Russia

Geography

The Russian Federation is the largest of the 21 republics that make up the Commonwealth of Independent States. It occupies most of eastern Europe and north Asia, stretching from the Baltic Sea in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east, and from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Black Sea and the Caucasus in the south. Russia is the largest country in the world in terms of area, but it's unfavorably located in relation to major sea lanes of the world. Much of the country lacks proper soils and climates (either too cold or too dry) for agriculture. Russia contains Mount El'brus, Europe's tallest peak, and Lake Baikal, the deepest lake in the world. Lake Baikal is estimated to hold one fifth of the world's fresh water.

Russia shares borders with fourteen neighboring countries. In order of shared border length, these are: Kazakhstan (7,644 km), China (Southeast - 4,133 km) and (South - 46 km), Mongolia (3,452 km), Ukraine (1,944 km), Belarus (1,312 km), Finland (1,309 km), Georgia (894 km), Azerbaijan (338 km), Latvia (332 km), Estonia (324 km), Lithuania (Kaliningrad Oblast - 261 km), Poland (Kaliningrad Oblast - 210 km), Norway (191 km), and North Korea (18 km).

Government

The Russian Federation is a federal semi-presidential republic. A semi-presidential system is one in which there is a prime minister who leads the legislature and exercises some authority, but there is also a president who fulfills an executive role in the government. The USSR collapsed in 1991, and after a series of political crises the current constitution was adopted and the government formed in 1993. Since then, there have been four presidencies split between three presidents (Vladimir Putin being the second president from 2000–2008, and the fourth since 2012). 

The Russian government has been dominated for over a decade by the United Russia Party, most famous for its not having a fixed long-term platform. Called a "catch-all party," the party responds to particular political issues or figures as they arise, or on a case-by-case basis. Most often, these responses reflect the opinions of leading figures Vladimir Putin and Dmitry Medvedev (the third president of Russia who made Putin his prime minister, and whom Putin made prime minister in turn upon his reelection). The party officially self-identifies as a Russian Conservative party, but the ideological meaning is unclear except in its opposition to the rival Communist Party. Russia

International Affairs

International Disputes: Russia remains concerned about the smuggling of poppy derivatives from Afghanistan through Central Asian countries; China and Russia have demarcated the once disputed islands at the Amur and Ussuri confluence and in the Argun River in accordance with the 2004 Agreement, ending their centuries-long border disputes; the sovereignty dispute over the islands of Etorofu, Kunashiri, Shikotan, and the Habomai group, known in Japan as the "Northern Territories" and in Russia as the "Southern Kurils," occupied by the Soviet Union in 1945, now administered by Russia, and claimed by Japan, remains the primary sticking point to signing a peace treaty formally ending World War II hostilities; Russia's military support and subsequent recognition of Abkhazia and South Ossetia independence in 2008 continue to sour relations with Georgia; Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, and Russia ratified Caspian seabed delimitation treaties based on equidistance, while Iran continues to insist on a one-fifth slice of the sea; Norway and Russia signed a comprehensive maritime boundary agreement in 2010; various groups in Finland advocate restoration of Karelia (Kareliya) and other areas ceded to the Soviet Union following World War II but the Finnish Government asserts no territorial demands; Russia and Estonia signed a technical border agreement in May 2005, but Russia recalled its signature in June 2005 after the Estonian parliament added to its domestic ratification act a historical preamble referencing the Soviet occupation and Estonia's pre-war borders under the 1920 Treaty of Tartu; Russia contends that the preamble allows Estonia to make territorial claims on Russia in the future, while Estonian officials deny that the preamble has any legal impact on the treaty text; Russia demands better treatment of the Russian-speaking population in Estonia and Latvia; Russia remains involved in the conflict in eastern Ukraine while also occupying Ukraine’s territory of Crimea

Lithuania and Russia committed to demarcating their boundary in 2006 in accordance with the land and maritime treaty ratified by Russia in May 2003 and by Lithuania in 1999; Lithuania operates a simplified transit regime for Russian nationals traveling from the Kaliningrad coastal exclave into Russia, while still conforming, as an EU member state with an EU external border, where strict Schengen border rules apply; preparations for the demarcation delimitation of land boundary with Ukraine have commenced; the dispute over the boundary between Russia and Ukraine through the Kerch Strait and Sea of Azov is suspended due to the occupation of Crimea by Russia; Kazakhstan and Russia boundary delimitation was ratified on November 2005 and field demarcation should commence in 2007; Russian Duma has not yet ratified 1990 Bering Sea Maritime Boundary Agreement with the US; Denmark (Greenland) and Norway have made submissions to the Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf (CLCS) and Russia is collecting additional data to augment its 2001 CLCS submission

