Russia

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Российская Федерация Rossiyskaya Federatsiya Russian Federation
Flag Coat of arms
Motto: none
Anthem: Hymn of the Russian Federation
Capital (and largest city)	Moscow 55°45′N 37°37′E
Official languages	Russian, many others in component republics
Government	Semi-presidential federal republic
- President of Russia	Vladimir Putin
- Prime Minister	Mikhail Fradkov
Independence	from the Soviet Union
- Declared	June 12, 1991
- Finalized	December 25, 1991
and  outlying territories by area">Area
- Total	17,075,400 km² ( and  outlying territories by area">1st) 6,592,800 sq mi
- Water (%)	13
Population
- 2006 estimate	142,400,000 (8th)
- 2002 census	145,184,000
- Density	8.3/km² (209th) 21.8/sq mi
GDP (PPP)	2005 estimate
- Total	$1.576 trillion (10th1)
- Per capita	$11,041 (62nd)
HDI  (2003)	0.795 (medium) (65th)
Currency	Ruble (RUB)
Time zone	(UTC+2 to +12)
- Summer (DST)	(UTC+3 to +13)
Internet TLD	.ru (.su reserved)
Calling code	+7
1 Rank based on April 2006 IMF data.

"Russian Federation" redirects here. For the part of the Soviet Union, see Russian SFSR.

For other uses, see Russia (disambiguation).

Russia (Russian: Росси́я, Rossiya; pronounced [rʌ'sʲi.jə]), also^[1] the Russian Federation (Russian: Росси́йская Федера́ция, Rossiyskaya Federatsiya; pronounced [rʌ'sʲi.skə.jə fʲɪ.dʲɪ'ra.ʦɪ.jə], listen (help·info)), is  a country that stretches over a vast expanse of Eurasia. With an  area of 17,075,400 square kilometres, Russia is  the largest country in the world by land mass, and  covers almost twice the territory of the next-largest country, Canada. it  has the world's eighth largest population. Russia shares land borders with the following countries (counter-clockwise from NW to SE): Norway, Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Belarus, Ukraine, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, China, Mongolia, and  North Korea. it  is also close to the United States and  Japan across relatively small stretches of water.

Formerly the dominant republic of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR), Russia is  now an  independent country and  an influential member of the Commonwealth of Independent States, since the Union's dissolution in December 1991. During the Soviet era, Russia was officially called the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic (RSFSR). Russia is  considered the Soviet Union's successor state in diplomatic matters.

Most of the area, population, and  industrial production of the Soviet Union, then one of the world's two superpowers, lay in Russia. After the breakup of the Soviet Union, Russia's global role was greatly diminished compared to that of the former Soviet Union. In October 2005, the federal statistics agency reported that Russia's population has shrunk by more  than half a million people dipping to 143 million, although Russia became the second country in the world by the number of immigrants from abroad.^[2]

Contents 1 History 1.1 Ancient Rus 1.2 Muscovy 1.3 Imperial Russia 1.4 Russia as part of the Soviet Union 1.4.1 Stalin 1.4.2 Khrushchev 1.4.3 Gorbachev 1.5 Post-Soviet Russia 2 Politics 3 Administrative divisions 4 Geography and  climate 4.1 Topography 4.2 Borders 4.3 Spatial extent 4.4 Largest cities 5 Economy 5.1 Introduction 5.2 Crash 5.3 Recovery 5.4 Recent economy 5.5 Challenge 5.6 Prospect 6 Demographics 7 Culture 8 Etymology 9 See also 9.1 Miscellaneous 9.2 Peoples 10 References 11 External links 11.1 Government resources 11.2 General information

History

Main article: History of Russia

Ancient Rus

Prior to the Common Era, the vast lands of Southern Russia were home to un-united tribes, such as Proto-Indo-Europeans and  Scythians. Between the third and  sixth centuries, the steppes were overwhelmed by successive waves of nomadic invasions, led by warlike tribes which would often move on to Europe, as was the case with Huns and  Turkish Avars. A Turkic people, the Khazars, ruled South Russia through the eighth century. They were important allies of the Byzantine Empire and  waged a series of successful wars against the Arab Califates.

The Early East Slavs constituted the bulk of the population in Western Russia from the seventh century onwards and  slowly assimilated the native Finno-Ugric tribes, such as the Merya, the Muromians and  the Meshchera. In the mid-ninth century, a group of Scandinavians, the Varangians, assumed the role of a ruling elite at the Slavic capital of Novgorod. Although they were quickly assimilated by the predominantly Slavic population, the Varangian dynasty lasted several centuries, during which they affiliated with the Byzantine, or  Orthodox church and  moved the capital to Kiev in AD 882.

In this era, the term "Rhos" or  " and  derivatives">Rus" first came to be applied to the Varangians and  later also to the Slavs who peopled the region. As well as one of the rulers who contributed to the name "rus" [...] In the tenth to eleventh centuries this state of Kievan Rus became the largest in Europe and  one of the most prosperous, due to diversified trade with both Europe and  Asia. The opening of new trade routes with the Orient at the time of the Crusades contributed to the decline and  fragmentation of Kievan Rus by the end of the twelfth century.

