document_title: The Jungle Book (2016 film)

question_text: who did the voice for the bear in jungle book

text: The Jungle Book (2016 film)

text: Plot[edit]

text: Mowgli is a "man cub" raised by the wolf Raksha and her pack, led by Akela, in an Indian jungle ever since he was brought to them as a baby by the black panther Bagheera. Bagheera trains Mowgli to learn the ways of the wolves, but the boy faces certain challenges and falls behind his wolf siblings, while Akela disapproves of him using human tricks like building tools instead of learning the ways of the pack.

text: One day, during the dry season, the jungle animals gather to drink the water that remains as part of a truce during a drought that enables the jungle's wildlife to drink without fear of being eaten by their predators. The truce is disrupted when a scarred tiger named Shere Khan arrives, detecting Mowgli's scent in the large crowd. Resentful against man for scarring him, he issues a warning that he will kill Mowgli at the end of the drought. After the drought ends, the wolves debate whether they should keep Mowgli or not. Mowgli decides to leave the jungle for the safety of his pack. Bagheera agrees with the decision and volunteers to guide him to the nearby man village.

text: En route, Shere Khan ambushes them and injures Bagheera, but Mowgli manages to escape. Later, Mowgli meets an enormous python named Kaa who hypnotizes him. While under her influence, Mowgli sees a vision of his father being mauled while protecting him from Shere Khan. The vision also warns of the destructive power of the "red flower" (fire). Kaa attempts to devour Mowgli, but she is attacked by a large brown sloth bear named Baloo, rescuing an unconscious Mowgli. Baloo and Mowgli bond while retrieving some difficult-to-access honey for Baloo, and the boy agrees to stay with Baloo until the winter season arrives. Upon learning that Mowgli has left the jungle, Shere Khan kills Akela and threatens the pack to lure Mowgli out.

text: Bagheera eventually finds Mowgli and Baloo and is angered that Mowgli has not joined the humans as agreed, but Baloo calms him down and persuades both of them to sleep on it. During the night, Mowgli finds a herd of Indian elephants gathered around a ditch and uses his vines to save a baby elephant from the ditch. Although Baloo and Bagheera are both impressed, Baloo realizes that he cannot guarantee Mowgli's safety after learning that he is being hunted by Shere Khan. Baloo agrees to push Mowgli away to get him to continue onward to the man village.

text: Mowgli is kidnapped by the "Bandar-log" (monkeys) who present him to their leader, a giant ape named King Louie. Assuming that all humans can make fire, King Louie offers Mowgli protection from Shere Khan in exchange for it. Baloo distracts King Louie while Bagheera tries to sneak him out, but their plan is discovered. As King Louie chases Mowgli through his temple, he informs Mowgli of Akela's death. King Louie's rampage eventually causes his temple to collapse on top of him. Furious that Baloo and Bagheera never told him about Akela's death, Mowgli goes to confront Shere Khan alone.

text: Mowgli steals a lit torch at the village to use as a weapon and heads back to the jungle, accidentally starting a wildfire in the process. He confronts Shere Khan, who argues that Mowgli has made himself the enemy of the jungle by causing the wildfire. Mowgli throws the torch into the water, giving Shere Khan the advantage. Baloo, Bagheera, and the wolf pack intervene and hold Shere Khan off, giving Mowgli enough time to set a trap. He lures Shere Khan up a dead tree and onto a branch, which breaks under the tiger's weight and Shere Khan falls into the fire to his death. Mowgli then directs the elephants to divert the river and put out the fire.

text: In the aftermath, Raksha becomes the new leader of the wolf pack. Mowgli decides to utilize his equipment and tricks for his own use, having found his true home and calling with his wolf family, Baloo, and Bagheera.

text: Cast[edit]

text:
Neel Sethi as Mowgli, a young boy who was raised by wolves.

Kendrick Reyes as toddler Mowgli

Ritesh Rajan as Mowgli's father

tag: ul

text: Voice cast[edit]

text:
Bill Murray as Baloo, a sloth bear who befriends Mowgli.
Ben Kingsley as Bagheera, a black panther who is Mowgli's mentor and protector.
Idris Elba as Shere Khan, a fearsome, scar-faced tiger with a grudge against Mowgli.
Lupita Nyong'o as Raksha, a female wolf who is Mowgli's adoptive mother.
Scarlett Johansson as Kaa, an enormous python.
Giancarlo Esposito as Akela, a male wolf who leads the pack.
Christopher Walken as King Louie, a giant ape who rules the Bandar-log.
Garry Shandling as Ikki, a porcupine that observes the Water Truce.[1]
Brighton Rose as Grey Brother, a wolf cub that is Mowgli's adoptive brother.[1]
Jon Favreau as Fred, a Pygmy Hog.[1]
Sam Raimi as a giant squirrel.[1]
Russell Peters as Rocky, a rhinoceros.[1]
Madeleine Favreau as Raquel, a rhinoceros.[1]
Sara Arrington as an antelope [1]

text: Emjay Anthony, Max Favreau, Chloe Hechter, Asher Blinkoff, Knox Gagnon, Sasha Schrieber, and Kai Schrieber voice the Young Wolves.[1]

text: Dee Bradley Baker, Artie Esposito, Sean Johnson, and Allan Trautman provide additional animal voices.[1]

text: Production[edit]

text: Development and casting[edit]

text:
"The idea of going out to the jungle and shooting this, it just felt like it wouldn't have the magic that the 1967 film had had. There was a dreamlike quality to it. There was a surreal quality to it. It was a high-water mark for character animation and to me, that's what I remember about it. And so I wanted to make sure we preserved that...But what [Alan] Horn said was: Look at the technology. Look at Life of Pi, Avatar. Why not use the technology to create a whole world that transports you? Let's really embrace this new technology and see what we can do if we push its limit."

— Jon Favreau on approaching the film's technical intent.[9]

tag: div

text: Walt Disney Pictures announced that a live-action adaptation of Rudyard Kipling's short story collection The Jungle Book was in development on July 9, 2013, with Justin Marks set to write the script.[10] The film would be Disney's second live-action adaptation of Kipling's works, following the 1994 film, the 1998 direct-to-video film Mowgli's Story and the studio's fourth overall after the 1967 animated musical.[11] Jon Favreau was confirmed as director on November 5, 2013.[12] Favreau as a child used to watch Disney's 1967 animated musical.[13] He felt the need to strike a balance between the two films by retaining the buoyant spirit of the 1967 film, including some of its memorable songs, while crafting a movie with more realism and peril. He also stressed the importance of nature and realized how things have shifted during Kipling's time and now, "In Kipling's time, nature was something to be overcome. Now nature is something to be protected."[13] He was encouraged by Walt Disney Studios chairman Alan Horn to take advantage of the film's setting and story as an opportunity to use the latest advancements in photorealistic rendering, computer-generated imagery, and motion capture technologies.[14] The story of the film is not independently taken from Kipling's works, but also borrows cinematic inspirations from other films, including the child-mentor relationship in Shane (1953), the establishment of rules in a dangerous world from Goodfellas (1990) and the use of a shadowy jungle figure in Apocalypse Now (1979).[13]

text: The cast was announced between March and August 2014, with Idris Elba being announced to voice Shere Khan during early stages and Bill Murray eventually confirmed as the voice of Baloo in August 2014. Between then, Scarlett Johansson, Ben Kingsley, and Christopher Walken were confirmed to play Kaa, Bagheera, and King Louie.[15][16][17][18] Favreau decided to cast Johansson to play Kaa, originally a male character, as he felt the original film was "a little too male-oriented."[19] Favreau and Marks noticed the lack of female characters in the 1967 film version and wanted to address that by featuring Raksha's character more prominently, as in Kipling's tales.[13] Lupita Nyong'o was cast as Raksha as Favreau believed her voice imbued the emotion required for the role, "Lupita has tremendous depth of emotion in her performance. There's an emotional underpinning she brings, and a strength, and we wanted that for this surrogate mother. Much of that comes from her voice."[20] Favreau also decided to change King Louie from an orangutan to a gigantopithecus due to the fact that orangutans are not native to India, where the story takes place.[6] His character was given a slight alteration from the 1967 film and was partly inspired by Marlon Brando's character Colonel Kurtz in Apocalypse Now,[13] as well as incorporating Walken's own physical mannerisms.[21] In regards to Louie's changes, Favreau stated, "We created this looming figure that was trying to extract the secret of fire from Mowgli. And also this gave Mowgli the idea that if he had fire, he could have power over Shere Khan, whether it was good or bad. So there was a Lord of the Rings aspect to that; the fire was almost like the ring in that was going to give someone ultimate power, but corrupt them as well as create destruction."[22] The film is dedicated to Garry Shandling, who voiced a porcupine in the film and died of a heart attack before the film's release.

