The length of the territory of the Russian Federation is the largest in the world. Hence the world's largest changes in climate and living conditions, which can be observed moving from the mountains of the Caucasus, where the southernmost point of Russia is located, to Rudolf Island in the Arctic, where the northernmost point is located. The distance from the most western (B altic Spit) to the extreme in the east (Ratmanov Island) approaches 10 thousand km and is unthinkable for any other state on the planet.
From the International Date Line
In the east, in the Bering Strait, two islands are separated by a border between two continents, two parts of the world, two oceans, two largest countries and even between two dates. The most extreme points of Russia from all four corners of the world have their own originality, but the eastern one is a particularly vivid story.
Two islands are like brothers: rocks with flat tops protruding from the ocean, only one is bigger, the other is much smaller. On different sides of the state border they are called differently. Russian names are given in honor of travelers who participated in the most important sea expeditions of the 18th century: the name of a large island (Russian)- Ratmanov Island, small (American) - Kruzenshtern Island. The Americans adopted the name of the saint, on the day of whose commemoration they were discovered by the Bering expedition: Big Diomede - Russian, Small - American.
On Ratmanov Island, border guards live at the outpost, from which a new day begins, and the Russian land begins from it. 169° 02' W are the coordinates of the extreme eastern point of the country, located on the eastern coast of the island in the middle of the sea, and the extreme mainland point, from which Russia begins, is located 38 minutes to the west, on Cape Dezhnev.
Sand spit divided in half
The section of the state border between Russia and Poland, where the extreme western point of the Russian territory is located, passes through an amazing natural formation - the B altic sand spit, which arose between the waters of the Gdansk and Kaliningrad bays due to the specific climatic and geological conditions of this region of the B altic. The southernmost point of Russia, in the Caucasus Mountains, has the same natural uniqueness that attracts tourists, although only lovers of extreme recreation can reach it. The area around the B altic Spit has always attracted vacationers who value convenience.
But to the border guards from the Narmeln outpost, closest to the point with coordinates 54°27'45″ s. sh. 19°38'19 E. etc., not to rest, they guard the state border around the clock.
Mainland and islands
If we analyze the extreme points of Russia, the extreme southern point -mountainous, Dagestan - the only one that has an unambiguous interpretation, in other directions there are two types: mainland and island.
The situation is similar with the westernmost point of Russia near the frontier post Narmeln. The island character is given to it by belonging to the Kaliningrad region, which is a Russian region, separated from the main territory and surrounded by other countries, but with access to the sea. Such an entity is scientifically called a semi-exclave.
Main, mainland Russia on the western side begins from a point with a longitude of 27°19’E and located on the eastern bank of the Pededze River in the Pskov region.
Among the ice
The north side of the Taimyr Peninsula, Cape Chelyuskin (77° 43' N), is not only the extreme northern Russian point, here is the edge of a whole part of the world - Asia, here is the edge of the largest continent of the planet - Eurasia. These are places with a harsh climate and cruel living conditions, although this can be described as the entire vast Russian coast of the Arctic Ocean.
The island's extreme northern point is located even closer to the North Pole - on Rudolf Island. The island, like Cape Fligely, located in its northeast, like the entire archipelago - Franz Josef Land, was discovered, explored and named by members of the Austro-Hungarian polar expedition, which took place in the late 1870s.
Cape Fligeli (81° 49' N) is the only named point close to the northernmost Russian point, which is slightly higher, on the nearestthe pole of the tip of the island.
In general, all the extreme (western, eastern, northern, southern) points of Russia are not accessible (the western one is the most accessible, although it is located in the border zone), but only very purposeful and motivated explorers can reach the northern edge of the Russian land.
Bazarduzu and Ragdan
41°12' N. sh. - such a latitude mark has the southernmost point of Russia. In Soviet times, few people were interested in such a geographical mark, everyone knew Kushka, the southernmost point of the Soviet Union. It turned out that Russia begins in the south, in the stunningly beautiful mountains of Dagestan. The border with neighboring Azerbaijan whimsically winds along the mountain spurs of the Caucasian ridge, and it is very difficult to designate a specific geographical point object.
Very close to it is the magnificent mountain peak Bazarduzu (4466 m), the highest in Dagestan. This is a favorite place for climbers - experienced and beginners, in these fantastic places you can find a route of any category of difficulty. But Mount Ragdan is even closer to such a significant point. At a distance of about two kilometers from its peak, on one of the slopes, at an altitude of 3500 m, is the southernmost point of Russia, the highest of all four directions.
