Russia

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Geography

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

Geographic coordinates
60 00 N, 100 00 E

Area
total: 17,075,200 sq km
land: 16,995,800 sq km
water: 79,400 sq km

slightly less than 1.8 times the size of the US

Border countries
Azerbaijan, Belarus, China, Estonia, Finland, Georgia, Kazakhstan, North Korea, Latvia, Lithuania (Kaliningrad Oblast), Mongolia, Norway, Poland (Kaliningrad Oblast), Ukraine

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

Terrain
broad plain with low hills west of Urals; vast coniferous forest and tundra in Siberia; uplands and mountains along southern border regions

Elevation extremes
lowest point: Caspian Sea -28 m
highest point: Gora El'brus 5,633 m

Natural resources
wide natural resource base including major deposits of oil, natural gas, coal, and many strategic minerals, timber

note: formidable obstacles of climate, terrain, and distance hinder exploitation of natural resources

Land use
arable land: 8%
permanent crops: 0%
permanent pastures: 4%
forests and woodland: 46%
other: 42% (1993 est.)

Note
largest country in the world in terms of area but 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

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People

Population: 145,470,197 (July 2001 est.)

Population growth rate
-0.35% (2001 est.)

Birth rate
9.35 births/1,000 population (2001 est.)

Death rate
13.85 deaths/1,000 population (2001 est.)

Infant mortality rate
20.05 deaths/1,000 live births (2001 est.)

Life expectancy at birth
total population: 67.34 years
male: 62.12 years
female: 72.83 years (2001 est.)

Total fertility rate
1.27 children born/woman (2001 est.)

Nationality
noun: Russian(s)
adjective: Russian

Ethnic groups
Russian 81.5%
Tatar 3.8%
Ukrainian 3%
Chuvash 1.2%
Bashkir 0.9%
Byelorussian 0.8%
Moldavian 0.7%
other 8.1%

Religions
Russian Orthodox, Muslim, other

Languages
Russian, other

Literacy
definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 98%
male: 100%
female: 97% (1989 est.)

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Government

Country name
conventional long form: Russian Federation
conventional short form: Russia
local long form: Rossiyskaya Federatsiya
local short form: Rossiya

Government type
federation

Capital
Moscow

Independence
24 August 1991 (from Soviet Union)

National holiday
Russia Day, 12 June (1990)

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Economy


GDP by sector
agriculture: 7%
industry: 34%
services: 59% (1999 est.)

Population below poverty line
40% (1999 est.)

Inflation rate
20.6% (2000 est.)

Labor force: 66 million (1997)
agriculture: 15%
services: 55%
industry: 30%

Unemployment rate
10.5% (2000 est.), plus considerable underemployment

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Communications

Telephones: 30 million (1998)
Mobile Phones: 2.5 million (October 2000)
Radios: 61.5 million (1997)
Televisions: 60.5 million (1997)
Internet users: 9.2 million (2000)

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Transportation

Railways: total: 149,000 km
Highways: total: 952,000 km
Waterways: 95,900 km
Airports: 2,743 (2000 est.)