In the eleventh and  twelfth centuries common era, the constant incursions of nomadic Turkish tribes, such as the Kipchaks and  the Pechenegs, led to the massive migration of Slavic populations from the fertile south to the heavily forested regions of the north, known as Zalesye. The medieval states of Novgorod Republic and  Vladimir-Suzdal emerged as successors to Kievan Rus on those territories, while the middle course of the Volga River came to be dominated by the Muslim state of Volga Bulgaria.

Like many other parts of Eurasia, these territories were overrun by the Mongol invaders, who formed the state of Golden Horde which would pillage the Russian principalities for over three centuries. Later known as the Tatars, they ruled the southern and  central expanses of present-day Russia, while the territories of present-day Ukraine and  Belarus were incorporated into the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and  Poland, thus dividing the Russian people in the north from the Belarusians and  Ukrainians in the west.

Similarly to the Balkans and  Asia Minor, long-lasting nomadic rule retarded the country's economic and  social development. However, the Novgorod Republic together with Pskov retained some degree of autonomy during the time of the Mongol yoke and  was largely spared the atrocities that affected the rest of the country. Led by Alexander Nevsky, the Novgorodians repelled the Germanic crusaders who attempted to colonize the region.

Muscovy

Main article: Muscovy

Unlike its spiritual leader, the Byzantine Empire, Russia under the leadership of Moscow was able to revive and  organized its own war of reconquest, finally subjugating its enemies and  annexing their territories. After the fall of Constantinople in 1453, Muscovite Russia remained the only more  or less  functional Christian state on the Eastern European frontier, allowing it  to claim succession to the legacy of the Eastern Roman Empire.

While still under the domain of the Mongol-Tatars and  with their connivance, the duchy of Moscow began to assert its influence in Western Russia in the early fourteenth century. Assisted by the Russian Orthodox Church and  Saint Sergius of Radonezh's spiritual revival, Muscovy inflicted a defeat on the Mongol-Tatars in the Battle of Kulikovo (1380). Ivan the Great eventually tossed off the control of the invaders, consolidated surrounding areas under Moscow's dominion and  first took the title "grand duke of all the Russias".

In the beginning of the sixteenth century, the Russian state set the national goal to return all Russian territories lost as a result of the Tatar invasion and  to protect the southern borderland against attacks of Crimean Tatars and  other Turkic peoples. The noblemen, receiving a manor from the sovereign, were obliged to serve in the military. The manor system became a basis for the nobiliary horse army.

In 1547, Ivan the Terrible was officially crowned the first Tsar of Russia. During his long reign, Ivan annexed the Muslim polities along the Volga River and  transformed Russia into a multiethnic and  multiconfessional state. By the end of the century, Russian Cossacks established the first settlements in Western Siberia. In the middle of the seventeenth century there were Russian settlements in Eastern Siberia, on Chukchi Peninsula, along the Amur River, on the Pacific coast, and  the strait between North America and  Asia was first sighted by a Russian explorer in 1648. The colonization of the Asian territories was largely peaceful, in sharp contrast to the build-up of other colonial empires of the time.

Imperial Russia

Main article: Imperial Russia

Muscovite control of the nascent nation continued after the Polish intervention of under the subsequent Romanov dynasty, beginning with Tsar Michael Romanov in 1613. Peter the Great (ruled in) defeated Sweden in the Great Northern War, forcing it  to cede Ingria, Estland, and  Livland. it  was in Ingria that he founded a new capital, Saint Petersburg. Peter succeeded in bringing ideas and  culture from Western Europe to a severely underdeveloped Russia. After his reforms, Russia emerged as a major European power.

Catherine the Great, ruling from 1762 to 1796, continued the Petrine efforts at establishing Russia as one of the great powers of Europe. Examples of its eighteenth-century European involvement include the War of Polish Succession and  the Seven Years' War. In the wake of the Partitions of Poland, Russia had taken territories with the ethnic Belarusian and  Ukrainian population, earlier parts of Kievan Rus'. As a result of the victorious Russian-Turkish wars, Russia's borders expanded to the Black Sea and  Russia set its goal on the protection of Balkan Christians against a Turkish yoke. In 1783, Russia and  the Georgian Kingdom (which was almost totally devastated by Persian and  Turkish invasions) signed the treaty of Georgievsk according to which Georgia received the protection of Russia.

In 1812, having gathered nearly half a million soldiers from France, as well as from all of its conquered states in Europe, Napoleon invaded Russia but, after taking Moscow, was forced to retreat back to Europe. Almost 90% of the invading forces died as a result of on-going battles with the Russian army, guerillas and  winter weather. The Russian armies ended their pursuit of the enemy by taking his capital, Paris. The officers of the Napoleonic wars brought back to Russia the ideas of liberalism and  even attempted to curtail the tsar's powers during the abortive Decembrist revolt (1825), which was followed by several decades of political repression. Another result of the Napoleonic wars was the incorporation of Bessarabia, Finland, and  Congress Poland into the Russian Empire.

