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| Russia | Introduction | Back to Top |
Russia, general name for the independent, federal republic in eastern Europe and western and northern Asia officially called the Russian Federation (Russian, Rossiyskaya Federatsiya); historically the term is used to refer to the Russian Empire (862-1917), which covered a much larger area than that of present-day Russia. From 1922 until December 25, 1991, the Russian Federation formed part of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR; or Soviet Union), when it was known formally as the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic (RSFSR). The term Russian Federation (or RSFSR), however, originally applied to the state proclaimed by the Bolsheviks in November 1917 as the territorial successor to the whole of the Russian Empire. It was only on the formation of the Soviet Union in 1922, following the decision by the Bolsheviks to respect the self-determination of the empire's many nations, that the Russian Federation became one of the USSR's 15 constituent republics-albeit the largest and most influential, accounting for more than three quarters of its area and more than half of its population.
Population 147,501,000 (1997 official estimate) Population Density 9 people/sq km (22 people/sq mi) (1997 estimate) Urban/Rural Breakdown 73%Urban 27%Rural Largest Cities Moscow8,660,000 Saint Petersburg4,800,000 Novosibirsk1,380,000 Nizhny Novgorod1,380,000 Yekaterinburg1,280,000 (1996 estimates metropolitan areas) Ethnic Groups 80%Russian 4%Tatars 16%Other including Ukrainians, Chuvash, Bashkir, Belorussians, Mordvin, Germans, Udmurt, Mari, Kazakhs, Jews, Armenians, Chechens, Yakut, and Ossetians Languages Official Language Russian Other Languages many minority languages Religions 24%Russian Orthodox Christianity 76%Other including other Christian denominations, Islam, Buddhism, Judaism
| Russia | Provinces | Back to Top |
49 oblasts (oblastey, singular - oblast), 21 republics* (respublik, singular - respublika), 10 autonomous okrugs**(avtonomnykh okrugov, singular - avtonomnyy okrug), 6 krays*** (krayev, singular - kray), 2 federal cities (singular - gorod)****, and 1 autonomous oblast*****(avtonomnaya oblast'); Adygeya (Maykop)*, Aginskiy Buryatskiy (Aginskoye)**, Altay (Gorno-Altaysk)*, Altayskiy (Barnaul)***, Amurskaya (Blagoveshchensk), Arkhangel'skaya, Astrakhanskaya, Bashkortostan (Ufa)*, Belgorodskaya, Bryanskaya, Buryatiya (Ulan-Ude)*, Chechnya (Groznyy)*, Chelyabinskaya, Chitinskaya, Chukotskiy (Anadyr')**, Chuvashiya (Cheboksary)*, Dagestan (Makhachkala)*, Evenkiyskiy (Tura)**, Ingushetiya (Nazran')*, Irkutskaya, Ivanovskaya, Kabardino-Balkariya (Nal'chik)*, Kaliningradskaya, Kalmykiya (Elista)*, Kaluzhskaya, Kamchatskaya (Petropavlovsk-Kamchatskiy), Karachayevo-Cherkesiya (Cherkessk)*, Kareliya (Petrozavodsk)*, Kemerovskaya, Khabarovskiy***, Khakasiya (Abakan)*, Khanty-Mansiyskiy (Khanty-Mansiysk)**, Kirovskaya, Komi (Syktyvkar)*, Koryakskiy (Palana)**, Kostromskaya, Krasnodarskiy***, Krasnoyarskiy***, Kurganskaya, Kurskaya, Leningradskaya, Lipetskaya, Magadanskaya, Mariy-El (Yoshkar-Ola)*, Mordoviya (Saransk)*, Moskovskaya, Moskva (Moscow)****, Murmanskaya, Nenetskiy (Nar'yan-Mar)**, Nizhegorodskaya, Novgorodskaya, Novosibirskaya, Omskaya, Orenburgskaya, Orlovskaya (Orel), Penzenskaya, Permskaya, Komi-Permyatskiy (Kudymkar)**, Primorskiy (Vladivostok)***, Pskovskaya, Rostovskaya, Ryazanskaya, Sakha (Yakutsk)*, Sakhalinskaya (Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk), Samarskaya, Sankt-Peterburg (Saint Petersburg)****, Saratovskaya, Severnaya Osetiya-Alaniya [North Ossetia] (Vladikavkaz)*, Smolenskaya, Stavropol'skiy***, Sverdlovskaya (Yekaterinburg), Tambovskaya, Tatarstan (Kazan')*, Taymyrskiy (Dudinka)**, Tomskaya, Tul'skaya, Tverskaya, Tyumenskaya, Tyva (Kyzyl)*, Udmurtiya (Izhevsk)*, Ul'yanovskaya, Ust'-Ordynskiy Buryatskiy (Ust'-Ordynskiy)**, Vladimirskaya, Volgogradskaya, Vologodskaya, Voronezhskaya, Yamalo-Nenetskiy (Salekhard)**, Yaroslavskaya, Yevreyskaya*****; note - when using a place name with an adjectival ending 'skaya' or 'skiy,' the word Oblast' or Avonomnyy Okrug or Kray should be added to the place name The autonomous republics of Chechnya and Ingushetiya were formerly the autonomous republic of Checheno-Ingushetia (the boundary between Chechnya and Ingushetia has yet to be determined); administrative divisions have the same names as their administrative centers (exceptions have the administrative center name following in parentheses)