text: The search for casting Mowgli was extensive, with thousands of children auditioning from the United States, the United Kingdom, New Zealand, and Canada. Eventually, newcomer Neel Sethi was confirmed for the role, with casting director Rebecca Williams describing him as embodying "the heart, humor, and daring of the character. He's warm and accessible, yet also has an intelligence well beyond his years and impressed us all with his ability to hold his own in any situation."[23] Sethi underwent parkour training in preparation for the role.[7] Pixar Animation Studios assisted in the development of the story, as well as providing suggestions for the film's end credits sequence.[24]

text: Filming and visual effects[edit]

text: Principal photography took place entirely on sound stages at L.A. Center Studios[22] in downtown Los Angeles.[20][25] The animal characters were created entirely in computer animation, with the assistance of footage of real animal movement, the actors recording their lines, and performance capture for reference.[6] The production team underwent a thorough process to realistically convey the animals' speaking, while still making them perceptually believable to the audience. Favreau researched earlier films featuring anthropomorphic animals—including Walt Disney's animated features, such as Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs and Bambi, as well as modern films such as Babe—and adopted certain techniques from those films into The Jungle Book.[22] Nearly 70 separate species of animals native to India are featured in the film, with several species being portrayed as "150% larger" than their actual counterparts.[22]

text: Jim Henson's Creature Shop was brought in to provide animal puppet figures for Sethi to act against, although none appear in the finished film.[26] The animal puppets were performed by Artie Esposito, Sean Johnson, Allan Trautman, and April Warren.[1] Favreau utilized motion capture with certain actors, expressing a desire to avoid overusing the technology in order to prevent evoking an uncanny valley effect.[6][19]

text: Moving Picture Company (MPC) and Weta Digital created the film's visual effects.[14] MPC developed new software for animating muscular structure in the animals.[22] Around 1,000 remote jungle locations in India were photographed and used as reference in post-production.[27] Weta was responsible for animating the King Louie sequence, with visual effects supervisor Keith Miller adding that, "It was important for Jon to see Christopher Walken in the creature. So we took some of the distinctive Walken facial features—iconic lines, wrinkles and folds—and integrated them into the animated character."[28] Favreau expressed desire in wanting the film's 3D shots to imbue the abilities of the multiplane camera system utilized in Disney's earlier animated films.[24] At Favreau's behest, the idea was extended into the film's version of the Walt Disney Pictures opening production logo, which was recreated as "a hand-painted, cel-animated multi-plane logo" in homage to the animated films of that era, also incorporating the word "Presents" in the same style as the 1967 film's opening credits.[24] The film's ending also features the original physical book that opened the 1967 film.[24]

text: Sound[edit]

text: Director Jon Favreau and composer John Debney sought to recreate the Fantasound experience Walt Disney, himself, had in mind. When mixing the soundtrack in Dolby Atmos, as Favreau said, "we isolated instruments when we could. And in the sound mix, we created a Fantasound mix. If you see the film in Atmos, you will feel that there are instruments that move around the theater."[29] A mention for Fantasound appears in the film's closing credits.

text: Music[edit]

text: The musical score for The Jungle Book was composed and conducted by frequent Favreau collaborator John Debney,[30] mostly drawing from George Bruns' original music. Though Favreau decided not to make the film a musical, nevertheless, he and Debney incorporated several songs from the 1967 animated film.[31] "The Bare Necessities," written by Terry Gilkyson, is performed by Murray and Sethi,[13] and a cover version by Dr. John is featured in the end credits. "I Wan'na Be Like You" and "Trust in Me"—written by the Sherman Brothers—are performed by Walken and Johansson, respectively; Richard M. Sherman wrote revised lyrics for Walken's version of "I Wan'na Be Like You."[13] Johansson's rendition of "Trust in Me" was produced by Mark Ronson and appears in the end credits only.[13]

text: Soundtrack[edit]

text:
The Jungle Book (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)

Film score by John Debney

Released
April 15, 2016

Recorded
2015–16

Studio
Sony Pictures Studios (score)
Esplanade Studios, New Orleans
Chalice Recording Studios
Music Shed Studios, New Orleans

Genre
Orchestral, swing jazz

Length
74:17

Label
Walt Disney

Producer
John Debney

John Debney chronology

The Young Messiah
(2016) The Young Messiah2016
The Jungle Book
(2016) The Jungle Book2016
Mother's Day
(2016) Mother's Day2016

text: Walt Disney Records released the film's soundtrack on April 15, 2016.[32]

text: Track listing[edit]

text:
No.
Title
Writer(s)
Performer(s)
Length

1.
"The Bare Necessities"
Terry Gilkyson
Dr. John and The Nite Trippers
3:36

2.
"Trust in Me"
Richard M. Sherman, Robert B. Sherman
Scarlett Johansson
2:55

3.
"Main Titles[Note 1] / Jungle Run"
John Debney & George Bruns

2:27

4.
"Wolves / Law of the Jungle"
John Debney

2:16

5.
"Water Truce"
John Debney

3:40

6.
"Rains Return"
John Debney

1:46

7.
"Mowgli's Leaving / Elephant Theme"
John Debney

3:28

8.
"Shere Khan Attacks / Stampede"
John Debney

2:06

9.
"Kaa / Baloo to the Rescue"

5:21

10.
"Honeycomb Climb"

3:31

11.
"Man Village"

2:59

12.
"Mowgli and the Pit"

3:26

13.
"Monkeys Kidnap Mowgli"

1:52

14.
"Arriving at King Louie's Temple"

4:35

15.
"Cold Lair Chase"

4:03

16.
"Red Flower"

3:15

17.
"To the River"

3:05

18.
"Shere Khan's War Theme"

2:37

19.
"Shere Khan and the Fire"

4:52

20.
"Elephant Waterfall"

3:27

21.
"Mowgli Wins the Race"

0:41

22.
"Jungle Book Closes"

2:16

23.
"I Wan'na Be Like You"
Richard M. Sherman, Robert B. Sherman
Christopher Walken
3:02

24.
"The Bare Necessities"
Terry Gilkyson
Bill Murray, Kermit Ruffins
3:01

Total length:
74:17

text: Note 1. ^ Original "When You Wish Upon a Star" melody composed by Leigh Harline; Walt Disney Pictures logo melody composed by Mark Mancina.

text: Release[edit]

text: The film was originally scheduled for October 9, 2015, but the film's release date was later postponed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures to April 15, 2016.[33][34] The film was released in the Dolby Vision format in Dolby Cinema in the United States,[35] and is the first film to be released in Dolby Vision 3D (in a few select theaters in New York City and Chicago).[36] The Jungle Book held its world premiere at the El Capitan Theatre on April 4, 2016.[37] It was released in 15 countries, a week ahead of its U.S. debut on April 15, in countries like Argentina, Australia, Russia, Malaysia, and most notably in India on April 8.[38] The release date in India was strategic for the film as it coincided with the Indian New Year and was a holiday in most parts of the country.[39] The film had a special Hindi version with famous actors giving their voices to the main characters, including Irrfan Khan as Baloo, Om Puri as Bagheera, Priyanka Chopra as Ka, Nana Patekar as Sher Khan and Shefali Shah as Raksha, for its Indian audiences as the book and the Disney series based on it had been immensely popular in India in 1990s. Disney India also commissioned a contemporary recording of "Jungle Jungle Baat Chali Hai" (originally used for the popular Indian version of Japanese anime series Jungle Book Shōnen Mowgli), overseen by the original Hindi song's composers Vishal Bhardwaj and Gulzar, and released it as part of the film's promotional campaign in India.[40][41]

text: Home media[edit]

text: The film was released digitally on August 23, 2016, and on DVD and Blu-ray on August 30 (August 22 in the UK[42]). A 3D Blu-ray was said to be coming by the end of the year.[43] The film topped the NPD VideoScan overall disc sales chart for two consecutive weeks.[44][45]

text: Reception[edit]

text: Box office[edit]

text: The film became a huge financial success and a sleeper hit.[46] It briefly held the record for the biggest remake of all time until the studio's own Beauty and the Beast surpassed it the following year.[47] It grossed $364 million in the United States and Canada and $602.5 million in other countries for a worldwide total of $966.6 million, against a budget of $175 million.[4] Worldwide, the film was released across 28,000 RealD 3D screens[36] and had an IMAX worldwide opening of $20.4 million from 901 IMAX screens, a new record for a PG film.[48] It grossed a total of $39 million in IMAX screens worldwide.[49] On May 13, it became the second film of 2016 (after the studio's own Zootopia) to pass the $800 million mark.[50][51] On June 10, it became the third film of 2016 after Zootopia and Captain America: Civil War to pass the $900 million mark.[52] Deadline.com calculated the net profit of the film to be $258 million, when factoring together all expenses and revenues for the film, making it the sixth-most profitable release of 2016.[53]

text: United States and Canada[edit]

text: Projections for its opening weekend in the United States and Canada were continuously revised upwards, starting from $60 million to as high as $88 million, with female and older male quadrants being the prime draw.[54][36][55][56] The Jungle Book was shown across 4,028 theaters of which 3,100 theaters (75%) were in 3D, including 376 IMAX screens, 463 premium large format screens, and 145 D-Box locations.[54][57][58] It opened Friday, April 15, 2016, on around 9,500 screens across 4,028 theaters, and earned $32.4 million, the fourth-biggest April Friday.[36][59] This includes $4.2 million from Thursday previews, the biggest preview number for a Disney live-adaptation film (tied with Maleficent),[60] an almost unheard-of for a PG title which rarely attracts many ticketbuyers later in the night.[61] In total, it earned $103.3 million in its opening weekend, exceeding expectations by 40% and recorded the biggest PG-rated April opening (breaking Hop's record), the second-biggest Disney live-action adaptation opening (behind Alice in Wonderland), and the second-biggest April opening (behind Furious 7).[36][62][63] It also performed exceptionally well in both 3D and IMAX formats, where they both generated an income of $44 million and $10.4 million of the film's opening-weekend gross, respectively, the later broke the record for the biggest April Disney release IMAX opening.[36][48] Notably, it also became the only second PG-rated release to ever open above $100 million (following Alice in Wonderland) and the third film of 2016 overall to open above $100 million (following Deadpool and Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice).[36][64] It earned $130.7 million in its first full week, the second-biggest for a Disney live-action adaptation, behind only Alice in Wonderland's $146.6 million seven-day gross.[65]

