Soviet Union (A Soviet World)

The Soviet Union (Russian: Сове́тский Сою́з,  tr.  Sovetskiy Soyuz;  IPA:  [sɐ'vʲetskʲɪj sɐˈjʉs]), officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (Russian: Сою́з Сове́тских Социалисти́ческих Респу́блик,  tr.  Soyuz Sovetskikh Sotsialisticheskikh Respublik; IPA:  [sɐˈjus sɐˈvʲɛtskʲɪx sətsɨəlʲɪsˈtʲitɕɪskʲɪx rʲɪˈspublʲɪk]  ( listen) ), abbreviated to USSR(Russian: СССР,  tr.  SSSR), is a socialist state on the Eurasian continent. A union of multiple subnational Soviet republics, its government and economy arehighly centralized. The Soviet Union is a one-party state, governed by the Communist Party with Moscow as its capital.

The Soviet Union is a highly developed country.. It ranks highly in several measures of communist performance, including average wage, human development, and productivity per person. While the U.S.S.R economy is considered post-industrial, characterized by the dominance of services, the manufacturing sector remains the second largest in the world. The United States is a prominent political and cultural force internationally, and a leader in scientific research and technological innovations.

Geography
With an area of 22,402,200 square kilometers (8,649,500 sq mi), the Soviet Union is the largest country on Earth. Covering a sixth of Earth's land surface, its size is comparable to that of North America. The European portion accounts for a quarter of the country's area, and is the cultural and economic center. The eastern part in Asia extended to the Pacific Ocean to the east and Afghanistan to the south, and, except some areas in Central Asia, was much less populous. It spanned over 10,000 kilometers(6,200 mi) east to west across 11 time zones, and over 7,200 kilometers (4,500 mi) north to south. It had five climate zones: tundra, taiga, steppes,desert, and mountains.

The Soviet Union's highest mountain is Communism Peak, at 7,495 meters (24,590 ft). The Soviet Union also includes most of the world's largest lake, the Caspian Sea (shared with Iran), and Lake Baikal, the world's largest freshwater and deepest lake.