The perseverance of Russian serfdom and  the conservative policies of Nicholas I of Russia impeded the development of Imperial Russia in the mid-nineteenth century. As a result, the country was defeated in the Crimean War, 1853–1856, by an  alliance of major European powers, including Britain, France, Ottoman Empire, and  Piedmont-Sardinia. Nicholas's successor Alexander II (1855–1881) was forced to undertake a series of comprehensive reforms and  issued a decree abolishing serfdom in 1861. The Great Reforms of Alexander's reign spurred increasingly rapid capitalist development and  Sergei Witte's attempts at industrialization. The Slavophile mood was on the rise, spearheaded by Russia's victory in the Russo-Turkish War, which forced the Ottoman Empire to recognize the independence of Romania, Serbia and  Montenegro and  autonomy of Bulgaria.

The failure of agrarian reforms and  suppression of the growing liberal intelligentsia were continuing problems however, and  on the eve of World War I, the position of Tsar Nicholas II and  his dynasty appeared precarious. Repeated devastating defeats of the Russian army in the Russo-Japanese War and  World War I, and  the consequent deterioration of the economy led to widespread rioting in the major cities of the Russian Empire, and  ultimately to the overthrow of the Tsar in February 1917.

At the close of this Russian Revolution of 1917, a Marxist political faction called the Bolsheviks seized power in Petrograd and  Moscow under the leadership of Vladimir Lenin. The Bolsheviks changed their name to the Communist Party. A bloody civil war ensued, pitting the Bolsheviks' Red Army against a loose confederation of anti-socialist monarchist and  bourgeois forces known as the White Army. The Red Army triumphed, and  the Soviet Union was formed in 1922.

Russia as part of the Soviet Union

Main articles: History of the Soviet Union and  Russian SFSR

The Soviet Union was meant to be a trans-national worker's state free from nationalism. The concept of Russia as a separate national entity was therefore not emphasized in the early Soviet Union. Although Russian institutions and  cities certainly remained dominant, many non-Russians participated in the new government at all levels.

Stalin

One of these was a Georgian named Joseph Stalin. After Lenin's death in 1924, a brief power struggle ensued, during which Stalin gradually eroded the various checks and  balances which had been designed into the Soviet political system and  assumed dictatorial power by the end of the decade. Leon Trotsky and  almost all other Old Bolsheviks from the time of the Revolution were killed or  exiled. At the end of 1930s, Stalin launched the Great Purges, a massive series of political repressions. Millions of people whom Stalin and  local authorities suspected of being a threat to their power were executed or  exiled to Gulag labor camps in remote areas of Siberia or  Central Asia.

Stalin forced rapid industrialization of the largely rural country and  collectivization of its agriculture. In 1928, Stalin introduced his "First Five-Year Plan" for modernizing the Soviet economy. Most economic output was immediately diverted to establishing heavy industry. Civilian industry was modernized and  many heavy weapon factories were established. The plan worked, in some sense, as the Soviet Union successfully transformed from an  agrarian economy to a major industrial powerhouse in an  unbelievably short span of time, but widespread misery and  famine ensued for many millions of people as a result of the severe economic upheaval.

After the Great Patriotic War started in 1941 the German army had considerable success in the early stages of the campaign, they suffered defeat when they reached the outskirts of Moscow. The Red Army then stopped the Nazi offensive at the Battle of Stalingrad in 1943, which became the decisive turning point for Germany's fortunes in the war. The Soviets drove through Eastern Europe and  captured Berlin before Germany surrendered in 1945 (see Great Patriotic War). During the war, the Soviet Union lost more  than 27 million [citizens] (including eighteen million [civilians]).

Although ravaged by the war, the Soviet Union emerged from the conflict as an  acknowledged superpower. The Red Army occupied Eastern Europe after the war, including the eastern half of Germany. Stalin installed loyal communist governments in these satellite states.

During the immediate postwar period, the Soviet Union first rebuilt and  then expanded its economy, with control always exerted exclusively from Moscow. The Soviets extracted heavy war reparations from the areas of Germany under their control, mostly in the form of machinery and  industrial equipment. The Soviet Union consolidated its hold on Eastern Europe (see Eastern bloc). The United States helped the Western European countries establish democracies, and  both countries sought to achieve economic, political, and  ideological dominance over the Third World. The ensuing struggle became known as the Cold War, which turned the Soviet Union's wartime allies, the United Kingdom and  the United States, into its foes.

Stalin died in early 1953 presumably without leaving any instructions for the selection of a successor. His closest associates officially decided to rule the Soviet Union jointly, but the secret police chief Lavrenty Beria appeared poised to seize dictatorial control. General Secretary Nikita Khrushchev and  other leading politicians organized an  anti-Beria alliance and  staged a coup d'état. Beria was arrested in June 1953 and  executed later that year; Khrushchev became the undisputed leader of the Soviet Union.

