And its neighboring countries once formed most of the old soviet union, or u. S. S. R. Many of these old soviet republics differ from one another on the basis of ethnicity and religion. But within the Russian Federation itself, there are republics that could still fragment along cultural and political lines. One of these is dagestan. Dagestans historical and economic geographies help explain opposing centripetal and centrifugal forces within russia. As a largely Islamic Republic adjacent to warring chechnya dagestan now receives new scrutiny in the war on terrorism. To help explain the differences between chechnya and dagestan, we explore the relationship between diverse cultures d the physical geography of the Caucasus Mountains. Dagestan the name means land of mountains. Part of the Russian Federation dagestan lies in the Caucasus Mountains on russias southern border. Most people here live in small villages that are often very isolated. In the 19th century, when science still believed in distinct races a german coined the term caucasians because he thought these Beautiful People emplified all whites. But in recent times, the caucasus region has received International Attention for something far less romantic. machinegun fire here, in neighboring chechnya, Russian Troops and rebelguerrillas have clashed for more than a decade. Along this stretch of russias southern border are a string of small republics. Five, including dagestan are largely islamic. The conflict in chechnya is partly religious but mostly nationali reflecting chechnyas distaste for russian control. But dagestans case is quite different from that of neighbong chechnya. Despite similar histories and religion dagestan exhibits little of the volatility th characterizeshechny why is that . Geographers look at places for evidence of two opposing forces. Take the old soviet union. Military power communist ideology and economic integration were Centripetal Forces that helped hold the union together. But they were weak and when the centralized economy proved bankrupt, centrifugal or devolutionary forces proved stronger. Different languages, religions and large distances helped these areas spin away as in a centrifuge. The new Central Asian republics joined the slavic countries in the southern caucasus to form the commonwealth of independent states. But the north caucasus remained within russia itself despite a bloody resistance that goes back to the 19th century. Geographer ronald wixman. Wixman when the czarist government came into the caucasus they committed unspeakable brutalities. The russians literally had to commit genocide but they couldnt get the people to simply accept russian rule. The leader of the greatest revolt is shamil shamil the avar. He unified the entire north caucasus which included chechens, who were dagestanis at the time and other peoples, to fight the russian authorities. Narrator shamil led the caucasians in an epic defensive battle, here at ahogo. speaking native language translator ahogo is the holiest place in dagestan and for all muslims of northern causasia. This is where the most important battle of the caucasian war was fought. The russians assaulted this mountain for three months and could not take it. 3,000 russians and 1,000 people from the mountains died here. Only seven of our Mountain People survived the battle. Narrator eventually the czarists prevailed but the caucasians still dreamed of autonomy. In 1918, bolshevik revolutionaries exploited caucasian desires. It began a pattern of betrayal. Wixman lenin lied. He got all caucasians to support him in the Russian Revolution, and they did. And then, instead of being given a caucasian republic they were divided into mini territories that caused a t of problems. Rrator the boundaries were drawn byoseph stalin in a classic case of divide and conquer. The chechens were treated especially brutally. During world war ii, the entire chechen nation was deported to siberia and to the northern part of kazakhstan, where somewhere between a third and a half of the people died. Therefore, the chechen bitterness is much greater. Another thing is the chechens were not permitted to return to their homes whereas the dagestanis are living in their traditional homes. Narrator so centrifugal forces, pushing the caucasians away from moscow, were stronger among the chechens than among the dagestanis. Still, dagestani culture had to go underground. speaking native language translator our National Traditions were oppressed under socialism, but the people succeeded in keeping their habits and traditions alive. Many of these were almost forgotten. Narrator then, as the soviet system was collapsing they were betrayed again. Wixman because many chechens say that gorbachev promised that if the north caucasians helped russia in the war against georgia in abkhazia, when many chechens fought and died, that they would create a north caucasian republic in the same way that they had been promised with lenin. This never came about. Narrator tired of broken promises the chechens began a guerrilla war against the new russian state in 1994. Another centrifugal force