The paper examines the current state of the Russian language space as a result of the interaction of various geo-ethnocultural systems (the term was suggested by Sushhij & Druzhinin, 1994). The study area includes so-called “post-Soviet” countries, that is, countries that experienced the impact of the Russian geo-ethnocultural system in the 20th century. The time intervals covered by the study vary depending on the duration of the stay of those countries or their parts within a unified state. The unified state is thereby exemplified by the Grand Duchy of Moscow the Tsardom of Russia, the Russian Empire, the USSR, and the Russian Federation. The aim of the study is to test the hypothesis that there is a connection between the duration of the stay of a countries or regions within the unified state and the degree of change in their language space under the influence of the Russian geo-ethnocultural system. For this, the regions of the post-Soviet space were grouped depending on the duration of their stay within the unified state. The latest assessment of the state of the Russian language space was given for 2010. As a result of the study, the hypothesis was confirmed only as a general trend, and therefore attention was paid to the regions that fell out of this pattern. In particular, within the Russian Federation, the Kaliningrad region and the southern regions of the Far East have relatively recently become part of the unified state, but these territories are characterized by drastic language change. By contrast, in Chuvashia, Tatarstan, Bashkortostan, Kalmykia, Dagestan, Ingushetia and Chechnya, despite the long duration of their stay as a part of Russia, the least degree of transformation of their language space under the influence of the Russian geo-ethnocultural system is observed.

Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) is one of the European countries where the Russian socioeconomic geography pays insufficient attention. BiH as it exists appeared during World War II, when the interests of all parties involved in the war in Yugoslavia – the Communist partisans of I.B. Tito, the Serbian Chetniks, the Croatian Ustashes, and the armed forces of the “Axis States” – clashed on its territory. In the second half of the XX century, Bosnia and Herzegovina was considered by the leadership of the socialist Yugoslavia as the main bulwark in a possible war against either the USSR or the NATO states. The military development of the territory of Bosnia and Herzegovina determined its slow economic development, which led to the outflow of the Serbian and Croatian population from BiH. At the same time, Bosnia and Herzegovina is characterized by the economic and geographical unity of the territory, which was formed in the late XIX–early XX centuries, when this territory belonged to Austria – Hungary. The civil war in BiH in 1992–1995 years has changed the country radically. The consequences of the war are clearly visible in geodemographic indicators. Indicators of natural population movement that reveal demographic behavior patterns are now poorly differentiated among the three main ethnic groups of modern Bosnia and Herzegovina – Muslims, Serbs and Croats. Unidirectional trends in demographic behavior clearly indicate the convergence of these three groups in terms of lifestyle, while there is a difference in the geodemographic behavior of the Serbs and Croats of BiH from the population of Serbia and Croatia, respectively; Bosnian Muslims in their demographic behavior are now much closer to Christian than to Muslim peoples. The unification of the republics of the former Yugoslavia under the auspices of the European Union should lead to “Yugoslav Renaissance”. Bosnia and Herzegovina, with its specific population composition, located in the center of post-Yugoslavia, can become the core of the reintegration of post-Yugoslav territories.

Agriculture is one of the most vital economic activities for the present and future of humanity. As a result of the study, several current trends in the development of agriculture at a global scale were identified, such as: increased monopolization in the agro-industrial sector; uneven dynamics of production of main types of agricultural products; intensification of agriculture and increased industrial specialization. The geographical features of these processes that took place at the end of the 20th and beginning of the 21st centuries were considered in various regions of the world. Overall, the results indicate that the growth of agricultural production in the future should be achieved with a steady decrease in both environmental and production costs. This will ensure the availability of high-quality agricultural products in the required quantity for every inhabitant of our planet.

The problems of development and formation of the spatial structure of foreign economic relations in Latin America and the Caribbean at the present stage of economic globalization are studied. The region is a relatively new promising area for Russia to establish mutually beneficial trade and economic relations. The article examines the features of the modern structure of foreign economic relations of Latin America, formed in the conditions of economic globalization of the late XX–first decades of the XXI centuries. Based on the research of modern statistical material, the author’s estimates of the direction and intensity of changes occurring in the foreign economic sphere of Latin America are given. Both territorial and sectoral structures of foreign trade relations are studied. The changing balance of power of the countries – the leading trading partners of Latin American states is estimated. It is concluded that the developed capitalist countries are gradually weakening their positions in the sphere of foreign trade in Latin America. However, this region, due to a number of historical, economic and geographical features, is very complicated for the development of foreign economic relations with Russia.

Field research methods for the aesthetic properties of landscapes include a fairly wide range of elementary visual indicators in order to minimize subjective assessment. At the same time, field studies are highly labor intensive and, as a result, are usually performed for small key areas or for individual routes. The current level of development of the functionality of geographic information systems (GIS) and the high quality of remote sensing data allow the calculation of many indicators of aesthetic attractiveness with a level of details comparable with field study. Moreover, such estimates can be largely automated and provide coverage for a larger territory. The study was conducted on the territory of Belogradchik Rocks (North- West Bulgaria) which is a unique natural site in Bulgaria and is currently nominated in the UNESCO geopark system. Tourism development for this territory is recognized as a priority. Authors used two methods for assessing the aesthetic properties of landscapes: visual assessment from survey points and remote assessment using high-resolution images from an unmanned aerial vehicle with GIS treatment. As an example, two of 28 indicators for aesthetic assessment of landscapes is considered as depth and diversity of perspectives and percentage of forest covered area. The results of the study showed that this approach can be used to organize tourist routes, which include the most attractive observation points.