| Russia | People | Back to Top |
Russia’s total population in 2001 was estimated at 145,470,200, making the country the sixth most populous, after China, India, the United States, Indonesia, and Brazil. Since the dissolution of the Soviet Union the number of immigrants to Russia has exceeded the number of Russians leaving the country. However, the rate of natural increase (the number of births compared to the number of deaths) has been negative since 1992. In 2001 the birth rate was 9.3 per 1,000, while the death rate was 13.8 per 1,000.
U.S.S.R., Russia displays the greatest ethnic diversity, with censuses recognizing more than 70 distinct nationalities. Many of these are extremely small—in some cases consisting of only a few thousand individuals—and, in addition to Russians, only a handful of groups have more than a million members each: Tatars, Ukrainians, Chuvash, Bashkir, Belarusians, and Mordvins. Russians, the overwhelming majority, constitute about four-fifths of the total. The multiplicity of peoples is reflected in 21 minority republics, and, within the Russian republic, there are 10 autonomous districts and an autonomous region. In most of these divisions, the eponymous nationality
| Russia | History | Back to Top |
14th and 15th centuries a powerful Russian state began to grow around Moscow. It gradually expanded west and southwest toward the Dnieper River, north to the Arctic Ocean, and east to the Ural Mountains. By the 18th century Russia had gained full control over a number of major rivers, giving it access to the Baltic and Black seas. These conquests had a huge impact on the country’s trade and economic development. The Russian Empire continued to grow. At its greatest extent, in 1914 before World War I (1914-1918), the empire included more than 20 million sq km (8 million sq mi), nearly one-sixth of the land area of the Earth. 1914 had an overwhelmingly Russian population. The western borderlands were home to Ukrainians and Belarusians; the empire considered these Orthodox Slavs to be merely branches of the Russian people who spoke somewhat strange, regional dialects. In the northwest were Finland and the Baltic provinces (now Latvia and Estonia); their Protestant populations were very different from the Russians, both culturally and linguistically. Most of Poland, along with Lithuania, was acquired in the late 18th century. Transcaucasia, with its partly Muslim population, was absorbed in the early 19th century; most of Central Asia, almost entirely Muslim, was absorbed a generation later.
Indo-European, Ural-Altaic, and diverse other peoples have occupied what is now the territory of Russia since the 2nd millennium BC, but little is known about their ethnic identity, institutions, and activities. In ancient times, Greek and Iranian settlements appeared in the southernmost portions of what is now Ukraine. Trading empires of that era seem to have known and exploited the northern forests—particularly the vast, triangular-shaped region west of the Urals between the Kama and Volga rivers—but these contacts seem to have had little lasting impact. Between the 4th and 9th centuries AD, the Huns, Avars, Goths, and Magyars passed briefly over the same terrain, but these transitory occupations also had little influence upon the East Slavs, who during this time were spreading south and east from an area between the Elbe River and the Pripet Marshes. In the 9th century, as a result of penetration into the area from the north and south by northern European and Middle Eastern merchant adventurers, their society was exposed to new economic, cultural, and political forces.
