| A | B |
| permafrost | permanently frozen soil |
| tundra | vast treeless plains |
| taiga | vast woodland |
| steppe | wide grassy plains |
| ethnic group | people with their own unique heritage, customs, and language |
| nationalities | ethnic groups |
| czar | supreme ruler of all Russia |
| socialism | philosophy that called for ownership of land and factories by workers |
| russification | czarist order requiring all people to speak Russian and become Christians |
| communism | teachings of Marx and Lenin |
| perestroika | Gorbachev's name for the restructuring of the Soviet Union |
| glasnost | new openness in Russia |
| atheist | person who does not believe in God |
| icon | intricate religious image |
| pogrom | organized persecution and massacre of Jews |
| socialist realism | belief that a work of art had to agree with and praise everything Soviet |
| command economy | economy in which a central authority makes the decisions |
| consumer goods | goods people buy |
| black market | illegal market with high-priced goods |
| market economy | economy based on supply and demand and privately owned businesses |
| industrialize | develop industry |
| polluted | contaminated by harmful substances |
| pesticide | chemical used to kill insects and rodents |