What refers to the economic and geographical position of the country. Economic and geographical position of Russia

N.N.Baransky

Definition.

The term "position" is widely used. Most often, position is understood as: so many degrees of east or west longitude and so many degrees of north or south latitude. The most popular understanding of this term occurs when the concept of “position” includes the relationship of a given point or section of territory to some neighboring ridges, mountains, sea, etc.

In economic geography, the position of a territory has to be determined not only in relation to physical-geographical data, but also in relation to the conditions created by human hands in the process of history. For economic geography, the position of a given country (and indeed the area under study) to routes, markets, and large centers (industrial, commercial, administrative, cultural) is extremely important.

Thus, position is the relationship of a given point or area to some geographical locations taken outside this point or area. Economic geography understands by position the relationship of a place, region or city to external data that has one or another economic significance - no matter whether these data are of a natural order or created in the process of history.

The importance of the position.

How can we be sure that the country's situation really has great economic significance? The best way to verify this is from examples, namely, if we take for comparison countries that are close to each other in their natural conditions, but differ in their situation.

Let's take Sweden and the Urals. On the one hand, you have a ridge lying along the sea coast, near the sea, facing the countries of Europe, which have long been developed, and on the other, a ridge lying on the border of Europe and Asia and very far hidden from the sea. Sweden, having connections by sea with already developed countries, could have developed much earlier than the Urals; The Urals had to wait for railroads and much more before it could really begin to develop.

Let's compare Siberia and Canada. You can see that the distances of most of Siberia and Canada from the seashore are very different. No matter how big Canada is, it is much smaller compared to Siberia. Canada has ice-free ports on both sides - Vancouver on the Pacific Ocean and Halifax on the Atlantic Ocean; in addition, in the summer, sea communication is also possible along Hudson Bay (ports of Churchill and Nelson). Considering all this, it should not be surprising that Canada was noticeably ahead of Siberia in development for some period of time.

Finally, let's take Switzerland and the Caucasus. These are mountainous countries with sharply rugged terrain, with pronounced vertical zonality, with extremely great originality and diversity of nature. Switzerland lies in the center of Western Europe and is surrounded on all sides by countries that had the opportunity to develop quickly and easily; The Caucasus lies on the isthmus that connects Europe and Asia and is a zone where clashes of different cultures took place. Due to the difference in situation, the conditions for the development of the Caucasus turned out to be completely different than the conditions for the development of Switzerland.

As can be seen from the examples, the position of the country in relation to world routes, largest markets, industrial centers, etc. is especially important for economic geography.

"Neighborhood" position.

Particular attention is paid to the so-called “neighborhood” situation, in other words, the nature of the immediate environment. Particularly interesting combinations are obtained in the conditions of a capitalist society in the vicinity of contrasting, opposite areas.

Let's look at the situation in our West. Under the conditions of Tsarist Russia, this territory was extremely poorly industrialized and at the same time characterized by intensive agriculture. Both of these features of the West were largely explained by the very position of this territory. The West ended up in such a situation that industries oriented towards external raw materials and the external market “slided” towards St. Petersburg, Riga, Warsaw, and industries oriented towards external raw materials and the domestic market towards Moscow. Within the West, as a result of competition between neighbors, a place was left empty of industry. Thus, the indicated features of the situation, together with a number of other factors in capitalist conditions, significantly contributed to the formation of the economy of the western provinces in the direction indicated above.

Position in relation to the centers of war.

In general, it is impossible to limit oneself in economic geography to just one bare economy, isolating oneself and fencing oneself off from everything else. Let's take, for example, the country's attitude towards hotbeds of war. As is known, Western Europe historically became and until recently remained a hotbed of war; Because of this, it is impossible not to take into account the situation in relation to such a hotbed of war.

The USA, with its rapid economic growth in the second half of the 19th century. also owe to a large extent to their position away from the centers of war. This provision allowed the United States to invest the 1-1.5 billion gold rubles that the major imperialist powers of Europe annually spent on armaments for a number of decades, right up to the First World War, in the construction of cities, mines, factories, railways, etc. In addition Moreover, from time to time the European powers had to suffer heavy losses from military actions. It is clear that it is impossible not to take into account the country’s position in relation to the hotbeds of war.

Position in relation to cultural centers

It is absolutely necessary to take into account the position of the country in relation to the centers of primitive human culture. In the Old World, ancient centers of culture arose in ancient Egypt, between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, in India and China. Then two civilizations: Egyptian and Mesopotamian - entered the Mediterranean Sea, successively creating the Phoenician, Greek and Roman cultures. Further, Greco-Roman culture spread to the entire west of Europe... And one must take into account the country’s position in relation to this route of culture, which history has drawn on the map.

To summarize, we can say that we must take into account the economic and geographical location quite broadly, meaning not just the economy, but also politics, strategy and culture.

Position of cities.

The object of study of economic geography is not only entire countries, but also individual cities. And in relation to cities, the position plays no less important role than in relation to countries and regions, and perhaps even more important. When an economic geographer approaches the study of a city, the first question that arises in his mind is the question of why the city was formed and developed here and not elsewhere. Let's take a bunch of examples again.

Saint Petersburg. On the one hand, here the Atlantic Ocean extends most deeply into the territory of the Russian Plain; on the other hand, there are inland waterways here, which are easily improved by connecting the rivers of the lake basin with the Volga through canals, and then... The importance for our country of access to the Baltic Sea was fully realized even under Ivan the Terrible. All these benefits of the situation were revealed very quickly from the moment when the mouth of the Neva with the entire Baltic coast became part of the Russian state; The capital was moved here at the mouth of the Neva, and this capital began to develop rapidly.