In 1223 the Mongol armies of Genghis Khan invaded the southeast. The Polovtsy sent for help from the Russian princes, who came to their aid against this common, greater foe. In the Battle of the Kalka River (now Kal’mius River), the Polovtsy-Russian coalition was routed. After his victory, however, the Mongol khan recalled his armies to Asia and they retreated as rapidly as they had come. For 14 years, the Mongols made no move in the direction of Russia. Then, in 1237, Genghis Khan’s grandson Batu Khan led an army back to eastern Russia. On their northward march, Batu’s forces captured and destroyed most of the major cities in the Vladimir-Suzdal’ region.
| Russia | Culture | Back to Top |
Russia's unique and vibrant culture developed, as did the country itself, from a complicated interplay of native Slavic cultural material and borrowings from a wide variety of foreign cultures. In the Kievan period (c. 10th–13th centuries) the borrowings were primarily from Eastern Orthodox Byzantine culture. During the Muscovite period (c. 14th–17th centuries) the Slavic and Byzantine cultural substrates were enriched and modified by Asiatic influences carried by the Mongol hordes. Finally, in the modern period (since the 18th century) the cultural heritage of western Europe was added to the Russian melting pot.
Russian culture and society, the arts have been in a state of flux since the Soviet Union dissolved in 1991. Russian artists have struggled to blend their artistic heritage with the modern foreign influences to which they were denied access for so long. The Soviet leadership had considered the works of Solzhenitsyn, Pasternak, Brodsky, and many others so subversive that people who read them could be sent to labor camps. These and other works are now widely available in Russia. Solzhenitsyn, who was driven from the USSR in 1974, returned to live in Russia in 1994. New writers, such as Tatyana Tolstaya, are beginning to make their mark, but it is too early to tell which of their works will endure and which will fade in the decades that lie ahead.
Although many traces of the Slavic culture that existed in the territories of Kievan Rus survived beyond its Christianization (which occurred, according to The Russian Primary Chronicle, in AD 988), the cultural system that organized the lives of the early Slavs is far from being understood. From the 10th century on, however, enough material has survived to give a reasonable portrait of Old Russian cultural life. High culture in Kievan Rus was primarily ecclesiastical. The level of literacy was low, and artistic composition was undertaken almost exclusively by monks. The earliest literary works to have circulated were translations from Greek into Old Church Slavonic
| Russia | Life | Back to Top |
The lifestyle of Russians depends to a great degree on their income levels. For Russia’s poor, life is a daily grind of survival and many people spend hours each day selling their belongings or other goods on the street. The lifestyles of wealthier people have become Westernized to a very high degree; American-style products and pastimes are popular, especially in large cities. Watching television and videotapes is a popular form of entertainment. Russian television now includes Western-style programs, such as game shows and soap operas. Reading is extremely popular, as it was during the Soviet period, but the types of literature read have changed considerably.
| Russia | Land | Back to Top |
Russia can be divided into two main parts—western and eastern—roughly along the line of the Yenisey River. In the western section, occupying some two-fifths of the total area, lowland plains predominate over vast areas broken only by low hills and plateaus. In the eastern section the bulk of the terrain is mountainous, although there are some extensive lowlands. Given these topological factors, the republic may be subdivided into six main relief regions: the Kola-Karelian region, the Russian Plain, the Ural Mountains, the West Siberian Plain, the Central Siberian Plateau, and the mountains of the south and east.
| Russia | Plants and Animal | Back to Top |
Animal life is abundant and varied throughout Russia. The tundra, which spans the Arctic and northern Pacific coasts and encompasses Russia’s offshore Arctic islands, is home to polar bears, seals, walruses, arctic foxes, lemmings, reindeer, and arctic hares. Birdlife includes white partridges, snowy owls, gulls, and loons. Geese, swans, and ducks migrate into the region during summer, a time when huge swarms of mosquitoes, gnats, and other insects emerge. South of the tundra, the taiga is a habitat for elks, brown bears, lynx, sables, and a variety of forest birds, including owls and nightingales. Swamps in this zone have been stocked with muskrats from Canada. Muskrats and squirrels are now the main source of pelts trapped in the wild. The broad-leaved forests of the Great European and West Siberian plains contain boars, deer, wolves, foxes, and minks. There are also a variety of birds, snakes, lizards, and tortoises.