Human Trafficking: Russia is a source, transit, and destination country for men, women, and children who are subjected to forced labor and sex trafficking; with millions of foreign workers, forced labor is Russia’s predominant human trafficking problem and sometimes involves organized crime syndicates; workers from Russia, other European countries, Central Asia, and East and Southeast Asia, including North Korea and Vietnam, are subjected to forced labor in the construction, manufacturing, agricultural, textile, grocery store, maritime, and domestic service industries, as well as in forced begging, waste sorting, and street sweeping; women and children from Europe, Southeast Asia, Africa, and Central Asia are subject to sex trafficking in Russia; Russian women and children are victims of sex trafficking domestically and in Northeast Asia, Europe, Central Asia, Africa, the US, and the Middle East

Tier Rating: Tier 3 - Russia does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking and is not making a significant effort to do so; prosecutions of trafficking offenders remained low in comparison to the scope of Russia’s trafficking problem; the government did not develop or employ a formal system for identifying trafficking victims or referring them to protective services, although authorities reportedly assisted a limited number of victims on an ad hoc basis; foreign victims, the largest group in Russia, were not entitled to state-provided rehabilitative services and were routinely detained and deported; the government has not reported investigating reports of slave-like conditions among North Korean workers in Russia; authorities have made no effort to reduce the demand for forced labor or to develop public awareness of forced labor or sex trafficking (2015)

Illicit Drugs: Limited cultivation of illicit cannabis and opium poppy and producer of methamphetamine, mostly for domestic consumption; government has active illicit crop eradication program; used as transshipment point for Asian opiates, cannabis, and Latin American cocaine bound for growing domestic markets, to a lesser extent Western and Central Europe, and occasionally to the US; major source of heroin precursor chemicals; corruption and organized crime are key concerns; major consumer of opiates

Culture

Although much of Russia's cultural legacy bloomed after Peter the Great started westernizing the country, the Russian tradition is distinct and widely regarded. The nation's writers, artists, musicians, and filmmakers are studied in universities around the world. Some of the country's most prominent cultural icons include Leo Tolstoy (War and Peace), Feodor Dostoevksy (The Brothers Karamazov), Aleksandr Pushkin (Eugene Onegin), Modest Moussorgsky (A Night on Bald Mountain), Sergei Eisenstein (Battleship Potemkin) and many more. Russian works have regularly been adapted for different audiences.

Many readers will be acquainted with Russian handicrafts from the Fabergé Eggs to the humble matryoshka (also known as the Russian nesting doll). The country's traditional toys and decorative items are visually stunning. Many of these items date back from before the founding of "Russia," and many originate from Russia's diverse (and widespread) ethnic groups. These artifacts form a unique material archive that bridges hundreds of years and thousands of miles of Russian cultural history. 

Among Russia's most striking cultural features is its ballet. Ballet may have originated in Italy and France, but in the intervening centuries the Russian style of ballet may be the most famous. Empress Anna Ivanovna founded the first dance company in the country in the 1740s, and the rest is history. Tchaikovsky's classics The Nutcracker, Swan Lake, and The Sleeping Beauty, and Prokofiev's Romeo and Juliet are among the world's most popular performances. The Bolshoi Theater is one of the most famous performance halls in the entire world. The dancers themselves even enjoy more notoriety than their counterparts elsewhere; at the height of the Soviet Union, ballerina Maya Plisetskaya was a cultural ambassador to the rest of the world.

Economy

Since the beginning of the Federation in the 1990s and the decline of Communist leadership, Russia has adopted many market-oriented reforms; The biggest move was privatizing industries that were nationalized under the Soviets. Despite this, the Russian government still plays a major role in directing the country's economy. The Kremlin exercises tight control over ostensibly private companies. On top of this, the Russian economy is fairly volatile, as it is largely dependent on commodities like oil, natural gas, and aluminum, which can see major price changes year to year. The Russian economy suffered major setbacks in the mid-2010s. 

Overview

GDP/PPP: $4 trillion (2017 est.)
Growth Rate: 1.8% (2017 est.)
Inflation: 4.2% (2017 est.)
Government Revenues: 17.3% of GDP (2017 est.)
Public Debt: 11.8% of GDP (2017 est.)

Labor Force

Working Population: 76.53 million (2017 est.)
Employment by Occupation: Agriculture: 9.4%, Industry: 27.6%, Services: 63% (2016 est.) 
Unemployment: 5.5% (2017 est.)
Population Below the Poverty Line: 13.3% (2015 est.)

Trade

Total Exports: $336.8 billion (2017 est.)
Major Exports: Petroleum and petroleum products, natural gas, metals, wood and wood products, chemicals, and a wide variety of civilian and military manufactures
Export Partners: Netherlands 10.5%, China 10.3%, Germany 7.8%, Turkey 5%, Italy 4.4%, Belarus 4.3% (2016)

Total Imports: $212.7 billion (2017 est.)
Major Imports: Machinery, vehicles, pharmaceutical products, plastic, semi-finished metal products, meat, fruits and nuts, optical and medical instruments, iron, steel
Import Partners: China 21.6%, Germany 11%, US 6.3%, France 4.8%, Italy 4.4%, Belarus 4.3% (2016)

