Changes

==Geography==

==Geography==

[[File:Siberian cat.jpg|thumbnail|300px|The [[Siberia]]n [[cat]] is the national cat of [[Russia]].]]

[[File:Siberian cat.jpg|thumbnail|300px|The [[Siberia]]n [[cat]] is the national cat of [[Russia]].

<small>(photo obtained from [http://www.flickr.com/photos/naturales71/4384748931/ Wikimedia commons], see: [ license agreement])</small>]]

Located in the middle and northern latitudes of the Northern Hemisphere, the Soviet Union's 22.4 million square kilometers included one-sixth of the earth's usable land area. Its western portion, more than half of all Europe, made up 25% of its area; this, however, was where 72% of the people lived and where most industrial and agricultural activities were concentrated. The largest region was the lightly populated [[Siberia]], a land between the Urals and the Pacific that for centuries was infamous as a place of exile, a land of endless expanses of snow and frigid temperatures.  

Located in the middle and northern latitudes of the Northern Hemisphere, the Soviet Union's 22.4 million square kilometers included one-sixth of the earth's usable land area. Its western portion, more than half of all Europe, made up 25% of its area; this, however, was where 72% of the people lived and where most industrial and agricultural activities were concentrated. The largest region was the lightly populated [[Siberia]], a land between the Urals and the Pacific that for centuries was infamous as a place of exile, a land of endless expanses of snow and frigid temperatures.