throughout the caucasus is religion. Unlike most russians, a majority of the people here are muslims. And here, location is key. The caucusus rise on russias southern borderlands the Northern Edge the islamic world. Today, muslims here construct many new mosques. Despite the violence in chechnya, islam, like dagestan is multifaceted. When they go to a mosque we think of them as being fundamentalist moslems which is not the case. Its funny that we see russians going to churches and rebuilding churches, and this is called russian culture. But when a dagestani reincorporates part of islamic culture, now theyre called fundamentalist moslems. Narrator in dagestan, there are also Centripetal Forces that help hold it together under moscows rule. Clues emerge from dagestans physical geography and its impact on culture that help make it different than chechnya. Here are remote mountain peaks and steepwalled valleys. The brown lowlands are exceedingly dry and provide a poor basis for farming. But in dagestan, an increase in altitude brings moisture and green grass. Geographer ron wixman. This is one of the few places in the world where people lived high in the mountains because it was the only area where there was enough rainfall to support some agriculture. Narror up here, sheep and goats support the economy. But the same mountains that provide the rain also thwart travel. Villages within these High Mountain valleys have been largely isolated from one another for centuries. speaking russian translator in dagestan, every village is actually a Small Society in itself. Each has its own distinct cultural tradition its own craft specialties the coppersmiths the goldsmiths, and so on. Most have their own newspapers and journals, printed in different languages even in different alphabets. Narrator these distinct ethnic groups numbering over three dozen are referred to as the nationalities. Former Prime Minister abdurazak mirzabekov is of kumik nationality. speaking russian translator in our government you will find avartsy, dargintsy, lezghini kumiks, lakhsi, ogulsi, naghaji. Each people requires respect. This is but a necessary condition for conducting normal politics in the republic. Narrator here, the minister speaks russian. So do most dagestanis; in fact, the dozens of languages spoken here are so distinct thatany ge caotnderstaneach o unless they speahe com lange market that language is russian. So the russian language is a Centripetal Force helping to bind dagestan to moscow. By contrast, chechen solidarity is supported by a common language; 90 of the people there speak chechen. Another centripetal Factor Holding dagestan to moscow is economic. Dagestan is among the poorest of russias republics. One of the things we also need recognize is that the abject poverty of dagestan makes them fully aware that they do not have the ability to be independent. They dont have oil as azerbejian or turkmenistan. They dont have anything. They have Barren Mountain regions with some remote resources that are impossible to take out. Narrator in 1994, the average income here was only 49 per perso they simply accept that without russia they have no economy at all. Narrator financed by moscow this huge dam demonstrates russias impact. The Construction Projects improve the regional road system, provide the villages with electricity and Drinking Water and provide jobs for dagestanis of all ethnic backgrounds. speaking russian translator some 300 pple workere in erganai. All dagestan nationalities are represented. Russians who live in dagestan also work here. Narrator as they work with moscow to improve their economy the dagestanis are also reviving cultural traditions stories, dance and religion th had long been repressed under russian rule. traditional music plays wixman during the soviet period no dagestani or chechen was permitted to name a street a village, a Public Square a park, or anywhere for any caucasian National Hero that ever fought against the czars. speaking russian translator but today, men and women especially the young generation, study our traditions with great interest. Narrator the monument to shamil commemorating his valor at ahogo is a tribute to the persistence of cultural and religious values. Now, when you consider that they are moslems and theyre forbidden to have pictures in their memorials, it shows that islam as a culture is like christianity or judaism as a culture it bends. Narrator in their hearts, most dagestanis would probably prefer e politicallindependent, but common sense and historymake them pragmatic. speaking russian translator we have been part of russia for more than 100 years. So i cannot imagine the future of dagestan without russia. Of course, dagestan needs certain autonomous rights. But as a whole it has to be part of the Russian Federation. Narrator without great resources, and with such bloody conflicts in the region, why does moscow fight so hard to hold the caucasus when they allowed richer soviet republics to leave . Wixman thinks its not about economics. Wixman why give away azerbaijan with oil to keep dagestan with poverty . Its because in the mind of the russians