Fundamentals of the doctrine of geographic location. Geographical position of the country

Geographical position Russia. Russia- the largest country in the world by area. Its area is 17.075 million sq. km... It is completely located in the Northern Hemisphere, in the northern part of the Eurasian continent, located in two parts of the world at once. It occupies the eastern part of Europe and the northern part of Asia.

The extreme northern and eastern points of the continent of Eurasia are both extreme points Russia.

From the north, the country is washed by the Arctic Ocean, from the east - by the Pacific. In the west and southwest there is access to the seas of the Atlantic Ocean.

The border between Europe and Asia within Russia is drawn along the Urals and along the Kumo-Manych depression. About 1/5 of the country's area (about 22%) belongs to Europe. The center of Asia is located in Tuva. The 180th meridian passes through Wrangel Island and Chukotka, therefore, the eastern outskirts of Russia lies in the Western Hemisphere.

In terms of territory, Russia is comparable to the whole continents. The area of Russia is larger than the area of Australia and Antarctica and is only slightly inferior to South America. Russia is 1.6-1.8 times larger in area major states the world - Canada, the United States and China and 29 times - the largest state in Europe - Ukraine.

Due to its vast territory, Russia has a great variety natural conditions and resources, but at the same time is experiencing difficulties with the transport accessibility of certain parts of the country.

Extreme points of Russia

Extreme northern point of the country (insular) - Cape Fligeli, is located on Rudolf Island (in the Franz Josef Land archipelago) in the Arctic Ocean. The northernmost point (mainland) is Cape Chelyuskin.

Extreme southern point - Mount Bazarduzu, in Dagestan on the border with Azerbaijan.

Extreme western point - a spit in the Gulf of Gdansk, in the Kaliningrad region, on the Curonian spit in the Baltic Sea.

Extreme eastern point (island) - about. Ratmanov in the Bering Strait. The easternmost point (mainland) is Cape Dezhnev.

Distance between north and south points - more than 4 thousand km... Between west and east - about 10 thousand km

Economic and geographical position of Russia

Economic and geographical location (EGP) - the position of the country in relation to objects located outside its borders, but influencing its economy. These objects are:
1) the main centers of the world economy (USA, Western Europe, Japan);
2) neighboring countries (neighborhood with a developed country with which there are good-neighborly mutually beneficial relations is always favorable);
3) transport routes connecting the country with the rest of the countries and regions of the world.

Thus, the proximity in the west with European countries, the CIS countries, relations with which are still important for Russia, the presence of seaports, land transport routes, pipelines in the western part of the country are favorable features of the EGP of Russia. In the east, the neighborhood with Japan and other countries of the Asia-Pacific region (APR) is also favorable for the country's economy, especially its eastern regions.

Located in the eastern part of Europe and the northern part of Asia, the territory of Russia is a natural bridge between the countries of the Asia-Pacific region and Western Europe. Cargo transportation between these two centers of the world economy through the territory of Russia can be carried out much faster and at lower costs than by the traditional sea route around the entire continent. The implementation of such transportation would contribute to the inflow of additional funds into the country and the creation of new jobs. But insufficient development of transport, especially in the eastern part of the country, prevents the use of this advantageous feature of EGP.

Russia is a country with a huge territory, so the EGP of its different regions is very different.

A country's EGP can change rapidly. So, after the collapse of the USSR, the economic and geographical position of Russia worsened. Many ports were lost - exits to the World Ocean in the West. The Baltic states and Ukraine "fenced off" Russia from the European states and take a significant part of the profits for the transportation of Russian goods through their territory. The accession to NATO of the countries of Eastern Europe - former allies of the USSR - complicated the military-strategic position of the country.

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5.1. Definition of gp

Geographic location is one of the few deeply developed categories of economic and social geography of its own. Baransky noted that

"The geographical position has the greatest methodological significance. The place occupied by any area, be it a country, region, city, etc., in the system of the geographical division of labor is largely determined by the geographical position" [Baransky, 1980, p. 157].

In the context of globalization, the theory of geographical location acquires the status of an interdisciplinary theory due to the fact that it allows you to see the world in all its diversity, determined by many regional, country and local features.

The socio-economic space is not homogeneous. Objects spatially do not coincide with the conditions necessary for their existence in the system. Properties of the socio-economic space that reflect spatial discrepancy between the object under study and the necessary conditions for its existence(functioning and development) can be defined as the geographical location of an object.

"Attitude" is the basis of geographic location

other economic significance. Later we will turn to clarification of the concept of EGP.

The main idea of geographical location as a concept is to reveal territorial relations:

V physical and geographical position is the relationship: 1) in the geographic coordinate grid, i.e. in geodesic space, which uses the concepts of orthodrome - the shortest distance on a geoid between two points, and loxodrome - the shortest path crossing the meridians at a constant angle; 2) in a real physical-geographical space with its natural zones, regions, orography, distribution of land and sea, etc.

V economic and geographical position is the relationship to economically significant objects.