Khrushchev

Under Khrushchev, the Soviet Union launched the world's first artificial satellite, Sputnik 1, and  the Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin became the first person to orbit the Earth. Khrushchev's reforms in agriculture and  administration, however, were generally unproductive, and  foreign policy toward China and  the United States suffered reverses, notably the Cuban Missile Crisis, when he began installing nuclear missiles in Cuba (after the United States installed Jupiter missiles in Turkey which nearly provoked a war with the Soviet Union). Over the course of several angry outbursts at the United Nations, Khrushchev was increasingly seen by his colleagues as belligerent, boorish, and  dangerous. The remainder of the Soviet leadership removed him from power in 1964.

Following the ousting of Khrushchev, another period of rule by collective leadership ensued, lasting until Leonid Brezhnev established himself in the early 1970s as the pre-eminent figure in Soviet political life. Brezhnev is  frequently derided by historians for stagnating the development of the Soviet Union (see "Brezhnev stagnation"). In contrast to the revolutionary spirit that accompanied the birth of the Soviet Union, the prevailing mood of the Soviet leadership at the time of Brezhnev's death in 1982 was one of aversion to change.

Gorbachev

In the mid 1980s, the reform-minded Mikhail Gorbachev came to power. He introduced the landmark policies of glasnost (openness) and  perestroika (restructuring), in an  attempt to modernize Soviet communism. Glasnost meant that the harsh restrictions on free speech that had characterized most of the Soviet Union's existence were removed, and  open political discourse and  criticism of the government became possible again. Perestroika meant sweeping economic reforms designed to decentralize the planning of the Soviet economy. However, his initiatives provoked strong resentment amongst conservative elements of the government, and  an unsuccessful military coup that attempted to remove Gorbachev from power instead led to the collapse of the Soviet Union. Boris Yeltsin came to power and  declared the end of exclusive Communist rule. The USSR splintered into fifteen independent republics, and  was officially dissolved in December of 1991 (see History of the Soviet Union).

Since then, Russia has struggled in its efforts to build a democratic political system and  a market economy to replace the strict centralized social, political, and  economic controls of the Soviet era.

Post-Soviet Russia

Main article: History of post-Soviet Russia

See also: Politics of Russia

Prior to the dissolution of the Soviet Union, Boris Yeltsin had been elected President of Russia in June 1991 in the first direct presidential election in Russian history. In October 1991, as Russia was on the verge of independence, Yeltsin announced that Russia would proceed with radical market-oriented reform along the lines of "shock therapy".

After the disintegration of the USSR, the Russian economy went through a crisis. Russia took up the responsibility for settling the USSR's external debts, even though its population made up just half of the population of the USSR at the time of its dissolution. The largest state enterprises (petroleum, metallurgy, and  the like) were controversially privatized for the small sum of $US 600 million, far less  than they were worth, while the majority of the population plunged into poverty.

Russia's Congress of People's Deputies, in which the Communist presence was the strongest, attempted to impeach Yeltsin on March 26, 1993. Yeltsin's opponents gathered more  than 600 votes for impeachment, but fell 72 votes short. On September 21, 1993, Yeltsin disbanded the Supreme Soviet and  the Congress of People's Deputies by decree, which was illegal under the constitution. On the same day there was a military showdown, the Russian constitutional crisis of 1993. With military help, Yeltsin held control. The conflict resulted in a number of civilian casualties, but was resolved in Yeltsin's favor. According to different sources, the total number of deceased was between 300 and  2,000 people. Elections were held and  the current Constitution of the Russian Federation was adopted on December 12, 1993.

The 1990s were plagued by armed ethnic conflicts in the North Caucasus. Such conflicts took a form of separatist insurrections against federal power (most notably in Chechnya), or  of ethnic/clan conflicts between local groups (e.g., in North Ossetia-Alania between Ossetians and  Ingushs, or  between different clans in Chechnya). Since the Chechen separatists declared independence in the early 1990s, an  intermittent guerrilla war (First Chechen War, Second Chechen War) has been fought between disparate Chechen groups and  the Russian military. Some of these groups have  grown increasingly Islamist over the course of the struggle. The total number of refugees and  internally displaced persons from these territories today is  about 100,000 people.

After Yeltsin's presidency in the 1990s, the former head of the FSB Vladimir Putin was elected in 2000. Although President Putin is  still the most popular Russian politician, with a 70% approval rating, his policies raised serious concerns about civil society and  human rights in Russia. The West and  particularly the United States expressed growing worries about the state control of the Russian media through Kremlin-friendly companies, government influence on elections, and  law enforcement abuses.[1]

At the same time, high oil prices and  growing internal demand boosted Russian economic growth, stimulating significant economic expansion abroad and  helping to finance increased military spending. Putin's presidency has shown improvements in the Russian standard of living, as opposed to the 1990s[2].Even with these economic improvements, the government is  criticized for lack of will to fight wide-spread crime and  corruption and  to renovate deteriorated urban infrastructure throughout the country.

Despite the economic distress and  decreased military funding following the fall of the Soviet Union, the country retains its large weapons and  especially nuclear weapons arsenal.

Politics

Main articles on politics and  government of Russia can be found at the Politics and  government of Russia series.

