The reason for this is that agriculture requires huge areas. As a result, the landscapes of entire continents are changing. On the Great Plain of China, a subtropical forest grew, passing in the north into the Ussuri taiga, and in the south into the jungles of Indochina. In Europe, the agricultural landscape has replaced broad-leaved forests, in Ukraine, fields have replaced steppes.
Russia. I live in Russia. Russia is my native country. The Russian Federation is the largest country in the world. It occupies one seventh of the Earth's surface. It issituated both in Europe and Asia. The total area is about 17 million square kilometres. The country is washed by 12 seas and oceans: the Pacific, the Arctic and the Atlantic oceans. Our neighbours in the south are China, Mongolia, Korea, Kazakhstan, Georgia and Azerbaijan. In the west we have borders with Norway, Finland, Belarus and the Ukraine. There is no country in the world like Russia, wih the steppes in the south, plains and forests in the midland, tundra and taiga in the north, highlands and deserts in the east. There is a great number of rivers in Russia. The Volga, the longest in Europe river, flows into the Caspian Sea. The main Siberian rivers - the Ob', the Yenisey and the Lena flow from the south to the north. The Amur in the Far East flows into the Pacific ocean. The deepest lake in the world is Baikal. The water in the lake is so clear, that you can see the stones on the bottom. Because of the vast terrirory there are various types of climate in the country. The climate varies greatly in differenr regions. Russia is very rich in oil, coal, iron ore, natural gas, copper, nickel and other mineral resources. Russia is a parliamentary republic with the strong power of the President who is the the head of the state. The State Duma and the Council of Federation are the legislative branch of the government. The capital of Russia is Moscow. It is the largest political, cultural and industrial centre. It is one of the oldest Russian cities. The national banner of Russia is a tricolour with white, blue and red stripes.
