is siberia a shatterbelt regionsamantha wallace and dj self
Iunioris, "Russia's Expansionist Policies I. They are all scrambling to assert claims over two vital rivers that run through the region. Early 20th-century geographers such as Richard Hartshorne didn't miss the fact that the Balkans (southeastern Europe) were a perpetual powderkeg. [10], By the mid-17th century, Russia had established areas of control that extended to the Pacific Ocean. Southeastern Europe and the Balkan Peninsula are the best examples of shatterbelts. Siberia, Russian Sibir, vast region of Russia and northern Kazakhstan, constituting all of northern Asia. Historian John F. Richards wrote: " it is doubtful that the total early modern Siberian population exceeded 300,000 persons". It is exceptionally rich in minerals, containing large deposits of gold, diamonds, and ores of manganese, lead, zinc, nickel, cobalt, and molybdenum. Geographically, this definition includes subdivisions of several other subjects of Urals and Far Eastern federal districts, but they are not included administratively. Afghanistan is the focus of attention here; 2021 saw its re-conquest by the Taliban after the US withdrew, and it is hard to know what this will mean for long-term stability. He suggests that the name might be a combination of two words with Turkic origin, "su" (water) and "bir" (wild land). False. Consider the following questions to support your response: What is due process? Siberia Siberia, as a place name, actually refers to all of Asian Russia east of the Ural Mountains, including the Eastern Frontier and the Russian Far East. The Verkhoyansk Range was extensively glaciated in the Pleistocene, but the climate was too dry for glaciation to extend to low elevations. Sign up to highlight and take notes. what challenge do they face. The region was relatively calm in the early 2020s with the winding down of the bloodiest phases of wars in Syria and Iraq. It is therefore a shatterbelt region. Around a century ago, geographers began to think the "shattering" of peace in these places, and indeed in entire regions they called "belts," was an innate characteristic. Shatterbelt: A culturally diverse, conflict-prone region of weak, fragmented states aligned with powerful global rivals, containing globally significant reserves of natural resources and geostrategic locations such as choke points and major transport arteries. Iran, Turkey, and Saudi Arabia are the major regional powers. [93] Slavic and other Indo-European ethnicities make up the vast majority (over 85%) of the Siberian population. The Conquest of Siberia", Livre noir du Communisme: crimes, terreur, rpression. Ethnic divisions come into play, with frayed relationships between Jews, Arabs, Kurds, Turkic peoples, Iranians, and even within various Arab clans and ethnic nations. [75] In the eastern extent of Siberia there are territories which are not clearly defined as either Siberia or the Far East, making the question of 'what is Siberia?' Have you noticed how some places are constantly at war, on the edge of war, or recovering from a war? The annual average temperature is about 0.5C (32.9F). [10] The Polish historian Chyliczkowski has proposed that the name derives from the proto-Slavic word for "north" (, sever),[11] same as Severia. A minority of the current population are descendants of Mongol or Turkic people (mainly Buryats, Yakuts, Tuvans, Altai and Khakas) or 220-180 B.C. Political geographers coined this term to evoke fragility. Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login). Novosibirsk is the largest by population and the most important city for the Siberian economy; with an extra boost since 2000 when it was designated a regional center for the executive bureaucracy (Siberian Federal District). It appears to be on the verge of collapse due to multiple civil wars ongoing in Ethiopia, Yemen, and Somalia. [77] Around 70% of Russia's developed oil fields are in the Khanty-Mansiysk region. taiga Elsewhere food production, owing to the poor fertility of the podzolic soils and the extremely short growing seasons, is restricted to the herding of reindeer in the tundrawhich has been practiced by natives for over 10,000 years. -Multiple ethnic groups are present in each country, -It is a border area between Turkey and Iran, both of which are regional powers, -Some ethnic groups are found in two countries (Georgians in Russia and Georgia), -Russians (R) are found widely within areas of other ethnic groups inside and outside Russia, -Kurds are found in at least four countries. Around seven million Russians moved to Siberia from Europe between 1801 and 1914. [41] The size, scope, and scale of the Gulag slave-labour camps remain subjects of much research and debate. During World War II, because of the evacuation of many factories from the western portions of the Soviet Union, Siberia (together with the Urals) became the industrial backbone of the Soviet war effort for a few