Let's take Volgograd. this city is located exactly where the Volga and Don come closest to each other. The situation determined not only the creation of a city on this site in ancient times (Archaeological excavations have shown that a large city existed near Volgograd in ancient times, before the Russians came here), but also its further development and its modern industrial structure.

Such a historically important center as Constantinople, present-day Istanbul, owes its growth to the intersection of trade routes - sea routes from the Black Sea to the Mediterranean Sea and land routes from Western Asia to Europe. The historical fate of Constantinople as the capital of the Eastern Roman Empire and then the Turkish Empire is entirely connected with its position and the significance of the routes at the crossroads of which it is located.

Micro and macro position.

When analyzing the position of cities, it is useful to especially highlight the position in relation to the immediate surroundings, the position that can be studied on a large-scale topographic map, so to speak, the micro-position and the position in relation to more distant data, which must be studied on a small-scale map - an entire country or continent , or even global, is, so to speak, a macro-position. One can also distinguish between them a third one - mesoposition.

When applied to Moscow in its micro-position, the most important: the position of its core - on the Kremlin bank of the Moskva River between the mouths of the Neglinka and Yauza and its position at the place of the closest convergence of the Moscow and Klyazma rivers; the meso position should include the position of Moscow in the center of the interfluve of the Oka and Volga and, finally, the macro position - its central position on the East European Plain.

Benefits of a central position.

The central position within a certain state territory is of great importance not only for Moscow, but also for a number of other capitals. Examples include Madrid, Paris, Berlin, Prague. The center here, of course, must be understood not in the strictly mathematical, geometric sense of the word. The central location is convenient due to its comparative proximity to different parts of the state territory; roads inevitably intersect in the center, connecting peripheral points of the territory.

From the moment a given city becomes the capital, everything that benefits its state benefits its benefit, including benefits in the position of not only the city itself, but the entire state.

Meaning of minerals.

When economically assessing mineral deposits, it is necessary to take into account not only their reserves and quality, but also the position of the deposits in relation to each other (especially iron and coking coal), as well as their position in relation to industrial centers and historically established centers of population.

Change in EGP over time.

Using the example of London, one can see that in the historical process the significance of individual moments influencing the economic and geographical position changes quite significantly. This circumstance is very important. The economic-geographical position, like other aspects of the economic-geographical order, should be considered with a historical approach. Particularly obvious are the changes brought about by improved transport and the construction of new roads.

And although the position of the country in the sense of mathematical and physical geography remains the same, in the process of historical development its economic and geographical position changes radically. From a position “at the edge of the world” a position “between two oceans” was created - this is how the position of the United States changed dramatically.

The harm caused by the inconvenience of a geographical position can be mitigated not by some small means, but by a socialist revolution, then it is clear that Marx attached quite a lot of importance to the situation.

EGP and FGP

In many cases, the economic-geographical position is based on very specific physical-geographical factors. On the other hand, it is absolutely clear, firstly, that this physical-geographical situation, which forms the basis for the economic-geographical position, creates only opportunities, and the question of using these opportunities remains open and, secondly, that in different historical eras one and the same physical-geographical position can be used in very different ways and can have completely different meanings.

EGP meaning.

From all of the above, it is clear that the economic-geographical location has the greatest methodological significance. The place occupied by any area - be it a country, a region or a city - in the system of geographical division of labor is largely determined by the economic-geographical location. Since the economic-geographical location largely determines the connections of a given area in the system of geographical division of labor, it cannot but influence the economic zoning of the territory.

It doesn’t matter whether these objects are of a natural order or created in the process of history (according to N.N. Baransky). In other words, EGP is a position in the economic space, which is determined in relation to natural elements of the environment, man-made elements of the artificial environment, and the location of the population itself.

EGP analysis is carried out according to its following components

• transport-geographical
• industrial-geographical
• agrogeographical
• market
• demographic
• recreational-geographical

The following types of EGP are distinguished:

• central;
• peripheral;
• borderline;
• transit;
• seaside;
• deep.

Country (region) EGP characteristics plan

In a school geography course, the description of EGP usually follows the following type of plan:

1. Position in relation to neighboring countries.
2. Position in relation to main land and sea transport routes.
3. Position in relation to the main fuel and raw material bases, industrial and agricultural areas.
4. Position in relation to the main distribution areas of the products.
5. Change in EGP over time.
6. General conclusion about the influence of EGP on the development and location of the country's economy.

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There are many countries in the world that are poor and significantly lag behind other countries. As I noticed, this is due not only to the incompetence of the main ones, but also to the location of the territory. For example, you can take countries on islands that do not border anyone by land - most of them lag behind in development. I want to find out why location has such an impact.

What is an economic-geographical location (EGP)

This type is understood as the relation in space of countries, enterprises, regions and settlements to external objects that somehow influence their significance in economic terms. That is, this situation in the economy is determined not only in relation to the natural environment, but also the artificial (man-made) one, as well as how the population is distributed. In order to characterize the EGP of any region, its following components are considered:

• demographic;
• transport-geographical;
• market;
• recreational-geographical;
• agrogeographical;
• industrial-geographical.

