Russia (more properly the Russian Federation) is a nation of nearly 139 million people in eastern Europe (west of the Ural mountains) and northern Asia (east of the Urals), bordering the Arctic Ocean, between Europe and the North Pacific Ocean.
Russia is the largest country in the world by area and borders fourteen other countries. However, it is unfavorably located in relation to major sea lanes of the world. Despite its size, much of the country lacks proper soils and climates (either too cold or too dry) for agriculture. Mount El'brus is Europe's tallest peak.
Its major environmental issues include:
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air pollution from heavy industry, emissions of coal-fired electric plants, and transportation in major cities;
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industrial, municipal, and agricultural pollution of inland waterways and seacoasts;
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deforestation;
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soil erosion;
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soil contamination from improper application of agricultural chemicals;
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scattered areas of sometimes intense radioactive contamination;
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groundwater contamination from toxic waste;
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urban solid waste management; and,
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abandoned stocks of obsolete pesticides
Permafrost cover over much of Siberia and is a major impediment to development.
Spring floods and summer/autumn forest fires throughout Siberia and parts of European Russia
Russia experiences significant volcanic activity on the Kamchatka Peninsula and Kuril Islands.
Founded in the 12th century, the Principality of Muscovy, was able to emerge from over 200 years of Mongol domination (13th-15th centuries) and to gradually conquer and absorb surrounding principalities.
In the early 17th century, a new Romanov Dynasty continued this policy of expansion across Siberia to the Pacific. Under Peter I (ruled 1682-1725), hegemony was extended to the Baltic Sea and the country was renamed the Russian Empire.
During the 19th century, more territorial acquisitions were made in Europe and Asia.
Defeat in the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-05 contributed to the Revolution of 1905, which resulted in the formation of a parliament and other reforms.
Repeated devastating defeats of the Russian army in World War I led to widespread rioting in the major cities of the Russian Empire and to the overthrow in 1917 of the imperial household.
The Communists under Vladimir Lenin seized power soon after and formed the USSR.
The brutal rule of Iosif Stalin (1928-53) strengthened Communist rule and Russian dominance of the Soviet Union at a cost of tens of millions of lives.
The Soviet economy and society stagnated in the following decades until General Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev (1985-91) introduced glasnost (openness) and perestroika (restructuring) in an attempt to modernize Communism, but his initiatives inadvertently released forces that by December 1991 splintered the USSR into Russia and 14 other independent republics.
Since then, Russia has shifted its post-Soviet democratic ambitions in favor of a centralized semi-authoritarian state in which the leadership seeks to legitimize its rule through managed national elections, populist appeals by former President Putin, and continued economic growth.
Russia has severely disabled a Chechen rebel movement, although violence still occurs throughout the North Caucasus.
Geography
Location: Northern Asia (the area west of the Urals is considered part of Europe), bordering the Arctic Ocean, between Europe and the North Pacific Ocean
Geographic Coordinates: 60 00 N, 100 00 E
Area: 17,098,242 sq km (land: 16,377,742 sq km; water: 720,500 sq km)
Land Boundaries: 20,241.5 km (Azerbaijan 284 km, Belarus 959 km, China (southeast) 3,605 km, China (south) 40 km, Estonia 290 km, Finland 1,313 km, Georgia 723 km, Kazakhstan 6,846 km, North Korea 17.5 km, Latvia 292 km, Lithuania (Kaliningrad Oblast) 227 km, Mongolia 3,441 km, Norway 196 km, Poland (Kaliningrad Oblast) 432 km, Ukraine 1,576 km)
Coastline: 37,653 km
Maritime Claims:
territorial sea: 12 nm
contiguous zone: 24 nm
exclusive economic zone: 200 nm
continental shelf: 200 m depth or to the depth of exploitation
Natural Hazards: permafrost over much of Siberia is a major impediment to development; volcanic activity in the Kuril Islands; volcanoes and earthquakes on the Kamchatka Peninsula; spring floods and summer/autumn forest fires throughout Siberia and parts of European Russia.
Terrain: broad plain with low hills west of Urals; vast coniferous forest and tundra in Siberia; uplands and mountains along southern border regions. The highest point is Gora El'brus (Mount Erebus, 5,633 m) and the lowest point, the Caspian Sea (-28 m).
Climate: ranges from steppes in the south through humid continental in much of European Russia; subarctic in Siberia to tundra climate in the polar north; winters vary from cool along Black Sea coast to frigid in Siberia; summers vary from warm in the steppes to cool along Arctic coast
Topology of Russia. Source: Lencer/Wikimedia Commons.