| Russia | Economy | Back to Top |
The Soviet Union had a planned socialist economy, in which the central government controlled everything from production planning and prices to distribution. The Soviet satellite states in Eastern Europe had planned economies as well. After the breakup of the USSR, Russian reformers were confronted with the daunting task of building a modern capitalist economy while simultaneously striving to create a democratic state based on effective laws and reliable administrative structures. The collapse of Communism in Eastern Europe in the late 1980s and the dissolution of the Soviet Union at the end of 1991 disrupted the close economic relations Russia had previously enjoyed with neighboring Communist states and other Soviet republics. Political turmoil and uncertainty inside the Russian government also contributed to the country’s economic woes. Compared with most of the former planned economies of Eastern Europe, Russia experienced an unusually severe and protracted drop in officially reported economic output.
In 1992, after the collapse of the union, the government of the Russian Federation implemented a series of radical reforms designed to transform the Russian economy from one that was centrally planned and controlled to one based on free enterprise and market forces. Major components of the reforms included establishing privately owned industrial and commercial ventures, with foreign as well as Russian investment, and privatizing state-owned enterprises. Vouchers were issued to each Russian citizen that were to be used to purchase shares in firms being privatized, which often were sold at auction; in practice, these vouchers frequently were sold for cash and were accumulated by entrepreneurs. A commodity- and stock-exchange system also was set up.
A decade after the implosion of the Soviet Union in 1991, Russia is still struggling to establish a modern market economy and achieve strong economic growth. In contrast to its trading partners in Central Europe - which were able to overcome the initial production declines that accompanied the launch of market reforms within three to five years - Russia saw its economy contract for five years, as the executive and legislature dithered over the implementation of many of the basic foundations of a market economy. Russia achieved a slight recovery in 1997, but the government's stubborn budget deficits and the country's poor business climate made it vulnerable when the global financial crisis swept through in 1998. The crisis culminated in the August depreciation of the ruble, a debt default by the government, and a sharp deterioration in living standards for most of the population. The economy rebounded in 1999 and 2000, buoyed by the competitive boost from the weak ruble and a surging trade surplus fueled by rising world oil prices. This recovery, along with a renewed government effort in 2000 to advance lagging structural reforms, have raised business and investor confidence over Russia's prospects in its second decade of transition. Yet serious problems persist. Russia remains heavily dependent on exports of commodities, particularly oil, natural gas, metals, and timber, which account for over 80% of exports, leaving the country vulnerable to swings in world prices. Russia's agricultural sector remains beset by uncertainty over land ownership rights, which has discouraged needed investment and restructuring. Another threat is negative demographic trends, fueled by low birth rates and a deteriorating health situation - including an alarming rise in AIDS cases - that have contributed to a nearly 2% drop in the population since 1992. Russia's industrial base is increasingly dilapidated and must be replaced or modernized if the country is to achieve sustainable economic growth. Other problems include widespread corruption, capital flight, and brain drain.
| Russia | Communications | Back to Top |
the telephone system has undergone significant changes in the 1990s; there are more than 1,000 companies licensed to offer communication services; access to digital lines has improved, particularly in urban centers; Internet and e-mail services are improving; Russia has made progress toward building the telecommunications infrastructure necessary for a market economy; however, a large demand for main line service remains unsatisfied domestic: cross-country digital trunk lines run from Saint Petersburg to Khabarovsk, and from Moscow to Novorossiysk; the telephone systems in 60 regional capitals have modern digital infrastructures; cellular services, both analog and digital, are available in many areas; in rural areas, the telephone services are still outdated, inadequate, and low density international: Russia is connected internationally by three undersea fiber-optic cables; digital switches in several cities provide more than 50,000 lines for international calls; satellite earth stations provide access to Intelsat, Intersputnik, Eutelsat, Inmarsat, and Orbita systems
| Russia | Languages | Back to Top |
The Russian language is the country’s official language and it is the most commonly spoken in business, government, and education. Ethnic Russians speak their native tongue almost exclusively. At the time of the 1989 census only 4.1 percent of ethnic Russians in the Soviet Union could speak one of the country’s other languages, while people belonging to most other ethnic groups were bilingual. More than 100 languages are spoken in Russia. Some of the ethnic republics have declared official regional languages, but millions of non-Russians have adopted Russian as their mother tongue. Among the most bilingual are the Ingush people, of whom 80 percent were proficient in both Ingush and Russian in 1989. The Soviet government helped many smaller ethnic groups develop their own alphabets and vocabularies. The USSR’s educational policies ensured widespread use of the Russian language.