text: Buoyed by excellent word of mouth and benefiting from spring break, it fell only by 40% in its second weekend earning $61.5 million, still maintaining the top position and far surpassing newcomer The Huntsman: Winter's War.[66] That puts The Jungle Book in the top fifteen second weekends of all time and in terms of films that opened above $100 million, it scored the fourth-smallest drop behind Shrek 2 (−33%), Spider-Man (−39%), and Star Wars: The Force Awakens (−39%).[67][68] Of those numbers, $5.6 million came from IMAX shows for a two weekend cumulative total of $18.4 million which represents about 10% of its entire North American box office gross.[66] It crossed $200 million on its twelfth day of release[69] and managed to hold the top spot for the third consecutive weekend with $43.7 million from 4,041 theaters (an addition of 13 more theaters), a fall of only 29%, outgrossing the next six pictures combined (including the openings of three newcomers)[70] and recorded the sixth-biggest third weekend of all time.[71] Moreover, the 29% drop is the smallest third-weekend drop (from its second weekend) for a $100 million opener ever.[71] Disney added an additional 103 theaters for the film's fourth weekend of release which propelled its theater count to 4,144 theaters,[72] but nevertheless, it was overtaken by Disney's own Captain America: Civil War after experiencing a 50% decline.[73][74] It passed $300 million on its thirtieth day of release, on May 14, as it continued to witness marginal declines in the wake of several new releases weekend after weekend.[75] It made 3.53 times its opening weekend numbers, which is one of the biggest of all time for a film opening above $100 million. It became one of the few surprise hits and one of the highest-grossing films of the year, alongside Finding Dory, The Secret Life of Pets, and Zootopia, centered around talking animals to dominate the year-end chart.[46]

text: Other countries[edit]

text: The film was released in approximately 70 countries.[76] Outside the US and Canada, it opened across 15 markets and 69 IMAX screens a week ahead of its US debut, and faced notable competition from newcomer The Huntsman: Winter's War and holdover Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, the latter of which was entering its third weekend. The reason behind the divided release pattern was because Disney wanted to get some space before Captain America: Civil War releases in early May, as well as availing school holidays and avoiding local competitors.[77] It eventually grossed $31.7 million, debuting at first place in all markets and second overall at the international box office, behind Dawn of Justice, which was playing across 67 markets.[77] In its second weekend, it expanded to an additional 49 countries (88% of its total marketplace) and grossed $138.6 million from 64 countries, easily topping the international box office, a bulk of it came from China.[78] Approximately 63% or $85 million of that came from 3D screenings, with the largest 3D opening haul represented by China (98%), Germany (83%), Brazil (73%), Russia (60%), Mexico (47%), and the UK (39%).[78] $10 million alone came from 525 IMAX screens, a record for a PG and April release.[48] It further continued to hold the top spot in its third weekend after adding another $98.9 million from 53 territories, falling only by a marginal 32%. IMAX generated another $6.1 million from 484 IMAX theaters for a three-weekend total of $20.6 million.[49] After three straight No. 1 runs, it was finally dethroned by the studio's Captain America: Civil War in its fourth weekend.[79]

text: In India, it scored the second-biggest opening day for a Hollywood film, earning $1.51 million (behind Avengers: Age of Ultron) from around 1,500 screens[80] and went on to score the second-biggest Hollywood opening weekend of all time, with $8.4 million from 1,600 screens, behind only Furious 7 in terms of local as well as U.S. currency,[81][82] performing better than expected and its initial $5–6 million opening projection.[80] Its opening weekend in India alone surpassed the entire lifetime total of Disney's other live-fantasy adaptations—Cinderella, Maleficent, Oz the Great and Powerful, and Alice in Wonderland—in the country.[77] It then went on to score the biggest opening and single week for a Hollywood film with $15.1 million.[76][83] In its second weekend, it dropped just by a mere 40% to $4.97 million.[84] In just ten days, it became the fourth-highest-grossing Hollywood film there with $21.2 million.[62] On Wednesday, April 19—its twelfth day of release—it surpassed Furious 7 to become the highest-grossing Hollywood/foreign release of all time there.[85][86] By the end of its theatrical run, the film made an estimated $38.8 million with half of its revenue—58%—coming from local dubbed versions, compared to Avengers: Age of Ultron, which saw 45% of its revenue from dubbed versions.[87]

text: In China, where the film was locally known as Fantasy Forest, expectations were high, with projections going as high $154–200 million or more.[88][89][90][91] Ultimately, it was unable to hit these marks.[75] Before the release of the film in the state, Disney had a very successful run at the box office with Zootopia the previous month, in which anthropomorphic animals were the central figure.[92] Forbes noted that The Jungle Book was precisely the sort of film that Chinese audiences love with its 3D visuals, heartwarming story, and talking animal cast.[89] It earned around $12 million on its opening day, including $300,000 worth of previews from 65,000 screenings.[89] Buoyed by good word of mouth and positive reception (albeit mostly from audiences with polarized reception from Chinese critics),[93] it rose 72% on its second day to $20 million.[91] Through its opening weekend it grossed $48.5 million, including $5.1 million from 279 IMAX screens, a new record for April release.[62][94] Its opening marked the biggest Walt Disney Pictures film opening ever,[95] the second-biggest for a family film (behind Kung Fu Panda 3), the second-biggest April debut (behind Furious 7), and the fourth-biggest Disney opening (behind Avengers: Age of Ultron, Iron Man 3, and Star Wars: The Force Awakens).[96] It topped the daily box office through the whole opening week and went on to remain at the top of the box office for a second weekend, after dropping by a mere 20% to $29.8 million, despite facing some competitions.[97] It ended its run there with a total of $150.1 million after thirty days of playing in theaters, adding $1.2 million on its last day. Albeit falling just below expectations, it nevertheless emerged as a huge financial success and becoming the fourth-biggest Disney release there.[75][98]

text: In the United Kingdom and Ireland, it had an opening weekend total of £9.9 million ($14.1 million) from 594 theaters[99] and in France with $8.1 million.[78] Elsewhere, the highest openings were recorded in Russia and the CIS ($7.4 million), Germany ($5.1 million), Spain ($3.9 million), Australia ($2.8 million), Argentina ($2.3 million), and in Malaysia, where it scored the biggest opening weekend for a live-action Disney film with $2.3 million.[77][78] In the UK, it became the first film of 2016 to earn over £5 million in three straight weekends and the first film since Jurassic World, Spectre, and Star Wars: The Force Awakens (all 2015 films) to achieve such an accomplishment,[100] and the first film of 2016 to earn above £40 million ($58 million).[101] In South Korea, it faced competition with Warcraft, but ended up debuting atop the charts with $6.2 million.[102] It has so far grossed a total of $18 million there.[103]

text: It opened in Japan on August 11, alongside the superhero film X-Men: Apocalypse[95][104] and delivered a four-day opening of $6.2 million from 676 screens ($3 million in two days), debuting at second place behind The Secret Life of Pets. Although the opening figure was considered mediocre, Deadline.com noted that Japan is a market that can see big multiples.[105][106] It fell just 30% in its second weekend earning $2.1 million for an eleven-day total of $13.7 million.[107][108]

text: In total earnings, its biggest markets outside of the US and Canada were China ($150.1 million), the United Kingdom ($66.2 million) and India ($38.8 million).[98] It was the highest-grossing film of 2016 in Europe with a total of $209 million,[109] the United Kingdom and Ireland,[110] and in India (although it was later surpassed by Sultan, in terms of Hollywood/imported films, it is still the biggest).[111]

text: Critical response[edit]

text: The film received praise for its visual effects, vocal performances, direction, musical score, and its faithfulness to the animated film.[116][117][118] On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 95%, based on 296 reviews, with an average rating of 7.7/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "As lovely to behold as it is engrossing to watch, The Jungle Book is the rare remake that actually improves upon its predecessors—all while setting a new standard for CGI."[119] On Metacritic, the film has a score of 77 out of 100, based on 49 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews."[120] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A" on an A+ to F scale. Ninety-seven percent of the audience gave the film an A or a B. It got As from both the under- and over-25 crowd and A+ among those under 18 years of age, and also for the over-50 audience.[36]

text: Todd McCarthy of The Hollywood Reporter wrote, "Exceptionally beautiful to behold and bolstered by a stellar vocal cast, this umpteenth film rendition of Rudyard Kipling's tales of young Mowgli's adventures amongst the creatures of the Indian jungle proves entirely engaging, even if it's ultimately lacking in subtext and thematic heft."[121] Andrew Barker of Variety felt that this version "can't rival the woolly looseness of Disney's 1967 animated classic, of course, but it succeeds on its own so well that such comparisons are barely necessary."[122] Robbie Collin of The Telegraph gave the film four stars out of five, and deemed it "a sincere and full-hearted adaptation that returns to Kipling for fresh inspiration."[123] Alonso Duralde of The Wrap says "This 'Book' might lack the post-vaudeville razzamatazz of its predecessor, but director Jon Favreau and a team of effects wizards plunge us into one of the big screen's most engrossing artificial worlds since Avatar."[124] Peter Bradshaw, writing for The Guardian, gave the film four out of five stars and felt that the film had a touch of Apocalypto in it, finding the plot elements to be similar to those in The Lion King. He wrote that the film was "spectacular, exciting, funny and fun" and that it "handsomely revives the spirit of Disney's original film."[125] Pete Hammond of Deadline.com wrote that the film had laughs, excitement, an exceptional voice cast and, most importantly, a lot of heart, calling it a cinematic achievement like no other. He particularly praised Murray's performance and the visual effects, deeming it "simply astonishing."[126] Chris Nashawaty of Entertainment Weekly graded the film an "A–," calling it one of the biggest surprises of 2016. He, however, felt the two songs were rather unnecessary and distracting, and believed the film to be a little too frightening for children.[127]

text: Richard Roeper of Chicago Sun-Times awarded the film three-and-a-half stars, pointing out the CGI as the apex achievement of the film. He labelled it "a beautifully rendered, visually arresting take on Rudyard Kipling's oft-filmed tales" but found the musical numbers to be trivial, saying that without the musical numbers, the film might have been a more exhilarating streamlined adventure.[128] Los Angeles Times' Kenneth Turan remarked that "The Jungle Book is the kind of family film calculated to make even those without families wish they had one to take along."[129] Peter Travers of Rolling Stone awarded the film three-and-a-half stars out of four, labeling it scary and thrilling, yet unique and unforgettable, and adding that it "fills us with something rare in movies today—a sense of wonder."[130] The Village Voice's Bilge Ebiri hailed the film as fast and light and that it "manages to be just scary enough to make us feel the danger of solitude in the middle of a massive jungle, but never indulgent or gratuitous."[131] The New York Times' Manohla Dargis was less enthusiastic.[132] Cath Clarke of Time Out compared Elba's character of Shere Khan to Scar from The Lion King, calling him "baddie of the year."[133] Matt Zoller Seitz of RogerEbert.com also had high praise for Elba's portrayal of Shere Khan stating: "His loping menace is envisioned so powerfully that he'd be scary no matter what, but the character becomes a great villain through imaginative empathy. We understand and appreciate his point-of-view, even though carrying it out would mean the death of Mowgli."[114]

