Only the Little Sea remains!

1872 map of the Aral Sea

2233 x 3637

‘Kazakhstan is trying to let a little more water in, but there’s not much that can be done. Much of the water that did fill the sea is needed in other areas or is just gone. The Soviets not only diverted much of the water that went into the sea, they did a horrible job of it, trying to turn the desert into cotton fields. The canals were poorly built and huge amounts of water was wasted. It’s estimated that in the largest canal, anywhere between 30-75% of the water was wasted, either being evaporated or leaked. Now days, much of the population still relies on that same irrigation system. Most of the nations are just to poor and don’t have the capability to improve them.

It’s a vicious domino effect, where taking the water creates a dry, salty desert. Dust storms spread the toxic sand and salt over the irrigated land and more water and pesticides and fertilizer is needed to make the land productive, but they end up in what was the lake bed and is now a desert. Another dust storm picks up and the cycle repeats, destroying both sides of the system.‘–]a_filing_cabinet

Ethnic groups in southern Soviet Union and neighboring Middle Eastern countries (1986)

Ethnic groups in southern Soviet Union and neighboring Middle Eastern countries (1986)

6189 × 3807

‘Ethnic Russians would only be in the majority in Crimea and the built-up parts of the Donetsk and Lugansk oblasts, and pretty much every ethnic map of Ukraine that I’ve seen (whether Soviet or Western) has reflected this. This was most likely an oversight on someone’s part – the guy making the labels forgot that Ukraine would be included, or accidentally put “Russian” when he meant “East Slavic”, or something like that’–Lazar_Taxon

Soviet map of the Baikal, Transbaikal Region (1967)

Soviet map of the Baikal, Transbaikal Region (1967)

“Irkutsk is a city with a lot of historical architecture, I think it can be one of the interesting city for tourism, on the railway between Krasnoyarsk and Vladivostok. But, like all East Siberian cities, it’s kinda poor and depressed.

Vladivostok is a beautiful sea city. In Khabarovsk, i got robbed, so I do not like the city :) Ulan-Ude, a very strange city. This is the Buddhist capital of Russia, with many Buddhist temples, such as the Ivolginsky datsan. But I do not like the city itself I wasn’t on Krasnoyarsk, and can’t say anything about it. And Novosibirsk, largest city of Siberia, must be visited i guess.

And Chita, awful city, i even recommend to don’t getting off the train. City has one of highest crime rate in Russia for years, and very bad reputation”–Vaval