Depending on the scale of the EGP assessment, several types are distinguished: border, deep, central, transit, coastal and others. By the way, the era of the discovery of America and the development of automobiles and railway transport had the greatest influence on the economic situation in the entire history of mankind.

How to compile the characteristics of the EGP

There is a plan that is followed to accurately assess the entire economic situation. The first is determined by the location relative to the nearest objects (be it a village, country or city). Further, proximity to transport routes by sea and land is a necessary factor. The situation regarding bases with raw materials and fuel is also important. If there is some kind of production on the territory of the state, then it is necessary to identify places for selling the products.

For the next component of the plan, it is necessary to determine the trend of changes in the values ​​of the economic and geographical location over time. At the end, a general conclusion is made, which mentions the influence of EGP on all economic activities of the region under consideration.

The main categories of economic geography include the concept of “economic-geographical location”. Since the object of study of this academic discipline is the territory of our country, we will characterize the economic and geographical position of modern Russia.

Under economic-geographical position(EGP) of Russia is understood as the relationship of its territory to external (usually adjacent or border) natural and man-made objects that have economic significance for it. External natural objects that influence the economic development of Russia include high mountains that impede free transport and economic communication with foreign countries; cold or warm seas and sea currents that wash the Russian coast, preventing or facilitating the development of domestic and global maritime transport; navigable and non-navigable rivers; rivers as sources of hydropower; mineral deposits (fuels and raw materials).

Anthropogenic objects that influence the economic development of Russia include economically and politically developed (or undeveloped) countries, the proximity of which has a positive (or negative) effect on the level of trade and economic relations; industrial and agricultural areas and bases, global transport communications, markets for skilled labor, markets for raw materials and sales of finished products.

In addition to the relationship of the territory of Russia to external natural and anthropogenic objects that are economically significant for its development, the concept of EGP may also include a provision on the economic significance of the location of Russia for the development of neighboring states and regions of the world.

The Russian Federation (Russia) is a federal state located in the eastern part of Europe (about 1/3 of the country's territory) and the northern part of Asia (about 2/3 of the country's territory) and currently consists of 88 subjects of the highest rank. The country's territory is located in the temperate and high latitudes of the Northern Hemisphere. Russia is the largest state in the world by territory (its area is 17 million 75 thousand km 2). Let us give the following data for comparison: the surface area of ​​the Earth is 510.2 million km2, 2 including the land area - 149.1 million km2. 2 The area of ​​the abolished USSR was 22.4 million km. 2 The areas of the largest countries in the world are as follows: Canada - 9.97 million, China (PRC) - 9.6 million, USA - 9.364 million, Brazil - 8.5 million, Commonwealth of Australia - 7.7 million, Argentina - 2.8 million km. 2

In the meridional direction, the territory of Russia in its different parts extends for 2.5-4.0 thousand km (from archipelagos in the cold seas of the Arctic Ocean to the coasts of the relatively warm Azov, Black, Caspian and Japanese Seas), and in the latitudinal direction - approximately for 9 thousand km (from the enclave Kaliningrad region to Chukotka).

The extreme points of the territory of Russia: in the north - Cape Fligeli on Rudolf Island in the Franz Josef Land archipelago (the northernmost continental point is Cape Chelyuskin on the Taimyr Peninsula); in the south – the northern slope of the high-mountain massif Bazardyuzyu on the Main Caucasus Range, on the border with Azerbaijan; in the west – the Baltic Spit at the junction of the Kaliningrad and Gdansk bays, on the border with Poland; in the east - the small island of Ratmanov (with an area of ​​only about 10 km2) in the Diomeda archipelago (Gvozdev Islands) in the Bering Strait (the easternmost mainland point is Cape Dezhnev on the Chukotka Peninsula).

The enormity of Russia’s territory is well illustrated by the following data: 1) our country has a common land border with 14 countries of the world and with another 2 countries it has only a maritime state border (Russia’s closest “pursuers” - China and Brazil - border on land with 13 and 10 countries, respectively ); 2) 11 of the Earth’s 24 time zones are located within our country; 3) the coast of our state is washed by the waters of 12 seas, 3 oceans (Arctic, Pacific and Atlantic) and another closed sea-lake (Caspian); 4) the total length of the Russian coastline, including the length of the coastline of the sea islands, is 108 thousand km.

The total length of the state borders of Russia (excluding the length of the coastline of the sea islands belonging to our country) is 58.6 thousand km, including land – 14.3 thousand km, sea – 44.3 thousand km. The length of Russia's maritime state border is 75.6% of its total length.

The Russian state border in the west is mainly land. It extends from north to south. From the coast of Varanger Fjord in the Barents Sea to the Kerch Strait, which connects the Azov and Black Seas, Russia shares land borders with Norway, Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Belarus and Ukraine. On this long stretch of the western border, Russia has narrow access to the Finnish, Kaliningrad and Curonian Lagoons of the Baltic Sea.

South of the Kerch Strait, Russia's western border stretches along the Black Sea coast to the mouth of the Psou River, which borders Georgia (Abkhazia). With its first-order neighbors to the west (excluding Latvia and Belarus), Russia also shares a common maritime border (running along the Barents, Baltic, Azov and Black Seas).

Due to the terrain conditions, the western border of Russia is convenient for transport communications, as it stretches along the Russian Plain. The seas washing Russia from the west freeze briefly or do not freeze at all.