| Russia | Politics | Back to Top |
Agrarian Party [Mikhail Ivanovich LAPSHIN]; Communist Party of the Russian Federation or KPRF [Gennadiy Andreyevich ZYUGANOV]; Fatherland-All Russia or OVR [Yuriy Mikhailovich LUZHKOV]; Liberal Democratic Party of Russia or LDPR [Vladimir Volfovich ZHIRINOVSKIY]; Union of Right Forces [Anatoliy Borisovich CHUBAYS, Yegor Timurovich GAYDAR, Irina Mutsuovna KHAKAMADA, Boris Yefimovich NEMTSOV]; Unity [Sergey Kuzhugetovich SHOYGU]; Yabloko Bloc [Grigoriy Alekseyevich YAVLINSKIY] some 150 political parties, blocs, and movements registered with the Justice Ministry as of the 19 December 1998 deadline to be eligible to participate in the 19 December 1999 Duma elections; of these, 36 political organizations actually qualified to run slates of candidates on the Duma party list ballot, 6 parties cleared the 5% threshold to win a proportional share of the 225 party seats in the Duma, 9 other organizations hold seats in the Duma: Bloc of Nikolayev and Academician Fedorov, Congress of Russian Communities, Movement in Support of the Army, Our Home Is Russia, Party of Pensioners, Power to the People, Russian All-People's Union, Russian Socialist Party, and Spiritual Heritage; primary political blocs include pro-market democrats - (Yabloko Bloc and Union of Right Forces), anti-market and/or ultranationalist (Communist Party of the Russian Federation and Liberal Democratic Party of Russia)
| Russia | Government | Back to Top |
Under the Soviet constitutions, the R.S.F.S.R. nominally was a sovereign socialist state that derived its power from the workers and peasants. A socialist economic system and socialist ownership of the means of production, distribution, and exchange were the economic basis of the republic. Even before the R.S.F.S.R. had been established, the Second All-Russian Congress of Soviets had created a Soviet republic out of the former Russian Empire. The Third All-Russian Congress of Soviets (January 1918) announced the creation of the R.S.F.S.R., and the republic's first constitution was promulgated in July 1918. During and after the Civil War (1918–20) the R.S.F.S.R. was organized to include autonomous soviet socialist republics (A.S.S.R.'s). On Dec. 30, 1922, the R.S.F.S.R. and the other republics entered the formal federation of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (U.S.S.R.), whose constitution was ratified in 1924. Later events were greatly influenced by that document's recognition of each republic's right to secede from the U.S.S.R.