V socio-geographic position - to socially significant objects.

V politico-geographical position - to political realities (within countries, it is determined, for example, by the territorial aspect of the alignment of political forces, and on the world arena - by the centers of action of international political forces). In terms of methodology, this means fixing and forecasting the action of "force fields" of a different nature: military, international political, world economic (geoeconomic), environmental and cultural.

V ecological-geographic position - to environmentally significant objects, in particular to countries and regions that determine the ecological situation, or to countries and regions, the ecological state of which can be influenced by a given country.

So, N.N. Klyuev identified five groups of signs reflecting the ecologically important properties of space for assessing the ecological and geographical position of the country: 1) ecological (meaning the natural role of a given territory in the functioning of the Earth) functions of a country, a region in the global geosystem ( in the biosphere): 2) stability of the natural environment of the country, region, its vulnerability in relation to anthropogenic influences; 3) the spatial distribution in the country, the region of the recipients of the impact - the population, material and cultural values, valuable natural landscapes; 4) sources of environmental hazard external to a given country, region; 5) natural and anthropogenic "channels" and "barriers" to the spread of environmental hazards [Klyuev, 1996].

To clarify the concept of GP, it is necessary to emphasize the essential distinction between geographic location and location. To characterize the first is to answer the question: in relation to what! The location of the object has a different meaning, which consists in answering the questions: where and which is a part of! Thus, location reveals localization or affiliation, while position reflects the relationship in the system.

The characteristic of the location means, first of all, the answer to the question of where the object is. Ratzel defined geographic location as belonging. This is actually not a geographic location, but a location. Affiliation does not characterize the geographical location of the object, since it does not reveal its external relations. The distinction between these concepts is important from a methodological point of view.

So, when studying GP, it is necessary to determine exactly which objects are outside and which are inside. The number of irrelevant data depends both on objective conditions, for example, mosaicism, the diversity of the environment, and on the degree of granularity of the GP study.

In other words, a geographic location is characterized by the relationship of an object with its external environment.

An object can have a wide variety of relationships with elements external environment... It can be both very significant and insignificant relationships. The task of the researcher is to introduce a criterion of significance and highlight the essential ones. In real (i.e. already realized relationships), this will be a repeatedly (cyclically, periodically) recurring relationship. Thus, in the study of GP, the main attention is paid to the system of essential and repetitive relations, based on a deep knowledge of the object, the GP of which is being studied. GP is a multicomponent concept, and the way to study it, therefore, lies primarily through the analysis of its components. Before dismemberment and deep analysis, it is illegal to use concepts such as "convenient", "advantageous" position.

When studying HZ, one has to build on the results of HZ influence on the development of a given object, i.e. from the analysis of connections, although GP is by no means the connections themselves, but their prerequisites.

Another difficulty arises from the fact that not only one SOE affects the connections (economic and non-economic) of the object. Eliminating the influence of other factors and isolating the influence of the GP on the object is one of the difficult methodological problems.

When analyzing relationships, the problem is that the researcher "weighs" real and potential relationships. Real relationships are revealed empirically. Among the potential ones, there are those that can be realized (really possible connections). But the researcher must go further and establish theoretically possible connections. Thus, when analyzing SOE, relations cannot be understood only as actual economic and other ties. A complete and comprehensive study of GP means taking into account real, potential and theoretically possible connections.

At the same time, the approaches also depend on the formulation of the problem, i.e. on what specific issues are being addressed. When dealing with practical issues, it is hardly advisable to unduly distract from specific geographic, economic, political and social conditions.

Geographical position

position of a point or area the earth's surface in relation to territories or objects outside this point or area. In mathematical geography, geography is understood as the latitude and longitude of given points or terrain, in physical geography- their position in relation to physical geographic sites(continents, mountains. oceans, seas, rivers, lakes, etc.). In economic and political geography, geography is understood as the position of a country, region, settlement, and other objects in relation to other economic and geographical (including communication routes, markets, economic centers, etc.) and physical and geographical objects. as well as the country's position relative to other states and their groups. G. p. Is one of the conditions for the development of countries, regions, cities, and other settlements. Practical value G. p. Changes in various socio-economic formations.

Big Soviet encyclopedia... - M .: Soviet encyclopedia. 1969-1978 .