The Russian state border in the south is predominantly land. In general, it extends in a west-east direction. In the space from the mouth of the Psou River to the mouth of the Tumenjiang River, which flows into the Sea of ​​Japan, Russia has a common border by sea and land with Georgia, Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan, then only a land border with the PRC and Mongolia, and a land and sea border with North Korea ( DPRK).

The southern border of Russia has several specific features. Firstly, here is the world’s longest interstate border between Russia and Kazakhstan (sea and land sections almost 7,600 km long) and the shortest interstate border between Russia (with the DPRK, with a total length of about 40 km, including a land section of up to 20 km ). Secondly, the interstate border of Russia with the PRC consists of two isolated sections - western (in the hard-to-reach Altai mountains, up to 50 km long) and eastern (mainly along the navigable rivers Argun, Amur and Ussuri, about 4260 km long). Thirdly, through the drainless Caspian Sea, Russia has access not only to Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan, but also to Turkmenistan and Iran, which do not border our country by land.

For a long distance, the southern border of Russia is difficult for transport communications due to terrain conditions. On the Caucasian Isthmus, due to the complex high-mountainous terrain, only two meridional year-round railway and road passages are used (along the shores of the Black and Caspian Seas) and three seasonal road passages (Georgian Military, Ossetian Military and Sukhumi Military roads).

The border highlands of the Altai Mountains, Western and Eastern Sayans, as well as the Transbaikalia ranges are difficult for transport development.

The eastern state border of Russia is maritime. Along the Pacific Ocean, the border extends from south to north. It crosses the Sea of ​​Japan, the La Perouse Strait (between the Russian island of Sakhalin and the Japanese island of Hokkaido), the southern part of the Sea of ​​Okhotsk and the Kuril Straits. In this section of the water area, Russia has a common maritime border with the DPRK and Japan. Then the maritime border of Russia goes around the Kuril Islands, Kamchatka and Chukotka peninsulas with the adjacent islands (Komandorsky, Karaginsky) on the western side and reaches the Diomede archipelago in the Bering Strait along the Bering Sea. In this archipelago, the Russian Ratmanov Island is separated from Kruzenshtern Island and Fairway Rock (USA) by a strait several nautical miles wide.

The northern state border of Russia is also maritime. It outlines the Russian sector of the Arctic (the area of ​​this sector is about 9 million km2, including 6.8 million km2 of water).

The basis of the Russian sector of the Arctic is the coast of the Arctic Ocean, the lateral edges are the meridians extending to the North Pole from the Varanger Fjord and the Rybachy Peninsula (approximately 32° E, the border of Russia and Norway) and the Diomede archipelago (169° W ., the border between Russia and the USA), and the top is the North Pole.

The Russian sector of the Arctic includes the waters of the White, Barents (partial), Kara, Laptev, East Siberian and Chukchi (partial) seas. In addition, the Russian Arctic sector includes archipelagos and islands: Franz Josef Land, Novaya Zemlya, Severnaya Zemlya, New Siberian Islands, Wrangel, Kolguev, Vaigach and many others.

The northern and eastern borders of Russia along almost the entire length are very difficult for the development of maritime navigation due to the exceptional severity of the seas of the Arctic and Pacific Oceans (long-term freeze-up, large ice thickness, stormy winds, and in the Pacific seas - typhoons, cyclones and tsunamis).

After the collapse of the USSR, a difficult problem for Russia became the lack of infrastructure for the new state border adjacent to the former Soviet republics, and now independent countries. The insecurity and transparency of many sections of the new state border of Russia leads to serious negative consequences: 1) the economic security of the country is weakened (illegal, and therefore duty-free, import of goods from abroad, sold within our country at reduced prices, undermines domestic producers; illegal and uncontrolled labor migration); 2) the already difficult crime situation in our country is worsening due to the illegal migration of criminal elements, smuggling of weapons, currency, jewelry and drugs; 3) the socio-political situation in some regions of our country is becoming more complicated due to the invasion of armed gangs into their borders (repeated incursions of large gangs of Chechen militants from Transcaucasia into the territory of the Southern Federal District); 4) the countries of the European Union (EU) refuse to facilitate conditions for access to their territory for Russian citizens until the Russian state border is developed according to international standards along its entire length.

Currently, measures are being taken to strengthen the most vulnerable sections of the Russian state border. In the highlands of the Greater Caucasus, border outposts and border checkpoints on the border with Georgia and Azerbaijan are being created and equipped. Long-standing border disputes with the PRC have been resolved, and almost the entire Russian-Chinese border is now demarcated (that is, border markers have been installed on this border). The state border of Russia with Kazakhstan is completely delimited (that is, precisely defined on the ground). Modern technical arrangement and international legal registration of weakly protected sections of the new state border of Russia is an extremely expensive and complex matter, requiring a lot of time and expense.

There are still unresolved issues about the alignment of Russia’s state border with the new Baltic states (especially Estonia and Latvia), as well as about the alignment of the maritime border between Russia and Ukraine on the Sea of ​​Azov and in the Kerch Strait. Russia and other Caspian countries have not yet determined their borders in the Caspian Sea, which is rich in hydrocarbon deposits.

EGP of Russia and its regions, as well as any territory in general, is a historically changing category. The EGP of a territory may change over time due to the influence of certain natural and anthropogenic factors.