text: The film's visual effects and 3D photography were compared to those of Avatar, Gravity, Hugo, and Life of Pi.[116][124][134] Sarah Ward of Screen International wrote that the level of detail on display in the film "is likely to evoke the same jaw-dropping reaction as James Cameron's box office topper."[135] Entertainment Weekly called it "one of the few 3D movies that actually benefits from being in 3D."[127] The film also had a positive reception from Indian contemporary critics and publications,[136] such as The Times of India,[137] The Hindu,[138] India Today,[139] The Indian Express,[140] and The Economic Times.[141]

text: The film also had its share of negative reviews with most reviewers criticizing the inconsistent tone of the film and the director's indecision to stick to one vision. Sam C. Mac of Slant Magazine wrote, "Jon Favreau draws heavily on his film's animated predecessor for plot, characterizations, songs, and set pieces, but doesn't know how to fit these familiar elements into his own coherent vision".[142] Josh Spiegel of Movie Mezzanine also echoed these feelings, saying that the film "stumbles because the people involved aren't willing to fully commit to either making a near-shot-for-shot remake or going in a completely different direction".[143] Rene Rodriguez of the Miami Herald felt that the movie was soulless, writing that "The better these talking beasts look, the more the film resembles a gorgeous screen saver. You admire The Jungle Book, but you can't lose yourself in it".[144]

text: Accolades[edit]

text: Sequel[edit]

text: Following the film's early financial and critical success, the studio has begun working on a sequel. Jon Favreau is reported to return as director and Neel Sethi is reported to reprise his role as Mowgli, while screenwriter Justin Marks is also in negotiations to return.[145] It was announced on April 25, 2016 that Favreau and Marks will return to direct and write, and the sequel could potentially have a release sometime in 2019 and will be shot back-to-back with a remake of The Lion King.[146][147][148] However, it was reported in March 2017 that the sequel was put on hold in order for Favreau to instead focus mainly on The Lion King.[149]


document_title: Iris (anatomy)

question_text: muscular tissue present in the iris of the eye

root

text: Iris (anatomy)

text: Structure[edit]

text: The iris consists of two layers: the front pigmented fibrovascular known as a stroma and, beneath the stroma, pigmented epithelial cells.

tag: p

text: The stroma connects to a sphincter muscle (sphincter pupillae), which contracts the pupil in a circular motion, and a set of dilator muscles (dilator pupillae) which pull the iris radially to enlarge the pupil, pulling it in folds. The back surface is covered by a heavily pigmented epithelial layer that is two cells thick (the iris pigment epithelium), but the front surface has no epithelium. This anterior surface projects as the dilator muscles. The high pigment content blocks light from passing through the iris to the retina, restricting it to the pupil.[1] The outer edge of the iris, known as the root, is attached to the sclera and the anterior ciliary body. The iris and ciliary body together are known as the anterior uvea. Just in front of the root of the iris is the region referred to as the trabecular meshwork, through which the aqueous humour constantly drains out of the eye, with the result that diseases of the iris often have important effects on intraocular pressure and indirectly on vision. The iris along with the anterior ciliary body provide a secondary pathway for aqueous humour to drain from the eye.

text: The iris is divided into two major regions:

text:
The pupillary zone is the inner region whose edge forms the boundary of the pupil.
The ciliary zone is the rest of the iris that extends to its origin at the ciliary body.

tag: ol

text: The collarette is the thickest region of the iris, separating the pupillary portion from the ciliary portion. The collarette is a rudiment of the coating of the embryonic pupil.[1] It is typically defined as the region where the sphincter muscle and dilator muscle overlap. Radial ridges extend from the periphery to the pupillary zone, to supply the iris with blood vessels. The root of the iris is the thinnest and most peripheral.[2]

text: The muscle cells of the iris are smooth muscle in mammals and amphibians, but are striated muscle in reptiles (including birds). Many fish have neither, and, as a result, their irides are unable to dilate and contract, so that the pupil always remains of a fixed size.[3]

text: Front[edit]

text:
The crypts of Fuchs are a series of openings located on either side of the collarette that allow the stroma and deeper iris tissues to be bathed in aqueous humor. Collagen trabeculae that surround the border of the crypts can be seen in blue irises.
The midway between the collarette and the origin of the iris. These folds result from changes in the surface of the iris as it dilates.[citation needed]
Crypts on the base of the iris are additional openings that can be observed close to the outermost part of the ciliary portion of the iris.[2]

text: Back[edit]

text:
The radial contraction folds of Schwalbe are a series of very fine radial folds in the pupillary portion of the iris extending from the pupillary margin to the collarette. They are associated with the scalloped appearance of the pupillary ruff.
The structural folds of Schwalbe are radial folds extending from the border of the ciliary and pupillary zones that are much broader and more widely spaced, continuous with the "valleys" between the ciliary processes.
Some of the circular contraction folds are a fine series of ridges that run near the pupillary margin and vary in thickness of the iris pigment epithelium; others are in ciliary portion of iris.[2]

text: Microanatomy[edit]

text: From anterior (front) to posterior (back), the layers of the iris are:

text:
Anterior limiting layer
Stroma of iris
Iris sphincter muscle
Iris dilator muscle (myopeithelium)
Anterior pigment epithelium
Posterior pigment epithelium

text: Development[edit]

text: The stroma and the anterior border layer of the iris are derived from the neural crest, and behind the stroma of the iris, the sphincter pupillae and dilator pupillae muscles as well as the iris epithelium develop from optic cup neuroectoderm.

text: Eye color[edit]

text: The iris is usually strongly pigmented, with the color typically ranging between brown, hazel, green, gray, or blue. Occasionally, the color of the iris is due to a lack of pigmentation, as in the pinkish-white of oculo-cutaneous albinism,[1] or to obscuration of its pigment by blood vessels, as in the red of an abnormally vascularised iris. Despite the wide range of colors, the only pigment that contributes substantially to normal human iris color is the dark pigment melanin. The quantity of melanin pigment in the iris is one factor in determining the phenotypic eye color of a person. Structurally, this huge molecule is only slightly different from its equivalent found in skin and hair. Iris color is due to variable amounts of eumelanin (brown/black melanins) and pheomelanin (red/yellow melanins) produced by melanocytes. More of the former is found in brown eyed people and of the latter in blue and green-eyed people.

text: Genetic and physical factors determining iris color[edit]

text: Iris color is a highly complex phenomenon consisting of the combined effects of texture, pigmentation, fibrous tissue and blood vessels within the iris stroma, which together make up an individual's epigenetic constitution in this context.[2] A person's "eye color" is actually the color of one's iris, the cornea being transparent and the white sclera entirely outside the area of interest.

text: Melanin is yellowish-brown to dark brown in the stromal pigment cells, and black in the iris pigment epithelium, which lies in a thin but very opaque layer across the back of the iris. Most human irises also show a condensation of the brownish stromal melanin in the thin anterior border layer, which by its position has an overt influence on the overall color.[2] The degree of dispersion of the melanin, which is in subcellular bundles called melanosomes, has some influence on the observed color, but melanosomes in the iris of humans and other vertebrates are not mobile, and the degree of pigment dispersion cannot be reversed. Abnormal clumping of melanosomes does occur in disease and may lead to irreversible changes in iris color (see heterochromia, below). Colors other than brown or black are due to selective reflection and absorption from the other stromal components. Sometimes lipofuscin, a yellow "wear and tear" pigment, also enters into the visible eye color, especially in aged or diseased green eyes.

text: The optical mechanisms by which the non-pigmented stromal components influence eye color are complex, and many erroneous statements exist in the literature. Simple selective absorption and reflection by biological molecules (hemoglobin in the blood vessels, collagen in the vessel and stroma) is the most important element. Rayleigh scattering and Tyndall scattering, (which also happen in the sky) and diffraction also occur. Raman scattering, and constructive interference, as in the feathers of birds, do not contribute to the color of the human eye, but interference phenomena are important in the brilliantly colored iris pigment cells (iridophores) in many animals. Interference effects can occur at both molecular and light microscopic scales, and are often associated (in melanin-bearing cells) with quasi-crystalline formations which enhance the optical effects. Interference is recognised by characteristic dependence of color on the angle of view, as seen in eyespots of some butterfly wings, although the chemical components remain the same. White babies are usually born blue-eyed since there is no pigment in the stroma, and their eyes appear blue due to scattering and selective absorption from the posterior epithelium. If melanin is deposited substantially, there will be brown or black color, if not, they will remain blue or gray.[4]

text: All the contributing factors towards eye color and its variation are not fully understood. Autosomal recessive/dominant traits in iris color are inherent in other species but coloration can follow a different pattern.