years. Because with some sort of spark, they could explode, in reference to an event such as the assassination of Archduke Ferdinand that sparked World War I. of the users don't pass the Shatterbelt quiz! It also reveals the architecture upon which all security issues in the region have and, for the foreseeable future, will depend. Siberia can be reached through the Trans-Siberian Railway. -The area is located between two large water bodies. The impact of Russian expansion upon the indigenous peoples was twofold; the smaller and more primitive tribes succumbed to exploitation and imported diseases, while larger groups such as the Sakha and Buryat adjusted better and began to profit from the material benefits of colonization. In 2010 DNA evidence identified the last as a separate species. My older child weighs 25%25 \%25% more than my younger child. Weak and often recently-formed states; governments are ineffective and national unity hasn't been achieved. For example, the Balkans buffered Christian Europe and the Muslim world (Ottoman Empire) for over 500 years. A shatterbelt is a region that is geographically located between two more powerful states and is thus subject to their rivalry and conflict. temperate steppe Please Please help!!! Shatterbelts are created by a combination of local and global rivalries occurring in the same geographic region whereby weak states are not able to prevent their governments from collapsing and war from breaking out. 1 - Religious divisions in the Yemen civil war (c. 2014) between Arab factions. -NATO countries border three shatterbelts. It is a frontier that is not formally part of a state, but the United Kingdom claims the area. Romania-Ukraine. The population of Siberia remains sparse, is chiefly concentrated in the west and south, is more than half urban, and is overwhelmingly Russian in ethnic character. The volcanic event is said[by whom?] Will you pass the quiz? For other uses, see. By far the most commonly occurring climate in Siberia is continental subarctic (Koppen Dfc or Dwc), with the annual average temperature about 5C (23F) and an average for January of 25C (13F) and an average for July of +17C (63F),[50] although this varies considerably, with a July average about 10C (50F) in the taigatundra ecotone. [3], Siberian Federal DistrictHistorical Russian SiberiaNorth Asia (greatest extent of Siberia), Because Siberia is a geographic and historic region and not a political entity, there is no single precise definition of its territorial borders. The term 'shatter belt' is often seen as 'shatter belt' region'. Create and find flashcards in record time. Certain countries seem to be at the core of their respective shatterbelts, with particularly intractable ethnoreligious rivalries. B) periphery. This is a shatterbelt region because there was a conflict between the democratic West and communist Asia. Anatole Baikaloff has dismissed this explanation. Fig. Key states in the area involved themselves in the conflicts. This towering mountain range dividing Europe and Asia, and the broader region surrounding it, is part of the Russia borderlands shatterbelt system that has been "in play" since the "Great Game" between Russia and the UK in the 1800s. The nature reserve park also conducts climatic research on the changes expected from the reintroduction of grazing animals or large herbivores, hypothesizing that a transition from tundra to grassland would lead to a net change in energy emission to absorption ratios.[56]. When conflict breaks out and spreads, it is more intense, with more episodes of ethnic cleansing and genocide, than in non-shatterbelt areas. A region that historically is caught between stronger colliding external forces. Also referred to as the Balkans, the Balkan Peninsula is a geographical and cultural region in the southeastern part of Europe.The region is named after the Balkan Mountains that stretch for about 557km from the boundary between Bulgaria and Serbia to Cape Emine on the Black Sea coast. The Siberian Traps were formed by one of the largest-known volcanic events of the last 251million years of Earth's geological history. Examining the countries shown in white on the map of the former Yugoslavia, which of the following explains why the area would be referred to as a shatterbelt region? [2] It has been a part of Russia since the latter half of the 16th century, after the Russians conquered lands east of the Ural Mountains. - location of global resources. Traditionally, Siberia extends eastwards from the Ural Mountains to the Pacific Ocean, and includes most of the drainage basin of the Arctic Ocean. The climate in this southernmost part is humid continental climate (Kppen Dfb) with cold winters but fairly warm summers lasting at least four months. The Yenisey Krasnoyarsk basketball team has played in the VTB United League since 201112. Stop procrastinating with our smart planner features. Many cities in northern Siberia, such as Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, cannot be reached by road, as there are virtually none connecting from other major cities in Russia or Asia. These steps would be beneficial not only for the region but also the global environment because they would decrease the risks of economic turbulence and political instability. The Central Siberian Plateau is an ancient craton (sometimes named Angaraland) that formed an independent continent before the Permian (see the Siberian continent). Cities that are located far from the railway are reached by air or by the separate BaikalAmur Railway (BAM). Fig. Their activity continued for a million years and some scientists consider it a possible cause of the "Great Dying" about 250million years ago,[16] estimated to have killed 90% of species existing at the time. Siberia falls into four major geographic regions, all of great extent. Stop procrastinating with our study reminders. Siberia. Russia sees control over Ukraine as essential to its survival for economic and cultural reasons. Why are shatterbelt countries referred to as "powder kegs"? Shatterbelt components include multiple choke points, irredentism, weak governance, natural resources, and ethnic separatism. Omsk is a historic and currently the second largest city in the region, and since 1950s hosting Russia's largest oil refinery. It has been a part of Russia since the latter half of the 16th century, after the Russians conquered lands east of the Ural Mountains. [36], At 7:15a.m. on 30 June 1908 the Tunguska Event felled millions of trees near the Podkamennaya Tunguska (Stony Tunguska) in central Siberia. In such cases renewable energy is often cheaper. Weak states are the rule. [46] Soils here are mainly turbels, giving way to spodosols where the active layer becomes thicker and the ice-content lower. By registering you get free access to our website and app (available on desktop AND mobile) which will help you to super-charge your learning process. Federal states. After the Cold War, constituent countries such as Cambodia and El Salvador were left with social and political chaos and remain mired in underdevelopment, but war is no longer a factor. ", " 20162020", " " "", ", " " "", ", Ukrainians in Russia's Far East try to maintain community life, World Directory of Minorities and Indigenous Peoples Russian Federation: Buryats, World Directory of Minorities and Indigenous Peoples Russian Federation: Yakuts, "Official website of the city of Novosibirsk", Why some Jews would rather live in Siberia than Israel, "Secrets of Siberian Shamanism | New Dawn: The World's Most Unusual Magazine", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Siberia&oldid=1142013609. Tradition regards Siberia the archetypal home of shamanism, and polytheism is popular. [99] The Siberian Federal District alone has an estimation of 250,000 Muslims. dry steppe. Updates? Sibir', IPA:[sbir] (listen)) is an extensive geographical region, constituting all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. [80], Reported in 2009, the development of renewable energy in Russia is held back by the lack of a conducive government policy framework,[81][needs update] As of 2011[update], Siberia still offers special opportunities for off-grid renewable energy developments. Siberia is a region in Russia. Precipitation in Siberia is generally low, exceeding 500 millimetres (20in) only in Kamchatka, where moist winds flow from the Sea of Okhotsk onto high mountains producing the region's only major glaciers, though volcanic eruptions and low summer temperatures allow only limited forests to grow. They write new content and verify and edit content received from contributors. Many culturally diverse states are strong; they tend to be those that are well-governed, regardless of their level of socioeconomic development. How are choke points and shatterbelts related? According to the 2002 census there are 500,000 Tatars in Siberia, but of these, 300,000 are Volga Tatars who also settled in Siberia during periods of colonization and are thus also non-indigenous Siberians, in contrast to the 200,000 Siberian Tatars which are indigenous to Siberia. effort to eradicate a people and its culture by means of mass killing and the destruction of historical buildings and cultural materials. Siberia, its name derived from the Tatar term for sleeping land, is notorious for the length and severity of its almost snowless winters: in Sakha, minimum temperatures of 90 F (68 C) have been recorded. A Shatterbelt is a region in the world where persistent splintering and fracturing take place and major world powers compete for influence. Our editors will review what youve submitted and determine whether to revise the article. Eastern Europe is a shatterbelt because it contains numerous impoverished, underdeveloped, and weak states sandwiched between the powerful global rivals of Russia and the West (western Europe and the US). [95] According to the 2010 census there were 