The politics of Russia (the Russian Federation) take place in a framework of a federal presidential republic, whereby the President of Russia is  both head of state and  head of government, and  of a pluriform multi-party system. Executive power is  exercised by the government. Legislative power is  vested in both the government and  the two chambers of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation.

Administrative divisions

Main article: Subdivisions of Russia

Federal subjects

The basic subdivision of the Russian Federation is  that of the federal subject. There are  88 federal subjects. Each federal subject is  a constituent part of the federation.

There are  many different types of federal subject. There are  21 republics within the federation that enjoy a high degree of autonomy on most issues and  these correspond to some of Russia's numerous ethnic minorities. The other subjects consist of 48 oblasts (provinces) and  7 krais (territories), as well as 9 autonomous okrugs (autonomous districts), and  1 autonomous oblast. Beyond these there are  two federal cities (Moscow and  St. Petersburg).

Federal districts

There are  also seven large federal districts (four in Europe, three in Asia). These have  been added as a new layer between the above subdivisions and  the national level. Unlike the federal subjects, the federal districts are  not as such a subnational level of government, but are  a level of administration of the national government.

See also

• Federal districts of Russia
• Economic regions of Russia
  • Federal subjects of Russia
    • Republics of Russia
    • Oblasts of Russia
    • Krais of Russia
    • Autonomous oblasts of Russia
    • Autonomous okrugs of Russia
    • Federal cities of Russia

Geography and  climate

Main article: Geography of Russia

Topography

The Russian Federation stretches across much of the north of the supercontinent of Eurasia. Although it  contains a large share of the world's Arctic and  sub-Arctic areas, and  therefore has less  population, economic activity, and  physical variety per unit area than most countries, the great area south of these still accommodates a great variety of landscapes and  climates. Russia is  the coldest country in the world. The mid-annual temperature is  −5.5°C (22°F). For comparison, the mid-annual temperature in Iceland is  1.2°C (34°F) and  in Sweden is  4°C (39°F), although the variety of climates within Russia makes such a comparison somewhat misleading.

Most of the land consists of vast plains, both in the European part and  the part of Asian territory, that is  largely known as Siberia. These plains are  predominantly steppe to the south and  heavily forested to the north, with tundra along the northern coast. The permafrost (areas of Siberia and  the Far East) occupies more  than half of the territory of Russia. Mountain ranges are  found along the southern borders, such as the Caucasus (containing Mount Elbrus, Russia's and  Europe's highest point at 5,642 m / 18,511 ft) and  the Altai, and  in the eastern parts, such as the Verkhoyansk Range or  the volcanoes on Kamchatka. The more  central Ural Mountains, a north-south range that form the primary divide between Europe and  Asia, are  also notable.

Russia has an  extensive coastline of over 37,000 kilometres (23,000 mi) along the Arctic and  Pacific Oceans, as well as more  or less  inland seas such as the Baltic, Black and  Caspian seas. Some smaller bodies of water are  part of the open oceans; the Barents Sea, White Sea, Kara Sea, Laptev Sea and  East Siberian Sea are  part of the Arctic, whereas the Bering Sea, Sea of Okhotsk and  the Sea of Japan belong to the Pacific Ocean.

Major islands found in them include Novaya Zemlya, the Franz Josef Land, the New Siberian Islands, Wrangel Island, the Kuril Islands and  Sakhalin. (See List of islands of Russia). The Diomede Islands (one controlled by Russia, the other by the United States) are  just three kilometres (1.9 mi) apart, and  Kunashir Island (controlled by Russia but claimed by Japan) is  about twenty kilometres (12 mi) from Hokkaidō.

Many rivers flow across Russia; see Rivers of Russia.

Major lakes include Lake Baikal, Lake Ladoga and  Lake Onega. See List of lakes in Russia.

Borders

The most practical way to describe Russia is  as a main part (a large contiguous portion with its off-shore islands) and  an exclave, Kaliningrad, (at the southeast corner of the Baltic Sea).

The main part's borders and  coasts (starting in the far northwest and  proceeding counter-clockwise) are:

• borders with the following countries: Norway and  Finland,
• a short coast on the Baltic Sea, facing eight other countries on its shores from Finland to Estonia and  including the port of St. Petersburg,
• borders with Estonia, Latvia, Belarus, and  Ukraine,
• a coast on the Black Sea, facing five other countries on its shores from Ukraine to Georgia,
• borders with Georgia and  Azerbaijan,
• a coast on the Caspian Sea, facing four other countries on its shores from Azerbaijan to Kazakhstan,
• borders with Kazakhstan, China (western), Mongolia, China (eastern), and  North Korea.
• an extensive coastline that provides access to all the maritime nations of the world, and  stretches
  • from the North Pacific Ocean including
    • the Sea of Japan (where the west shore of Russia's Sakhalin lies),
    • the Sea of Okhotsk (where the east shore of Sakhalin and  its Kurile Islands lie), and
    • the Bering Sea,
  • through the Bering Strait (where its minor island of Big Diomede is  separated by only a few miles from Little Diomede, a part of the US state of Alaska),
  • to the Arctic Ocean, including
    • the Chukchi Sea (where the south and  east shores of its Wrangel Island lie),
    • the East Siberian Sea (where its west shore, and  the east shores of its New Siberian Islands lie),
    • the Laptev Sea (where their west shores lie),
    • the Kara Sea (where the east shore of its Novaya Zemlya lies),
    • the Barents Sea (where their west shore, the south shores of its Franz-Josef Land the port of Murmansk and  important naval facilities lie, and  where the White Sea reaches far inland).