text: Amber Eyes[edit]

text: Amber colored eyes are extremely rare in humans. They consist of a solid orange/gold color that may contain lighter shades of the same pigment within the iris. This is an unusual occurrence that happens when the yellow pigment called pheomelanin (also known as lipochrome), is dominant within the iris. Pheomelanin is also found on individuals with green eyes in much smaller amounts. This is because green eyes have a strong presence of both melanin and pheomelanin. Often in poor lighting, one may mistake amber eyes for brown. This also happens when viewed from far away or in pictures with poor lighting as well. However, in natural or well lit areas, it is very easy to tell the difference between the two colors. Another common mistake people make is referring to amber eyes as hazel. Although similar, hazel eyes have a stronger presence of melanin with two very distinct colors within the iris (usually green/brown) and often contain many speckles or blotches of mixed hues.[5]

text: Different colors in the two eyes[edit]

text: Heterochromia (also known as a heterochromia iridis or heterochromia iridum) is an ocular condition in which one iris is a different color from the other iris (complete heterochromia), or where the part of one iris is a different color from the remainder (partial heterochromia or sectoral heterochromia). Uncommon in humans, it is often an indicator of ocular disease, such as chronic iritis or diffuse iris melanoma, but may also occur as a normal variant. Sectors or patches of strikingly different colors in the same iris are less common. Alexander the Great and Anastasios the First were dubbed dikoro*s (dikoros, "with two pupils") for their patent heterochromias. In their case, this was not a true dicoria (two pupils in the same iris). Real polycoria can be due to disease but is most often due to previous trauma or surgery.[citation needed]

text: In contrast, heterochromia and variegated iris patterns are common in veterinary practice. Siberian Huskies show heterochromia,[6] possibly analogous to the genetically-determined Waardenburg syndrome of humans. Some white cat fancies (e.g., white Turkish Angora or white Turkish van cats) may show striking heterochromia, with the most common pattern being one uniformly blue, the other copper, orange, yellow or green.[6] Striking variation within the same iris is also common in some animals, and is the norm in some species. Several herding breeds, particularly those with a blue merle coat color (such as Australian Shepherds and Border Collies) may show well-defined blue areas within a brown iris as well as separate blue and darker eyes.[citation needed] Some horses (usually within the white, spotted, palomino or cremello groups of breeds) may show amber, brown, white and blue all within the same eye, without any sign of eye disease.[citation needed]

text: One eye with a white or bluish-white iris is also known as a walleye.[7]

text: Clinical significance[edit]

text: When photographed with a flash, the iris constricts but not fast enough to avoid the red-eye effect. This represents reflection of light from the back of the eye, and is closely related to the term red reflex, used by ophthalmologists and optometrists in describing appearances on fundal examination.

text: Conjunctivitis[edit]

text: When used as a descriptive term in medicine, the meaning of red eye is quite different, and indicates that the bulbar conjunctiva is reddened due to dilatation of superficial blood vessels. Leaving aside rarities, it indicates surface infection (conjunctivitis), intraocular inflammation (e.g., iridocyclitis) or high intraocular pressure (acute glaucoma or occasionally severe, untreated chronic glaucoma). This use of "red eye" implies disease. The term is therefore not used in medicine for ocular albinism, in which the eye is otherwise healthy despite an obviously red pupil and a translucent pinkish iris due to reflected light from the fundus. "Red eye" is used more loosely in veterinary practice, where investigation of eye diseases can be difficult, but even so albinotic breeds are easily recognised and are usually described as having "pink eye" rather than "red eye".

text: Society and culture[edit]

text: Iridology[edit]

text: Iridology (also known as iridodiagnosis) is an alternative medicine technique whose proponents believe that patterns, colors and other characteristics of the iris can be examined to determine information about a patient's systemic health. Practitioners match their observations to iris charts which divide the iris into zones corresponding to specific parts of the human body. Iridologists see the eyes as "windows" into the body's state of health.[8]

text: Iridology is not supported by quality research studies[9] and is considered pseudoscience[10] by the majority of medical practitioners and eye care professionals.

text: Etymology[edit]

text: The word iris is derived from the Greek goddess of the rainbow, because of the many colours of the iris.[11]

text: Graphics[edit]

text:
Structures of the eye

Iris, front view.


document_title: NBA All-Star Game Most Valuable Player Award

question_text: who won mvp for nba all star game

question_tokens: who won mvp for nba all star game

text: Winners[edit]

text:
^
Denotes player who is still active in the NBA

*
Elected to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame

Player (X)
Denotes the number of times the player has been awarded the MVP award

Team (X)
Denotes the number of times a player from this team has won

tag: table

text:
Season
Player
Position
Nationality
Team

1951
Macauley, EdEd Macauley*
Center/Forward
 United States
Boston Celtics

1952
Arizin, PaulPaul Arizin*
Forward/Guard
 United States
Philadelphia Warriors

1953
Mikan, GeorgeGeorge Mikan*
Center
 United States
Minneapolis Lakers

1954
Cousy, BobBob Cousy*
Guard
 United States
Boston Celtics (2)

1955
Sharman, BillBill Sharman*
Guard
 United States
Boston Celtics (3)

1956
Pettit, BobBob Pettit*
Forward/Center
 United States
St. Louis Hawks

1957
Cousy, BobBob Cousy* (2)
Guard
 United States
Boston Celtics (4)

1958
Pettit, BobBob Pettit* (2)
Forward/Center
 United States
St. Louis Hawks (2)

1959[b]
Baylor, ElginElgin Baylor*
Forward
 United States
Minneapolis Lakers (2)

Pettit, BobBob Pettit* (3)
Forward/Center
 United States
St. Louis Hawks (3)

1960
Chamberlain, WiltWilt Chamberlain*
Center
 United States
Philadelphia Warriors (2)

1961
Robertson, OscarOscar Robertson*
Guard
 United States
Cincinnati Royals

1962
Pettit, BobBob Pettit* (4)
Forward/Center
 United States
St. Louis Hawks (4)

1963
Russell, BillBill Russell*
Center
 United States
Boston Celtics (5)

1964
Robertson, OscarOscar Robertson* (2)
Guard
 United States
Cincinnati Royals (2)

1965
Lucas, JerryJerry Lucas*
Forward/Center
 United States
Cincinnati Royals (3)

1966
Smith, AdrianAdrian Smith
Guard
 United States
Cincinnati Royals (4)

1967
Barry, RickRick Barry*
Forward
 United States
San Francisco Warriors (3)

1968
Greer, HalHal Greer*
Guard/Forward
 United States
Philadelphia 76ers

1969
Robertson, OscarOscar Robertson* (3)
Guard
 United States
Cincinnati Royals (5)

1970
Reed, WillisWillis Reed*
Center/Forward
 United States
New York Knicks

1971
Wilkens, LennyLenny Wilkens*
Guard
 United States
Seattle SuperSonics

1972
West, JerryJerry West*
Guard
 United States
Los Angeles Lakers (3)

1973
Cowens, DaveDave Cowens*
Center/Forward
 United States
Boston Celtics (6)

1974
Lanier, BobBob Lanier*
Center
 United States
Detroit Pistons

1975
Frazier, WaltWalt Frazier*
Guard
 United States
New York Knicks (2)

1976
Bing, DaveDave Bing*
Guard
 United States
Washington Bullets

1977
Erving, JuliusJulius Erving*
Forward
 United States
Philadelphia 76ers (2)

1978
Smith, RandyRandy Smith
Guard/Forward
 United States
Buffalo Braves

1979
Thompson, DavidDavid Thompson*
Guard/Forward
 United States
Denver Nuggets

1980
Gervin, GeorgeGeorge Gervin*
Guard/Forward
 United States
San Antonio Spurs

1981
Archibald, NateNate Archibald*
Guard
 United States
Boston Celtics (7)

1982
Bird, LarryLarry Bird*
Forward
 United States
Boston Celtics (8)

1983
Erving, JuliusJulius Erving* (2)
Forward
 United States
Philadelphia 76ers (3)

1984
Thomas, IsiahIsiah Thomas*
Guard
 United States
Detroit Pistons (2)

1985
Sampson, RalphRalph Sampson*
Center/Forward
 United States
Houston Rockets

1986
Thomas, IsiahIsiah Thomas* (2)
Guard
 United States
Detroit Pistons (3)

1987
Chambers, TomTom Chambers
Forward/Center
 United States
Seattle SuperSonics (2)

1988
Jordan, MichaelMichael Jordan*
Guard
 United States
Chicago Bulls

1989
Malone, KarlKarl Malone*
Forward
 United States
Utah Jazz

1990
Johnson, MagicMagic Johnson*
Guard
 United States
Los Angeles Lakers (4)

1991
Barkley, CharlesCharles Barkley*
Forward
 United States
Philadelphia 76ers (4)

1992
Johnson, MagicMagic Johnson* (2)
Guard
 United States
Los Angeles Lakers (5)

1993[b]
Stockton, JohnJohn Stockton*
Guard
 United States
Utah Jazz (2)

Malone, KarlKarl Malone* (2)
Forward
 United States
Utah Jazz (3)

1994
Pippen, ScottieScottie Pippen*
Forward
 United States
Chicago Bulls (2)

1995
Richmond, MitchMitch Richmond*
Guard
 United States
Sacramento Kings (6)

1996
Jordan, MichaelMichael Jordan* (2)
Guard
 United States
Chicago Bulls (3)

1997
Rice, GlenGlen Rice
Forward
 United States
Charlotte Hornets

1998
Jordan, MichaelMichael Jordan* (3)
Guard
 United States
Chicago Bulls (4)

1999
Not awarded as the game was canceled due to the league's lockout.[3]

2000[b]
O'Neal, ShaquilleShaquille O'Neal*
Center
 United States
Los Angeles Lakers (6)

Duncan, TimTim Duncan
Forward/Center
 United States[c]
San Antonio Spurs (2)

2001
Iverson, AllenAllen Iverson*
Guard
 United States
Philadelphia 76ers (5)

2002
Bryant, KobeKobe Bryant
Guard
 United States
Los Angeles Lakers (7)

2003
Garnett, KevinKevin Garnett
Forward/Center
 United States
Minnesota Timberwolves

2004
O'Neal, ShaquilleShaquille O'Neal* (2)
Center
 United States
Los Angeles Lakers (8)

2005
Iverson, AllenAllen Iverson* (2)
Guard
 United States
Philadelphia 76ers (6)

2006
James, LeBronLeBron James^ [d]
Forward
 United States
Cleveland Cavaliers

2007
Bryant, KobeKobe Bryant (2)
Guard
 United States
Los Angeles Lakers (9)

2008
James, LeBronLeBron James^ (2)
Forward
 United States
Cleveland Cavaliers (2)

2009[b]
Bryant, KobeKobe Bryant (3)
Guard
 United States
Los Angeles Lakers (10)