Volcanism
Russia experiences significant volcanic activity on the Kamchatka Peninsula and Kuril Islands; the peninsula alone is home to some 29 historically active volcanoes, with dozens more in the Kuril Islands. Kliuchevskoi (elev. 4,835 m), which erupted in 2007 and 2010, is Kamchatka's most active volcano. Avachinsky and Koryaksky volcanoes, which pose a threat to the city of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatskiy, have been deemed "Decade Volcanoes" by the International Association of Volcanology and Chemistry of the Earth's Interior, worthy of study due to their explosive history and close proximity to human populations. Other notable historically active volcanoes include Bezymianny, Chikurachki, Ebeko, Gorely, Grozny, Karymsky, Ketoi, Kronotsky, Ksudach, Medvezhia, Mutnovsky, Sarychev Peak, Shiveluch, Tiatia, Tolbachik, and Zheltovsky.
Russia's eastern Kamchatka Peninsula is home to 160 volcanoes, 29 of which are active. The Volcanoes of Kamchatka together form a UNESCO World Heritage Site. While most are not actively erupting, many are considered dangerous due to their eruptive history and proximity to population centers and air travel corridors. This astronaut photo highlights the summit crater and snow-covered slopes of Avachinshy stratovolcano (2,741 m; 8,993 ft) as it pokes above a surrounding cloud deck. The volcano has an extensive historic and geological record of eruptions, the latest activity ocurring in 2008. To the southeast (image right), the large breached crater of Kozelsky volcano also appears above the clouds. Kozelsky is a parasitic cone, formed by the eruption of material from vents along the flank of Avachinsky. Photo courtesy of NASA.
The Kuril Island chain is built from a line of volcanoes, an island arc, that extends from Russia's Kamchatka Peninsula to northern
Japan. Island arcs form along an active boundary between two tectonic plates, with one being driven beneath the other (subduction). Magma generated by subduction feeds volcanoes - and eventually volcanic islands - over the subduction boundary. Paramushir Island in the northern Kurils is an example of a large island built by several volcanoes over geologic time. This astronaut photograph shows the southern end of Paramushir Island after a snowfall. The western slopes of the mountains are brightly illuminated, while the eastern slopes are in shadow. Four major volcanic centers create this part of the island. Fuss Peak (image center left) is an isolated stratovolcano connected to the main island via an isthmus. Fuss Peak last erupted in 1854. The southern tip of the island is occupied by the Karpinsky Group of three volcanic centers. A minor eruption of ash following an earthquake occurred on this part of the island in 1952. The Lomonosov Group to the northeast (image center) includes four cinder cones and a lava dome. The most recent volcanic activity on Paramushir Island occurred in 2008 at the Chikurachki cone located along the northern coastline of the island at image top center. The summit of this volcano, 1,816 m (5,958 ft) above sea level, is the highest on Paramushir Island. Much of the Sea of Okhotsk visible in the image is covered with low clouds that often form around the islands in the Kuril chain. The clouds are generated by moisture-laden air passing over the cool sea/ocean water, and they typically wrap around the volcanic islands. Image courtesy of NASA.
Ecology and Biodiversity
The following ecoregions (as defined by the World Wildlife Fund) occur in Russia:
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See also:
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World Heritage Sites:
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The Lena River, some 4,500 km (2,800 mi) long, is one of the longest rivers in the world. The Lena Delta Reserve, shown in this enhanced satellite photo, is the most extensive protected wilderness area in Russia; it serves as an important refuge and breeding ground for many species of Siberian wildlife. The wave-dominated delta of the Lena River is 30,000 sq km (11,580 sq mi) making it one of the largest of its kind in the world. Image courtesy of USGS.
