Tundra - is a desolate, flat region of land lying to the north of the coniferous forests along the shores of the Arctic Ocean, as in Russia. Winters are long and cold and summers short and cool. Snow covers the ground and ice covers the rivers and lakes for eight or nine months of the year. Even in the summer only the surface of the soil thaws out and little grows but mosses, lichens and dwarf trees, shrubs and sparse brushwood. In some grassy spaces brilliant polar flowers flourish for a short time, in others, grey rocks and clay like soil form a dismal landscape. In the tundra there are many birds, rodents and carnivores, while reindeer roam the region in great herds. Until recently the inhabitants of the tundra led a precarious nomadic existence, based on hunting, fishing and reindeer breeding. Now coal, petroleum, mineral ores and some rare metals have been discovered and vigorous industries and growing in the tundra.
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