Steppes are distributed on all continents except Antarctica. In Eurasia, the largest areas of steppes are in Russia, Kazakhstan, Ukraine and Mongolia. In the mountains forms a high-altitude zone (mountain steppe); on the plains — a natural zone located between the forest-steppe zone in the North and semi-desert zone in the South. Rainfall — from 250 to 450 mm, or from 100 to 1000 mm per year. Average temperatures of winter months — from 0 ° C to −20 ° C, summer — from +20 ° C to +40 ° C, or average annual temperatures — from 0 ° C to +20 ° C. The climate of the steppe regions, as a rule, is in the range from moderately continental to sharply continental and is always characterized by hot or very hot (up to +50 °C) and very dry summers. Winter in the steppe regions is always snowy, with strong snowfalls and blizzards, from moderately mild to severe with cracking frosts, sometimes even frosts up to -40 °C.