there is a natural border of russia and the caucasian mountains are the natural border of russia. Therefore, they do not see dagestan in cultural terms. They see it in purely geographical terms. It is russia. They will not let russia go away. Narrator so dagestan maintains its diverse languages and cultures in an isolating and resourcepoor environment. If dagestan were all by itself centrifugal forces here might make it difficult to unify this area under one state. But dagestanies can well see the violence and chaos just over their borders in republics that are torn apart by regional and even global conflicts. At least for now the people of dagestan choose to follow Centripetal Forces that hold them together safely within the Russian Federation. Narrator as a young man, vasili arrived in bratsk as a pioneer to develop the areas river transportation. Now he is retired. speaking rusan translator when i came here i didnt have the slightest idea why i had come. After a while, you get used to the place. The temperature was minus 50 minus 60. At that time, we were well paid. Many of us left again, because of the cold, the mosquitoes and god knows for what other reasons. Narrator far from the capital in moscow the city of bratsk did not even exist before world war ii. Many older cities and settlements can be found in the southern russian forests and steppes. Many are linked by the transsiberian railroad. In this satellite mosaic of the earth at night, urban lits look like pearls strung oa long necklace along russias southern border. As remote as these cities are, bratsk is not even on the main rail line, but 120 miles farther north. So how do 300,000 people suddenly come to reside in such an extreme climate in the middle of, well, siberia . And what does the future hold . We will explore several ideas. Russia harnessed key Natural Resources provided by her physical geography. Centralized cold war planners tried to boost soviet power and prestige. Now, economic privatization offers a new challenge to bratsk to survive without large government subsidies. The reasons for bratsk begin in lake baikal the deepest lake in the world. Its mighty waters drain through the angara river to the north. Bratsk was built where the oka river joins the angara. But this satellite mosaic s captured in e summer. Much of the year it looks. Like this. Now covered by ice lake bratskove is held back by this massive dam. Behind it, a human settlement peers rough the snow. The city did not exist until the dam harnessed the tremendous power the angara and the oka at thication. But geographers still dete the reason for the dam in the first place. Some say the motivation was regional trying to develop the siberian infrastructure to boost economic output here. But others say the motivation arose at a very different scale, in fact, from global tensions. Khrushchev and the soviets were engaged in a cold war with the west. Their goal was to show that communism could build the largest Hydroelectric Project in the world. At the academy of sciences geographer Andrei Treivish counters that dam construction was crucial for the russian economy. speaking russian translator this happened after the Second World War in the days of khrushchev, so to some extent, they used the cheap labor of prisoners. continues speaking russian translator but workers were mainly recruited in the center of the country the urals regions with a labor surplus. Salaries were increased by 20 , 30 , and people went, many of them with great enthusiasm, for these were the days of huge building projects. Narrator the dam was finished in ten years. By then, bratsk had a railway link to the transsiberian line. Critics argue that the massive Hydroelectric Project was an end in itself and only afterwards did central planners figure out what to do with all that power. Narrator one answer was manufacturing and aluminum refining. This refiner is still one of the largest in the world. Valentin kravchenko is the operations manager. speaking russian translator production started in 1978 about 800,000 tons of aluminum a year. We hardly had any recruitment problems. They were attracted by the new jobs, the technology. This type of factory was one of the greatest achievements at that time. And the wages were higher than in kuznetz, for example or in the urals or volgograd. When times were tough, the aluminum factory was a great help to the city. We kept the city going city budget, salaries of doctors, teachers. Thats why the factory is very important for the city. Rrator the city began as these wooden houses for new pioneers who built the dam. Now most factory workers live in apartment buildings like these. Many people work at another major employer here the giant cellulose and paper factory. According to treivish, it was not an afterthought but planned as part of a territorial production complex or tpk. treivish speaking russian translator the official definition of tpk is a complex of mutually related factories in a certain territory that together use the Natural Resources of that territory as well as the Economic Resources infrastructure and the like. Narrator