Memo: S\/M \u2013 The U.S.S.R. \u2013 Possible Settlement Locations, Geography and Climate<\/p>\n
Compiled by: Gene Chaikin, with Tom Grubbs and Dick Tropp<\/p>\n
1. General Statements and Conclusions:<\/p>\n
All available \u201csouthern\u201d areas in the U.S.S.R. fall in latitudes equivalent to Pittsburgh on the south, Albany in the center, and Montreal on the north. In a generalized sense there are no climates which are warm the year around. However, there are some small, local areas of quite mild climate due to weather modification by local conditions, general bodies of water or mountains. Since these areas are small the books we have on hand do not give us detailed information,\u00a0 so that we have had to resort to deduction and assumption.<\/p>\n
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2. Criteria for Evaluation:<\/p>\n
We felt that anywhere citrus crops could be grown it would not be too cold in the winters because the trees can only withstand a small amount of frost. There may be, however, winters with a lot of 45 to 55\u00b0 weather. These we consider \u201cfirst choice\u201d areas. The next best we felt were areas where rice and cotton are grown, because they take hot summers and fairly long growing seasons.\u00a0 They are in semi-deserts and have called, though dry winters (some blown snow, perhaps) as well as large diurnal temperature variations. These would consider \u201csecond choice\u201d areas.<\/p>\n
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3. First Choice Areas \u2013 Mediterranean Climate, citrus production:<\/p>\n
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No. 1. The east coast of the Black Sea, south of the Caucasus Mountains. This area is partly in the Georgian SSR,\u00a0 and partly in the Russian Federative SSR,\u00a0 in the area called Kransnador.\u00a0 It is a narrow costal [coastal] plain that lies between the Black Sea and the Caucasus mountains.\u00a0 The mountains which are over 15,000\u2019,\u00a0 block the cold air from the north and east. The Black Sea moderates the climate. There is adequate rainfall because of proximity to the sea and conventional patterns. All varieties of semi-tropical agriculture are practiced and there is a fairly heavy population concentration.<\/p>\n
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No. 2. In areas south of Baku, on the western side of the Caspian Sea. This area is in the Azerbaijan SSR,\u00a0 very near the Iranian Border.\u00a0 It is physically close to, and in many ways must resemble No. 1,\u00a0 except that it is likely somewhat drier, with lower hills.<\/p>\n
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Nos. 3 & 4. These are located within 300 miles or so of each other in the foothills or the mountains that make up the northern Himalayas, in the general vicinity of the China-Pakistan-Soviet border, south and west of Lake Balkhash.\u00a0 They are apparently in the Uzbek SSR and the Kirzig SSR.\u00a0 It is peculiar to find a citrus growing area here because it is in the center of a huge continental mass, in a mountainous area, and at a latitude slightly north of Mt. Shasta. One might expect a climate something on the order of Denver, Colorado. However, Tom speculates that these areas are in valleys that are heated by the \u201cfauna\u201d wind effect, which keeps warm air settled in the valleys and keeps them much warmer than the surrounding hilly areas. This must be so because they could not possibly grow citrus in such a climate area. The winters would kill the trees. For instance, except for the \u201cfauna effect\u201d the average January temperature in this area, assuming an altitude of 2000\u2019 or less, would be 17 degrees.\u00a0 There appears to be a lot of agriculture in the general area, and a lot of oil nearby, so the area is substantially developed. Cities that may be in these areas (the agricultural maps do not have any political geography and cannot be superimposed) are Andizhan, Samarkand or Dushanbe.\u00a0 There is a large Russian Slavic population mixed with the Turcic\u00a0 peoples who are indigenous to the region. Interestingly, the language map for the region shows these mixtures, plus such languages in isolated areas as\u00a0 Iranian, Gypsy, and Korean.<\/p>\n
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4. Second Choice Areas \u2013 \u201cSouthern\u201d Continental Climate, rice and cotton production:<\/p>\n
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These are two areas, quite similar, which followed the river beds of the two main rivers that flow from the mountains in the South, generally north and empty into the sea of Aral. They are the Syr\u00a0 river, located in the Kazakh SSR,\u00a0 and the Amu river, located in the Uzbek SSR.\u00a0 They are areas that are mainly devoted to the raising of cotton and rice on huge\u00a0 irrigated collective farms. There are now many Russian Slavs there, as well as the indigenous Turcic\u00a0 peoples. The area has been developed mostly in the last 20 years and is still very new. The crops require a fairly long, and hot growing season \u2013 the Bakersfield area is a good illustration, although the latitude of the area under discussion is more like that of Redding, Cal. The climate is continental, but quite dry and most of the area, around 10\u201d per year. Most of the precipitation is in the winter \u2013 which means snow. We suspect an average January temperature of 20 degrees,\u00a0 and an average July temperature of 80 degrees.\u00a0 It is likely quite windy, which would add to a chill factor with the winter cold. This would appear to be a fairly rigorous climate for our people, both as to summer heat and winter cold. On the other hand, it is dry which is fairly healthy and makes both temperature extreems [extremes] easier to take.<\/p>\n
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5. Other choices: The\u00a0 best of the rest seem to have a latitude and climate not unlike\u00a0 Minneapolis, Minn. or colder. Perhaps the areas of Moldavia or the southernmost and westernmost portions of the Ukrainian SSR,\u00a0 right near the Black Sea might be more mild. This area is too small to get any information about in our literature. We rather expect, however, that it is an area of warm summers, excellent soils and a good growing season but a cold and snowy winter changing to, perhaps, a cold and foggy winter on the coast. These areas in the Southwest must also be very populated. The Moldavian SSR\u00a0 has the largest average per square mile population of any of the Republics,\u00a0 which may only mean that there is little waste land in the area.<\/p>\n
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6. Political Evaluation:<\/p>\n
It\u00a0 appears less likely that they would be interested in putting us in highly populated, well developed areas near strategic borders, such as Nos. 1, 2,\u00a0 and the southwest,\u00a0 although No. 1\u00a0 would appear the best for us. However, they have permitted the settlement in the nearby Armenian SSR\u00a0 of some 200,000 non-Soviet Armenians in the last 20 years. Unfortunately, these \u201cpreferred\u201d living areas present the appearance of fairly large population concentrations and full use of the available farm land. We feel, therefor [therefore], for both political and demographic reasons that the Soviets would rather have us in a new \u201cpioneering\u201d area \u2013 which means Nos. 3 & 4,\u00a0 or the \u201csecond choice\u201d areas.<\/p>\n
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7. Conclusion:<\/p>\n
We suggest that the Soviets may not understand our needs for, or rather our standards of a \u201cwarm\u201d climate. Our literature is very generalized and we are not able to get the descriptions of small areas. We strongly suggest that a party of our people go to any of the areas suggested by the Soviets, during the winter, to make a first hand inspections of the conditions and an evaluation of their suitability for our people.<\/p>\n
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Respectfully submitted,<\/p>\n
October 25, 1978<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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