A good example of the influence of natural and anthropogenic factors on EGP is the Murmansk region of Russia. It is known that thanks to the branch of the warm Gulf Stream, the Kola Bay of the Murmansk region, located beyond the Arctic Circle, practically does not freeze in winter. However, until the construction of a seaport in the Kola Bay in 1916 and the construction of a railway in Romanov-on-Murman, this favorable natural condition was not used in any way. Therefore, the territory of the present Murmansk region at that time had an unprofitable EGP. Currently, large sea and fishing ports have been built on the coast of the Kola Bay, operating year-round. Consequently, the external natural factor (warm sea currents in cold Arctic latitudes) now determines the favorable EGP of the Murmansk region as one of Russia’s four maritime transport “windows” to the west. At the same time, in recent years, ocean scientists have discovered a cooling trend in the warm Gulf Stream. If the cooling of the Gulf Stream does not stop, then in the foreseeable future not only the Kola Bay, but also the north-eastern coast of Norway will begin to freeze. In this case, the EGP of the Murmansk region and the entire Northern economic region will noticeably worsen.

An example of the beneficial influence of an anthropogenic factor on the EGP of a territory is the Russian-Norwegian state border, which crosses moss-lichen and shrub tundra and forest-tundra for approximately 200 km. Just 5-7 years ago, this border did not have any tangible practical significance for the development of the Murmansk region and the Northern economic region as a whole. But after the opening of a modern international road transport crossing on the Russian-Norway border, trade and economic ties expanded, and the EGP of the Murmansk region and the Northern economic region improved.

To this we add that the implementation of existing projects for the pipeline transportation of hydrocarbon raw materials from Western Siberia to the Kola Bay and the creation of large oil export complexes on its shores will make the EGP of the Murmansk region truly unique.

An important feature of EGP is the potential nature of this category. Indeed, the benefits of the EGP of a particular territory may be “mothballed” and not always realized. We already know that 100 years ago the EGL of the current Murmansk coast was assessed as very low, but now it is quite high. The same applies to the assessment of the EGP of the Northern Sea Route (NSR), the shortest sea route from the western to the eastern borders of Russia. When there was no seaport of Murmansk - the current starting point of the NSR - and the level of development of science and technology in the world was low, the economic significance of this waterway was negligible. Although it was known that the distance from St. Petersburg to Vladivostok along the NSR is 14,280 km, and through the Suez Canal - 23,200 km.

Scientific and technological progress and the creation of a nuclear icebreaker fleet have changed the EGP of the NSR - modern cargo ships cover the distance from St. Petersburg to Vladivostok in less than a month, and the period of active navigation has increased to 4 months. After modernization and re-equipment of the main points of the NSR, this route can have great international significance. After all, the delivery of goods along the NSR from the countries of East Asia to Western Europe and in the opposite direction is much shorter in distance and time than all currently operating global water communications.

Another important feature of EGP is the remoteness of this category, that is, the need to determine distances between regions. Unhindered communication between regions over the shortest distances is the most important condition when assessing the favorableness of a territory’s EGP. In this case, the capacity of the transport network, the degree of its congestion, as well as the speed and cost of transportation must be taken into account.

The EGP of a territory is a complex conceptual system in geography, represented by several interrelated components. In relation to the main elements of social production, the following components of the EGP are distinguished: 1) transport-geographical location (TGP); 2) industrial-geographical location (IGP); 3) agrarian-geographical location (AGP); 4) market position (RP); 5) demographic location (DGP); 6) recreational-geographical location (RGP).

It is difficult to assess the EGP of such a huge country as Russia due to the extreme heterogeneity and specificity of the geographical location of its regions. Therefore, the assessment of EGP and its components is carried out at the macro level (assessment in relation to the entire territory of the country) and mesolevel (assessment in relation to individual large regions of the country).

The most important components of the territory's EGP include TGP. The TGP of a territory is understood as its location in relation to external transport communications (land, water and air), and the possibility of using this territory for global transit cargo and passenger transportation, laying pipelines, shipping canals, high-voltage power lines and telecommunication lines.

In the modern world, a convenient TGP largely determines the nature of the socio-economic development of states. For example, the former Soviet republic of Latvia, and now a sovereign state, has ensured its comfortable existence throughout the 15-year period of independence through the use of a convenient TGP and transport communications created in Soviet times. The state budget of Latvia is largely formed from revenues from export-import cargo transportation (mainly Russian oil supplied through a pipeline to the Ventspils seaport). However, Latvia's convenient TGP relative to Russian oil flows is currently changing for the worse. Large foreign exchange costs for oil transit through Latvia forced Russia to build a large oil export complex in Primorsk (Leningrad region). Thus, Russia significantly weakened its transport dependence on Latvia, and the Latvian budget lost part of its transit profits.

In the modern world, the beneficial TGP of states (for example, their location at the intersection of international maritime communications), highly involved in global economic relations, determines the emergence and development of industries that are not typical for these states based on the structure of natural resource potential. For example, Singapore is a major center of the world oil refining industry, although this mini-state has no oil of its own. The main reason for the emergence of powerful oil refining in Singapore is its proximity to oil-rich Brunei and Singapore’s convenient TGP on the sea routes along which huge flows of oil are transported from the Persian Gulf countries to Japan. A similar example in the West Indies is the creation of large oil refineries in the Netherlands Antilles in the Caribbean Sea, which lie on the routes for sea transportation of oil from Venezuela to the United States.