See what "Geographical location" is in other dictionaries:

Big Encyclopedic Dictionary

geographical position- Characteristics of the location of an object on the earth's surface relative to other geographic objects and cardinal points ... Geography Dictionary

The position of any point or other object on the earth's surface in relation to other territories or objects; relative to the surface of the earth, geographic position is determined using coordinates. Distinguish geographic location by ... ... encyclopedic Dictionary

The position of a geographic object on the Earth's surface within a given coordinate system and in relation to any data located outside of it that has a direct or indirect effect on this object. In concrete study ... ... Geographical encyclopedia

Position k. L. point or other object on the earth's surface in relation to other terr. or objects; relative to the Earth's surface, the geographic area is determined using coordinates. Distinguish G. p. In relation to natural objects and to the economy. geographic ... ... Natural science. encyclopedic Dictionary

- ... Wikipedia

- (EGP) is the relation of an object of a city, region, country to objects lying outside of it that have one or another economic significance, it does not matter whether these objects are of a natural order or created in the course of history (according to N.N.Baransky). In other words, ... ... Wikipedia

The position of a region or country in relation to other objects of economic importance to it. E. G. P. Category is historical, may change in connection with the construction of the railway. d. or power plant, the beginning of the development of a deposit of useful ... ... Geographical encyclopedia

The position of a deposit, enterprise, city, region, country or other economic-geographical object in relation to other economic-geographical objects that are of economic importance for it. EGP assessment of an object depends on its position ... Financial vocabulary

Books

German. Germany. Geographical location, population, politics. Tutorial. Level B 2, Yakovleva T.A. linguistic diversity, religion, etc. Also a tutorial ...
Geographical location and territorial structures. In memory of I.M. Maergoiz,. The collection is dedicated to the memory of the outstanding Soviet economic geographer Isaak Moiseevich Maergoiz. Its name - GEOGRAPHICAL LOCATION AND TERRITORIAL STRUCTURES - the collection received from two ...

Russia is a Eurasian state. The country has a unique geographic and geopolitical position: occupies the eastern part of Europe and the northern part of Asia.

Russia has huge reserves natural resources, accounting for about 20% of the world's reserves. This predetermines the raw materials orientation of the Russian economy.

Potential- sources, opportunities, means, reserves that can be used to solve problems and achieve goals.

The geographical position of the territory can be considered both as a condition and as a factor of economic development.

Geographical position of Russia

Among the geographic features of Russia, affecting economic activity, population settlement and the formation of the habitat in general, the following provisions attract attention.

The vastness of the country occupied by the space.
Uneven settlement and economic development of the territory.
Wealth and variety of natural conditions and natural resources.
The multinational composition of the population and the ethnic mosaic nature of the territory (the presence of a large number of areas of compact residence of certain nationalities with the widespread settlement of Russians).
Strong territorial contrasts in the economic and social spheres.
CIS countries and other newly independent states (not only direct neighbors of Russia, but also neighbors of the second order: Moldova, Armenia, states Central Asia, third-order countries - Tajikistan). Neighbors of the second order are countries neighboring with border states.
Russia may have connections with Tajikistan through the territories of Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan (or Uzbekistan).
The countries of Western and Southern Europe, united in the European Economic Community, among which the role of Germany, the new world geopolitical pole, is growing.
The countries of Eastern Europe, closely linked throughout the post-war period with the USSR, with which Russia must renew and strengthen ties.
The countries of the basins of the Baltic and Black Seas, with which Russia has already concluded multilateral agreements.
The countries of the Asia-Pacific region, especially the poles of the world economy and politics - Japan, China, India.
A special role belongs to the development of multilateral ties between Russia and the United States.

Russian Federation(RF) is the largest state in the world in terms of territory. It covers the eastern part of Europe and the northern part of Asia, thus being a Eurasian country in terms of geographic location.

The geopolitical position of Russia is interconnected by the economic-geographical position (EGP), i.e. position on the economic map of the world, reflecting the position of the country in relation to the main economic markets and centers of the world economy. For the first time the concept of EGP was introduced into geographical science by the famous scientist N.N. Baransky (1881-1963). This concept is widely used to assess the place of countries on the world map, and in addition, to determine the relationship of any geographic object to others located outside it.

The area of the territory of Russia is 17.1 million km 2, which is almost 2 times more than that of the PRC or the USA. As of January 1, 2010, the population was 141.9 million people, and the population density was 8.3 people per 1 km 2. The Russian Federation ranks 1st in the world in terms of territory, 9th in terms of population and 8th in terms of GDP, calculated in US dollars at purchasing power parity.

The size of the territory is an important economic and geographical feature of any state. For Russia, the largest country in the world by area, it has far-reaching consequences, both geopolitical and economic.

Due to the vastness of the territory, all the necessary conditions for a rational geographical division of labor, the possibility of freer maneuver in the distribution of productive forces are provided, the defense capacity of the state is increased, and other positive results are achieved in the field of economic and social development.

The northernmost point of the country is Cape Fligeli on Rudolf Island in the Franz Josef Land archipelago, and Cape Chelyuskin on the mainland; the extreme southern - on the border with Azerbaijan; the extreme western - on the border with Poland at the Gulf of Gdansk in the territory of the enclave formed by the Kaliningrad region of the Russian Federation; the extreme east is Ratmanov Island in the Bering Strait. Most of the territory of Russia is located between the 50th parallel and the Arctic Circle, i.e. located in middle and high latitudes. In this respect, only Canada can serve as an analogue among foreign countries. The maximum distance between the western (not counting the Kaliningrad region) and eastern borders is 9 thousand km, between the northern and southern ones - 4 thousand km. There are 11 time zones within Russia. The length of borders is 58.6 thousand km, including land - 14.3 thousand km, sea - 44.3 thousand km.