| Russia | Legal | Back to Top |
Legal system: based on civil law system; judicial review of legislative acts Suffrage: 18 years of age; universal Executive branch: chief of state: President Vladimir Vladimirovich PUTIN (acting president since 31 December 1999, president since 7 May 2000) head of government: Premier Mikhail Mikhaylovich KASYANOV (since 7 May 2000); First Deputy Premier Aleksey Leonidovich KUDRIN (since 18 May 2000), Deputy Premiers Aleksey Vasilyevich GORDEYEV (since 20 May 2000), Viktor Borisovich KHRISTENKO (since 31 May 1999), Ilya Iosifovich KLEBANOV (since 31 May 1999), Valentina Ivanovna MATVIYENKO (since 22 September 1998) cabinet: Ministries of the Government or "Government" composed of the premier and his deputies, ministers, and other agency heads; all are appointed by the president note: there is also a Presidential Administration (PA) that provides staff and policy support to the president, drafts presidential decrees, and coordinates policy among government agencies; a Security Council also reports directly to the president elections: president elected by popular vote for a four-year term; election last held 26 March 2000 (next to be held NA 2004); note - no vice president; if the president dies in office, cannot exercise his powers because of ill health, is impeached, or resigns, the premier succeeds him; the premier serves as acting president until a new presidential election is held, which must be within three months; premier appointed by the president with the approval of the Duma election results: Vladimir Vladimirovich PUTIN elected president; percent of vote - PUTIN 52.9%, Gennadiy Aadreyevich ZYUGANOV 29.2%, Grigoriy Alekseyevich YAVLINSKIY 5.8% Legislative branch: bicameral Federal Assembly or Federalnoye Sobraniye consists of the Federation Council or Sovet Federatsii (178 seats; as of July 2000, members appointed by the top executive and legislative officials in each of the 89 federal administrative units - oblasts, krays, republics, autonomous okrugs and oblasts, and the federal cities of Moscow and Saint Petersburg; members serve four-year terms) and the State Duma or Gosudarstvennaya Duma (450 seats; half elected by proportional representation from party lists winning at least 5% of the vote, and half from single-member constituencies; members are elected by direct popular vote to serve four-year terms) elections: State Duma - last held 19 December 1999 (next to be held NA December 2003) election results: State Duma - percent of vote received by parties clearing the 5% threshold entitling them to a proportional share of the 225 party list seats - KPRF 24.29%, Unity 23.32%, OVR 13.33%, Union of Right Forces 8.52%, LDPR 5.98%, Yabloko 5.93%; seats by party - KPRF 113, Unity 72, OVR 67, Union of Rightist Forces 29, LDPR 17, Yabloko 21, other 16, independents 106, repeat election required 8, vacant 1 Judicial branch: Constitutional Court; Supreme Court; Superior Court of Arbitration; judges for all courts are appointed for life by the Federation Council on the recommendation of the president
| Russia | organization | Back to Top |
APEC, ASEAN (dialogue partner), BIS, BSEC, CBSS, CCC, CE, CERN (observer), CIS, EAPC, EBRD, ECE, ESCAP, G- 8, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, Inmarsat, Intelsat, Interpol, IOC, IOM (observer), ISO, ITU, LAIA (observer), MINURSO, MONUC, NAM (guest), NSG, OAS (observer), OPCW, OSCE, PCA, PFP, UN, UN Security Council, UNAMSIL, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNIKOM, UNITAR, UNMEE, UNMIBH, UNMIK, UNMOP, UNOMIG, UNTAET, UNTSO, UPU, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO (observer), ZC
| Russia | Education | Back to Top |
Education in Russia advanced significantly during the Soviet period. In 1918 the Soviet government instituted free, compulsory schooling, which enabled most Russians to receive a good basic education. As a result, Russia has an extremely high literacy rate. More than 99 percent of the population over age 15 is literate. Soviet government developed a smaller number of very large facilities, which are inadequate to meet Russia’s education needs. Because of a lack of space, students must attend schools in shifts in almost one-third of Russia's schools. The physical condition of the buildings, which was poor during the late Soviet period, has deteriorated further since 1991. Many schools lack heating, plumbing, and other basic necessities. Disparities in conditions have widened since 1991, as schools have become increasingly reliant on local support from public and private sponsors. Many schools have specialized, either to attract sponsors or to meet the needs of current sponsors, and reformers have sought to refocus the curriculum around the needs of students.
| Russia | Defence | Back to Top |
Military branches: Ground Forces, Navy, Air Force, Strategic Rocket Forces
Military manpower - military age: 18 years of age
Military manpower - availability: males age 15-49: 38,866,147 (2001 est.)
Military manpower - fit for military service: males age 15-49: 30,337,743 (2001 est.)