looking back, its hard to imagine that planners did have everything figured out in bratsk before they built the dam. The territorial production complex in this province was the first tpk that became fully realized in russia. Many others followed. The integrated tpk approach was really a reaction to the wasteful spread of planning power over almost 100 different ministries. Translator just like western transnational companies, these ministries didnt take any territorial interests into consideration. One of the aims of tpk was a bundling of power. Narrator in the soviet period the big factories of bratsk supplied basic products for the national emy. Now they need to find new markets. The mayor of bratsk. speaking russian translator of course, our proximity to china is important. We have railways, good roads and trade with china is developing rapidly. The japanese are also active in bratsk. But i should point out that we do not only have relations with japan and china. We also cooperate with the united states. Narrator apart from developing new trade relations, the factories of bratsk also face another challenge how to cut back environmental pollution. Air pollution here is among the very worst in an already bad region. The regional problem is so bad it astonished u. S. Astronaut mike foale as he looked down fr space. Even with hydroelectric power, siberians primarily burn fossil fuels. The cities in russia are coalburning cities, and so the soot from the coal burning has spread out over the snow surrounding the city and you see this big black smudge. Its almost like someone had rubbed their finger across a photograph, but looking at i out the window. Narrator cosmonaut Vladimir Titov flew with foale on a Space Shuttle mission. He talks about a town in siberia he knows well. speaking russian translator if you look from the air its one of the dirtiest towns ever. Smoke is visible for hundreds of kilometers. I myself am from siberia and i know that many people are very worried about pollution. Narrator in bratsk, pollution undermines the health of the urban population. The big factories have Inadequate Health and safety regulations putting their workers at risk. The firms and inhabitants of bratsk pay special taxes for the improvement of environmental conditions, but most of this money disappears in the direction of moscow. Factory director viktor savinov. speaking russian translator in my opinion, it is not up to the Central Government to collect and spend the antipollution tax. Instead, this should be done by the local government. Now 40 of the tax revenues go to moscow and 50 to irkutsk the capital of the region. So how can you improve the environment if there is no money . Narrator in other parts of siberia, many people are leaving for the west. But for now, this is not happening on aarger scale r bratsk or its pronce, irkutsk. Andrei treivish. speaking russian translator irkutsk province is different in a positive sense. The production level has not fallen too sharply. Unemployment is not too high. And even the price increases relative to the salaries are not too dramatic as in other regions. But still, many people lose their jobs and choose to leave. Narrator is there a future here for the children of bratsk . Ironically, in this hydroelectric city the cost to heat homes is very high. Subsidies will be needed to make it economical for many people. It is not clear if moscow has the money or the will. The megafactories may survive if they specialize and decrease their scale of operations. If the quality of the environment could also be improved, many people would choose to stay. They have become siberians just like vasili. Would he leave bratsk if he had a choice . Translator no, no, no. Even if i had the chance. You become attached. Narrator so russia has harnessed key Natural Resources provided by her physical geography. And centralized planners briefly brought prestige to a failed soviet state. Now, under economic privatization it is not clear if the remote city of bratsk can survive without large subsidies from a distant national government. Captioned by Media Access Group at wgbh access. Wgbh. Org captioning sponsored by Annenberg Cpb narrator our focus is russia, more formally called the Russian Federation and a look at the city of st. Petersburg. Once russias capital, st. Petersburg is located far to the north. Its relative location to European Economic markets and Cultural Centers provides clues to its unusual setting. This region continues to grapple with the challenges of new political and economic structures. As privatization forces cause housing problems for some residents others, called new russians, find the future filled with opportunity. As youill see, the transition to a femarket ecomy s not always been a smooth ride for this russian city and its people. 