International legal registration and measures on the development of Russian state borders are carried out by the Federal Agency for the Development of the State Border of the Russian Federation. International agreements on the state border have been concluded with China, Mongolia, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Ukraine, Belarus, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Poland, Georgia, Finland and Norway. A complete list of countries adjacent to the Russian Federation is given in table. 2.1.

In many aspects of international relations Russia is the legal successor of the former USSR and in this capacity performs the functions of a permanent member of the UN Security Council, is a member of the most important international organizations.

Geopolitical position of the country Is her place on political map peace and attitude towards different states.

The geopolitical position of Russia in modern conditions is determined by many factors of different levels - from global to regional.

As a Eurasian country, Russia has ample opportunities for economic and political cooperation with foreign countries of various geopolitical orientations. Communications of world importance pass through its territory, providing transport links between west and east, north and south.

Russia is a single economic space, within which the free movement of people, goods, services and capital is ensured, intra-district and inter-district ties are carried out, covering both material production and the non-production sphere. This space is consolidated by a single transport, energy and information system, a unified gas supply system, various networks and communications, and other infrastructure facilities.

The size of the territory predetermines the variety of regional conditions and resources for economic activity... In terms of the scale of its natural resource potential, Russia has practically no analogues. At the same time, most of the territory is located in temperate and cold agro-climatic zones. The need to travel enormous distances poses serious challenges to transport, which are compounded by harsh climatic conditions over a large part of the territory. With regard to transport accessibility, the conditions are very differentiated. With large territorial spaces, despite the fact that it is considered to be a favorable condition for the development of the economy and ensuring the economic independence of the country, intensive development of the economy is possible only with a developed transport system.

Significant differences in the degree of economic development of the territory, the level of provision with natural and labor resources are reflected in the quantitative and qualitative characteristics of the economy. The production potential of the European part is much larger, and the structure of the economy is much more complex, it is characterized by wider diversification than in the eastern regions.

Russia is federal state — The Russian Federation(RF), uniting the subjects of the Federation on the basis of the Constitution of the Russian Federation and the Federal Treaty as an integral part of it. The subjects of the Federation consist of self-governing territorial communities and independently determine their territorial structure.

The Russian Federation includes 21 republics, 9 krais, 46 oblasts, 2 cities of federal significance, autonomous oblast I, 4 autonomous okrugs (altogether in 2010 - 83 subjects).

Federal cities - Moscow and St. Petersburg.

Republics of Russia: Adygea (Maykop), Altai (Gorno-Altaysk), Bashkortostan (Ufa), Buryatia (Ulan-Ude), Dagestan (Makhachkala), Ingushetia (Nazran), Kabardino-Balkaria (Nalchik), Kalmykia (Elista), Karachayevo -Cherkessia (Cherkessk), Karelia (Petrozavodsk), Komi (Syktyvkar), Mari-El (Yoshkar-Ola), Mordovia (Saransk), North Ossetia-Alania (Vladikavkaz), Tatarstan (Kazan), Tyva (Kyzyl), Udmurtia ( Izhevsk), Khakassia (Abakan), Chechen (Grozny), Chuvashia (Cheboksary); Sakha (Yakutsk).

Territories: Altai, Transbaikal, Kamchatka, Krasnodar, Krasnoyarsk, Perm, Primorsky, Stavropol, Khabarovsk.

Autonomous regions: Nenets (Naryan-Mar) in Arkhangelsk region, Khanty-Mansiysk (Khanty-Mansiysk) and Yamalo-Nenets (Salekhard) in the Tyumen region, Chukotsky (Anadyr).

On the territory of Russia there is one autonomous region in the Far Eastern economic region - the Jewish Autonomous Region (Birobidzhan).

Let us note the peculiarity of the territorial-state structure of Russia according to the Constitution of the Russian Federation of 1993. Nine autonomous regions (with the exception of Chukotka) were included in larger territorial units, but in accordance with the Constitution of the Russian Federation, the territorial part ( autonomous region) and the whole territory (territory or region) were equal subjects of the Federation. Beginning in 2003, Russia has been gradually merging the autonomous okrugs and the corresponding constituent entities of the Federation. This is a step-by-step process, including holding a nationwide referendum, preparing and approving a bill, choosing governing bodies, and consolidating budgets.

