Russia's topography transitions from broad plains in the west to highly mountainous regions in the south and east.
* **Highest Point:** Mount Elbrus (5,642 m / 18,510 ft), a dormant volcano in the Caucasus Mountains, which is also the highest peak in Europe. * **Lowest Point:** The shores of the Caspian Sea (-28 m / -92 ft below sea level). * **Mountains:** The Ural Mountains form a low, north-south spine separating Europe and Asia. The southern borders feature rugged ranges, including the Caucasus, the Altai, and the Sayan Mountains. The Russian Far East features the Verkhoyansk Range and the volcanically hyperactive Kamchatka Peninsula, home to Klyuchevskaya Sopka. * **Plains and Plateaus:** The East European Plain dominates the western part of the country. Beyond the Urals lies the West Siberian Plain, one of the world's largest unbroken lowlands, which transitions into the elevated, rugged terrain of the Central Siberian Plateau. * **Coastal Areas:** Russia has the longest continuous coastline in the world, stretching over 37,000 kilometers along the Arctic and Pacific oceans, heavily characterized by ice-bound fjords, deltas, and peninsulas.