Russia
The
Russian Federation occupies most of
Eastern
Europe and north Asia and is the largest of the 21 republics in the
Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS). It has borders with these
countries: Norway, Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Belarus, Ukraine, Poland,
and Lithuania, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Mongolia, China, and
North Korea.
Part of
Russia is European, one part is Asian.
Russia
comprises eleven time zones. At the center of the
former
Soviet Union, Russia today is a democratic federation, with ethnic
groups politically represented in their autonomous republics.
The
country is rich in mineral and energy resources. The huge Volga river -
Europe’s longest - flows from northern
Russia right into the Caspian
Sea. Siberia has over half the territory but less than 20 percent
of the population.
National name:
Rossiya
Capital:
Moscow, 10,672,000 (metropolitan area), 10,101,500 (city proper)
Other large cities:
St. Petersburg, 4,582,300; Novosibirsk, 1,395,500;
Nizhny Novgorod,
1,340,900; Yekaterinburg, 1,256,600; Samara, 1,146,800; Kazan,
1,113,600; Ufa, 1,096,600; Chelyabinsk, 1,080,000; Perm, 998,800;
Volgograd, 984,200
Land area: 6,562,078 sq mi (16,995,800 sq km)
Total area: 6,592,850 sq mi (17,075,400 sq km)
Population: 143,025,000
Life Expectancy: 65
Form of Government: Constitutional federation
Economy
Industry:
communications equipment, machine building, shipbuilding, road and rail
transportation equipment, mining and extractive industries.
Agriculture: beef, grain, sugar beets, sunflower seed, vegetables.
Export: natural gas, petroleum and petroleum products, wood and wood products, fur, metals.
Monetary unit: Ruble
GDP per Capita: USD 9,700
People
Ethnic Groups:
Russian 79.8%, Tatar 3.8%, Ukrainian 2%, Bashkir 1.2%, Chuvash 1.1%, other or unspecified 12.1%
Languages: Russian, others.
Religions: Russian Orthodox 15%–20%, other Christian 2%, Islam 10%–15% (includes practicing worshippers only)