Over the period of June 2003 (on June 11, the Governor of the Perm Region and the head of the administration of the Komi-Permyak Autonomous Okrug signed an appeal to the President of Russia with the initiative to form the Perm Territory by uniting the Perm Region and the Komi-Permyak Autonomous Okrug) to date, 5 new subjects of the Federation have been formed :

Perm Territory, which united the Perm Region and the Komi-Permyak Autonomous District into a single subject of the Federation (date of formation - 1.12.2005):
Krasnoyarsk Territory on the basis of the unification of the territory of the Territory, Taimyr (Dolgan-Nenets) and Evenk Autonomous Districts (1.01.2007);
Kamchatka Territory, which united the Kamchatka Region and the Koryak Autonomous Okrug (1.07.2007);
Irkutsk region as a result of the unification of the region and the Ust-Orda Buryat Autonomous Okrug (1.01.2008);
Trans-Baikal Territory, which united the Chita Region and the Aginsky Buryat Autonomous District (1.03.2008). Autonomous districts within the constituent entities of the Federation have received the status of municipal districts with a special status determined by the statutes of the constituent entities and the legislation of the Russian Federation.

Each region - a subject of the Federation (except for Moscow and St. Petersburg) is divided into administrative districts. In addition, the administrative-territorial division includes cities, urban areas and districts, urban-type settlements, village councils and volosts.

The subjects of the Federation are united into larger administrative territorial formations - federal districts. On May 13, 2000, according to Presidential Decree No. 849 "On the Plenipotentiary of the President of the Russian Federation in the Federal District", the territory of Russia was divided into 7 federal districts... The Federal District has its own center and administrative apparatus headed by the Plenipotentiary of the President of the Russian Federation in the Federal District.

In January 2010, by presidential decree, the North Caucasian District was separated from the Southern Federal District, which included the republics North Caucasus(except for Adygea) and Stavropol Territory.

List of federal districts and corresponding administrative centers: Central (center of the federal district - Moscow), North-West (St. Petersburg), South (Rostov-on-Don), North Caucasian (Pyatigorsk), Volga (Nizhny Novgorod), Ural (Yekaterinburg), Siberian (Novosibirsk), Far East (Khabarovsk).

There are 11 economic regions on the territory of Russia: North-West, North, Central, Central Black Earth, Volgo-Vyatka, Povolzhsky, North Caucasian. Ural, West Siberian, East Siberian, Far Eastern (Kaliningrad region is not part of the economic regions). Economic regions differ in terms of conditions and characteristics of their formation in the past and strategic directions of development for the future, in scale, specialization and structure of production and many other features.

Each of these regions performs certain functions in the general system of territorial division of labor within the country.

Russia in many respects - territory, population, natural resource potential, production, scientific, technical and intellectual potential, participation in solving global problems modernity, associated primarily with the development outer space, assistance in maintaining peace and security is a great power.

Features of the geographical location of Russia

In terms of territory, Russia is the largest country in the world - 17.1 million km 2, which is almost an eighth of the Earth's land mass. Let's compare: Canada - the second largest state, occupies an area of about 10 million km 2.

Located in the north of Eurasia, Russia occupies about 1/3 of its territory, including 42% of Europe and 29% of Asia.

The entire territory of Russia is located in the Eastern Hemisphere, with the exception of Wrangel Island and the Chukchi Peninsula, which belong to the Western Hemisphere.

From the north, a significant part of the territory of Russia is washed by the seas of the Arctic Ocean: White, Barents, Kara, Laptev, East Siberian, Chukchi. The northernmost point of Russia - Cape Chelyuskin on the Taimyr Peninsula - has coordinates 77 ° 43 "N, 104 ° 18" E. etc.

From the east, Russia is washed by the seas of the Pacific Ocean: Beringovo, Okhotsk, and Japanese. The extreme eastern point of our country is located on the Chukchi Peninsula - Cape Dezhnev (66 ° 05 "N, 169 ° 40" W).

According to international agreements, the sea borders of states, including Russia, are 12 nautical miles (22.7 km) from the coast. These are the territorial waters of the coastal state. Foreign ships have the right of innocent passage through the territorial waters, subject to the laws and regulations of the coastal state, as well as international agreements.

Rice. 1. Russia: geographical location

UN convention 1982 Maritime Law defines the boundaries economic zone coastal states at a distance of two hundred nautical miles (370 km) from the coasts of the mainland and islands. Within the economic zone, fish and mineral resources are the property of the coastal state.

Along the northern coast of Russia stretches a vast continental shelf - the shelf. For the continental shelf, special status: the coastal state exercises sovereign rights over it for the purpose of exploration and development of its natural resources.

In the east, our country has sea borders with the United States - along the Bering Strait and Japan - along the La Perouse and Kunashir Strait, separating our islands - Sakhalin and the Kuril Islands - from the Japanese island of Hokkaido.

Russia has a huge length of external borders - about 60 thousand km, including overland ones - about 20 thousand km. Southern and western borders Russia - land, with the exception of the maritime border with Ukraine - along the Kerch Strait and with Finland - along the Gulf of Finland.

Most of our neighbors to the south and west are former republics Soviet Union... In the west: Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Belarus; in the south: Ukraine, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan. Many of these countries, with the exception of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, are members of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS). In addition to the former republics of the USSR, our country borders on European countries: Norway, Finland and Poland, as well as on the countries of Central and East Asia: Mongolia, China and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK).