1917 st. Petersburg is where the Russian Revolution began. Inflamed by leaders like vladimir lenin, the russian working class revolted against the czarissystem. This marked the beginning of 70 years of soviet communist government. Under the czars, st. Petersburg was russias capital. It was an Industrial City and a trading port with strong links to weste europe. For a city with such a significant role in both russia and the world st. Petersburgs location was, and still is, exceptional. It lies almost as far north as anchorage in alaska. Yet it is actually the fourth largest city in europe after moscow, london and paris. The reason st. Petersburg is here is because of one man czar peter the great. 300 years ago, he chose this location on the neva river delta to build an entire new city. Palaces and churches boulevards a shipyard roseut of the swamp. St. Petersburg is a remarkable and amazing city. When peter the great selected this isolated site it didnt seem to have a chance of surviving. But he wanted to find a place that wou bothbe cseo europe and provide an outside port forussia so thaeuropeanization of his country could begin in earnest. It was the only way he could see to reay modernize russia and he succeeded. St. Tersburg became the Cultural Center anthe catal right up to the time of the revolution. Narrator after the 1917 revolution, st. Petersburg was renamed leningrad, after the new leader, lenin. He moved the capital to moscow and decided the cultural heart of russia would instead become an industrial center. Then, in 1989, the soviet era ended. St. Petersburg regained its original name. Since then, russia has gone through a wrenching transition from the old communist system to the new freemarket enomy. The changes in this city of five Million People have affected everyone. The first time i was in st. Petersburg was in the late 80s, a few years before the breakup of the soviet union, and i was amazed when i landed at the airport because as soon as i got in the terminal, i felt that i was in this completely foreign place. I was really an outsider. Going back just a few years later everything seemed to have changed. There were signs welcoming us in english and it really seemed like st. Petersburg once again was reaching out to the outside world. I think the most visible evidence of that really is in the commercial landscape of the city. I noticed in the late 80s there just werent gds anywhere. If you did come across anything that you needed to buy it was probably either in a touristy state store or it was available at a small corner kiosk where goods would be piled up and people would be waiting in line to buy things. Just a few years later those kiosks hadultiplied all over the city and they were supplied with all kinds of goods. And in the last five to ten years, those kiosks have transitioned some of th into pmanent buildings just packed with all kinds of products fopeople to buy. Narrator after decades of living in a communist economy one of the biggest changes for all russians is housing. In the soviet era, the state owned everything so all housing was controlled by the government. In the early 1990s the gorunovs lived in what had been a standard soviet apartment. It was built in the late 1970s and housed a family of four. Mr. Gorunov worked as a chemistry teacher his wife, sofia, director of a school. They had two daughters. Their apartment was small, so the gorunovs had to use every inch of space. Speaking russian translator weave a threeroom apartment one room for the children,a living room, and a study for my husband. I dont know exactly how many square meters we have. speaking russian translator about 39 square meters that is the living space without counting the toilet, bathroom and kitchen. Narrator under the soviet system, the government regulated how much space was allowed per person so the gorunovs apartment was typical for a family of four. There were different types of housing and apartments were small, but everyones rent was low. Then in 1989 when the concept of private property was introduced, people could buy their own apartments usually for only the cost of filing an application. Woman depending on the location of the housing in the city how attractive the area was, people would privatize sooner or later. If you are living in a nice apartment somewhere in the central part of the city it makes sense to make it your property. In 1991, 92 about 16 to 20 of the housing was already privatized and now the statistics are that over. Well over 50 are in private hands now. Narrator they still had to pay a monthly maintenance fee, but now it was theirs. They could even sell their apartment on the open market. Those who havent taken advantage of the opportunity to acqre their own apartment are like thave a good reason. Arkova those who did not pratize, its probably because they had bad apartments. They had bad apartments probably because they were not positioned well with regard to the access of goods during the soviet times. So they are in the lower socioeconomic. Of a lower socioeconomic status than, for example, those who already have privatized. Narrator at the end of the soviet era a typical st. Petersburg family paid five to ten percent ofheir total income for housing. Today the average is 40 to 50 . Incomes have risen, too, but not as rapidly so the net effecis that housing for most people is more exnsive than before privatization. The new apartments that are