The diversity of climate leads to an equal variety of plants and wildlife. The Russian landscape includes forests , desert and tundra . Animals are hamsters, lemmings, white hares, sabels, gazelles, bears, cheetahs, lynx and Siberian tigers. The tundra is the habitat of polar foxes, snow leopards and polar bears. Birds include nightingales, owls, woodpeckers, falcons and eagles.
Air pollution is currently a big issue, due to the amount of waste emitted by heavy industries.
Deforestation is also a growing worry. It was also a religious centre and today many of its early religious buildings remain. St. Petersburg was built during Peter the Great's reign, to be the Russian capital. Two of the architectural splendours of St Petersburg are the baroque style Winter Palace and the golden domed St. Isaac's Cathedral . The Kremlin was built over many centuries and was both a royal palace and a religious centre.