Products

Agricultural Products: Grain, sugar beets, sunflower seeds, vegetables, fruits; beef, milk
Major Industries: Complete range of mining and extractive industries producing coal, oil, gas, chemicals, and metals; all forms of machine building from rolling mills to high-performance aircraft and space vehicles; defense industries (including radar, missile production, advanced electronic components), shipbuilding; road and rail transportation equipment; communications equipment; agricultural machinery, tractors, and construction equipment; electric power generating and transmitting equipment; medical and scientific instruments; consumer durables, textiles, foodstuffs, handicrafts

Resources

Natural Resources: Wide natural resource base including major deposits of oil, natural gas, coal, and many strategic minerals, reserves of rare earth elements, timber. Note: formidable obstacles of climate, terrain, and distance hinder exploitation of natural resources
Land Use: Agricultural land: 13.1% (arable land 7.3%; permanent crops 0.1%; permanent pasture 5.7%), Forest: 49.4%, Other: 37.5% (2011 est.)

Communications

Telephones

Fixed Lines: 32,276,615, 23 per 100 residents (2016 est.)
Cell Phones: 229,126,152, 161 per 100 residents, (2016 est.)
International Country Code: 7

Internet

Internet Country Code: .ru
Internet Users: 108,772,470, 76.4% (2016 est.)

Broadcast Media

13 national TV stations with the federal government owning 1 and holding a controlling interest in a second; state-owned Gazprom maintains a controlling interest in 2 of the national channels; government-affiliated Bank Rossiya owns controlling interest in a fourth and fifth, while a sixth national channel is owned by the Moscow city administration; the Russian Orthodox Church and the Russian military, respectively, own 2 additional national channels; roughly 3,300 national, regional, and local TV stations with over two-thirds completely or partially controlled by the federal or local governments; satellite TV services are available; 2 state-run national radio networks with a third majority-owned by Gazprom; roughly 2,400 public and commercial radio stations (2016).

Transportation Infrastructure

Airports

Total Airports: 1,218 (2013)
With Paved Runways: 594
With Unpaved Runways: 624

Registered Air Carriers: 32
Registered Aircraft: 661
Annual Passengers: 76,846,126

Railways

Total: 87,157 km
Broad Gauge: 86,200 km (1.520-m gauge) (1.435-m gauge)
Narrow Gauge: 957 km (1.067-m gauge) on Sakhalin Island
Note: Industries utilize an additional 30,000 km of non-common carrier lines (2014)

Roads

Total: 1,283,387 km
Paved: 927,721 km (includes 39,143 km of expressways)
Unpaved: 355,666 km (2012)

Waterways

Total: 102,000 km (including 48,000 km with guaranteed depth; the 72,000-km system in European Russia links Baltic Sea, White Sea, Caspian Sea, Sea of Azov, and Black Sea) (2009)
Ports and Terminals:

Major Seaport(s): Kaliningrad, Nakhodka, Novorossiysk, Primorsk, Vostochnyy
River Port(s): Saint Petersburg (Neva River)
Oil Terminal(s): Kavkaz oil terminal
Container Port(s) (TEUs): Saint Petersburg (2,365,174)
LNG Terminal(s) (Exports): Sakhalin Island

Facts & Figures

Map of Russia

• Official name: Russian Federation (Rossiyskaya Federatsiya)

  Land area: 494,208,000 sq mi (16,377,742 sq km)

  Total area: 496,223,000 sq mi (17,098,242 sq km)

  President: Vladimir Putin (Since 2012)

  Prime Minister: Dmitry Medvedev (Since 2012)

  See also: Rulers of Russia Since 1533

  Current government officials

  Capital: Moscow, 12.41 million (2018)

  Other large cities: Saint Petersburg 5.383 million; Novosibirsk 1.636 million; Yekaterinburg 1.482 million; Nizhniy Novgorod 1.264 million; Samara 1.164 million (2018)

  Currency: Russian ruble

  National Holiday: Among others, the most celebrated is Victory Day (5/9), celebrating the defeat of the Nazis.

   

  Population: 142,257,519 (July 2017 est.)

  Population Change: Growth rate: -0.08%; 11 births/1,000 population, 13.5 deaths/1,000 population, 1.7 migrant(s)/1,000 population; infant mortality rate: 6.8 deaths/1,000 live births (2017 est.)

  Life Expectancy: 71 years

   

  Nationality/Demonym: Russian (Rossiyane for the nationality, Russkiye for the ethnicity)

  Languages: Russian (official) 85.7%, Tatar 3.2%, Chechen 1%, other 10.1% (2010 est.)

  Ethnicity/race: Russian 77.7%, Tatar 3.7%, Ukrainian 1.4%, Bashkir 1.1%, Chuvash 1%, Chechen 1%, other 10.2%, unspecified 3.9% (2010 est.)

  Religions: Russian Orthodox 15-20%, Muslim 10-15%, other Christian 2% (2006 est.)

  Note: A majority of Russians are non-practicing or are not members of any religion, largely as a result of suppression of religion in the Soviet Union. Russia officially recognizes Orthodox Christianity, Islam, Judaism, and Buddhism as traditional religions

  Literacy rate: 99.7% (2015 est.)

   

  Major sources and definitions