Extreme southern point Russia is located in the North Caucasus on the border with Azerbaijan - Mount Bazarduzu (41 ° 11 N, 47 ° 51 E).

And the extreme western - on the Baltic Spit near the city of Kaliningrad (54 ° N, 19 ° 38 "E).

After the collapse of the Soviet Union, Russia retained an advantageous geographical position in relation to a number of CIS countries, which can carry out economic ties with each other only through the territory of our country. Nevertheless, some countries of the former USSR turned out to be second-order neighbors for Russia (they have no common borders with it). These are Moldova, Armenia and the republics of Central Asia: Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan. The Republic of Tajikistan is a third-order neighbor for Russia.

The absence of common borders complicates the ties of our country with these states.

The collapse of the USSR not only changed the geographical position of Russia, but its geopolitical and geoeconomic position.

The territory of the country decreased, the established production and economic ties were destroyed. A number of former Soviet republics are oriented in their development towards other countries and regions of the world, and this orientation does not always correspond to the strategic interests of Russia. These include, first of all, the Baltic countries - Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia, as well as the Transcaucasus - Azerbaijan, Armenia, Georgia.

After 1991, according to experts, the territory of the USSR turned into an arena of rivalry between many developed countries of the world for the acquisition of political and economic influence on new states.

The geopolitical position of Russia is complicated by the expansion of NATO.

On March 29, 2004 Bulgaria, Estonia, Lithuania, Latvia joined the military-political NATO bloc, which complicated the geographical position of Russia. Lithuania occupies a special place, since most of the connections between the Kaliningrad region and the rest of the regions of Russia are carried out through its territory.

You don't need to be an economist to imagine the problems associated with the change in the geo-economic position of Russia after 1991. Imagine a single economic complex, a single energy system, close production ties for raw materials, fuel, as well as technological, scientific and technical. All this contributed to the development of a capacious consumer market within the country.

In the 1970s-1980s. economic integration both within the country and between socialist countries was public policy... The situation changed dramatically in 1991 and required a quick solution. It was found.

On December 21, 1991, an agreement was signed in Alma-Ata (Kazakhstan) on the establishment of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS). It was signed by 11 sovereign states. Later they were joined by Georgia. Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania were not included in the CIS.

According to the calculations of specialists, the rupture of economic ties within Russia with the former Soviet republics reduced the output of final products by 35-40%. No country - the former republic of the USSR has reached the level of 1990, with the exception of Uzbekistan and Belarus. The production of agricultural products fell sharply (by 35-40%). Only the extraction and production of raw materials, fuel and energy resources increased.

Specificity of the geographical location of Russia

The main features of its nature are associated with the geographical location of Russia. Russia is located in the harshest north-eastern part of Eurasia. On the territory of the country there is a cold pole of the Northern Hemisphere (Oymyakon). Most of the territory of Russia lies north of 60 ° N. South of 50 ° N only about 5% of the country's territory is located. 65% of the territory of Russia is located in the permafrost zone. About 140 million people are concentrated in such a northern territory. Nowhere in the world, neither in the northern nor in the southern hemisphere, is there such a crowd of people in such high latitudes.

The northern specificity of Russia leaves an imprint on the living conditions of people and the development of the economy. This is manifested in the need to build insulated dwellings, heat housing and production facilities, and provide stall housing for livestock (which includes not only the construction of special production facilities, but also the procurement of feed). It is required to create equipment in the northern version, snow-removing equipment for clearing roads. It is necessary to spend additional reserves of fuel for the operation of equipment at low temperatures. All this requires not only the organization of special production facilities, but also huge material resources, primarily energy consumption, which ultimately leads to colossal monetary investments.

The nature of Russia creates great restrictions on the development of agriculture. The country is in the zone of risky farming. There is not enough heat for the development of agricultural crops, and in the southern part there is not enough moisture, therefore crop failures and crop failures are a common occurrence for domestic agriculture. Major crop failures occur every decade. This requires the creation of significant state grain reserves. The harsh conditions limit the ability to grow high-yielding forage crops. Instead of rather heat-loving soybeans and corn, Russia has to grow mainly oats, which do not yield high yields. These factors, together with the costs of keeping livestock in stalls, affect the cost of livestock products. Therefore, without state support(subsidies) agriculture in Russia, achieving self-sufficiency, is capable of ruining the entire country: all related industries and, above all, its main consumer - the population.

Thus, the northern position of Russia determines the complexity of the entire economy of the country and the large consumption of energy resources. To maintain the same standard of living as in Western Europe, Russia needs to spend 2-3 times more energy than European countries. Only in order to survive one winter without freezing, each resident of Russia, depending on the region of his residence, needs from 1 to 5 tons of standard fuel per year. For all residents of the country, this will amount to at least 500 million tons ($ 40 billion at current world fuel prices).