being constructed by private Developers Cost at least 1,000 a square meter so a new apartment the size of the gorunovs might cost 40,000. The only people who can afford this kind of price are the socalled new russians. speaking russian translator the overwhelming majority of new homeowners are the socalled new russians people who are in the trade sector thats developing dynamically. Hardwick they would tend to be the entrepreneurs, people that are in the travel and tourism industry. Some of them used to work for intourist, perhaps. They probably speak english, german, other european languages. And so they, along with, of course, the criminal element thats unfortunately all too common throughout the world, are probably going to be the few people that can afford to buy property. Narrator as long as the gorunovs still have their jobs, they can afford to maintain their apartment. But life has changed for their daughters generation. Their future is no longer guaranteed by the state. Many of st. Petersburgs industries were old and inefficient and havent survived the transition to a freemarket economy. Hardwick the pace of change in russia has just been so much slower than anybody could have imagined ten years ago, i think. The social problems, political problems and other issues have just been actually really surprising to people, and i think a lot of the people ive talked to have just lost faith in democracy. They see that their problems are perhaps too large to solve in the ways that they initially thought they could be solved and so they look back to times of more authoritarian rule almost thinking that that might be a better place for their nation to be now. So i think its going to be a long road ahead for the kinds of changes to happen that everybody expected to happen a long time ago. Narrat one of the new continuing hopes for st. Petersburg is to redevelop its harbor. The infrastructure is old and it operates far below its capacity. The city has been looking for Foreign Investors to modernize the port facilities. The harbor is strategically located. With the independence of the Baltic States st. Petersburg along with kaliningrad are russias only remaining ports on the baltic sea. This is all the more important because the black sea ports we losto russia when ukraine became independent. Architectural consultant vladislav miagkov is optimistic about the citys potential in the future. speaking russian translator after perestroika, the city faced a great number of economic and political problems related to the transition to the market economy. But the city holds enormous potential in its welleducated populace, its intelligentsia and its laborers. Moreover, st. Petersburg is an important railway and transportation junction that stillonnects ruia with the west. Thats why our city has a ance to overcome its current difficulties. At the same time st. Petersburg as an important tourist and Cultural Center remains a worthy representative of russia to the world community. Hardwick st. Petersburg is still the most beautiful city in russia and geographically its location means it will never lose that importance. But after more than ten difficult years of transition, i think that the future of russias experiment with democracy and freemarket economy still remains uncertain. Narrator st. Petersburgs relative location to european markets and culture were key to its development on the neva river delta. Symbol of peter the greats desire for europeanization of russia, today st. Petersburg continues its role as russias window on the west. The transition to areemarket economy has challengedt. Petersburg residents with soaring housing costs associated with privatization. But joining the Global Economy has also given rise to entrepreneurial new russians, people who may play a pivotal role in the future Economic Development critical to russia and its neighbors. Russia is by far the largest country in the world stretching across 11 time zones. Its huge land area features a variety of natural environments including plains, forest mountains and deserts. Often these environments present challeing geographic conditions for successful agriculture. In the oblast, or administrative region, of vologda we find the forests and farms of the north russian countryside. Here, we explore how physical geography affects agriculture; the transition from communist style collective farms to privatized family farms in a postsoviet economy; and how russias changing demography is turning the country into an archipelago of widely spaced urban centers. As the people in vologda struggle with the shift to a free market, we find oursels asking how much has really changed . Traveling east from st. Petersburg, we head into the north russian countryside. Dotted along the route are small farming communities, but mainly forest, forest and more forest. After nearly 500 miles we come to vologda the Administrative Center of the region with the same name. The city was founded in the 12th century. It is rich in historic monuments, such as the vologda kremlin. In the european part of russia vologda lies at almost 6degrees latitu. With an area of almost 100,00square miles the region is larger than england and wales together yet it has 40 times fewer inhabitants some 1. 