Government
Government Type: Federation
Capital: Moscow - 10.523 million (2009)
Other Major Cities: Saint Petersburg 4.575 million; Novosibirsk 1.397 million; Yekaterinburg 1.344 million; Nizhniy Novgorod 1.267 million (2009)
Administrative divisions: 46 provinces (oblastey, singular - oblast), 21 republics (respublik, singular - respublika), 4 autonomous okrugs (avtonomnykh okrugov, singular - avtonomnyy okrug), 9 krays (krayev, singular - kray), 2 federal cities (goroda, singular - gorod), and 1 autonomous oblast (avtonomnaya oblast')
oblasts:
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Amur (Blagoveshchensk)
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Arkhangel'sk
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Astrakhan'
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Belgorod
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Bryansk
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Chelyabinsk
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Irkutsk
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Ivanovo
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Kaliningrad
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Kaluga
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Kemerovo
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Kirov
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Kostroma
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Kurgan
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Kursk
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Leningrad
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Lipetsk
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Magadan
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Moscow
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Murmansk
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Nizhniy Novgorod
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Novgorod
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Novosibirsk
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Omsk
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Orenburg
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Orel
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Penza
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Pskov
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Rostov
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Ryazan'
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Sakhalin (Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk)
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Samara
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Saratov
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Smolensk
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Sverdlovsk (Yekaterinburg)
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Tambov
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Tomsk
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Tula
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Tver'
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Tyumen'
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Ul'yanovsk
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Vladimir
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Volgograd
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Vologda
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Voronezh
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Yaroslavl'
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Republics:
1. Adygeya (Maykop)
2. Altay (Gorno-Altaysk)
3. Bashkortostan (Ufa)
4. Buryatiya (Ulan-Ude)
5. Dagestan (Makhachkala)
6. Ingushetiya (Magas)
7. Kabardino-Balkariya (Nal'chik)
8. Kalmykiya (Elista)
9. Karachayevo-Cherkesiya (Cherkessk)
10. Kareliya (Petrozavodsk)
11. Komi (Syktyvkar)
12. Mariy-El (Yoshkar-Ola)
13. Mordoviya (Saransk)
14. Sakha [Yakutiya] (Yakutsk)
15. North Ossetia (Vladikavkaz)
16. Tatarstan (Kazan')
17. Tyva (Kyzyl)
18. Udmurtiya (Izhevsk)
19. Khakasiya (Abakan)
20. Chechnya (Groznyy)
21. Chuvashiya (Cheboksary)
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krays:
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Altay (Barnaul)
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Kamchatka (Petropavlovsk-Kamchatskiy)
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Khabarovsk
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Krasnodar
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Krasnoyarsk
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Perm'
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Primorskiy [Maritime] (Vladivostok)
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Stavropol'
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Zabaykal'sk (Chita)
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autonomous okrugs:
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Chukotka (Anadyr')
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Khanty-Mansi (Khanty-Mansiysk)
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Nenets (Nar'yan-Mar)
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Yamalo-Nenets (Salekhard)
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federal cities: Moscow [Moskva], Saint Petersburg [Sankt-Peterburg]
autonomous oblast: Yevrey [Jewish] (Birobidzhan)
Note: administrative divisions have the same names as their administrative centers (exceptions have the administrative center name following in parentheses)
Independence Date: 24 August 1991 (from the Soviet Union)
Notable earlier dates:
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1157 (Principality of Vladimir-Suzdal created);
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16 January 1547 (Tsardom of Muscovy established);
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22 October 1721 (Russian Empire proclaimed);
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30 December 1922 (Soviet Union established)
Legal System: accepts compulsory International Court of Justice (ICJ) jurisdiction; and accepts International criminal court (ICCt) jurisdiction
International Environmental Agreements
Russia is party to international agreements on: Air Pollution, Air Pollution-Nitrogen Oxides, Air Pollution-Sulfur 85, Antarctic-Environmental Protocol, Antarctic-Marine Living Resources, Antarctic Seals, Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change (see Greenhouse Gas Control Policies in Russia), Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 83, Wetlands, and Whaling. Russia has signed, but not ratified an international agreement on Air Pollution-Sulfur 94.
People and Society
Population: 138,739,892 (July 2011 est.)
Ethnic Groups: Russian 79.8%, Tatar 3.8%, Ukrainian 2%, Bashkir 1.2%, Chuvash 1.1%, other or unspecified 12.1% (2002 census)
Age Structure:
0-14 years: 15.2% (male 10,818,203/female 10,256,611)
15-64 years: 71.8% (male 47,480,851/female 52,113,279)
65 years and over: 13% (male 5,456,639/female 12,614,309) (2011 est.)
Population Growth Rate: -0.47% (2011 est.)
Birthrate: 11.05 births/1,000 population (2011 est.)
Death Rate: 16.04 deaths/1,000 population (July 2011 est.)
Net Migration Rate: 0.29 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2011 est.)
Life Expectancy at Birth: 66.29 years
Total Fertility Rate: 1.42 children born/woman (2011 est.)
Languages: Russian (official), many minority languages
Literacy (age 15 and over can read and write): 99.4% (2002 census)
Urbanization: 73% of total population (2010) declining at an annual rate of change of 0.2% (2010-15 est.)
