the territory, i.e., the placement of areas with different purposes, modes of use and protection.
In developing scientific foundations optimization of the natural environment F.
city is approaching ecology. However, the tasks of FG are broader, since it covers a more extensive system of connections in the natural complex and considers nature not only as a human habitat, but also as a sphere of the production activity of society. These tasks are common to fiscal geography and economic geography, whose cooperation is manifested in the joint participation of scientists of both specialties in regional planning, in the assessment of natural resources, and in the comprehensive (physical and economic-geographical) substantiation of large regional national economic projects.
The most important trends in the development of FG in the USSR are increased attention to the problems of the structure and dynamics of natural complexes, improvement of methodology, expansion of the scope of applied physical and geographical research, growing attention to the problems of human impact on nature, and participation in the development of scientific foundations for optimizing such impact.
also Geography; Physical and geographical sciences in the 24th volume of the TSB, book. II - "USSR", section Science.
Lit .: Dokuchaev V.V., Soch., v. 6, M., 1951; Berg L. S., Selected. works, vol. 1–2, M., 1956–58; Grigoriev A. A., Patterns of the structure and development of the geographical environment, M., 1966; his, Types of geographical environment, M., 1970; Vernadsky V.I., Biosfera, M., 1967; Kalesnik S. V., General geographical patterns of the Earth, M., 1970; Sochava V. B., Teaching about geosystems, Novosib., 1975; Markov K.
K., Paleogeography, 2nd ed., M., 1960; Armand D. L., Landscape Science, Moscow, 1975; Zabelin I. M., Physical geography today, M., 1973; Isachenko A. G., Development of geographical ideas, M., 1971; Milkov F. N., Landscape sphere of the Earth, M., 1970; Transfiguration V.
S., Conversations about modern physical geography, M., 1972; Ryabchikov A. M., Structure and dynamics of the geosphere ..., M., 1972; Domestic physical geographers and travelers, M., 1959; Introduction to physical geography, M., 1973; Topological aspects of the doctrine of geosystems, Novosib., 1974; Development of physical and geographical sciences (XVII-XX centuries), M., 1975; Constructive geography, M., 1976; Essays on the history of geographical science in the USSR, M., 1976; Bartkowski T., Zastosowania geografii fizyczneJ, Warsz.
– Poznań, 1974; Birot P., Précis de geographic physique generale, P., 1959; Chorley R. J., Kennedy B.
A., Physical geography. A systems approach, L., 1971; Kondracki J., Podstawy regionalizacji fizyczno-geograficznej, Warsz., 1969; Schmithüsen J., Allgemeine Geosynergetic (Grundlagen der Landschaftskunde), B., 1976; Theoretische Probleme der physisch-geographischen Raumgliederung, Bratislava, 1972.
A. G. Isachenko.
Great Soviet Encyclopedia M .: "Soviet Encyclopedia", 1969-1978