3 million. Vologda lies far to the north of the rich agricultural area of russia known as the black earth zone. The soil is much poorer here and vologda faces many other constraints on its agriculture as rural geographer anatoli christobaev explains. speaking russian translator or soils a characteristic the nack soil area of russia. The soils are sandy, sometimes loamy. In the best case, we have, relatively speaking, the most fertile soils. In spite of the abundant precipitation, we need irrigation for soil improvement. The climate is moderately continental, with rather cold winters. The lowest winter temperatures vary between minus 40 and minus 42 degrees. christobaev continuing speaking russian translator summers are short and may be rather warm up to 30 degrees centigrade. The Summer Season is only three months long; spring starts late, trees start to bud by the end of may. christobaev continuing speaking russian narrator so the physical geography here is not very good for raising crops. But it is well suited for something else. co mooing dairy farming. Man dairy farms in vologda have long produced highquality milk and vologda has long been famous for its butter. Vologda butter, in russian vologodskoe maslo, is a famous brand. Fortunately, it seems like this culture of producing butter has not been lost. Their milk yields currently. They are relatively smal as compared with, you know west european or canadian or american milk yields, but as compared with the russian average, its a decent yield, and in 1998, 1999, 2000 there was a positive dynamics of Animal Husbandry in vologda. Narrator serge is trying his luck at it. speaking russian translator i have only just started to form a herd. Now i own three milk cows. The rest are young cattle that will have calves in august or september. It is good stock. Narrator serge is one of only a few people to start private family farms. It is a challenging proposition in the postsoviet economy. speaking russian translator i think that although i am 40 years old the genes have spoken. My parents w were farmers, but nobody pushed me to become a farmer. It was all my own decision although i knew it was going to be difficult. When we talk private family farmers this is a registered independent business which is taxed which qualifies for bank loans. Well, these. These farmers. The heyday of these farmers was most probably in the early 90s, when it was believed that very soon the collectivized system of agriculture would be. You know, fall into oblivion and would give way to family farming westernstyle. Well, it didnt happen in russia, and there are relatively very few really succeful ivate faers. Narrator instead, most farms continue to function much as they did during the communist era. Then, russian agriculture was in the hands of the state. Farms were huge collective operations. Today, although most of the collective farms have been privatized to form cooperative enterprises, little has changed. Nominally, most collective and state farms have distributed land, divided it into shares and the titles for these shares are in possession of rankandfile members of the collective farms. But for all practical purposes these socialized enterprises as i would call them are managed in the same way in the same way that the collective and state farms used to be managed in the soviet union before the. You know socalled collapse of communism. Narrator these workers and the retired employees of the old collective are now coowners of the company. Today they breed dairy cattle. Alexander aksenov is the appointed manager. Aksenov translated we have 3,200 head of cattle including the calves. aksenov speaking russian translator there are 1,500 milk cows. In total we have 4,500 hectares of land; 200 we plow under, and the rest we use for grass and hay. cattle mooing aksenov continuing speaking russian narrator during the soviet era, this farm, just as most of the other collective enterprises took care of its own employees. It provided housing and arranged services such as shops and a school practically a village unto itself. Today, the farm houses over a thousand people and employs some 250 workers. People still live in these houses. Although privatization means some employees now own these homes, they still live and work in a collective environment. So these collective farms persist. But why . One reason is a lack of the market infrastructures that facilitate independent farming; another is russias sheer geographic size relave to its population. People in isolated areas we dependent on each other. This has contributed to russias long tradition of collective agriculture and provides clues to one more reason that these farms remain so tenacious. On the one hand, they are economic units, production units. On the other hand, they are vehicles of collective survival survival of the weakest. The age structure of rural population is such that the percentage of elderly is very high in some outlying regions up to you know, 40 of the