O'Neal, ShaquilleShaquille O'Neal* (3) [e]
Center
 United States
Phoenix Suns

2010
Wade, DwyaneDwyane Wade^
Guard
 United States
Miami Heat

2011
Bryant, KobeKobe Bryant (4)
Guard
 United States
Los Angeles Lakers (11)

2012
Durant, KevinKevin Durant^
Forward
 United States
Oklahoma City Thunder (3)

2013
Paul, ChrisChris Paul^
Guard
 United States
Los Angeles Clippers (2)

2014
Irving, KyrieKyrie Irving^
Guard
 United States[a]
Cleveland Cavaliers (3)

2015
Westbrook, RussellRussell Westbrook^
Guard
 United States
Oklahoma City Thunder (4)

2016
Westbrook, RussellRussell Westbrook^ (2)
Guard
 United States
Oklahoma City Thunder (5)

2017
Davis, AnthonyAnthony Davis^
Forward/Center
 United States
New Orleans Pelicans

2018
James, LeBronLeBron James^ (3)
Forward
 United States
Cleveland Cavaliers (4)

text: Multi-time winners[edit]

text:
Player
Team
No.
Years

Pettit, BobBob Pettit
St. Louis Hawks
4
1956, 1958, 1959, 1962

Bryant, KobeKobe Bryant
Los Angeles Lakers
2002, 2007, 2009, 2011

Robertson, OscarOscar Robertson
Cincinnati Royals
3
1961, 1964, 1969

Jordan, MichaelMichael Jordan
Chicago Bulls
1988, 1996, 1998

O'Neal, ShaquilleShaquille O'Neal
Los Angeles Lakers
Phoenix Suns
2000, 2004, 2009

James, LeBronLeBron James
Cleveland Cavaliers
2006, 2008, 2018

Cousy, BobBob Cousy
Boston Celtics
2
1954, 1957

Erving, JuliusJulius Erving
Philadelphia 76ers
1977, 1983

Thomas, IsiahIsiah Thomas
Detroit Pistons
1984, 1986

Malone, KarlKarl Malone
Utah Jazz
1989, 1993

Johnson, MagicMagic Johnson
Los Angeles Lakers
1990, 1992

Iverson, AllenAllen Iverson
Philadelphia 76ers
2001, 2005

Westbrook, RussellRussell Westbrook
Oklahoma City Thunder
2015, 2016


document_title: Geography of Russia

question_text: is the soviet union north or south of the equator

text: Geography of Russia

text: Global position and boundaries[edit]

text: Located in the north, west and east latitudes of the Northern Hemisphere, most of Russia is much closer to the North Pole than to the equator. Individual country comparisons are of little value in gauging Russia's enormous size and diversity. The country's 17.09 million square kilometers include one-eighth of the Earth's inhabited land area. Its European portion, which occupies a substantial part of continental Europe, is home to most of Russia's industrial activity and is where, roughly between the Dnieper River and the Ural Mountains, the Russian Empire took shape. Russia includes the entire northern portion of Asia.

text: From west to east, the country stretches from Kaliningrad (the exclave separated by the 1990 secession of Lithuania from the then-Soviet Union) to Ratmanov Island (one of the Diomede Islands) in the Bering Strait. This distance spanning about 6,800 kilometres (4,200 mi), to Nome, Alaska. From north to south, the country ranges from the northern tip of the Russian Arctic islands at Franz Josef Land to the southern tip of the Republic of Dagestan on the Caspian Sea, spanning about 4,500 kilometres (2,800 mi) of extremely varied, often inhospitable terrain.

text: Extending for 57,792 kilometres (35,910 mi), the Russian border is the world's longest. Along the 20,139-kilometer land frontier, Russia has boundaries with 14 countries: Norway, Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland (via the Kaliningrad Oblast), Belarus, Ukraine, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Mongolia, the People's Republic of China and North Korea.

text: Approximately two-thirds of the frontier is bounded by seawater. Virtually all of the lengthy northern coast is well above the Arctic Circle; except for the port of Murmansk—which receives currents that are somewhat warmer than would be expected at that latitude, due to the effects of the Gulf Stream—that coast is locked in ice much of the year. Thirteen seas and parts of three oceans—the Arctic, Atlantic, and Pacific—wash Russian shores.

text: Russia shares a maritime boundary with the United States and with Japan.

text: Administrative and territorial divisions[edit]

text: With a few changes of status, most of the Soviet-era administrative and territorial divisions of the Russian Republic were retained in constituting the Russian Federation. As of 2014, there are eighty-five administrative territorial divisions (called federal subjects): twenty-two republics, nine krais (territories), forty-six oblasts (provinces), one autonomous oblast, four autonomous okrugs, and three cities with federal status, namely the cities of Moscow, Saint Petersburg, and Sevastopol.

text: The republics include a wide variety of peoples, including northern Europeans, Tatars, Caucasus peoples, and indigenous Siberians. The largest federal subjects are in Siberia. Located in east-central Siberia, the Sakha Republic (Yakutia) is the largest federal subject in the country (and the largest country subdivision in the world), twice the size of Alaska. Second in size is Krasnoyarsk Krai, located west of Sakha in Siberia. Kaliningrad Oblast, which is a noncontiguous constituent entity of Russia, is the smallest oblast. The Republic of Ingushetia is both the smallest republic and the smallest federal subject of Russia except for the three federal cities. The two most populous federal subjects, Moscow Oblast (with Moscow) and Krasnodar Krai, are in European Russia.

text: Topography and drainage[edit]

text: Geographers traditionally divide the vast territory of Russia into five natural zones: the tundra zone; the taiga, or forest, zone; the steppe, or plains, zone; the arid zone; and the mountain zone. Most of Russia consists of two plains (the East European Plain and the West Siberian Plain), two lowlands (the North Siberian and the Kolyma, in far northeastern Siberia), two plateaus (the Central Siberian Plateau and the Lena Plateau to its east), and a series of mountainous areas mainly concentrated in the extreme northeast or extending intermittently along the southern border.

text: Ecoregions[edit]

text:
desert      tundra      alpine tundra      taiga      forest
     temperate broadleaf forest      temperate steppe      steppe

text: East European plain[edit]

text: The East European Plain encompasses most of European Russia. The West Siberian Plain, which is the world's largest, extends east from the Urals to the Yenisei River. Because the terrain and vegetation are relatively uniform in each of the natural zones, Russia presents an illusion of uniformity. Nevertheless, Russian territory contains all the major vegetation zones of the world except a tropical rain forest.

text: Icecaps[edit]

text: The Russian Arctic stretches for close to 7,000 kilometres (4,300 mi) west to east, from Karelia and the Kola Peninsula to Nenetsia, the Gulf of Ob, the Taymyr Peninsula and the Chukchi Peninsula (Kolyma, Anadyr River, Cape Dezhnev). Russian islands and archipelagos in the Arctic Sea include Novaya Zemlya, Severnaya Zemlya, and the New Siberian Islands.

text: About 57 percent of Russia is tundra—a treeless, marshy plain. The tundra is Russia's northernmost zone, stretching from the Finnish border in the west to the Bering Strait in the east, then running south along the Pacific coast to the northern Kamchatka Peninsula. The zone is known for its herds of wild reindeer, for so-called white nights (dusk at midnight, dawn shortly thereafter) in summer, and for days of total darkness in winter. The long, harsh winters and lack of sunshine allow only mosses, lichens, and dwarf willows and shrubs to sprout low above the barren permafrost. Although several powerful Siberian rivers traverse this zone as they flow northward to the Arctic Ocean, partial and intermittent thawing hamper drainage of the numerous lakes, ponds, and swamps of the tundra. Frost weathering is the most important physical process here, gradually shaping a landscape that was severely modified by glaciation in the last ice age. Less than one percent of Russia's population lives in this zone. The fishing and port industries of the northwestern Kola Peninsula and the huge oil and gas fields of northwestern Siberia are the largest employers in the tundra. With a population of 180,000, the industrial frontier city of Norilsk is second in population to Murmansk among Russia's settlements above the Arctic Circle. From here you can also see the auroras (northern lights).

text: Taiga[edit]

text: Taiga - the most extensive natural area of Russia - stretches from the western borders of Russia to the Pacific. It occupies the territory of the Eastern Europe and West Siberian plains to the north of 56 ° -58 ° N and most of the territory east of Yenisei River taiga forests reach the southern borders of Russia in Siberia taiga only accounts for over 60% of Russia. In the north-south direction the eastern taiga is divided (east of the Yenisei River), with a continental climate, and west, with a milder climate, in general, the climate zone is moist, moderately warm (cool in the north) in the summer and harsh winter, there is a steady snow cover in the winter. In the latitudinal direction the taiga is divided into three subzones - northern, middle and southern taiga. In the western taiga dense spruce and fir forests on wetlands alternate with pine forests, shrubs and meadows on the lighter soils. Such vegetation is typical of the eastern taiga, but it plays an important role not fir and larch. Coniferous forest, however, does not form a continuous array and sparse areas of birch, alder, willow (mainly in river valleys), the wetlands - marshes. Within the taiga are widespread fur-bearing animals - sable, marten, ermine, moose, brown bear, wolverine, wolf, and muskrat.[4]

text: In the taiga is dominated by podzolic and cryogenic taiga soils, characterized by clearly defined horizontal structure (only in the southern taiga there are sod-podzolic soil). Formed in a leaching regime, poor humus om. Groundwater is normally found in the forest close to the surface, washing calcium from the upper layers, resulting in the top layer of soil of the taiga discolored and oxidized. Few areas of the taiga, suitable for farming, are located mainly in the European part of Russia. Large areas are occupied by sphagnum marshes (here is dominated by podzolic-boggy soil). To enrich the soil for agricultural purposes should be making lime and other fertilizer.