The exclave, constituted by the Kaliningrad Oblast,

• shares borders with
  • Poland to its south and
  • Lithuania to its north and  east, and
• has a northwest coast on the Baltic Sea.

The Baltic and  Black Sea coasts of Russia have  less direct and  more constrained access to the high seas than its Pacific and  Arctic ones, but both are  nevertheless important for that purpose. The Baltic gives immediate access to the nine other countries sharing its shores, and  between the main part of Russia and  its Kaliningrad Oblast exclave. Via the straits that lie within Denmark, and  between it  and Sweden, the Baltic connects to the North Sea and  the oceans to its west and  north. The Black Sea gives immediate access to the five other countries sharing its shores, and  via the Dardanelles and  Marmora straits adjacent to Istanbul, Turkey, to the Mediterranean Sea with its many countries and  its access, via the Suez Canal and  the Straits of Gibraltar, to the Atlantic and  Indian Oceans. The salt waters of the Caspian Sea, the world's largest lake, provide no access to the high seas.

Spatial extent

The two most widely separated points in Russia are  about 8,000 km (5,000 mi) apart along a geodesic (i.e. shortest line between two points on the Earth's surface). These points are: the boundary with Poland on a 60-km-long (40-mi-long) spit of land separating the Gulf of Gdańsk from the Vistula Lagoon; and  the farthest southeast of the Kurile Islands, a few miles off Hokkaido Island, Japan.

The points which are  furthest separated in longitude are  "only" 6,600 km (4,100 mi) apart along a geodesic. These points are: in the West, the same spit; in the East, the Big Diomede Island (Ostrov Ratmanova).

The Russian Federation spans eleven time zones.

Largest cities

As of 2005 Russia has 13 cities with over a million inhabitants.

Rank	City/town	Russian	Federal subject	Population
1	Moscow	Москва	Moscow	10,342,151
2	Saint Petersburg	Санкт-Петербург	Saint Petersburg	4,661,219
3	Novosibirsk	Новосибирск	Novosibirsk Oblast	1,425,508
4	Nizhny Novgorod	Нижний Новгород	Nizhny Novgorod Oblast	1,311,252
5	Yekaterinburg	Екатеринбург	Sverdlovsk Oblast	1,293,537
6	Samara	Самара	Samara Oblast	1,157,880
7	Omsk	Омск	Omsk Oblast	1,134,016
8	Kazan	Казань	Republic of Tatarstan	1,105,289
9	Chelyabinsk	Челябинск	Chelyabinsk Oblast	1,077,174
10	Rostov-na-Donu	Ростов-на-Дону	Rostov Oblast	1,068,267
11	Ufa	Уфа	Republic of Bashkortostan	1,042,437
12	Volgograd	Волгоград	Volgograd Oblast	1,011,417
13	Perm	Пермь	Perm Krai	1,001,653

See also: List of cities in Russia and  and  towns in Russia by population">List of cities and  towns in Russia by population

Economy

Main article: Economy of Russia

Introduction

More than a decade after the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, Russia is  now trying to further develop a market economy and  achieve more  consistent economic growth. Russia saw its comparatively developed centrally planned economy contract severely for five years, as the executive and  the legislature dithered over the implementation of reforms and  Russia's aging industrial base faced a serious decline.

Crash

After the breakup of the Soviet Union, Russia's first slight recovery, showing signs of open-market influence, occurred in 1997. That year, however, the Asian financial crisis culminated in the August depreciation of the ruble. This was followed by a debt default by the government in 1998, and  a sharp deterioration in living standards for most of the population. Consequently, 1998 was marked by recession and  an intense capital flight.

Recovery

Nevertheless, the economy started recovering in 1999. The recovery was greatly assisted by the weak ruble, which made imports expensive and  boosted local production. Then it  entered a phase of rapid economic expansion, the GDP growing by an  average of 6.7% annually in 1999–2005 on the back of higher petroleum prices, a weaker ruble, and  increasing service production and  industrial output. The country is  presently running a huge trade surplus, which has been helped by protective import barriers, and  rampant corruption which ensures that it  is almost impossible for foreign and  local  and  medium enterprise">SMEs (small and  medium sized enterprises) to import goods without the help of local specialist import firms, such as the Russia Import Company. Some import barriers are  expected to be abolished after Russia's accession to the WTO.

The recent recovery, made possible due to high world oil prices, along with a renewed government effort in 2000 and  2001 to advance lagging structural reforms, has raised business and  investor confidence over Russia's prospects in its second decade of transition. Russia remains heavily dependent on exports of commodities, particularly oil, natural gas, metals, and  timber, which account for about 80% of exports, leaving the country vulnerable to swings in world prices. Industrial military exports after undergoing sharp contraction is  now the major non-commodity export. In recent years, however, the economy has also been driven by growing internal consumer demand that has increased by over 12% annually in 2000–2005, showing the strengthening of its own internal market.

