<Tr> <Th> Natural Hazards </Th> <Td> earthquakes, landslides, storms, hurricanes, forest fires and floods </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Th> Environmental Issues </Th> <Td> deforestation, energy irresponsibility, pollution, and nuclear waste </Td> </Tr> <P> The geography of Russia describes the geographic features of Russia, a country extending over much of northern Eurasia . Comprising much of eastern Europe and northern Asia, it is the world's largest country in total area . Due to its size, Russia displays both monotony and diversity . As with its topography, its climates, vegetation, and soils span vast distances . From north to south the East European Plain is clad sequentially in tundra, coniferous forest (taiga), mixed and broadleaf forests, grassland (steppe), and semi-desert (fringing the Caspian Sea) as the changes in vegetation reflect the changes in climate . Siberia supports a similar sequence but is predominantly taiga . The country contains forty UNESCO biosphere reserves . </P> <P> Located in the north, west and east latitudes of the Northern Hemisphere, most of Russia is much closer to the North Pole than to the equator . Individual country comparisons are of little value in gauging Russia's enormous size and diversity . The country's 17.09 million square kilometers include one - eighth of the Earth's inhabited land area . Its European portion, which occupies a substantial part of continental Europe, is home to most of Russia's industrial activity and is where, roughly between the Dnieper River and the Ural Mountains, the Russian Empire took shape . Russia includes the entire northern portion of Asia . </P>

The vegetation of coniferous forest at the southern end of the treeless plains is known as