URL

Description

http://travel.nationalgeographic.com/places/countries/country_russia.html

Besides basic information about Russia, this site takes you on tours of Moscow and St. Petersburg and introduces you to Russia’s scenery and landscapes.

http://www.hermitagemuseum.org/html_En/index.html

The official site of the State Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg offers information about its treasures and about Russian history.

http://nsidc.org/data/docs/fgdc/ggd600_russia_pf_maps/russian_permafrost_desc.html

A report of the National Snow and Ice Data Center describes the permanently frozen subsurface layers of northern Russia that challenge builders.

http://nsidc.org/fgdc/maps/

The Frozen Ground Data Center of the National Snow and Ice Data Center offers maps of permafrost in Russia and also in North America.

http://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1848/communist-manifesto/

Frederick Engels’s founding document of Communism was first published in 1847. This site provides an English translation.

http://memory.loc.gov/frd/cs/soviet_union/su_appnc.html

A summary of the Warsaw Pact, including uprisings against it and United States-Soviet relations, by the Library of Congress.

http://www.wilsoncenter.org/program/cold-war-international-history-project

The Cold War International History Project is a program of the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars. It includes archival pictures and information about the Cold War in many parts of the world.

http://www.historyorb.com/russia/glasnost.shtml

How did Gorbachev’s glasnost affect life in the Soviet Union? Links from this page also describe other aspects of the end of the Cold War and the collapse of the Soviet Union.

https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/up.html

This CIA publication provides information about Ukraine’s geography, people, economy, government, military, and energy prospects.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/country_profiles/1298071.stm

One of the world’s premier news organizations has compiled general information about Kazakhstan and its political and economic situation.

http://www.unep.org/dewa/vitalwater/article115.html

This site, from a project of the United Nations Environmental Program, summarizes the history and current condition of the Aral Sea as well as its impact on climate, soils, and life in the region.

http://ansipra.npolar.no/english/

The Arctic Network for the Support of the Indigenous Peoples of the Russian Arctic provides an overview of indigenous groups within the region.  The site includes maps, historical backgrounds of various groups, and discussions of health and environmental issues impacting them today.

http://www.gazprom.com/about/

Gazprom is the state-owned energy company, and its site provides information about the company and its various activities. It is available in Russian or English.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/chechnya

This site, by a leading British newspaper, assembles coverage of the situation in Chechnya.

http://www.ewi.info/eastwest-direct-changing-russia-china-relationship

David Firestein of the EastWest Institute discusses the recent history of the Russia-China relationship, and how it might develop in the future.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=97825829

National Public Radio covered the issue of trafficking of Russian women.