The economic development of the country has been extremely uneven: the Moscow region contributes one-third of the country's GDP while having only a tenth of its population. GDP increased by 7.2% in 2004 and  6.4% in 2005.

Recent economy

The country's GDP (PPP) soared to $1.5 trillion in 2004, making it  the ninth largest economy in the world and  the fifth largest in Europe. If the current growth rate is  sustained, the country is  expected to become the second largest European economy after Germany and  the sixth largest in the world within a few years.

In 2005, according to the Federal Service of State Statistics, GDP reached $765 billion nominally (21.7 trillion rubles), equal to $1.6 trillion in international dollars (PPP; purchasing power parity). Inflation was 10.9% percent. Expenditures of the consolidated budget have  reached 5942 billion rubles ($215 billion). The government plans to reduce the tax burden, although the time and  scale of such a reduction remains undecided.

In 2005 Russia exported 241.3 billion dollars and  imported 98.5 billion dollars. This means that Russia registered a trade surplus of 142.8 billion dollars in 2005, up about 33% from 2004's foreign trade surplus of $106.1 billion dollars.[3]

By August 17, 2006, Russia's international reserves reached $277 billion nominally and  projected to grow to $320 billion by the end of this year and  to $350–450 billion by the end of 2007 [4][5].

Thanks to high oil prices, Russian oil exports totaled $117 billion in 2005 while gas exports totaled $32 billion in the same year. That means that oil and  gas made up 60% of total Russian exports in 2005.[6]

Knowing the importance of oil and  gas to the economy, a Stabilization Fund was formed by the government in January 2004. This fund takes in revenues from oil and  gas exports and  is designed to help offset oil market volatility. This fund was also set up in order to prevent the ruble from appreciating. The Stabilization Fund (SF) grew to $76.6 billion in November 2006. Russia's Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Zhukov said in October 2006 the fund will continue to increase over the coming years, and  will exceed $149 billion by late 2007 and  about $260.4 billion by the end of 2009. Russia is  paying off its foreign debt mainly from the Stabilization Fund, which hit $76.9 billion as of July 1. Russia repaid the bulk of its outstanding debt to the Paris Club of Creditor Nations on August 18-21. The debt totaled $1.9 billion as of October 1, compared to $23.7 billion on July 1. [7]

According to the Federal State Statistics Service of Russia, the monthly nominal average salary in June 2006 was about 10,975 rubles (about $408 nominally; about $740 PPP), 25.6 percent higher than in June 2005 and  7 percent more  than in May 2006.

For the year of 2007, Russia's GDP is  projected to grow to about $1.2 trillion nominally (31.2 billion rubles) [8]

Challenge

Some perceive the greatest challenge facing the Russian economy to be encouraging the development of  and  Medium-sized Enterprise">Small and  Medium-sized Enterprises in a business climate with a young and  less-than-sufficient functional banking system. Few of Russia's banks are  owned by oligarchs, who often use the deposits to lend to their own businesses. The 2005 Milken Institute's ratings place Russia at the 51st place in the world, out of 121 countries by the availability of capital.

The  and  Development">European Bank for Reconstruction and  Development and  the World Bank have  attempted to kick-start normal banking practices by making equity and  debt investments in a number of banks, but with very limited success.

However, about twenty-five of the biggest banks of Russia get entry into Top 1000 banks of the world by The Banker [9]. Many more  Russian banks have  very high international ratings by Moody's and  Fitch, including "investment" level.

Other problems include disproportional economic development of Russia's own regions. While the huge capital region of Moscow is  a bustling, affluent metropolis living on the cutting edge of technology with a per capita income rapidly approaching that of the leading Eurozone economies, much of the country, especially its indigenous and  rural communities in Asia, lags significantly behind. Market integration is  nonetheless making itself felt in some other sizeable cities such as Saint Petersburg, Kaliningrad, and  Ekaterinburg, and  recently also in the adjacent rural areas.

The arrest of Russia's wealthiest businessman Mikhail Khodorkovsky on charges of fraud and  corruption in relation to the large-scale privatizations organized under then-President Yeltsin, contrary to some expectations, has not caused most foreign investors to worry about the stability of the Russian economy. Most of the large fortunes currently in evidence in Russia are  the product of either acquiring government assets at particularly low costs or  gaining concessions from the government. Other countries have  expressed concerns and  worries at the "selective" application of the law against individual businessmen, though government actions have  been received positively in Russia.

Prospect

Encouraging foreign investment is  also a major challenge due to legal, cultural, linguistic, economic and  political peculiarities of the country. Nevertheless, there has been a significant inflow of capital in recent years from many European investors attracted by cheaper land, labor and  higher growth rates than in the rest of Europe.

Very high levels of education and  societal involvement achieved by the majority of the population, including women and  minorities, secular attitudes, mobile class structure, and  better integration of various minorities into the mainstream culture set Russia far apart from the majority of the so-called developing countries and  even some developed nations.