Military manpower - reaching military age annually: males: 1,242,778 (2001 est.)
| Russia | International Disputes | Back to Top |
dispute over at least two small sections of the boundary with China remains to be settled, despite 1997 boundary agreement; islands of Etorofu, Kunashiri, and Shikotan and the Habomai group occupied by the Soviet Union in 1945, now administered by Russia, claimed by Japan; Caspian Sea boundaries are not yet determined among Azerbaijan, Iran, Kazakhstan, Russia, and Turkmenistan; Estonian and Russian negotiators reached a technical border agreement in December 1996, which has not been signed or ratified by Russia as of February 2001; draft treaty delimiting the boundary with Latvia has not been signed; 1997 border agreement with Lithuania not yet ratified; has made no territorial claim in Antarctica (but has reserved the right to do so) and does not recognize the claims of any other nation; Svalbard is the focus of a maritime boundary dispute between Norway and Russia
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| Russia | Time | Back to Top |
| Russia | Currency and General Information | Back to Top |
| Countries Currency Unit | RUR/Unit | Units/RUR | |
| DZD | Algeria Dinars | 0.402000 | 2.48756 |
| USD | United States Dollars | 31.1200 | 0.0321337 |
| ARS | Argentina Pesos | 10.5671 | 0.0946337 |
| AUD | Australia Dollars | 16.6030 | 0.0602302 |
| ATS | Austria Schillings ** | 1.96986 | 0.507651 |
| BSD | Bahamas Dollars | 31.1200 | 0.0321337 |
| BBD | Barbados Dollars | 15.6382 | 0.0639460 |
| BEF | Belgium Francs ** | 0.671936 | 1.48824 |
| BMD | Bermuda Dollars | 31.1200 | 0.0321337 |
| BRL | Brazil Reals | 13.3849 | 0.0747108 |
| GBP | United Kingdom Pounds | 44.3728 | 0.0225363 |
| BGL | Bulgaria Leva | 13.9198 | 0.0718404 |
| CAD | Canada Dollars | 19.5090 | 0.0512585 |
| CLP | Chile Pesos | 0.0474065 | 21.0942 |
| CNY | China Yuan Renminbi | 3.75963 | 0.265983 |
| CYP | Cyprus Pounds | 47.3668 | 0.0211118 |
| CZK | Czech Republic Koruny | 0.877882 | 1.13910 |
| DKK | Denmark Kroner | 3.64870 | 0.274070 |
| XCD | East Caribbean Dollars | 11.5259 | 0.0867609 |
| EGP | Egypt Pounds | 6.71775 | 0.148859 |
| EUR | Euro | 27.1058 | 0.0368924 |
| FJD | Fiji Dollars | 13.9239 | 0.0718188 |
| FIM | Finland Markkaa ** | 4.55887 | 0.219352 |
| FRF | France Francs ** | 4.13226 | 0.241998 |
| DEM | Germany Deutsche Marks ** | 13.8590 | 0.0721553 |
| XAU | Gold Ounces | 9,405.88 | 0.000106316 |
| GRD | Greece Drachmae ** | 0.0795476 | 12.5711 |
| HKD | Hong Kong Dollars | 3.98995 | 0.250630 |
| HUF | Hungary Forint | 0.111471 | 8.97093 |
| ISK | Iceland Kronur | 0.311219 | 3.21317 |
| INR | India Rupees | 0.637653 | 1.56825 |
| IDR | Indonesia Rupiahs | 0.00316762 | 315.695 |
| IEP | Ireland Pounds ** | 34.4173 | 0.0290552 |
| ILS | Israel New Shekels | 6.56133 | 0.152408 |
| ITL | Italy Lire ** | 0.0139990 | 71.4337 |
| JMD | Jamaica Dollars | 0.653644 | 1.52988 |
| JPY | Japan Yen | 0.234602 | 4.26253 |
| JOD | Jordan Dinars | 43.8928 | 0.0227828 |
| LBP | Lebanon Pounds | 0.0205548 | 48.6504 |
| LUF | Luxembourg Francs ** | 0.671936 | 1.48824 |
| MYR | Malaysia Ringgits | 8.19163 | 0.122076 |
| MXN | Mexico Pesos | 3.45382 | 0.289535 |
| NZD | New Zealand Dollars | 13.7078 | 0.0729510 |