Water
Total Renewable Water Resources: 4,498 cu km (1997)
Freshwater Withdrawal: 76.68 cu km/yr (19% domestic, 63% industrial, 18% agricultural)
Per Capita Freshwater Withdrawal: 535 cu m/yr (2000)
See: Water profile of Russian Federation
Agriculture
Agricultural products: grain, sugar beets, sunflower seed, vegetables, fruits; beef, milk
Irrigated Land: 43,460 sq km (2008)
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:
arable land: 7.17%
permanent crops: 0.11%
other: 92.72% (2005)
Economy
Russia has undergone significant changes since the collapse of the Soviet Union, moving from a globally-isolated, centrally-planned economy to a more market-based and globally-integrated economy.
Economic reforms in the 1990s privatized most industry, with notable exceptions in the energy and defense-related sectors. The protection of property rights is still weak and the private sector remains subject to heavy state interference.
Russian industry is primarily split between globally-competitive commodity producers - in 2009 Russia was the world's largest exporter of natural gas, the second largest exporter of oil, and the third largest exporter of steel and primary aluminum - and other less competitive heavy industries that remain dependent on the Russian domestic market. This reliance on commodity exports makes Russia vulnerable to boom and bust cycles that follow the highly volatile swings in global commodity prices. See: Energy profile of Russia, Energy profile of Sakhalin Island, and Energy profile of the Caspian Sea region
The government since 2007 has embarked on an ambitious program to reduce this dependency and build up the country's high technology sectors, but with few results so far.
The economy had averaged 7% growth since the 1998 Russian financial crisis, resulting in a doubling of real disposable incomes and the emergence of a middle class. The Russian economy, however, was one of the hardest hit by the 2008-09 global economic crisis as oil prices plummeted and the foreign credits that Russian banks and firms relied on dried up. The Central Bank of Russia spent one-third of its $600 billion international reserves, the world's third largest, in late 2008 to slow the devaluation of the ruble. The government also devoted $200 billion in a rescue plan to increase liquidity in the banking sector and aid Russian firms unable to roll over large foreign debts coming due. The economic decline bottomed out in mid-2009 and the economy began to grow in the first quarter of 2010. However, a severe drought and fires in central Russia reduced agricultural output, prompting a ban on grain exports for part of the year, and slowed growth in other sectors such as manufacturing and retail trade. High oil prices buoyed Russian growth in the first quarter of 2011 and could help Russia reduce the budget deficit inherited from the lean years of 2008-09, but inflation and increased government expenditures may limit the positive impact of these revenues.
Russia's long-term challenges include a shrinking workforce, a high level of corruption, difficulty in accessing capital for smaller, non-energy companies, and poor infrastructure in need of large investments.
GDP: (Purchasing Power Parity): $2.223 trillion (2010 est.)
GDP: (Official Exchange Rate): $1.465 trillion (2010 est.)
GDP- per capita (PPP): $15,900 (2010 est.)
GDP- composition by sector:
agriculture: 4%
industry: 36.8%
services: 59.1% (2010 est.)
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, and 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.
Currency: Russian rubles (RUB)
International Disputes
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Russia remains concerned about the smuggling of poppy derivatives from Afghanistan through Central Asian countries
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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
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Tthe 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.
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Russia's military support and subsequent recognition of Abkhazia and South Ossetia independence in 2008 continue to sour relations with Georgia.
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Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, and Russia ratified Caspian seabed delimitation treaties based on equidistance, while Iran continues to insist on a one-fifth slice of the lake.
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Norway and Russia signed a comprehensive maritime boundary agreement in 2010.
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Various groups in Finland advocate restoration of Karelia (Kareliya) and other areas ceded to the Soviet Union following the Second World War but the Finnish Government asserts no territorial demands.
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In May 2005, Russia recalled its signatures to the 1996 border agreements with Estonia (1996) and Latvia (1997), when the two Baltic states announced issuance of unilateral declarations referencing Soviet occupation and ensuing territorial losses.
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Russia demands better treatment of ethnic Russians in Estonia and Latvia.
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Estonian citizen groups continue to press for realignment of the boundary based on the 1920 Tartu Peace Treaty that would bring the now divided ethnic Setu people and parts of the Narva region within Estonia.
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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.
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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.
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Preparations for the demarcation delimitation of land boundary with Ukraine have commenced.
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Tthe dispute over the boundary between Russia and Ukraine through the Kerch Strait and Sea of Azov remains unresolved despite a December 2003 framework agreement and on-going expert-level discussions.
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Kazakhstan and Russia boundary delimitation was ratified on November 2005 and field demarcation should commence in 2007.
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The Russian Duma has not yet ratified 1990 Bering Sea Maritime Boundary Agreement with the US.
