Physical Map of Russia (http://www.ezilon.com/maps/images/europe/Russian-physical-map.gif)
Location
Russia is located in eastern Europe and northern Asia, and is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the North, the Pacific Ocean to the East, China and Mongolia to the South, and the Ukraine to the West (CIA World Factbook). Russia also has 37,653 kilometers of coastline, and 20,241 kilometers of land boundaries (CIA World Factbook).
Global Location of Russia (http://www.freeworldmaps.net/russia/location.gif)
Size and Area
Russia covers 17,098,242 square kilometers of area, with 720,500 square kilometers of water, and is the world’s largest nation (CIA World Factbook). Russia is also 1100 %, or 2.1 times larger, than the Continental U.S. which is 8,080,464 square kilometers in size (Princeton University). It also spans 9 time zones (Infoplease).
Russia/U.S.A. Size Comparison (http://www.schillerinstitute.org/educ/sci_space/2011/extended_nawapa/russia_us_population_map.jpg)
Terrain and Physical Features
Russian terrain is varied. There is the Ural Mountain Range, as well as mountainous regions to the southern borders, plains and hilly regions to the west of the Urals, and tundra in the area of Siberia (CIA World Factbook).
Ural Mountain Range (http://earth.imagico.de/views/ural1_small.jpg)
Mt Elbrus is the country’s tallest mountain, and is 5633 meters tall (Infoplease).
There are also noteworthy rivers in Russia. A few major rivers are, the Don which drains into the Black Sea, the Volga, draining into the Caspian Sea, and the Northern and Western Dvina Rivers (Infoplease). Russia is also home to Lake Baikal. This lake is the largest freshwater body in the world, and is 636 kilometers long as well as 1620 meters deep (Encyclopedia Britannica).
Russia and Climate Change 
