Karelia Republic is a remarkably beautiful land of white nights, boundless forests, and blue lakes. Karelia is located on the border of Western and Eastern Europe, on the border of cultures and religions.

Severe beauty of Karelia Republic nature, the climate, not too favorable in these latitudes, the coexistence and intermingling of various peoples inhabiting this land for centuries, all that conditioned the character of the people living here: very laconic, self-assured, contemplative, and tolerant people.

Tags: Karelia Republic

Pyatigorsk (“the city of five mountains”) is the oldest balneological and mud resort of Russia and the largest cultural and tourist center of eco-resort region Caucasian Mineral Waters.

On January 19, 2010 Pyatigorsk received the status of the center of North Caucasus Federal District. It is the only center of the federal district not being the capital of the subject of the federation. Photos by timag82. Click the photos for high resolution versions.

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Tags: Pyatigorsk city

Saratov region (oblast) is located in the southeastern part of European Russia. Main river of the region is Volga dividing the region into two parts.

Saratov oblast is traditionally an agricultural region. The oblast is the 10th among Russian regions in the amount of agricultural product. The specific feature of the region is a great number of farmers having lands under crops.

The following video showing the beautiful nature of Saratov region was made by Anton Starikov.

Tags: landscapes · Saratov oblast

“Nalychevo” is a nature park on the Kamchatka Peninsula (Kamchatka krai) created in 1995. The total area of the park is about 287 thousand hectares.

The park is located in the valley of Nalycheva River and is bounded by the chain of volcanoes. On the territory of the park there are a lot of hot and cold mineral springs with medicinal properties. Photos by Ilya Stepanov.

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Tags: Kamchatka krai · Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky city

Stavropol region is a land of natural contrasts. The vast plains and semi deserts lie in the eastern and north-eastern areas. Famous Stavropol fertile steppes are located in the west and north-west.

Stavropol krai has highly developed agriculture. High-quality wheat, grapes, fruits, vegetables and melons are grown there. Also the region produces meat, milk and wool.

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Tags: landscapes · Stavropol krai

The source of the Volga is a monument of nature, unique natural object located in Ostashkov area of Tver oblast in the village Volgoverkhovye about 68 km from Ostashkov town.

The village itself is very small, most houses are abandoned. It is prohibited to drive the car on the territory of the village. Next to the Source you can buy souvenirs, though usually there are not a lot of vendors, as well as tourists. Photos by Alexander Lipilin.

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Tags: Tver oblast

The Valley of Geysers is one of the largest geyser fields in the world and the only one in Eurasia. It is located in Kamchatka on the territory of Kronotsky State Biosphere Reserve. The Valley of Geysers is one of the seven wonders of Russia.

Kronotsky State Biosphere Reserve is one of the oldest reserves in Russia established in 1934. The reserve covers an area of 1,142,134 hectares (11,421 sq. km.) including 135,000 hectares (1,350 sq. km.) of sea area of the eastern coast of Kamchatka.

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Tags: Kamchatka krai

There are about 400,000 various historical and cultural monuments in Smolensk oblast of Russia. The territories of the region also played an important role in Russian military history. Unfortunately a lot of the architectural monuments are abandoned and if nothing changes they will be lost forever in near future. Photos by Denis Frantsouzov.

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Tags: Abandoned · churches · landscapes · smolensk oblast

Beautiful time-lapse video of the surroundings of Gnilyovo village located in Bryansk oblast.

Tags: Bryansk oblast · landscapes · time-lapse

Astrakhan oblast is situated in Caspian lowland where Volga River flows into Caspian Sea. The largest part of Astrakhan oblast is occupied by semideserts. But some parts of the region are looking like the real desert and here is an example.

It is “Big Brother” – one of the largest and highest barkhans in Astrakhan oblast. The height of this sand dune is about 20 meters. Photos by Maxim Korotchenko.

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Tags: Astrakhan oblast