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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
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Russia (more properly the Russian Federation) is a nation of nearly 139 million people in eastern Europe (west of the Ural mountains) and northern Asia (east of the Urals), bordering the Arctic Ocean, between Europe and the North Pacific Ocean.
Russia is the largest country in the world by area and borders fourteen other countries. However, it is unfavorably located in relation to major sea lanes of the world. Despite its size, much of the country lacks proper soils and climates (either too cold or too dry) for agriculture. Mount El'brus is Europe's tallest peak.
Its major environmental issues include:
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air pollution from heavy industry, emissions of coal-fired electric plants, and transportation in major cities;
-
industrial, municipal, and agricultural pollution of inland waterways and seacoasts;
-
deforestation;
-
soil erosion;
-
soil contamination from improper application of agricultural chemicals;
-
scattered areas of sometimes intense radioactive contamination;
-
groundwater contamination from toxic waste;
-
urban solid waste management; and,
-
abandoned stocks of obsolete pesticides
Permafrost cover over much of Siberia and is a major impediment to development.
Spring floods and summer/autumn forest fires throughout Siberia and parts of European Russia
Russia experiences significant volcanic activity on the Kamchatka Peninsula and Kuril Islands.
Founded in the 12th century, the Principality of Muscovy, was able to emerge from over 200 years of Mongol domination (13th-15th centuries) and to gradually conquer and absorb surrounding principalities.
In the early 17th century, a new Romanov Dynasty continued this policy of expansion across Siberia to the Pacific. Under Peter I (ruled 1682-1725), hegemony was extended to the Baltic Sea and the country was renamed the Russian Empire.
During the 19th century, more territorial acquisitions were made in Europe and Asia.
Defeat in the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-05 contributed to the Revolution of 1905, which resulted in the formation of a parliament and other reforms.
Repeated devastating defeats of the Russian army in World War I led to widespread rioting in the major cities of the Russian Empire and to the overthrow in 1917 of the imperial household.
The Communists under Vladimir Lenin seized power soon after and formed the USSR.
The brutal rule of Iosif Stalin (1928-53) strengthened Communist rule and Russian dominance of the Soviet Union at a cost of tens of millions of lives.
The Soviet economy and society stagnated in the following decades until General Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev (1985-91) introduced glasnost (openness) and perestroika (restructuring) in an attempt to modernize Communism, but his initiatives inadvertently released forces that by December 1991 splintered the USSR into Russia and 14 other independent republics.
Since then, Russia has shifted its post-Soviet democratic ambitions in favor of a centralized semi-authoritarian state in which the leadership seeks to legitimize its rule through managed national elections, populist appeals by former President Putin, and continued economic growth.
Russia has severely disabled a Chechen rebel movement, although violence still occurs throughout the North Caucasus.
Geography
Location: Northern Asia (the area west of the Urals is considered part of Europe), bordering the Arctic Ocean, between Europe and the North Pacific Ocean
Geographic Coordinates: 60 00 N, 100 00 E
Area: 17,098,242 sq km (land: 16,377,742 sq km; water: 720,500 sq km)
Land Boundaries: 20,241.5 km (Azerbaijan 284 km, Belarus 959 km, China (southeast) 3,605 km, China (south) 40 km, Estonia 290 km, Finland 1,313 km, Georgia 723 km, Kazakhstan 6,846 km, North Korea 17.5 km, Latvia 292 km, Lithuania (Kaliningrad Oblast) 227 km, Mongolia 3,441 km, Norway 196 km, Poland (Kaliningrad Oblast) 432 km, Ukraine 1,576 km)
Coastline: 37,653 km
Maritime Claims:
territorial sea: 12 nm
contiguous zone: 24 nm
exclusive economic zone: 200 nm
continental shelf: 200 m depth or to the depth of exploitation
Natural Hazards: permafrost over much of Siberia is a major impediment to development; volcanic activity in the Kuril Islands; volcanoes and earthquakes on the Kamchatka Peninsula; spring floods and summer/autumn forest fires throughout Siberia and parts of European Russia.
Terrain: broad plain with low hills west of Urals; vast coniferous forest and tundra in Siberia; uplands and mountains along southern border regions. The highest point is Gora El'brus (Mount Erebus, 5,633 m) and the lowest point, the Caspian Sea (-28 m).
Climate: ranges from steppes in the south through humid continental in much of European Russia; subarctic in Siberia to tundra climate in the polar north; winters vary from cool along Black Sea coast to frigid in Siberia; summers vary from warm in the steppes to cool along Arctic coast
Topology of Russia. Source: Lencer/Wikimedia Commons.