The country is  also benefiting from rising oil prices and  has been able very substantially to reduce its formerly huge foreign debt. However, equal redistribution of capital gains from the natural resource industries to other sectors is  still a problem. Nonetheless, since 2003, exports of natural resources started decreasing in economic importance as the internal market has strengthened considerably, largely stimulated by intense construction, as well as consumption of increasingly diverse goods and  services. Yet teaching customers and  encouraging consumer spending is  a relatively tough task for many provincial areas where consumer demand is  primitive. However, some laudable progress has been made in larger cities, especially in the clothing, food, and  entertainment industries.

Additionally, some international firms are  investing in Russia. According to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Russia had nearly $26 billion in cumulative foreign direct investment inflows during the period (of which $11.7 billion occurred in 2004).

Russia faces considerable income inequalities that hinder Russia's potential to become a more  diversified economy.

Demographics

Main article: Demographics of Russia

Despite its comparatively high population, Russia has a low average population density due to its enormous size. Population is  densest in the European part of Russia, in the Ural Mountains area, and  in the south-western parts of Siberia; the south-eastern part of Siberia that meets the Pacific Ocean, known as the Russian Far East, is  sparsely populated, with its southern part being densest. The Russian Federation is  home to as many as 160 different ethnic groups and  indigenous peoples. As of the Russian census (2002), 79.8% of the population is  ethnically Russian, 3.8% Tatar, 2% Ukrainian, 1.2% Bashkir, 1.1% Chuvash, 0.9% Chechen, 0.8% Armenian. The remaining 10.3% includes those who did not specify their ethnicity as well as (in alphabetical order) Assyrians, Avars, Azeris, Belarusians, Bulgarians, Buryats, Chinese, Cossacks, Estonians, Evenks, Finns, Georgians,  and  Soviet Union">Germans, Greeks, Ingushes, Inuit, Jews, Kalmyks, Karelians, Kazakhs, Koreans, Kyrgyz, Lithuanians, Latvians, Maris, Mongolians, Mordvins, Nenetses, Ossetians, Poles, Romanians, Tajiks, Tuvans, Turkmen, Udmurts, Uzbeks, Yakuts, and  others. Nearly all of these groups live compactly in their respective regions; Russians are  the only people significantly represented in every region of the country.

The Russian language is  the only official state language, but the individual republics have  often made their native language co-official next to Russian. The Cyrillic alphabet is  the only official script, which means that these languages must be written in Cyrillic in official texts.

The Russian Orthodox Church is  the dominant Christian religion in the Federation. Islam is  the second most widespread religion. Hindus make up a small but fast-growing minority, particularly followers of the ISKCON movement. Other religions include various Protestant churches, Judaism, Roman Catholicism and  Buddhism. Induction into religion takes place primarily along ethnic lines. Ethnic Russians are  mainly Orthodox whereas most people of Turkic and  Caucasian extraction are  Sunni Muslim. Kalmyks are  the only predominantly Buddhist people in Europe.

Culture

Main article: Culture of Russia

• Cinema of Russia
•  and  superstitions">Russian traditions and  superstitions
• Ethnic Russian music
• List of Russians
• Music of Russia
• Russian architecture
• Russian cuisine
• Russian humour
• Russian literature
  • Russian-language poets
  • Russian formalism
  • Russian folklore

Etymology

See wiktionary: Russia for the name in various languages.

Main article:  and  derivatives">Etymology of Rus and  derivatives

The name of the country derives from the name of the Rus' people. The origin of the people itself and  of their name is  a matter of some controversy.

See also

Miscellaneous

Armed Forces of the Russian Federation Communications Companies Education Foreign relations Great power Law  and  postal history of Russia">Postal history and  stamps

Public holidays Quartet on the Middle East Roman Catholicism Russian Association of Scouts/Navigators Russian-language TV channels Tourism Transport Category:Russian diaspora

Peoples

• Ket people
• Nenets people
• Tuvan people

References

External links

Government resources

• (Russian) Duma - Official site of the parliamentary lower house
• Federative Council - Official site of the parliamentary upper house
• Kremlin - Official presidential site
• (Russian) Gov.ru - Official governmental portal
• (Russian) Russian Federation Today - Official issue of the Federal Assembly
• Russian Federal Customs Service
• Central Bank of Russia

General information

• Russian Life Magazine: the 50-year-young magazine of Russian culture, history and  life
• Russia Profile - English Internet Magazine on Politics, Business and  Culture in Russia
• Internet Blog on Russian Issues in English
• Russian News Agency Ria Novosti
• Russia photo gallery and  city guide
• Culture of Russia - with support of Federal Agency for Culture and  Cinematography (Russian)
• Encyclopaedia Britannica's Country Portal site
• BBC Country Profile - Russia
• Russian Space Program
• CIA World Factbook - Russia
• News From Russia
• U.S. State Department Consular Information Sheet: Russia
• Russia Energy Resources and  Industry from U.S. Department of Energy
• Russia History Timeline 1533 - 1991