  The influence of long-range Coulomb interactions on the properties of
one-dimensional (1D) strongly correlated electron systems in vicinity of the
metal-insulator phase transition is considered. It is shown that unscreened
repulsive Coulomb forces lead to the formation of a 1D Wigner crystal in the
metallic phase and to the transformation of the square-root singularity of the
compressibility (characterizing the commensurate-incommensurate transition) to
a logarithmic singularity. The properties of the insulating (Mott) phase depend
on the character of the short-wavelength screening of the Coulomb forces. For a
sufficiently short screening length the characteristics of the charge
excitations in the insulating phase are totally determined by the Coulomb
interaction and these quasipartic les can be described as quasiclassical
Coulomb solitons.