478,085 indigenous Turkic-speaking Yakuts. Timber remains an important source of revenue, even though many forests in the east have been logged much more rapidly than they are able to recover. Gold. for only $11.00 $9.35/page. an economy in which production, investment, prices, and incomes are determined by the govt. 2008-01-14 02:06:46. On the north coast, north of the Arctic Circle, there is a very short (about one month long) summer. E) North America. Much of the area includes the Siberian Trapsa large igneous province. Most scientists believe this resulted from the air burst of a meteor or a comet. [51][failed verification]. Indeed, the Middle East lies on the world's largest "shatter belt" - an area described felicitously by American geographer Saul Cohen as the region of contact between the world's great sea and land powers. What country in the Horn of Africa hosts several military bases of global rivals? Photo Gallery.Birds of Siberia", "Rock Ptarmigan (Lagopus muta). Traditionally in Russia's sphere, Ukraine has moved politically and culturally westward as membership in the NATO alliance has moved eastward from Western Europe, threatening Russia's sphere of influence. Suppose that Rossmore Brothers has an opportunity to buy the same faucets from another supplier at a cost of $28.50 per unit. Because of the 1967 war, Jordan was the only Arab nation to make peace with Israel. A shatterbelt is a geographic region comprised of: culturally-diverse weak states with intra-group animosities; geostrategic importance due to vital resources and transportation corridors; diplomatic and military presence of global rivals. Please select which sections you would like to print: Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree. (True or False) Central America and Southeast Asia are active shatterbelts. The active layer tends to be less than one metre deep, except near rivers. The most populous city of Siberia, as well as the third most populous city of Russia, is the city of Novosibirsk. The Berlin Wall fell in 1989, but people in the former East and West Germany still feel its influence. In the mid-Pleistocene, many deposits on this plain resulted from ice dams which produced a large glacial lake. Create beautiful notes faster than ever before. northern indigenous people. A. Novosibirsk[98] is the largest city in Siberia, with a population of about 1.6million. It is made up of the central and eastern portions of Russia and it encompasses the area from the Ural Mountains east to the Pacific Ocean.It also extends from the Arctic Ocean south to northern Kazakhstan and the borders of Mongolia and China.In total Siberia covers 5.1 million square miles (13.1 million sq km) or 77% of Russia's . In the 201516 Russian Bandy Super League season Yenisey from Krasnoyarsk became champions for the third year in a row by beating Baykal-Energiya from Irkutsk in the final. Beyond the core, Siberia's western part includes some territories of the Ural region, and the far eastern part has been historically called the Russian Far East. This an example of a(n) A) shatterbelt. [citation needed] Siberia has the world's largest forests. Photo Gallery.Birds of Siberia", "Siberian Grouse (Falcipennis falcipennis). and also between ethnic Slavs ("protected" by Russia, such as Serbs) and non-Slavs (Greeks, Albanians, etc.). Outside the extreme northwest, the taiga is dominant, covering a significant fraction of the entirety of Siberia. [87] Now Khabarovsk has the world's largest indoor arena specifically built for bandy, Arena Yerofey. . Foreign countries send military aid, impose sanctions, and pay for reconstruction. The largest of these groups, however, the Sakha (Yakut), raised cattle and horses. After the Qaddafi regime of Libya was removed by NATO in 2011, the Sahara and Sahel, already a zone of weak states and inter-ethnic hostilities, collapsed into chaos, with multiple coups d'etat, the Boko Haram terrorist war in northern Nigeria, and the increasing influence of al Qaeda-and ISIS-linked violence in formerly calm countries such as Burkina Faso. From Russia (Siberia). Get a Britannica Premium subscription and gain access to exclusive content. 3 - Blue=Moldova. Quickly!!! Meyerhof, A. We will write a custom Essay on Geopolitics: The Middle East Shatterbelt specifically for you. Agriculture, by contrast, suffered greatly from collectivization in 193033 and was neglected until the Virgin Lands Campaign of 195456, when southwestern Siberia (including northern Kazakhstan) was the principal area to be opened to cultivation. Test your knowledge with gamified quizzes. The origin of the name is unknown. In the west, abutting the Ural Mountains, is the huge West Siberian Plain, drained by the Ob and Yenisey rivers, varying little in relief, and containing wide tracts of swampland. Siberia extends from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east and southward from the Arctic Ocean to the hills of north-central Kazakhstan and