A World of Words: Russia - Introductory

You'll be a vocabulary tsar once you review these words related to Russia. In addition to learning about the climate, biomes, and natural resources of Russia, you'll explore Russian history from the Russian Empire to communism and the Cold War.
102 words 3598 learners

Learn words with Flashcards and other activities

Definition First
Print Flashcards

Other learning activities

Answer a few questions about each word. Use this to prep for your next quiz! Compete with other teams in real time to see who answers the most questions correctly! Test your spelling acumen. Read the definition, listen to the word and try spelling it!

Teaching tools

Create and assign quizzes to your students to test their vocabulary. Assign learning activities including Practice, Vocabulary Jams and Spelling Bees to your students, and monitor their progress in real-time.

Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. agriculture
    the practice of cultivating the land or raising stock
  2. air pollution
    pollution of the atmosphere
  3. Arctic Ocean
    ice covered waters surrounding the North Pole
  4. Armenia
    a landlocked republic in southwestern Asia
  5. atheism
    the doctrine or belief that there is no God
  6. Azerbaijan
    a landlocked republic in southwestern Asia
  7. Baltic Sea
    a sea in northern Europe; stronghold of the Russian navy
  8. basin
    a natural depression in the surface of the land
  9. Bering Strait
    a strait connecting the Bering Sea to the Arctic Ocean
  10. biome
    major ecological community with distinct climate and flora
  11. Black Sea
    a sea between Europe and Asia
  12. blini
    Russian pancake of buckwheat flour and yeast
  13. borscht
    a soup containing beet juice as a foundation
  14. canal
    long and narrow strip of water for boats or for irrigation
  15. capitalism
    an economic system based on private ownership of assets
  16. Caspian Sea
    a large saltwater lake between Iran and Russia fed by the Volga River; the largest inland body of water in the world
  17. Caucasus
    a large region between the Black and Caspian seas that contains the Caucasus Mountains; oil is its major resource
  18. Caucasus Mountains
    the mountain range in Caucasia between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea that forms part of the traditional border between Europe and Asia
  19. caviar
    salted fish eggs eaten as a delicacy
  20. Chechnya
    an autonomous republic in southwestern Russia in the northern Caucasus Mountains bordering on Georgia; declared independence from the USSR in 1991 but Russian troops invaded and continue to prosecute a relentless military campaign in the largely Muslim republic
  21. Cold War
    a state of political hostility that existed from 1945 until 1990 between countries led by the Soviet Union and countries led by the United States
  22. cold war
    a state of political hostility between countries
  23. collectivize
    bring under joint control of the people or state
  24. communism
    a theory favoring collectivism in a classless society
  25. Cyrillic
    an alphabet derived from the Greek alphabet and used for writing Slavic languages (Russian, Bulgarian, Serbian, Ukrainian, and some other Slavic languages)
  26. czar
    a male monarch or emperor
  27. czarina
    the wife or widow of a czar
  28. dacha
    Russian country house
  29. democracy
    a political system in which power lies in a body of citizens
  30. dictator
    a ruler who is unconstrained by law
  31. district
    a region marked off for administrative or other purposes
  32. economy
    the system of production and distribution and consumption
  33. empire
    the domain ruled by a single authoritative sovereign
  34. Eurasia
    the land mass formed by the continents of Europe and Asia
  35. evergreen
    a plant having foliage that persists and remains green throughout the year
  36. export
    sell or transfer abroad
  37. factory
    a plant with facilities for manufacturing
  38. famine
    a severe shortage of food resulting in starvation and death
  39. federation
    political unity out of a number of separate states
  40. freshwater
    water that is not salty
  41. Georgia
    a republic in Asia Minor on the Black Sea separated from Russia by the Caucasus mountains; formerly an Asian soviet but became independent in 1991
  42. governor
    the head of a state authority
  43. hydroelectric
    of or relating to or used in the production of electricity by waterpower
  44. immigration
    movement of people into a country or area
  45. imperial
    relating to or associated with an empire