Volcanism
Russia experiences significant volcanic activity on the Kamchatka Peninsula and Kuril Islands; the peninsula alone is home to some 29 historically active volcanoes, with dozens more in the Kuril Islands. Kliuchevskoi (elev. 4,835 m), which erupted in 2007 and 2010, is Kamchatka's most active volcano. Avachinsky and Koryaksky volcanoes, which pose a threat to the city of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatskiy, have been deemed "Decade Volcanoes" by the International Association of Volcanology and Chemistry of the Earth's Interior, worthy of study due to their explosive history and close proximity to human populations. Other notable historically active volcanoes include Bezymianny, Chikurachki, Ebeko, Gorely, Grozny, Karymsky, Ketoi, Kronotsky, Ksudach, Medvezhia, Mutnovsky, Sarychev Peak, Shiveluch, Tiatia, Tolbachik, and Zheltovsky.
Russia's eastern Kamchatka Peninsula is home to 160 volcanoes, 29 of which are active. The Volcanoes of Kamchatka together form a UNESCO World Heritage Site. While most are not actively erupting, many are considered dangerous due to their eruptive history and proximity to population centers and air travel corridors. This astronaut photo highlights the summit crater and snow-covered slopes of Avachinshy stratovolcano (2,741 m; 8,993 ft) as it pokes above a surrounding cloud deck. The volcano has an extensive historic and geological record of eruptions, the latest activity ocurring in 2008. To the southeast (image right), the large breached crater of Kozelsky volcano also appears above the clouds. Kozelsky is a parasitic cone, formed by the eruption of material from vents along the flank of Avachinsky. Photo courtesy of NASA.
The Kuril Island chain is built from a line of volcanoes, an island arc, that extends from Russia's Kamchatka Peninsula to northern
Japan. Island arcs form along an active boundary between two tectonic plates, with one being driven beneath the other (subduction). Magma generated by subduction feeds volcanoes - and eventually volcanic islands - over the subduction boundary. Paramushir Island in the northern Kurils is an example of a large island built by several volcanoes over geologic time. This astronaut photograph shows the southern end of Paramushir Island after a snowfall. The western slopes of the mountains are brightly illuminated, while the eastern slopes are in shadow. Four major volcanic centers create this part of the island. Fuss Peak (image center left) is an isolated stratovolcano connected to the main island via an isthmus. Fuss Peak last erupted in 1854. The southern tip of the island is occupied by the Karpinsky Group of three volcanic centers. A minor eruption of ash following an earthquake occurred on this part of the island in 1952. The Lomonosov Group to the northeast (image center) includes four cinder cones and a lava dome. The most recent volcanic activity on Paramushir Island occurred in 2008 at the Chikurachki cone located along the northern coastline of the island at image top center. The summit of this volcano, 1,816 m (5,958 ft) above sea level, is the highest on Paramushir Island. Much of the Sea of Okhotsk visible in the image is covered with low clouds that often form around the islands in the Kuril chain. The clouds are generated by moisture-laden air passing over the cool sea/ocean water, and they typically wrap around the volcanic islands. Image courtesy of NASA.
Ecology and Biodiversity
The following ecoregions (as defined by the World Wildlife Fund) occur in Russia:
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See also:
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World Heritage Sites:
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The Lena River, some 4,500 km (2,800 mi) long, is one of the longest rivers in the world. The Lena Delta Reserve, shown in this enhanced satellite photo, is the most extensive protected wilderness area in Russia; it serves as an important refuge and breeding ground for many species of Siberian wildlife. The wave-dominated delta of the Lena River is 30,000 sq km (11,580 sq mi) making it one of the largest of its kind in the world. Image courtesy of USGS.
