CULTURAL HERITAGE OF THE RUSSIAN STEPPE ZONE AS A TOURIST RESOURCE
The movement of cultural traditions and population in the steppe zone laid the foundation for a powerful cultural layer. The steppe regions of Russia account for 46 thousand objects of cultural heritage that is 31 % of the total number of objects in the country. The paper reveals the geographical specificity of cultural heritage objects of the regions of the steppe zone: the “specialization” of the regions in one or another type of cultural heritage, their spatial heterogeneity,the formation of object concentration cores, insufficient popularization of cultural resources - this is important to take into account when developing and optimizing tourist routes.