A Russian example of using the advantageous TGP of a territory is the creation of a large metallurgical production facility in Cherepovets (Vologda region). As is known, neither in the Vologda region nor in its immediate surroundings there are industrial reserves of fuel and raw materials necessary for the development of ferrous metallurgy. However, firstly, Cherepovets turned out to be conveniently located on counter flows of primary raw materials and fuel. In Soviet times, primary raw materials were supplied to Cherepovets both from the south (iron and manganese ores of Ukraine) and from the north (iron ores of Karelia and the Murmansk region). Fuel (coking coal) was supplied in the same way - from the Donbass in the south and the Pechora basin in the north. Secondly, Cherepovets was conveniently located in relation to large engineering centers (Moscow and what was then Leningrad, now St. Petersburg) as suppliers of secondary raw materials (scrap metal) and consumers of metallurgical products. Thus, the profitable TGP of Cherepovets according to the parameters discussed above, along with the presence of a sufficient amount of labor resources and reserves of local natural resources (limestone, water), became the reason for the emergence of industrial giants - a metallurgical plant and a steel rolling plant (now JSC Severstal).

When assessing the modern TGP of Russia at the macro level, it should be noted that the territory of our country, especially after the collapse of the USSR, turned out to be “moved away” from the world’s most important transport communications even further to the north and east. This is due to the loss of convenient access to ice-free and short-term frozen seas, the territorial distance of Russia from the highly developed countries of Western Europe, as well as the complication of political, legal, technical and economic problems in the activities of land transport in servicing connections with these countries.

Despite the fact that Russia has wide access to the World Ocean and a gigantic length of coastline, the economic significance of the country's coastal position is not so significant. The fact is that almost all the seas washing the Russian coast belong to the category of long-term frozen ones. Thus, the seas of the Arctic Ocean are frozen for most of the year (only the southwestern part of the Barents Sea, which is under the influence of a warm current, does not freeze). The average thickness of sea ice in these seas is 2 m. The Okhotsk and Bering Seas of the Pacific Ocean freeze for 8 months (except for the southern part of the Bering Sea, which is ice-free all year round). The bays of the Russian coast of the Sea of ​​Japan freeze for 3-4 months. However, despite this, the Peter the Great Bay (with several internal bays and bays) is used for year-round entry of ships, and the seaports of Vladivostok, Nakhodka and Vostochny located on its shores operate continuously. It is clear that the harsh nature of Russia's northern and eastern seas seriously impedes the development of shipping.

The Baltic Sea washes the Russian coast in the east and southeast. The easternmost part of the Baltic Sea is represented by the Gulf of Finland, which juts deep into the land, covered with ice for 4 months (maximum 6 months). The freezing of the Gulf of Finland is associated with its distance from the open part of the Atlantic Ocean and its warm Gulf Stream current.

The southeastern part of the Baltic Sea, facing the coast of the Kaliningrad region of Russia, is most often ice-free throughout the year. However, this natural advantage, rare for Russia, is offset by the geopolitical realities that emerged in post-Soviet times: the Kaliningrad region today has a dead-end position relative to the main territory of Russia. Foreign cargo arriving at the ports of Kaliningrad and Baltiysk cannot be freely delivered to the main territory of the country, as they are subject to customs duties in Lithuania.

An obstacle to the widespread development of maritime navigation in the Sea of ​​Azov is its shallowness (average depth 7 m). In addition, the sea freezes for 2-3 months (but the thickness of the ice is insignificant). The Russian ports of Taganrog, Azov, Yeisk and Temryuk are located on the Sea of ​​Azov.

The Black Sea off the Russian coast does not freeze. Russia has three ports here - Novorossiysk, Tuapse and Sochi (the latter is a passenger port).

The northern part of the Russian coast of the Caspian Sea is covered with a thin layer of ice for 2-3 months. The seaports of Astrakhan (in the Volga delta), Olya and Lagan are located here (the last two ports are under construction and partially operated). Located on the western shore of the Caspian Sea, the Makhachkala port does not freeze and operates all year round.

Thus, Russia has only 6 ice-free sea cargo and passenger ports (Baltiysk, Kaliningrad, Makhachkala, Murmansk, Novorossiysk, Tuapse) and another 6 sea cargo and passenger ports (Vladivostok, Vostochny, Vyborg, Nakhodka, Primorsk, St. Petersburg), which operate year-round, despite the annual freezing of their water areas. Such a small number of operating seaports on Russia’s gigantic sea coastline sharply reduces the value of its coastal TGP and does not in any way meet the needs of the development of the modern economy.

To assess Russia's TGP at the macro level relative to external transport communications (land, water and air), we point out that the main world communications pass south of the territory of our country and are directed from different parts of the planet to Western Europe, North America and the countries of the Asia-Pacific region (APR) , especially to Japan, China, South Korea, Taiwan.

A noticeable improvement in Russia's TGP at the macro level could occur with the active involvement of the country's territory in international transcontinental (from Europe to Asia and back) freight and passenger transportation using rail transport (along the Trans-Siberian and Baikal-Amur Mainlines), sea transport (along the Northern Sea Route ) and air transport (the airspace of our country has already been partially mastered by the world's leading airlines).

At the meso level, a number of large regions of Russia, subject to modernization of transport infrastructure, have a fairly favorable TGP.