Government
Government Type: Federation
Capital: Moscow - 10.523 million (2009)
Other Major Cities: Saint Petersburg 4.575 million; Novosibirsk 1.397 million; Yekaterinburg 1.344 million; Nizhniy Novgorod 1.267 million (2009)
Administrative divisions: 46 provinces (oblastey, singular - oblast), 21 republics (respublik, singular - respublika), 4 autonomous okrugs (avtonomnykh okrugov, singular - avtonomnyy okrug), 9 krays (krayev, singular - kray), 2 federal cities (goroda, singular - gorod), and 1 autonomous oblast (avtonomnaya oblast')
oblasts:
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Amur (Blagoveshchensk)
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Arkhangel'sk
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Astrakhan'
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Belgorod
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Bryansk
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Chelyabinsk
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Irkutsk
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Ivanovo
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Kaliningrad
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Kaluga
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Kemerovo
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Kirov
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Kostroma
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Kurgan
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Kursk
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Leningrad
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Lipetsk
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Magadan
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Moscow
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Murmansk
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Nizhniy Novgorod
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Novgorod
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Novosibirsk
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Omsk
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Orenburg
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Orel
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Penza
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Pskov
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Rostov
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Ryazan'
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Sakhalin (Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk)
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Samara
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Saratov
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Smolensk
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Sverdlovsk (Yekaterinburg)
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Tambov
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Tomsk
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Tula
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Tver'
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Tyumen'
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Ul'yanovsk
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Vladimir
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Volgograd
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Vologda
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Voronezh
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Yaroslavl'
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Republics:
1. Adygeya (Maykop)
2. Altay (Gorno-Altaysk)
3. Bashkortostan (Ufa)
4. Buryatiya (Ulan-Ude)
5. Dagestan (Makhachkala)
6. Ingushetiya (Magas)
7. Kabardino-Balkariya (Nal'chik)
8. Kalmykiya (Elista)
9. Karachayevo-Cherkesiya (Cherkessk)
10. Kareliya (Petrozavodsk)
11. Komi (Syktyvkar)
12. Mariy-El (Yoshkar-Ola)
13. Mordoviya (Saransk)
14. Sakha [Yakutiya] (Yakutsk)
15. North Ossetia (Vladikavkaz)
16. Tatarstan (Kazan')
17. Tyva (Kyzyl)
18. Udmurtiya (Izhevsk)
19. Khakasiya (Abakan)
20. Chechnya (Groznyy)
21. Chuvashiya (Cheboksary)
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krays:
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Altay (Barnaul)
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Kamchatka (Petropavlovsk-Kamchatskiy)
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Khabarovsk
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Krasnodar
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Krasnoyarsk
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Perm'
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Primorskiy [Maritime] (Vladivostok)
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Stavropol'
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Zabaykal'sk (Chita)
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autonomous okrugs:
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Chukotka (Anadyr')
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Khanty-Mansi (Khanty-Mansiysk)
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Nenets (Nar'yan-Mar)
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Yamalo-Nenets (Salekhard)
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federal cities: Moscow [Moskva], Saint Petersburg [Sankt-Peterburg]
autonomous oblast: Yevrey [Jewish] (Birobidzhan)
Note: administrative divisions have the same names as their administrative centers (exceptions have the administrative center name following in parentheses)
Independence Date: 24 August 1991 (from the Soviet Union)
Notable earlier dates:
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1157 (Principality of Vladimir-Suzdal created);
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16 January 1547 (Tsardom of Muscovy established);
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22 October 1721 (Russian Empire proclaimed);
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30 December 1922 (Soviet Union established)
Legal System: accepts compulsory International Court of Justice (ICJ) jurisdiction; and accepts International criminal court (ICCt) jurisdiction
International Environmental Agreements
Russia is party to international agreements on: Air Pollution, Air Pollution-Nitrogen Oxides, Air Pollution-Sulfur 85, Antarctic-Environmental Protocol, Antarctic-Marine Living Resources, Antarctic Seals, Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change (see Greenhouse Gas Control Policies in Russia), Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 83, Wetlands, and Whaling. Russia has signed, but not ratified an international agreement on Air Pollution-Sulfur 94.
People and Society
Population: 138,739,892 (July 2011 est.)
Ethnic Groups: Russian 79.8%, Tatar 3.8%, Ukrainian 2%, Bashkir 1.2%, Chuvash 1.1%, other or unspecified 12.1% (2002 census)
Age Structure:
0-14 years: 15.2% (male 10,818,203/female 10,256,611)
15-64 years: 71.8% (male 47,480,851/female 52,113,279)
65 years and over: 13% (male 5,456,639/female 12,614,309) (2011 est.)
Population Growth Rate: -0.47% (2011 est.)
Birthrate: 11.05 births/1,000 population (2011 est.)
Death Rate: 16.04 deaths/1,000 population (July 2011 est.)
Net Migration Rate: 0.29 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2011 est.)
Life Expectancy at Birth: 66.29 years
Total Fertility Rate: 1.42 children born/woman (2011 est.)
Languages: Russian (official), many minority languages
Literacy (age 15 and over can read and write): 99.4% (2002 census)
Urbanization: 73% of total population (2010) declining at an annual rate of change of 0.2% (2010-15 est.)