Concept "geographical position"(GP) is key for the entire system of geographic sciences. Actually, geography originated as a science of methods for determining and fixing 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, a navigator), but also explain some of the properties of this object and even predict its development. The most important element geographic research- establishment and analysis of connections between objects located in space, determined precisely by their location. The ability to characterize in all essential respects the position of the object under study is necessary for the geographer-researcher. GP is usually interpreted as the position of any point or area of the earth's surface in relation to territories or objects located outside this point or area. GP is considered as a kind of external condition for the existence, functioning and development of objects, a characteristic of a given object, expressing its relation to any geographic objects outside of it.

Often the term "position" is understood as the internal state of an object (by analogy with international position, economic position, etc.). But GP is always a relation to external circumstances. And this is a position in two-dimensional space, since it is determined based on geographic map... On it, all objects are represented either pointwise (as if having no dimension at a given scale), or linear, with only one dimension, or areal (areal), with two dimensions. On a small-scale map, a city is a point object, a river is a linear object, Railway... Therefore, we can talk about the position of the object relative to points, lines and areas.

The concept of "geographical location" was used in the 19th century, its meaning was analyzed in general view and on specific examples in the works of K. Marx and F. Engels, among geographers - F. Ratzel. The GP category was proposed in the USSR at the turn of the 20-30s of the XX century. I. Alkin and later developed in detail by N.N. Baransky, I.M. Maergois and a number of other authors. N.N. Baransky, highlighting the essence of the GP, emphasized that the position is the relation of a given point or area to any geographic data taken outside this point or area. THEM. Maergois wrote that the question is not so much where there is an object (this is assumed by itself), how many how it lies in relation to what is beyond it. These ideas have lasting value even many years after they were expressed.

Through the system of relations of a given object (area) with other objects (areas), the state enterprise substantively reveals the individual features and properties of any territory. It defines many of the most important features countries, districts, cities, highlights the properties of their uniqueness and individuality.

In the most formalized form, a geographic position 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, the third dimension is also assessed - absolute or relative height. On the map, all objects are depicted as point, linear (off-scale conventional symbols) or area (contour, occupying a certain area). In fact, of course, both point and line features on a small-scale map ( locality, multi-lane highway) occupy areas, but with the appropriate scale of research this circumstance can be neglected. Then the following options for the mutual arrangement of these categories of objects are possible:

a) point relative to another point: Moscow relative to St. Petersburg;
b) point relative to the line (and vice versa): Saratov on the Volga;
c) point relative to the area - the capital in the state;
d) line relative to the line: the BAM route relative to the Great Siberian Railway;
e) line within the area: the Yana river in the north-east of Yakutia;
f) area relative to another area: the Republic of Mordovia and Chuvashia.

Other position options are also possible:

1. Point on the line or outside it: Tver on the Moscow-St. Petersburg railway, Nvgorod - outside it.
2. A point within the area, 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, another Brest is on the French coast of the Atlantic Ocean.
3. The lines are located in isolation from each other, like the Pechora and the Northern Dvina, or intersect, like the BAM, with the Lena River.
4. The line is located within the area completely (like the Yana river) or partially (the Lena river) in Yakutia, or entirely outside the area (for example, the Dudinka-Norilsk railway has no connection with the country's railway network).
5. Areals are adjacent (Mordovia and Chuvashia) or remote from each other (Mordovia and Tatarstan).

To determine the relative position of objects, indicate the distance between them and the direction (to the north, to the southeast). To determine the position of a point, line, less

an area within a larger one uses the terms: central, deep, peripheral, marginal, border position. The position of the capital of Brazil was chosen as being close to the central one in the country; the position in it of the city of Rio Grande (in the south) is close to the border; Fortaleza (in the northeast) has a peripheral position, and Manaus (in the Amazon) has a deep location. Some territories, even states, in their names bear an indication of the marginal position (Ukraine, Krajna in the former Yugoslavia).

Investigating the GP, it is necessary to determine the main thing both in its essence and in its impact on the most important aspects of the development of the territory.

And first of all, it is necessary to identify and understand its most characteristic features.

First, the GP - it is a complex system of concepts including:

a) mathematical-geographical position(position in the geographic coordinate system);
b) physical and geographical location(position relative to natural objects that affect the nature of a given place - seas, rivers, forests, natural zones, etc., while the object itself can be located both within the area and outside it);
v) economic and geographical location(EGP) - position: 1) regarding the elements of social production;
2) in relation to the district, region, country; EGP is one of the most important factors that determine the location, nature, dynamics of development of productive forces;
G) political and geographical location(position on the political map - relative to the centers and areas of concentration of social, class and political forces);
e) military-geographical position(the position of any point or any area in relation to the centers and countries of military power or dangerous military conflicts, as well as in relation to the territories of various military blocs);
e) geopolitical position: closely related to the above two types of GP, it reflects the position in relation to the "centers of power", hotbeds of economic and military power, various political, economic and military alliances, religious associations;
g) ecological and geographical position(the position of a particular territory in relation to regions of ecologically unfavorable or even ecological disasters, in relation to the movement of air masses and other flows carrying massive volumes of pollution;
h) cultural geographic location- relative to the most important centers and regions for the development of spiritual culture, cultural and geographical formations of different territorial rank and significance.