The inland seas of the Atlantic Ocean (Baltic, Black and Azov) play a significant role in the development of trade and economic relations between Russia and the countries of Western Europe and North America. However, on the Baltic Sea, for Russia, the year-round former Soviet ports of Tallinn, Paldiski, Pärnu, Riga, Ventspils (one of the largest ports in the USSR in terms of cargo turnover), Liepaja, and Klaipeda have now become foreign to Russia (and therefore require foreign currency payment for the transport services provided). On the Black and Azov Seas, the seaports of Ilyichevsk, Odessa, Nikolaev, Kherson, Evpatoria, Sevastopol, Feodosia, Yalta, Kerch, Mariupol and Berdyansk became foreign, and on the Danube - the river ports of Reni, Izmail, Kiliya and Vilkovo. In addition, on the Black Sea, the former Soviet (Georgian) ports of Batumi, Sukhumi and Poti, as well as the recently built oil export port of Supsa, became foreign ports for Russia.

On the Baltic Sea, in addition to the already mentioned seaports, Russia retained the small seaports of Lomonosov, Kronstadt, Vysotsk, Primorsk, Ust-Luga (the last two ports are under construction and partial operation), located on the coast of the Gulf of Finland.

The loss of the best transport and geographical opportunities for access to the World Ocean occurred only on the western border of Russia and did not affect the basins of the Arctic and Pacific oceans and the Caspian Sea.

Unfavorable changes have occurred in the implementation of economic relations between Russia and the countries of Western Europe through the territories of the former union republics of the USSR, and now sovereign states, via railways and roads and using main pipeline transport. Russia has lost most of the specially equipped railway and road checkpoints on the former western border of the USSR, and the conditions for our country’s use of the transport infrastructure of the newly independent states have become the subject of constant trade and the cause of political and legal misunderstandings (especially in Russia’s relations with Lithuania, Ukraine, Belarus, and also with Poland). Russia has fallen into a strong “pipeline” dependence on Ukraine for the supply of oil and natural gas to Western Europe.

In the post-Soviet era, on the initiative of the United States, new pipeline systems were built in Azerbaijan and Georgia to transport oil from the fields of the Caspian Sea to the ports of the Black and Mediterranean Seas (Baku-Supsa, Baku-Ceyhan) bypassing the territory of Russia, which further alienated our country from the world transport communications.

In order to improve the TGP and weaken Russia’s “pipeline” dependence on neighboring states, the Blue Stream gas pipeline (North Caucasus - Turkey) was built along the bottom of the Black Sea (bypassing the territory of Georgia). Russia has begun construction of a large North European gas pipeline to Western Europe along the bottom of the Baltic Sea (bypassing the territory of Ukraine and other “problematic” transit countries).

Currently, Russia is constructing a large main oil pipeline from Siberia to China and is developing a project for the construction of a pipeline from Siberia to the ice-free Kola Bay in the Murmansk region. The implementation of these projects will significantly strengthen Russia's TGP and weaken its transport dependence on transit countries.

Let us briefly describe the other components of the EGP. The PRGP of Russia refers to the position of the territory of our country relative to world and regional centers of the manufacturing industry. Russia's current PrGP cannot be considered successful. Among the 14 countries - Russia's first-order neighbors - there are only two economically developed capitalist countries - Norway and Finland (the latter is a member of the EU). But in terms of the scale of industrial production, Finland and Norway are far behind European and world leaders. In addition, the border between Russia and Norway is located in the harsh climate of the Arctic, on the northern periphery of both countries.

Russia's closest neighbors are mainly countries with economies in transition (the Baltic countries, Ukraine, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan). China is one of the neighboring countries with a dynamically developing socialist-type economy. However, the PRC borders Russia with its northern, least developed and economically developed provinces. In addition, there is no close relationship between Russia and China in the manufacturing industry. The PRC exports cheap consumer goods to Russia and imports industrial raw materials. The economy of the Far East is significantly undermined by the smuggling of various types of raw materials to China (especially industrial wood, furs) and mass illegal labor migration, which is associated with a serious demographic problem (Sinicization of the Far East).

AGP of Russia - the position of the territory of our country relative to large areas of agricultural production and food bases in adjacent countries. The AGP of Russia in comparison with the PrGP looks preferable, since along the perimeter of the southern and southwestern border of Russia there are countries with less severe agro-climatic conditions, which allow the cultivation of a wider range of agricultural products needed by our country. At the same time, the profitability of modern Russian AGP is reduced due to the fact that the economies of many countries - the southern and southwestern neighbors of the first and second order - are far from in the best condition. In addition, some sectors of the agro-industrial complex of these countries are now reoriented from the Russian market to the world market. For example, after the collapse of the USSR, the former Central Asian republics began to supply raw cotton not to Russia, but to the world market (thus, the textile industry of our country lost traditional raw materials and found itself in a deep crisis). Some other types of agricultural products supplied to Russia (in particular, Georgian and Moldavian wines) turned out to be of poor quality and were banned.

RP of Russia is the position of the territory of our country relative to external markets for finished products and markets for industrial raw materials. Potential regional markets for the sale of industrial and consumer goods are located in the immediate surroundings of Russia (newly independent states in the territory of the former USSR, countries of Eastern and Southern Europe). However, the current position of Russia in relation to markets for finished products is not favorable enough due to the well-known difficulties in the development of the Russian economy. With the progressive development of the domestic economy, Russia's position in relation to markets for finished products will steadily improve.

Russia's position in relation to the world market of industrial raw materials (mineral and fuel and energy resources) is determined by the fact that Russia, as a great raw materials power, depends little on supplies from this market, and in the future it will itself have an increasing economic impact on the formation of the world raw materials market.

