As might be expected in a country as vast as the USSR, there is an abundance of almost all natural resources. Almost the only commodities which the environment of the Soviet Union does not provide for itself are those of tropical agriculture, such as natural rubber, cacao and coffee. It is above all in minerals that the country is exceedingly wealthy.

But the prime resource of any country is land, and the USSR has one-seventh of the world’s land surface. Not all the land, however, is of great value. Extensive areas are tundra, desert, or mountainous, where climate or relief make agriculture impossible and even settlement difficult. The arable land of the USSR is largely confined to the three natural zones of steppe, forest steppe, and mixed forest. Outside these zones there are only very limited, although important, areas of arable land in …