Each of the named types of HP is a multifaceted, synthetic phenomenon, and therefore it is necessary to analyze not only these types "separately", but especially their combinations in the complex interaction and "intertwining" of various aspects of the HP. So, in the EGP system, transport-geographical, industrial-geographical, demogeographic, market (or marketing-geographical) position and its other components are distinguished, and each of them, in turn, also has a certain structure.

A particularly important role is played by the transport and geographical position, the quality of which is determined by the following circumstances: 1) the economic potential of neighboring territories; 2) the density of the economic development of the environment;

3) the presence (quantity and quality) of direct transport links to neighbors, their frequency.

Second, the GP - the category is historical. It should be borne in mind that if the physical and geographical position changes relatively slowly, with the development of the geographical environment, as well as as a result of human activity, then all other types of HP are very dynamic, changeable and their significance (and the consequences of influence) in different historical conditions ambiguous.

N.N. Baransky gives an example of characterizing the historical variability of the US GP. Their embryo was the English colonies located on the east coast. North America between Atlantic Ocean and the Appalachian Mountains. Everything that lay to the west of these colonies was not known to the Europeans, and when the English kings gave some lord or some joint-stock company a piece of the coast, they called only the southern and northern borders along the parallels, and there was an opportunity to go to the west , anywhere. Thus, these colonies were "at the end of the world." Subsequently, the areas lying to the west of the Appalachians were explored, populated and generally developed, and from the position "at the edge of the world" a position "between two oceans" was created. This is how the position of the United States has changed dramatically. Ya.G. Mashbits, considering the example of the Ancient

Rus, emphasizes that the Tatar-Mongol yoke, feudal disunity and the shift of the center of gravity of world development in Western Europe largely negated the exceptional favorable geographic location Ancient Rus... Medieval Russia found itself on the periphery of European socio-economic development.

Thirdly, SOE is inherent in its potential character. One or another favorable side of the state enterprise is far from being realized in all cases. Only with a combination of relevant factors of the historical and socio-economic development of a given territory (country), these favorable aspects are realized. So, it is known that many of the features of Japan's development are due to its oceanic position. But this GP could be realized only thanks to the increase in the industrial and financial potential of Japan.

Fourth, as a geographical category, GP has a certain mechanism of influence, the study of which requires a transition from “simple”, qualitative, subjective characteristics to quantitative estimates. Noting the need for a theoretical deepening of the understanding of EGP, I.M. Maergois emphasized that EGP is always concrete and, to one degree or another, contradictory, that it is necessary to analyze the probabilistic nature of the GP, the distance factor (study of the distance, or distance, between geographic objects as one of the properties of space), as well as the interaction of objects defined by them. subordination.

In this regard, it is important to distinguish between macro-, meso- and micro-positions. The first of them corresponds to a more or less extensive territory; the meso position is a line cutting it in important directions, and the micro position is a point on this line. These types of GPs interact with each other, but their reflection on the development of certain objects can be very different. In rare cases, they are all equally favorable. It is believed that the cities with outstanding macro- and meso-locations have the greatest growth potential, located at the foci of ties that bind together large territories, in the centers of rapidly developing industrial and agricultural areas ... at the points of contact of various zones, differences in economic potentials, at support nodes areas of new development.

For St. Petersburg, for example, the macro-location is described as being in the North-West of the European part of the Russian

Federation, near the border with Finland, on the coast Gulf of Finland; mesoposition - approximately in the center Leningrad region, at the mouth of the Neva; micro-location - on the islands of the Neva delta and adjacent territories. By analogy, it is possible to determine the rank of an object's position within an urban area by detailing it. Red Square is located in Moscow near the Kremlin walls (micro-location), in the city center - within the Garden Ring (meso-location).

For some objects, the most important is the micro-position, for others the meso- or macro-position. For example, the size of the differential rent in agriculture very sensitive to the micro- and meso-location of the site. The same can be said about the position of a store, a consumer service point in the city in relation to public transport stops and transfer points. When deciding on the development of fuel, energy, metallurgical bases, the assessment of the macro position comes to the fore.

Fifth, the state enterprise has close ties with the configuration of the territory and its borders., which has a great impact on many aspects of the development of a given territory (country) as a whole and its individual parts. Thus, the configuration of the territory of Russia had a great impact on its historical and geographical development. The latitudinal extent of the vast territory of Russia in Eastern Europe and Asia is combined with its continental nature and depth. This is the reason for the remoteness of most of the territories from the sea coasts and borders. These factors made it difficult for the economic development of the territories to the east of the Urals, external economic relations of most regions of Russia.

Plays an important role border position regions of the country, the relationship between their configuration and the borders of the country. So, in modern Russia this often creates complex problems for them (border regions) (for example, ethnic conflicts, an influx of refugees, the impact of socio-political tensions in neighboring states, etc.).