Country name:

conventional long form: Russian Federation
conventional short form: Russia
local long form: Rossiyskaya Federatsiya
local short form: Rossiya
former: Russian Empire, Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic

Capital:

Moscow. Population: 12.6 million (2009 estimate).

Location:

Northern Asia (that part west of the Urals is included with Europe), bordering the Arctic Ocean, between Europe and the North Pacific Ocean

Area:

17,075,400 sq km (6,592,850 sq miles).
 

Description:
The Russian Federation covers almost twice the area of the USA, and reaches from the enclave of Kaliningrad in the west over the Urals and the vast Siberian plains to the Sea of Okhotsk in the east. The border between European Russia and Siberia (Asia) is formed by the Ural Mountains, the Ural River and the Manych Depression.

European Russia extends from the North Polar Sea across the Central Russian Uplands to the Black Sea, the Northern Caucasus and the Caspian Sea. Siberia stretches from the West Siberian Plain across the Central Siberian Plateau to the Lena River and takes in the Sayan and Yablonovy ranges in the south. East of Siberia stretches the Russian Far East, a region almost as big as Siberia itself, running to the Pacific coast and including the vast Chukotka and Kamchatka peninsulas.

Population:

140 million (2009 estimate).
 

Languages:

Russian is the official language, although there are over 100 other languages. English is widely spoken by younger people as well as some educated older people.
 

Climate:
Throughout the country, the warm summer months of June, July and August are the best time to visit. Northern and Central European Russia: The most varied climate; mildest areas are along the Baltic coast. Summer sunshine may be nine hours a day, but winters can be very cold. Siberia: Very cold winters, but summers can be pleasant, although they tend to be short and wet. There is considerable seasonal temperature variation. Southern European Russia: Winter is shorter than in the north. Steppes (in the southeast) have hot, dry summers and very cold winters. The north and northeastern Black Sea has mild winters, but heavy rainfall all the year round.

Economy - overview:
Russia has huge deposits of oil and gas (its major export earners) as well as coal and minerals including gold, diamonds, nickel, manganese, copper, iron ore and phosphates. Energy products and heavy industry (production of vehicles, metal goods, construction materials and machinery) are the kernel of Russia's industrial sector. Textiles and chemicals are other important industries. Overall the economic system remains weak and infrastructure and transparency poor. Only Russia's vast energy wealth has managed to override this problem, though the world financial crisis has re-exposed the fundamental weakness of the Russian economic system.

Since the devaluation of the Rouble and Russia's calamitous default on its international debts in 1998, the economy has undergone a significant recovery with average annual growth of 5% in the last five years (the figure in 2007 was an incredible 10.9%). The government has got on top of the hyper-inflation that caused so much damage in the initial stages of the reform process. At 13% (2008), current inflation is high by recent Western standards but not unmanageable. Unemployment runs at 6.2% (2008 estimate). Russia hosts a substantial informal or ��?grey' economy in which between 25 and 40% of the workforce are engaged to some extent. Russia's economy grew by 6% in 2008.

Economy:
Russia has huge deposits of oil and gas (its major export earners) as well as coal and minerals including gold, diamonds, nickel, manganese, copper, iron ore and phosphates. Energy products and heavy industry (production of vehicles, metal goods, construction materials and machinery) are the kernel of Russia's industrial sector. Textiles and chemicals are other important industries. Overall the economic system remains weak and infrastructure and transparency poor. Only Russia's vast energy wealth has managed to override this problem, though the world financial crisis has re-exposed the fundamental weakness of the Russian economic system.

Since the devaluation of the Rouble and Russia's calamitous default on its international debts in 1998, the economy has undergone a significant recovery with average annual growth of 5% in the last five years (the figure in 2007 was an incredible 10.9%). The government has got on top of the hyper-inflation that caused so much damage in the initial stages of the reform process. At 13% (2008), current inflation is high by recent Western standards but not unmanageable. Unemployment runs at 6.2% (2008 estimate). Russia hosts a substantial informal or ��?grey' economy in which between 25 and 40% of the workforce are engaged to some extent. Russia's economy grew by 6% in 2008.
 

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; 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