population. The collective. A collective farm creates a certain structure, a certain unit that helps rechannel some funds to the benefit of these elderly and not necessarily only elderly. So these people have vested interests in the retention of this collective enterprise. Narrator and so, as the farm tries to adapt to Market Conditions, what Alexander Aksenov finds most difficult is how to change the peoples mentality. speaking russian translator the most difficult task still awaits us that is, to make clear to each employee also to those veterans of labor, just what is meant by partial ownership and what responsibilities it entails. This cant be accomplished in one or two years. What is vital is the psychological sft that both older and younger workers ne to make. aksenov speaking russian narrator the hope is that the transition to Market Conditions will force all farmers to become competitive and more efficient. But the circumstances are difficult money for investment is scarce. Even sales to milk factories are no longer guaranteed. The difficulties of freemarket agribusiness are forcing some people to leave the countryside. People who are leaving are usually youngsters. Everywhere across the world, people who are prone to migrate are young parents with their kids, and when it happens over and over again, population is aging. If population is aging death rate exceeds birth rate. This is whatn vologda has been the case since the late 60s. The result has been depopulation a rural depopulation if you will. Narrator decades of ral depopulation have resulted in many farms and villages being abandoned. It is clearly visible that within outlying areas land thats under cultivation is shrinking and. Because interurban distances are relatively long in russia, russia, effectively, is becoming an archipelago whereby pockets of vibrant economic space are immersed in this sea of stagnation and decay. Narrator this archipelago effect can be seen in this nighttime satellite photograph. Russian cities extend eastward from st. Petersburg in a thin necklace strung across the immense landmass. In a country with few paved roads outside of urban areas these cities continue to cling to the route taken by the transsiberian railroad. Under such conditions, if farming proves difficult, what other options are there to allow people to earn a living the countryside . christobaev speaking russian translator keep in mind the very short summer four months of work on the farm and some activity in the processing industries. This is not a great perspective. What should the farmer do for the rest of the year . I think that forestry offers the opportunities for logda farmersin the future. Narrator wi 70 of its surface in forest, vologda is one of the most wooded areas of russia. To the northwest of vologdas Administrative Center is belozersk home to one of the largest and oldest russian forestry operations. Local processing of wood n esial source of inmefor e gion. Near the city of vologda lies one of the largest Wood Processing companies in russia. It produces industrial paper and cardboard. The problems of postcommunist transition have also hit this factory. It had troubleinding buyers. A lot of its products used to be exported to the ukraine and belorussia, but these countries no longer buy because of financial problems. With a drop in demand from current customers and the search for new markets forestry may have an uncertain future. Anatoli pak is the regions vicegovernor charged with privatization. speaking russian translator at the moment, companies see the need to decrease their production. But also to improve quality and carry out the independent trade not only with russians but also with foreign partners who demand high quality. pak continuing speaking russian translator now that the planned economy no longer exists companies will have to meet each other under Market Conditions as the buyer and the seller. pak continuing speaking russian narrator Market Conditions, agribusiness. Is this good news for new private farmer serge . Will he be able to reach an efficient scale of production . eaking rusan translator i dont know what a hectare costs, but it is big money and for the time being i am just getting by. To purchase land is out of the question now. That is the remote future; maybe for my son. Narrator farmers in vologda face the dual challenge of making their land productive amidst Environmental Constraints of the regions physical geography and adapting to a freemarket economy. The transition from collective farms to privatization has not occurred as anticipated. As the Younger Generation migrates from rural areas to the cities an aging population is left behind. With the human geography of these changing demographics russia may face the future as an archipelago of widely spaced urban centers with vast social deserts in between. Captioned by Media Access Group at wgbh access. Wgbh. Org nenberg media for information about this and other annenberg media programs call 1800learner and visit us at www. Learner. Org. Funding for this program [with captioning] was provided by additional funding is provided by and