  46. import
    bring in from abroad
  47. independence
    freedom from control or influence of another or others
  48. indigenous
    originating where it is found
  49. industrialization
    the development of commercial enterprise
  50. industry
    the action of making of goods and services for sale
  51. iron curtain
    the barrier between communist and democratic countries
  52. iron ore
    an ore from which iron can be extracted
  53. Joseph Stalin
    Russian leader who succeeded Lenin as head of the Communist Party and created a totalitarian state by purging all opposition (1879-1953)
  54. Karl Marx
    founder of modern communism
  55. Kremlin
    citadel of Moscow, housing the offices of the Russian government
  56. Lake Baikal
    the largest freshwater lake in Asia or Europe and the deepest lake in the world
  57. Lenin
    Russian founder of the Bolsheviks and leader of the Russian Revolution and first head of the USSR (1870-1924)
  58. life expectancy
    an expected time to live as calculated on the basis of statistical probabilities
  59. manufacturing
    the act of making something (a product) from raw materials
  60. mining
    the act of extracting ores or coal from the earth
  61. monarchy
    autocracy governed by a ruler who usually inherits authority
  62. Moscow
    a city of central European Russia
  63. mountainous
    containing many mountains
  64. natural gas
    a fossil fuel in the gaseous state
  65. natural resource
    material in the environment that can be used by people
  66. oil shale
    shale from which oil can be obtained by heating
  67. Pacific Ocean
    the largest ocean in the world
  68. peasant
    one of a class of agricultural laborers
  69. permafrost
    ground that is permanently frozen
  70. petroleum
    a dark oil consisting mainly of hydrocarbons
  71. plain
    an extensive tract of level, open land
  72. plateau
    a relatively flat raised area of land
  73. pollution
    contamination of the natural environment
  74. port
    where people and merchandise can enter or leave a country
  75. privatize
    move away from governmental or public ownership or control
  76. province
    the territory in an administrative district of a nation
  77. raw material
    material suitable for manufacture or use or finishing
  78. republic
    a political system in which power lies in a body of citizens
  79. revolution
    the overthrow of a government by those who are governed
  80. ruble
    the basic unit of money in Russia
  81. Russian Revolution
    the revolution against the czarist government which led to the abdication of Nicholas II and the creation of a provisional government in March 1917
  82. satellite
    man-made equipment that orbits around the earth or the moon
  83. secede
    withdraw from an organization or polity
  84. serf
    (Middle Ages) a person who is bound to the land and owned by the feudal lord
  85. Siberia
    a vast Asian region of Russia; famous for long cold winters
  86. socialism
    a political theory advocating state ownership of industry
  87. sovereignty
    the authority of a state to govern another state
  88. St. Petersburg
    a city in the European part of Russia
  89. steppe
    an extensive plain without trees
  90. sturgeon
    large primitive fishes valued for their flesh and roe
  91. superpower
    a country that can influence events throughout the world
  92. territory
    a region marked off for administrative or other purposes
  93. timber
    the wood of trees prepared for use as building material
  94. time zone
    a geographical region that uses the same standard time
  95. tsar
    a male monarch or emperor, especially in Russia
  96. tsarina
    the wife or widow of a czar
  97. tundra
    a vast treeless plain where subsoil is permanently frozen
  98. Ural Mountains
    a mountain range in western Russia extending from the Arctic to the Caspian Sea; forms part of the traditional boundary between Europe and Asia
  99. USSR
    a former communist country in eastern Europe and northern Asia; established in 1922; included Russia and 14 other soviet socialist republics (Ukraine and Byelorussia and others); officially dissolved 31 December 1991
  100. volcano
    a fissure in the earth's crust through which gases erupt
  101. Volga River
    a Russian river
  102. water pollution
    pollution of the water in rivers and lakes
Created on Tue Jan 17 14:41:27 EST 2017 (updated Fri Mar 31 14:14:29 EDT 2017)

Sign up now (it’s free!)

Whether you’re a teacher or a learner, Vocabulary.com can put you or your class on the path to systematic vocabulary improvement.