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Map of Russia ►►
At present the CIS unites: Azerbaijan, Armenia, Belarus, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Russia, Tajikistan,
TurkmenistanUzbekistan and Ukraine.

Facts and Figures: 

World Fact Book: CIS— A comprehensive list of basic information about Russia from the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency.
http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/rs.html

Russia: A country study— An online book on Russia from the Library of Congress.
http://lcweb2.loc.gov/frd/cs/rutoc.html

History of Russia and the Soviet Union in pictures: outstanding collection, chronological
http://katardat.org/russia/russia-in-pictures.html

Languages of Russia (Europe)— An authoritative listing of the spoken living languages by the SIL International’s Ethnologue site.
http://www.ethnologue.com/show_country.asp?name=RUE

Languages of Russia (Asia)—same source; includes languages of Ukraine, Georgia
http://www.ethnologue.com/show_country.asp?name=RUA

Encarta on Russia (lengthy article, with multiple links)
http://encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761569000/Russia.html

Discussion of CIS is part of this article:
http://encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761569000_15/Russia.html#p203

Kremlin by night

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Articles and Links: 

Newspapers, from Pravda to Krokodil—with annotations on the paper’s orientation
http://www.worldpress.org/newspapers/EUROPE/Russia.cfm 

Travel Guide to the New Russia— and check the links to the Trans-Siberian Railway (White Nights) trips http://www.worldpress.org/newspapers/EUROPE/Russia.cfm

Embassy of the Russian Federation: http://www.russianembassy.org/

Russian Web Tutor—sounds, letters, words
http://www.semiology.com/rwt/          

Culture in Russia— Russia on the web: ART http://members.valley.net/~transnat/russsubj.
html#Russian%20Culture 

ROYAL FAMILY
http://www.bestofrussia.ca/ivan.html 

SCIENTISTS
http://www.bestofrussia.ca/scientists.html 

Lonely Planet: Russia —An overview from Lonely Planet’s online magazine.
http://www.lonelyplanet.com/destinations/
europe/russia/index.htm 

Say Hello in Russian with multiple links to vocabulary, culture: for younger students http://www.ipl.org/div/kidspace/hello/russian.html

Literature—      Tolstoy             http://www.ltolstoy.com/
                         Pushkin            http://travel.inc.ru/spb/suburbs/pushkin/
                         Pasternak         http://www.rjgeib.com/heroes/pasternak/paster.html
                         Solzhenitsyn      http://www.kirjasto.sci.fi/alesol.htm

Folklore and fairy tales, including Ivan and the Firebird: http://www.mythinglinks.org/euro~east~russia~folklore.html

Composers—  Tchaikovsky and Stravinsky http://www.artsalive.ca/en/mus/greatcomposers/tchaikovsky.html

The fearsome Baba Yaga shows up in many folktales of Eastern Europe                                         http://www.oldrussia.net/baba.html and http://www.surlalunefairytales.com/cinderella/stories/baba.html

The Cold War: CNN’s website to accompany their series, with biographies, photos             http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/cold.war/guides/about.site/                                        
HistoryWiz’s special site: links to propaganda posters, archival documents, maps http://www.historywiz.com/coldwar.htm           

Timeline of Russian History http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/country_profiles/1113655.stm

Animal Farm: some contexts for its interpretation from the Turner network: http://www.turnerlearning.com/tntlearning/animalfarm/aftimeline.html

Revelations from the Russian Archives – for high school students examining Stalinist era

http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/archives/

 

Gulag: Forced Labor Camps  http://www.osa.ceu.hu/gulag/

 

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Oral Narratives from Residents of Greater Mecklenburg County, NC:

Irina Andronic talks about growing up in the Ukraine http://education.uncc.edu/more/Narratives_CNCC/Narrative_Month.htm

Pavel Tretyakov  talks about early reading experiences

Victoria Yetimova talks about her children, and how she fears they may be losing their first language

You will find other narratives at the New South Voices site

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Lesson Plans: 

The Face of Russia: Lesson plans and resources to accompany PBS special http://www.pbs.org/weta/faceofrussia/reference-index.html 

Communist Revolution: Lesson Plan keyed to PBS segment http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/peoplescentury/teachers/tgred.html 

Peter the Great— Knowledge Network’s high school lesson
http://school.discovery.com/lessonplans/programs/peter/ 

Breakup of the USSR: “Soviet Union’s Last Stand” http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/war/coldwar/soviet_stand_01.shtml 

Cuban Missile Crisis: two plans, each for middle and highschool students
http://future.state.gov/educators/lessons/cuba/   http:// http://school.discovery.com/lessonplans/programs/cubanmissile 

U. Nevada-Reno’s Collection: Teacher-created lesson plans on culture and society http://www.unr.edu/geography/gain/materials/lessons_russia.html 

Chernobyl, the Ukraine, and Kosovo:  lessons keyed to the Eastern European part of CIS http://sipa.columbia.edu/REGIONAL/ECE/teachers.html

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