Abstract
A noted economic geographer and Sovietologist conceptualizes Russia's current economy as an archipelago, consisting of widely scattered nodes of viable, integrated activity separated by an enormous expanse of "dead space." The dichotomy between metropolitan Russia and its hinterland is developed through an examination of contrasts in such major indicators of well-being as natural gas consumption, access to education, the middle class, retail trade and services, undeclared income, and port-hinterland multiplier effects. Also discussed are the major types of hinterland (classical, or resource frontier, versus backwater), the special case of the Russian Far East and Transbaykalia, and contrasts with developments on the North American continent. Journal of Economic Literature, Classification Numbers: O10, O18, O50. 38 references.

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