DGP of Russia is the position of the territory of our country relative to population clusters, labor resources and centers of technical culture located in near and far countries. In Russia's immediate surroundings there are countries with large populations and large labor markets (PRC, countries of Central Asia and Transcaucasia, Turkey, Ukraine). Labor from these countries migrates to Russia mainly with a low level of qualifications (while our country needs qualified specialists). In some regions of Russia, labor migration from Asian countries is beginning to disrupt the historically established national and religious composition of the population and worsen the crime situation. All this allows us to assert that the current DPP in Russia is not favorable.

RGP of Russia - the position of the territory of our country relative to large international recreation and tourism areas. The international recreational zones closest to Russia are located in Ukraine and in other countries of the Black Sea region (Bulgaria, Georgia) and the Mediterranean (Turkey, Greece, Cyprus, Egypt). The recreational areas of Georgia (especially Abkhazia and Adjara) are currently almost unused due to military-political instability in the region. The recreational areas of the Black Sea and Mediterranean countries are now quite accessible to Russian vacationers and tourists thanks to air transport. When assessing the RGP of Russia, the time spent on travel to the place of recreation and transportation costs of recreationists, as well as the safety of recreation in the states in which recreation areas are located (absence of terrorist danger) are important.

An important problem of modern economic geography is the development of uniform criteria for a synthetic (possibly cost or score) assessment of Russia's EGP, which consists of a general characteristic of the border and an aggregate assessment of individual EGP components. For now, it is impossible to unambiguously assess Russia’s EGP. If we proceed from the division of the concept of Russian EGP into types depending on the position of the territory of our country in relation to external natural and anthropogenic objects, then certain regions of Russia will have a more or less economically advantageous coastal position (Northwestern region, North Caucasus, Primorye), others - unfavorable or unprofitable peripheral, marginal, deep and continental location (most regions of the Urals, Siberia and the Far East).

(EGP) of a territory affects many aspects of the functioning and development of the country and can manifest itself at the macro, meso and micro levels.

The macro level reflects the country's position in relation to the surrounding world as a whole. The meso-level characteristics of a country's EGP shows the position of individual regions relative to the country as a whole. Microlocation characterizes relationships with immediate neighbors.

Macro level

Russia is the state with the largest territory ($17.08\million\km^2$) on the planet. About $60\%$ of the country's territory is northern territories, including $30\%$ of the state's European territory, $60\%$ of Asian territory and $90\%$ of Far Eastern territory. About $12 million people live here. In relation to economic activity, this is expressed in these regions in:

1. abundance of minerals,
2. significant increase in the cost of living and economic activity.

All northern regions of Russia have direct access to the sea and access to sea communications and the ocean shelf.

Russia has a land border with $14$ states (Norway, Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Belarus, Ukraine, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Mongolia, China and North Korea), with a total length of about $22$ thousand by land and water bodies . km

In total, Russia's maritime borders have a length of approximately $38\thousand\km^2$. Of the $14 border maritime states, Russia has maritime borders with only two - the United States and Japan.

A manifestation of Russia's EGP is its membership in the most influential international organizations - the UN (including the UN Security Council), OSCE, Council of Europe, CSTO, WTO, UNWTO, WFTU, SCO, APEC, BRICS, IOC, IEC, ISO, G20.

Meso level

Currently, $10 out of $11 economic regions of Russia (except for the Volga-Vyatka region) have access to the border. Significant changes that occurred after the collapse of the USSR led to the redistribution of labor and other resources. The meso-position of the regions relative to trade and economic partners, sales markets, centers of innovation, information and industry has also changed.

As a result, $2$ groups of districts are currently allocated:

1. With the position favorable entrepreneurial activity. These are areas in the area of ​​transport hubs at the national level (Moscow, Moscow region, Yekaterinburg, Perm and Sverdlovsk regions), coastal port areas (Primorsky Krai and Kaliningrad region), western regions of the country located on transit routes to Europe (Murmansk region, Karelia);
2. With the position making it difficult entrepreneurial activity. These include areas mainly in the interior of the country (Western and Eastern Siberia, Volga-Vyatka region), territories on the periphery with difficult access to national systems (Komi Republic, Magadan region, North Caucasus).

Micro level

Russia, due to the EGP, is characterized by an extended “neighborhood belt”. The priority in building relations with neighboring countries is the creation of formal integration associations. These, with varying levels of integration, degree of involvement and coverage of parties, include the Commonwealth of Independent States, the Eurasian Economic Community, the Customs Union and others.

In the Asian region, cooperation is built primarily through international and regional organizations (primarily the SCO and BRICS).

Russia currently (July $2016\$) has diplomatic relations with most neighboring countries, except Georgia, and has recognized the partially recognized border regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia.

Note 1

It should be noted that the CIS countries total about $15\%$ of Russia's exports, APEC - about $20\%$.

In general, the Russian EGP traditionally notes the following: positive aspects:

• large territory;
• diversity of resources and natural conditions
• direct access to the World Ocean;
• a large number of large navigable rivers within the territory;
• wealth of natural resources;
• a large number of neighboring states.

The negative aspects of the country's EGP arise largely for the same reasons as the positive ones, and can be considered as such if management is not competent. The most frequently noted among them are:

• huge territory;
• a large share of the northern territories;
• freezing of a significant part of the coastal seas in winter;
• extremely long extent from east to west.

The economic and geographical position of Russia is distinguished by both strengths and weaknesses, most of which are a consequence of its extremely large territory and location.