the borders of Mongolia and China. Agriculture is confined to the more southerly portions of Siberia and produces wheat, rye, oats, and sunflowers. This geostrategic region includes Somalia, Djibouti, Yemen, Eritrea, Sudan, South Sudan, and Ethiopia and has not been at peace for any meaningful period in modern history. Eastern Europ e is internally divided amongst its many ethnicities and is found between Russia and the powers of NATO. A massive eruptive period approximately coincided with the PermianTriassic extinction event. [6] Major geographical zones within Siberia include the West Siberian Plain and the Central Siberian Plateau. [32][33], The first great modern change in Siberia was the Trans-Siberian Railway, constructed during 18911916. Find out more on NATO at brainly.com/question/4273334. The worldviews and interests of the country's main ethnic groups (Hazara, Pashtun, Uzbek, and Tajik) have not been reconciled in over 50 years. The river Yenisey divides Siberia into two parts, Western and Eastern. Next-door Moldova contains the breakaway region of Transnistria that is "protected" by Russia and also includes pro-Russian Gagauzia, so if the Russia-Ukraine war spreads, Moldova could quickly be engulfed. came largely from southern and eastern Europe. However, based on its investigations, Rossmore Brothers has assessed the following probability distribution for the proportion of defective faucets that will be delivered by the new supplier: Assuming that the defect cost is still$ 5.00 each and based on the total expected cost for an order of 2,000 faucets, should Rossmore buy from the new supplier or stick with its original supplier? The total area of Siberia in the wider sense is about 5,207,900 square miles (13,488,500 square km); in the narrower Russian definition the area is 2,529,000 square miles (6,550,000 square km), consisting of two economic planning regions, Eastern and Western Siberia. The largest cities are Novosibirsk, Omsk, and Krasnoyarsk. [48][49] With a reliable growing season, an abundance of sunshine and exceedingly fertile chernozem soils, southern Siberia is good enough for profitable agriculture, as was demonstrated in the early 20th century. And wha - history of local conflicts. Conflict minerals, such as diamonds and coltan, fuel conflict here, exacerbated by long-standing ethnic hatred between Hutu and Tutsi and discrimination against Pygmies by Bantu groups as well as between herders and farmers and between animists, Christians, and Muslims. They are the least economically developed countries in Europe, and ethnoreligious hatred between Serbs and Muslims has not diminished, particularly in Kosovo. Photo Gallery.Birds of Siberia", 10.2305/IUCN.UK.2015-2.RLTS.T13897A61977573.en, "Conservation Genetics of the Far Eastern Leopard (, 10.2305/IUCN.UK.2011-2.RLTS.T15956A5333650.en, 10.2305/IUCN.UK.2020-3.RLTS.T22824A166528664.en, 10.2305/IUCN.UK.2017-3.RLTS.T41688A121229971.en, 10.2305/IUCN.UK.2013-1.RLTS.T42405A2977712.en, 10.2305/IUCN.UK.2013-1.RLTS.T42331A2973177.en, , Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopedic Dictionary, - , "Siberian separatism: whether federal center can hold remote regions Robert Lansing Institute", Statistics on the Development of Gas Fields in Western Siberia, "The City Built on Oil: EU-Russia Summit Visits Siberia's Boomtown", "Norilsk raises 2010 nickel output forecast", "FAO National Aquaculture Sector Overview (NASO)", "The Siberian Curse: A Blessing in Disguise for Renewable Energy? It is therefore a shatterbelt region. Significant changes in the "great power" status of Russia, the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Turkey, and so forth have been enough to ignite the powder keg. Fig. [102] These native sacred practices are considered by the tribes to be very ancient. Best study tips and tricks for your exams. Photo Gallery.Birds of Russian Far East", "Northern Black Grouse (Lyrurus tetrix). Remote parts of Siberia are too costly to connect to central electricity and gas grids, and have therefore historically been supplied with costly diesel, sometimes flown in by helicopter. Create flashcards in notes completely automatically. [53] In 2008 a research expedition for the American Geophysical Union detected levels of methane up to 100 times above normal in the atmosphere above the Siberian Arctic, likely the result of methane clathrates being released through holes in a frozen "lid" of seabed permafrost around the outfall of the Lena and the area between the Laptev Sea and East Siberian Sea. They were active during the Cold War, but are now inactive. The State Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg, Russia", "Meet this extinct cave lion, at least 10,000years old world exclusive", "Late Quaternary dynamics of Arctic biota from ancient environmental genomics", DNA identifies new ancient human dubbed 'X-woman', "Jomon Culture and the peopling of the Japanese archipelago: advancements in the fields of