| taiga | evergreen trees growing in southern russia |
| steppe | wide flat grassland, found in Ukraine and kazakhstan |
| czar | emperor of russian empire |
| cold war | rivalry with the U.S and soviets between 1940 and 1990 |
| smelters | factories that produce metal ores |
| trans-siberian rail road | longest single line rail road in the world |
| ice breakers | ships that break the ice on frozen waterways to let other ships go through |
| habitation fog | fog caused by smoke that is trapped over siberian cities |
| serfs | people bond to the land to work for lords |
| cossacks | nomadic horseman from Ukraine |
| soviet | a communist party that governed |
| agrarian | society based on agriculture |
| homogeneous | sharing characteristics and ethicality |
| landlocked | a place with no direct access to water, surrounded by land |
| oasis | a spring or well in the dessert |
| nomads | people who move from place to place |
| caravans | people who travel together for safety |
| yurt | movable round houses of wool and felt mats over a wooden frame |
| mosques | islamic houses of worship |
| tashkent and samarqand | silk road cities |