text: Russian Taiga has the world's largest reserves of coniferous wood, but from year to year - as a result of intensive logging - they decrease. Development of hunting, farming (mainly in river valleys).

text: Mixed and deciduous forests[edit]

text: The mixed and deciduous forest belt is triangular, widest along the western border and narrower towards the Ural Mountains. The main trees are Oak and Spruce, but many other growths of vegetation such as ash, aspen, birch, hornbeam, maple, and pine reside there. Separating the taiga from the wooded steppe is a narrow belt of birch and aspen woodland located east of the Urals as far as the Altay Mountains. Much of the forested zone has been cleared for agriculture, especially in European Russia. Wildlife is more scarce as a result of this, but the roe deer, wolf, fox, and squirrel are very common. This place is made up by the Arctic Russia.

text: Steppe[edit]

text: The steppe has long been depicted as the typical Russian landscape. It is a broad band of treeless, grassy plains, interrupted by mountain ranges, extending from Hungary across Ukraine, southern Russia, and Kazakhstan before ending in Manchuria. Most of the Soviet Union's steppe zone was located in the Ukrainian and Kazakh republics; the much smaller Russian steppe is located mainly between those nations, extending southward between the Black and Caspian Seas before blending into the increasingly desiccated territory of the Republic of Kalmykia. In a country of extremes, the steppe zone provides the most favorable conditions for human settlement and agriculture because of its moderate temperatures and normally adequate levels of sunshine and moisture. Even here, however, agricultural yields are sometimes adversely affected by unpredictable levels of precipitation and occasional catastrophic droughts. The soil is very dry.

text: Topography[edit]

text: Russia's mountain ranges are located principally along its continental dip (the Ural Mountains), along the southwestern border (the Caucasus), along the border with Mongolia (the eastern and western Sayan Mountains and the western extremity of the Altay Mountains), and in eastern Siberia (a complex system of ranges in the northeastern corner of the country and forming the spine of the Kamchatka Peninsula, and lesser mountains extending along the Sea of Okhotsk and the Sea of Japan). Russia has nine major mountain ranges. In general, the eastern half of the country is much more mountainous than the western half, the interior of which is dominated by low plains. The traditional dividing line between the east and the west is the Yenisei River valley. In delineating the western edge of the Central Siberian Plateau from the West Siberian Plain, the Yenisey runs from near the Mongolian border northward into the Arctic Ocean west of the Taymyr Peninsula.

text: Ural Mountains[edit]

text: The Ural Mountains form the natural boundary between Europe and Asia; the range extends about 2,100 kilometres (1,300 mi) from the Arctic Ocean to the northern border of Kazakhstan. Several low passes provide major transportation routes through the Urals eastward from Europe. The highest peak, Mount Narodnaya, is 1,894 metres (6,214 ft). The Urals also contain valuable deposits of minerals.

text: West Siberian plain[edit]

text: To the east of the Urals is the West Siberian Plain, stretching about 6 kilometers from west to east and about 670 kilometers from north to south. With more than half its territory below 200 meters in elevation, the plain contains some of the world's largest swamps and floodplains. Most of the plain's population lives in the drier section south of 77 north latitude.

text: Central Siberian plateau[edit]

text: The region directly east of the West Siberian Plain is the Central Siberian Plateau, which extends eastward from the Yenisei River valley to the Lena River valley. The region is divided into several plateaus, with elevations ranging between 320 and 740 meters; the highest elevation is about 1,800 meters, in the northern Putoran Mountains. The plain is bounded on the south by the Baikal Mountains system and on the north by the North Siberian Lowland, an extension of the West Siberian Plain extending into the Taymyr Peninsula on the Arctic Ocean.

text: Sayan and Stanovoy Mountains[edit]

text: In the mountain system west of Lake Baikal in south-central Siberia, the highest elevations are 3,300 meters in the Western Sayan, 3,200 meters in the Eastern Sayan, and 4,500 meters at Belukha Mountain in the Altay Mountains. The Eastern Sayan reach nearly to the southern shore of Lake Baikal; at the lake, there is an elevation difference of more than 4,500 meters between the nearest mountain, 2,840 meters high, and the deepest part of the lake, which is 1,700 meters below sea level. The mountain systems east of Lake Baikal are lower, forming a complex of minor ranges and valleys that reaches from the lake to the Pacific coast. The maximum height of the Stanovoy Range, which runs west to east from northern Lake Baikal to the Sea of Okhotsk, is 2,550 meters. To the south of that range is southeastern Siberia, whose mountains reach 800 meters. Across the Strait of Tartary from that region is Sakhalin Island, Russia's largest island, where the highest elevation is about 1,700 meters. The small Moneron Island, the site of the shootdown of Korean Air Lines Flight 007, is found to its west.

text: Caucasus Mountains[edit]

text: Truly alpine terrain appears in the southern mountain ranges. Between the Black and Caspian seas, the Caucasus Mountains rise to impressive heights, forming a boundary between Europe and Asia. One of the peaks, Mount Elbrus, is the highest point in Europe, at 5,642 meters. The geological structure of the Caucasus extends to the northwest as the Crimean and Carpathian Mountains and southeastward into Central Asia as the Tian Shan and Pamirs. The Caucasus Mountains create an imposing natural barrier between Russia and its neighbors to the southwest, Georgia and Azerbaijan.

text: Northeast Siberia and Kamchatka[edit]

text: Northeastern Siberia, north of the Stanovoy Range, is an extremely mountainous region. The long Kamchatka Peninsula, which juts southward into the Sea of Okhotsk, includes many volcanic peaks, some of which are still active. The highest is the 4,750-meter Klyuchevskaya Sopka, the highest point in the Russian Far East. The volcanic chain continues from the southern tip of Kamchatka southward through the Kuril Islands chain and into Japan. Kamchatka also is one of Russia's two centers of seismic activity (the other is the Caucasus). In 1995, a major earthquake largely destroyed the oil-processing town of Neftegorsk. Also located in this region is the very large Beyenchime-Salaatin crater.

text: Drainage[edit]

text: Russia is a water-rich country, divided into twenty watershed districts. The earliest settlements in the country sprang up along the rivers, where most of the urban population continues to live. The Volga, Europe's longest river, is by far Russia's most important commercial waterway. Four of the country's thirteen largest cities are located on its banks: Nizhny Novgorod, Samara, Kazan, and Volgograd. The Kama River, which flows west from the southern Urals to join the Volga in the Republic of Tatarstan, is a second key European water system whose banks are densely populated.

text: Russia has thousands of rivers and inland bodies of water, providing it with one of the world's largest surface-water resources. However, most of Russia's rivers and streams belong to the Arctic drainage basin, which lies mainly in Siberia but also includes part of European Russia. Altogether, 84 percent of Russia's surface water is located east of the Urals in rivers flowing through sparsely populated territory and into the Arctic and Pacific oceans. In contrast, areas with the highest concentrations of population, and therefore the highest demand for water supplies, tend to have the warmest climates and highest rates of evaporation. As a result, densely populated areas such as the Don and Kuban River basins north of the Caucasus have barely adequate (or in some cases inadequate) water resources.

text: Forty of Russia's rivers longer than 1,000 kilometers are east of the Urals, including the three major rivers that drain Siberia as they flow northward to the Arctic Ocean: the Irtysh-Ob system (totaling 5,380 kilometers), the Yenisei (4,000 kilometers), and the Lena (3,630 kilometers). The basins of those river systems cover about eight million square kilometers, discharging nearly 50,000 cubic meters of water per second into the Arctic Ocean. The northward flow of these rivers means that source areas thaw before the areas downstream, creating vast swamps such as the 48,000-square-kilometer Vasyugan Swamp in the center of the West Siberian Plain. The same is true of other river systems, including the Pechora and the Northern Dvina in Europe and the Kolyma and the Indigirka in Siberia. Approximately 10 percent of Russian territory is classified as swampland.

text: A number of other rivers drain Siberia from eastern mountain ranges into the Pacific Ocean. The Amur River and its main tributary, the Ussuri, form a long stretch of the winding boundary between Russia and China. The Amur system drains most of southeastern Siberia. Three basins drain European Russia. The Dnieper, which flows mainly through Belarus and Ukraine, has its headwaters in the hills west of Moscow. The 1,860-kilometer |Don originates in the Central Russian Upland south of Moscow and then flows into the Sea of Azov and the Black Sea at Rostov-on-Don. The Volga is the third and by far the largest of the European systems, rising in the Valdai Hills west of Moscow and meandering southeastward for 3,510 kilometers before emptying into the Caspian Sea. Altogether, the Volga system drains about 1.4 million square kilometers. Linked by several canals, European Russia's rivers long have been a vital transportation system; the Volga system still carries two-thirds of Russia's inland water traffic.

text: Russia's inland bodies of water are chiefly a legacy of extensive glaciation. In European Russia, the largest lakes are Ladoga and Onega northeast of Saint Petersburg, Lake Peipus on the Estonian border, and the Rybinsk Reservoir north of Moscow. Smaller man-made reservoirs, 160 to 320 kilometers long, are on the Don, the Kama, and the Volga rivers. Many large reservoirs also have been constructed on the Siberian rivers; the Bratsk Reservoir northwest of Lake Baikal is one of the world's largest.

text: The most prominent of Russia's bodies of fresh water is Lake Baikal, the world's deepest and most capacious freshwater lake. Lake Baikal alone holds 85% of the freshwater resources of the lakes in Russia and 20% of the world's total. It extends 632 kilometers in length and 59 kilometers across at its widest point. Its maximum depth is 1,713 meters. Numerous smaller lakes dot the northern regions of the European and Siberian plains. The largest of these are lakes Belozero, Topozero, Vygozero, and Ilmen in the European northwest and Lake Chany in southwestern Siberia.