morphometrics and ancient DNA", "A Genetic Chronicle of the First Peoples in the Americas", "Nomadic herders left a strong genetic mark on Europeans and Asians", Asia ex magna Orbis terrae descriptione Gerardi Mercatoris desumpta, studio & industria G.M. [96] Other ethnic groups indigenous to Siberia include Kets, Evenks, Chukchis, Koryaks, Yupiks, and Yukaghirs. Green areas are Gagauzia and Transnistria, both politically close to Russia, and the latter a breakaway republic. It is a large, remote region with an unusually harsh environment that is rich in a variety of natural resources. At first the areas Russian rulers collected tribute, which was paid by the native inhabitants in furs as it had been paid to the Mongols. North Korea-South Korea. Norilsk Nickel is the world's biggest nickel and palladium producer. Still, few expect the situation to become permanently stable. Finally Turkey, Syria, and Iraq are a shatterbelt region because following the fall of the Soviet Union, ethnically defined territories pushed for autonomy and to claim more territory. - shatter belt regions are often blamed for a large proportion of interstate conflict, explain how east asia qualifies as a shatterbelt, - because of U.S. occupation in the area after World War || and subsequent alliances with South Korea, Taiwan, and Japan, explain how southeast asia qualifies as a shatter belt, - because of British and French colonies [97] Many people also live in rural areas, in simple, spacious, log houses. an economy in which production, investment, prices, and incomes are determined centrally by a government-like in a Communist govt. The Caucasus are a buffer zone between Russia and the Muslim World. A "shatterbelt region" can either be defined as identical to a shatterbelt, or could also refer to a chain of shatterbelts such as the Balkans-Ukraine-Caucasus-Central Asia area that is within Russia's sphere of influence. This led to the discovery of the Markovo Oil Field in 1962 with the Markovo1 well, which produced from the Early Cambrian Osa Horizon bar-sandstone at a depth of 2,156 metres (7,073ft). Its peak reaches 4,750 metres (15,580ft). what terrain is most likely to serve as a shatter belt? Siberia is vast and sparsely populated, covering an area of over 13.1 million square kilometres (5,100,000 sq mi), but home to merely one-fifth of Russia's population. However, in this and some other geography textbooks, the term Siberia more specifically describes only the region north of the Eastern Frontier that extends to the Kamchatka Peninsula. Choke points are geostrategic locations that are often found within shatterbelts, (True or False) States with a lot of cultural diversity are weak and prone to shattering. Lioubimtseva E.U., Gorshkov S.P. & Adams J.M. Heartland Theory Rimland Theory 2008-01 . A shatterbelt region is a region that is internally divided by ethnicities and ideologies. which of the following is an example of a shatterbelt region? The term "Siberia" has both a long history and wide significance, and association. The location, bounded . Oymyakon is a village which recorded a temperature of 67.7C (89.9F) on 6 February 1933. The Balkans region of southeastern Europe is a shatterbelt where Slavic ethnicities clash with non-Slavic ethnicities, Roman Catholics with Eastern Orthodox, and Muslims with Christians. [37], In the early decades of the Soviet Union (especially in the 1930s and 1940s), the government used the Gulag state agency to administer a system of penal labour camps, replacing the previous katorga system. Study now. The country/port of Djibouti currently hosts military bases from rival countries such as the US and China. [94] Of the indigenous Siberians, the Mongol-speaking Buryats, numbering approximately 500,000, are the most numerous group in Siberia, and they are mainly concentrated in their homeland, the Buryat Republic. Evidence of Paleolithic settlement is abundant in southern Siberia, which, after participating in the Bronze Age, came under Chinese (from 1000 bce) and then under Turkic-Mongol (3rd century bce) influence. And some is tens of thousands of years old. [29], The growing power of Russia in the West began to undermine the Siberian Khanate in the 16th century. Exile was the main Russian punitive practice with more than 800,000 people exiled during the nineteenth century. a region caught between stronger coiding external cultural-political forces, under persistent stress, and often fragmented by aggressive rivals. The climate becomes increasingly harsh eastward, while precipitation also diminishes. A network of oil and gas pipelines was built between the new fields and the Urals, and new industries were also established, such as aluminum refining and cellulose pulp making. -The Balkans are partly classified as a shatterbelt, but the bulk of their area is now within NATO, -The map scale used does not permit an accurate visual assessment of relative land areas of each shatterbelt or outside players.