| NOK | Norway Kroner | 3.51493 | 0.284501 |
| NLG | Netherlands Guilders ** | 12.3001 | 0.0813002 |
| PKR | Pakistan Rupees | 0.518235 | 1.92963 |
| PHP | Philippines Pesos | 0.609957 | 1.63946 |
| XPT | Platinum Ounces | 16,150.59 | 0.0000619172 |
| PLN | Poland Zlotych | 7.56853 | 0.132126 |
| PTE | Portugal Escudos ** | 0.135203 | 7.39627 |
| ROL | Romania Lei | 0.000944891 | 1,058.32 |
| RUR | Russia Rubles | 1.00000 | 1.00000 |
| SAR | Saudi Arabia Riyals | 8.29854 | 0.120503 |
| XAG | Silver Ounces | 144.081 | 0.00694056 |
| SGD | Singapore Dollars | 16.8928 | 0.0591967 |
| SKK | Slovakia Koruny | 0.649008 | 1.54081 |
| ZAR | South Africa Rand | 2.73998 | 0.364967 |
| KRW | South Korea Won | 0.0235614 | 42.4423 |
| ESP | Spain Pesetas ** | 0.162909 | 6.13838 |
| XDR | IMF Special Drawing Rights | 38.8009 | 0.0257726 |
| SDD | Sudan Dinars | 0.119692 | 8.35476 |
| SEK | Sweden Kronor | 3.00359 | 0.332935 |
| CHF | Switzerland Francs | 18.5099 | 0.0540253 |
| TWD | Taiwan New Dollars | 0.890415 | 1.12307 |
| THB | Thailand Baht | 0.714552 | 1.39948 |
| TTD | Trinidad and Tobago Dollars | 5.08497 | 0.196658 |
| TRL | Turkey Liras | 0.0000231531 | 43,190.80 |
| VEB | Venezuela Bolivares | 0.0337971 | 29.5884 |
| ZMK | Zambia Kwacha | 0.00696197 | 143.638 |
| Russia : Geographic coordinates | 60 00 N, 100 00 E |
| Russia : Population growth rate | -0.35% |
| Russia : Birth rate | 9.35 births/1,000 population |
| Russia : Death rate | 13.85 deaths/1,000 population |
| Russia : People living with HIV/AIDS | 130,000 |
| Russia : Independence | 24 August 1991 |
| Russia : National holiday | Russia Day, 12 June |
| Russia : Constitution | 12 December 1993 |
| Russia : GDP | purchasing power parity - $1.12 trillion |
| Russia : GDP - per capita | purchasing power parity - $7,700 |
| Russia : Electricity - consumption | 728.2 billion kWh |
| Russia : Exports | $105.1 billion petroleum and petroleum products, natural gas, wood and wood products, metals, chemicals, and a wide variety of civilian and military manufactures |
| Russia : Imports | $44.2 billion machinery and equipment, consumer goods, medicines, meat, grain, sugar, semifinished metal products |
| Russia : Telephones | 30 million |
| Russia : Mobile cellular | 2.5 million |
| Russia : Radio broadcast stations | AM 420, FM 447, shortwave 56 |
| Russia : Radios | 61.5 million |
| Russia : Television broadcast stations | 7,306 |
| Russia : Televisions | 60.5 million |
| Russia : Internet country code | .ru |
| Russia : Internet Service Providers (ISPs) | 35 |
| Russia : Internet users | 9.2 million |
| Russia : Railways | 149,000 km |
| Russia : Highways | 952,000 km |
| Russia : Waterways | 95,900 km |
| Russia : Pipelines | crude oil 48,000 km; petroleum products 15,000 km; natural gas 140,000 km |
| Russia : Ports and harbors | Arkhangel'sk, Astrakhan', Kaliningrad, Kazan', Khabarovsk, Kholmsk, Krasnoyarsk, Moscow, Murmansk, Nakhodka, Nevel'sk, Novorossiysk, Petropavlovsk-Kamchatskiy, Saint Petersburg, Rostov, Sochi, Tuapse, Vladivostok, Volgograd, Vostochnyy, Vyborg |
| Russia : Merchant marine | 878 ships |
| Russia : Airports | 2,743 |
| Russia : Heliports | N/A |
| Russia : Military branches | Ground Forces, Navy, Air Force, Strategic Rocket Forces |
| Russia : Military expenditures | N/A |