text: Climate[edit]

text: Russia has a largely continental climate because of its sheer size and compact configuration. Most of its land is more than 400 kilometers (250 mi) from the sea, and the centre is 3,840 kilometers (2,386 mi) from the sea. In addition, Russia's mountain ranges, predominantly to the south and the east, block moderating temperatures from the Indian and Pacific Oceans, but European Russian and northern Siberia lack such topographic protection from the Arctic and North Atlantic Oceans.

text: Because only small parts of Russia are south of 50° north latitude and more than half of the country is north of 60° north latitude, extensive regions experience six months of snow cover over subsoil that is permanently frozen to depths as far as several hundred meters. The average yearly temperature of nearly all of Siberia is below freezing, and the average for most of European Russia is between 5 and 0 °C (41 and 32 °F). Most of Russia has only two seasons, summer and winter, with very short intervals of moderation between them. Transportation routes, including entire railroad lines, are redirected in winter to traverse rock-solid waterways and lakes. Some areas constitute important exceptions to this description, however: the moderate maritime climate of Kaliningrad Oblast on the Baltic Sea is similar to that of the American Northwest; the Russian Far East, under the influence of the Pacific Ocean, has a monsoonal climate that reverses the direction of wind in summer and winter, sharply differentiating temperatures; and a narrow, subtropical band of territory provides Russia's most popular summer resort area on the Black Sea.

text: In winter, an intense high-pressure system causes winds to blow from the south and the southwest in all but the Pacific region of the Russian landmass; in summer, a low-pressure system brings winds from the north and the northwest to most of the landmass. Russia is the coldest country of the world (average annual temperature is −5.5 °C (22.1 °F)). That meteorological combination reduces the wintertime temperature difference between north and south. Thus, average January temperatures are −6 °C (21 °F) in Saint Petersburg, −27 °C (−17 °F) in the West Siberian Plain, and −43 °C (−45 °F) at Yakutsk (in east-central Siberia, at approximately the same latitude as Saint Petersburg), while the winter average on the Mongolian border, whose latitude is some 10° farther south, is barely warmer. Summer temperatures are more affected by latitude, however; the Arctic islands average 4 °C (39.2 °F), and the southernmost regions average 20 °C (68 °F). Russia's potential for temperature extremes is typified by the national record low of −68 °C (−90 °F), recorded at Verkhoyansk in north-central Siberia and the record high of 45 °C (113.0 °F), recorded at several southern stations (Utta).

text: The long, cold winter has a profound impact on almost every aspect of life in Russia. It affects where and how long people live and work, what kinds of crops are grown, and where they are grown (no part of the country has a year-round growing season). The length and severity of the winter, together with the sharp fluctuations in the mean summer and winter temperatures, impose special requirements on many branches of the economy. In regions of permafrost, buildings must be constructed on pilings, machinery must be made of specially tempered steel, and transportation systems must be engineered to perform reliably in extremely low and extremely high temperatures. In addition, during extended periods of darkness and cold, there are increased demands for energy, health care, and textiles.

text: Because Russia has little exposure to ocean influences, most of the country receives low to moderate amounts of precipitation. The highest precipitation falls in the northwest, with amounts decreasing from northwest to southeast across European Russia. The wettest areas are the small, lush subtropical region adjacent to the Caucasus and along the Pacific coast: Sochi receives 1,500 millimetres (60 in) per year and the Kuril Islands typically around 1,000 to 1,500 millimetres (40 to 60 in) - much of which is snow. Along the Baltic coast, average annual precipitation is 600 millimeters (20 in), and in Moscow it is 525 millimeters (20 in). An average of only 20 millimeters (0.8 in) falls along the Russian–Kazakh border, and as little as 15 millimeters (0.6 in) may fall along Siberia's Arctic coastline. Average annual days of snow cover, a critical factor for agriculture, depends on both latitude and altitude. Cover varies from forty to 200 days in European Russia, and from 120 to 250 days in Siberia.

text: Area and boundaries[edit]

text: Area (excluding Crimea):

text:
Total: 17,098,242 km²
Land: 17,021,900 km²
Water: 79,400 km²

text:
Area - comparative:
Slightly larger than twice size of Brazil

text: Land boundaries:

text: Total (excluding Crimea): 19,917 km

text: Kaliningrad forms the westernmost part of Russia, having no land connection to the rest of the country. It is bounded by Poland, Lithuania, and the Baltic Sea.

text: Crimea, a peninsula on the Black Sea, is claimed and de facto administered by the Russian Federation since Russia annexed it in March 2014. It is recognized as a territory of Ukraine by most of the international community.

text: Border countries:

text:
Table of countries with a land border with Russia
(listed anti-clockwise around Russia).[5]

Country
Length (km)

Norway
195.8

Finland
1,271.8

Estonia
138

Latvia
270.5

Lithuania
266

Poland
204.1

Belarus
1,239

Ukraine
1,925.8

Georgia
875.5

Azerbaijan
372.6

Kazakhstan
7,512.8

Mongolia
3485

China
4,209.3

North Korea
17

Japan
water

US
water

text:
If Abkhazia and South Ossetia are counted as sovereign states:[6]

Country
Length (km)

Abkhazia
255.4

South Ossetia
70

remaining border with Georgia
365

text: Coastline excluding Crimea: 37,653 km (23,396 mi)

text: Maritime claims:

text:
Russian continental shelf: 200 m depth or to the depth of exploitation
Exclusive economic zone: 200 nmi (370.4 km; 230.2 mi)
Territorial sea: 12 nmi (22.2 km; 13.8 mi)

text: Elevation extremes:

text:
Lowest point: Caspian Sea: −28 m
Highest point: Mount Elbrus: 5,642 m

text: Natural resources and land use[edit]

text: Russia holds the greatest reserves of mineral resources than any country in the world. Though they are abundant, they are in remote areas with extreme climates, making them expensive to mine. The country is the most abundant in mineral fuels. It may hold as much as half of the world's coal reserves and even larger reserves of petroleum. Deposits of coal are scattered throughout the region, but the largest are located in central and eastern Siberia. The most developed fields lie in western Siberia, in the northeastern European region, in the area around Moscow, and in the Urals. The major petroleum deposits are located in western Siberia and in the Volga-Urals. Smaller deposits are found throughout the country. Natural gas, a resource of which Russia holds around forty percent of the world's reserves, can be found along Siberia's Arctic coast, in the North Caucasus, and in northwestern Russia. Major iron-ore deposits are located south of Moscow, near the Ukrainian border in the Kursk Magnetic Anomaly; this area contains vast deposits of iron ore that have caused a deviation in the Earth's magnetic field. There are smaller deposits in other parts of the country. The Ural mountains hold small deposits of manganese. Nickel, tungsten, cobalt, molybdenum and other iron alloying elements occur in adequate quantities.

text: Russia also contains most of the nonferrous metals. Aluminium ores are scarce and are found primarily in the Ural region, northwestern European Russia, and south central Siberia. Copper is more abundant and major reserves are located in the Urals, the Norilsk area near the mouth of the Yenisey in eastern Siberia, and the Kola Peninsula. Another vast deposit located east of Lake Baikal only became exploited when the Baikal-Amur Mainline (BAM) railroad was finished in 1989.

text: The North Caucasus, far eastern Russia, and the western edge of the Kuznetsk Basin in southern Siberia contain an abundance of lead and zinc ores. These are commonly found along with copper, gold, silver, and a large amount of other rare metals. The country has one of the largest gold reserves in the world; mostly in Siberia and the Urals. Mercury deposits can be found in the central and southern Urals and in south central Siberia.

text: Raw materials are abundant as well, including potassium and magnesium salt deposits in the Kama River region of the western Urals. Russia also contains one of the world's largest deposits of apatite found in the central Kola Peninsula. Rock salt is located in the southwestern Urals and the southwest of Lake Baikal. Surface deposits of salt are found in salt lakes along the lower Volga Valley. Sulfur can be found in the Urals and the middle Volga Valley.

text: Eight percent of the land is used for arable farming, four percent—for permanent pastures, forty-six percent of the land is forests and woodland, and forty-two percent is used for other purposes.

text: Natural hazards[edit]

text: Volcanic activity in the Kuril Islands and volcanoes and earthquakes on the Kamchatka peninsula are other natural hazards.

text: Antipodes[edit]

text: The antipodes of Russia lie in the South Pacific and South Atlantic near Antarctica. Only a small amount is antipodal to land. This includes the arctic islands of Franz Josef Land, Victoria, and North Novaya Zemlya (to Marie Byrd Land in Antarctica); Severnaya Zemlya (to the Ronne Ice Shelf and the Ellsworth Mountains behind it); the De Long Islands (to Coats Land, or just off shore); and Wrangel Island (to Queen Maud Land and its offshore Fimbul Ice Shelf).

text: In addition, northern Ellsworth Land and the base of the Antarctic Peninsula are largely antipodal to the Taymyr Peninsula, while Alexander Island is antipodal to eastern Taymyria south of the Khatanga Gulf. The free part of the Antarctic Peninsula is antipodal to the western Sakha Republic, from its northwestern coast southward, running east of the Lena River, with the northern end of the peninsula covering the towns of Vilyuysk and Kysyl-Syr and stopping about 300 km short of Yakutsk.

text: The antipodes of the South Orkney Islands are on the Aldan River on the other side of Yakutsk, between Ust-Maya and Eldikan, in southwestern Sakha. The southern two South Sandwich Islands are antipodal to the Pyagin Peninsula east of Magadan. Western South Georgia Island is antipodal to the northern tip of Sakhalin.

text: Peter I Island, claimed by Norway on the other side of the Peninsula, is opposite a spot 70 km SE of Norilsk.

text: The only inhabited lands antipodal to Russia are southern Patagonia, including Tierra del Fuego, which correspond to much of Buryatia, the western shore of Lake Baikal in Irkutsk Oblast, and southwestern Zabaykalsky Krai, down to the Mongolian border, with Ulan-Ude being antipodal to Puerto Natales, Chile. The sparsely inhabited West Falkland and neighboring islets are antipodal to eastern Zabaykalsky on the border with northern Inner Mongolia.