Water
Total Renewable Water Resources: 4,498 cu km (1997)
Freshwater Withdrawal: 76.68 cu km/yr (19% domestic, 63% industrial, 18% agricultural)
Per Capita Freshwater Withdrawal: 535 cu m/yr (2000)
See: Water profile of Russian Federation
Agriculture
Agricultural products: grain, sugar beets, sunflower seed, vegetables, fruits; beef, milk
Irrigated Land: 43,460 sq km (2008)
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:
arable land: 7.17%
permanent crops: 0.11%
other: 92.72% (2005)
Economy
Russia has undergone significant changes since the collapse of the Soviet Union, moving from a globally-isolated, centrally-planned economy to a more market-based and globally-integrated economy.
Economic reforms in the 1990s privatized most industry, with notable exceptions in the energy and defense-related sectors. The protection of property rights is still weak and the private sector remains subject to heavy state interference.
Russian industry is primarily split between globally-competitive commodity producers - in 2009 Russia was the world's largest exporter of natural gas, the second largest exporter of oil, and the third largest exporter of steel and primary aluminum - and other less competitive heavy industries that remain dependent on the Russian domestic market. This reliance on commodity exports makes Russia vulnerable to boom and bust cycles that follow the highly volatile swings in global commodity prices. See: Energy profile of Russia, Energy profile of Sakhalin Island, and Energy profile of the Caspian Sea region
The government since 2007 has embarked on an ambitious program to reduce this dependency and build up the country's high technology sectors, but with few results so far.
The economy had averaged 7% growth since the 1998 Russian financial crisis, resulting in a doubling of real disposable incomes and the emergence of a middle class. The Russian economy, however, was one of the hardest hit by the 2008-09 global economic crisis as oil prices plummeted and the foreign credits that Russian banks and firms relied on dried up. The Central Bank of Russia spent one-third of its $600 billion international reserves, the world's third largest, in late 2008 to slow the devaluation of the ruble. The government also devoted $200 billion in a rescue plan to increase liquidity in the banking sector and aid Russian firms unable to roll over large foreign debts coming due. The economic decline bottomed out in mid-2009 and the economy began to grow in the first quarter of 2010. However, a severe drought and fires in central Russia reduced agricultural output, prompting a ban on grain exports for part of the year, and slowed growth in other sectors such as manufacturing and retail trade. High oil prices buoyed Russian growth in the first quarter of 2011 and could help Russia reduce the budget deficit inherited from the lean years of 2008-09, but inflation and increased government expenditures may limit the positive impact of these revenues.
Russia's long-term challenges include a shrinking workforce, a high level of corruption, difficulty in accessing capital for smaller, non-energy companies, and poor infrastructure in need of large investments.
GDP: (Purchasing Power Parity): $2.223 trillion (2010 est.)
GDP: (Official Exchange Rate): $1.465 trillion (2010 est.)
GDP- per capita (PPP): $15,900 (2010 est.)
GDP- composition by sector:
agriculture: 4%
industry: 36.8%
services: 59.1% (2010 est.)
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, and 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.
Currency: Russian rubles (RUB)
International Disputes
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Russia remains concerned about the smuggling of poppy derivatives from Afghanistan through Central Asian countries
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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
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Tthe 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.
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Russia's military support and subsequent recognition of Abkhazia and South Ossetia independence in 2008 continue to sour relations with Georgia.
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Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, and Russia ratified Caspian seabed delimitation treaties based on equidistance, while Iran continues to insist on a one-fifth slice of the lake.
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Norway and Russia signed a comprehensive maritime boundary agreement in 2010.
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Various groups in Finland advocate restoration of Karelia (Kareliya) and other areas ceded to the Soviet Union following the Second World War but the Finnish Government asserts no territorial demands.
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In May 2005, Russia recalled its signatures to the 1996 border agreements with Estonia (1996) and Latvia (1997), when the two Baltic states announced issuance of unilateral declarations referencing Soviet occupation and ensuing territorial losses.
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Russia demands better treatment of ethnic Russians in Estonia and Latvia.
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Estonian citizen groups continue to press for realignment of the boundary based on the 1920 Tartu Peace Treaty that would bring the now divided ethnic Setu people and parts of the Narva region within Estonia.
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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.
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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.
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Preparations for the demarcation delimitation of land boundary with Ukraine have commenced.
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Tthe dispute over the boundary between Russia and Ukraine through the Kerch Strait and Sea of Azov remains unresolved despite a December 2003 framework agreement and on-going expert-level discussions.
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Kazakhstan and Russia boundary delimitation was ratified on November 2005 and field demarcation should commence in 2007.
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The Russian Duma has not yet ratified 1990 Bering Sea Maritime Boundary Agreement with the US.
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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
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