|
Background: |
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 struggled in its efforts to build a
democratic political system and market economy to replace the social,
political, and economic controls of the Communist period. In tandem with
its prudent management of Russia?s windfall energy wealth, which has
helped the country rebound from the economic collapse of the 1990?s, the
Kremlin in recent years has overseen a recentralization of power that has
undermined democratic institutions. Russia has severely disabled the
Chechen rebel movement, although violence still occurs throughout the
North Caucasus. |
|
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 |
|
Map references: |
Asia |
|
Area: |
total: 17,075,200 sq km
land: 16,995,800 sq km
water: 79,400 sq km |
|
Area - comparative: |
approximately 1.8 times the
size of the US |
|
Land boundaries: |
total: 20,096.5 km
border countries: Azerbaijan 284 km, Belarus 959 km, China
(southeast) 3,605 km, China (south) 40 km, Estonia 294 km, Finland 1,340
km, Georgia 723 km, Kazakhstan 6,846 km, North Korea 19 km, Latvia 217 km,
Lithuania (Kaliningrad Oblast) 280.5 km, Mongolia 3,485 km, Norway 196 km,
Poland (Kaliningrad Oblast) 232 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 |
|
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: 7.17%
permanent crops: 0.11%
other: 92.72% (2005) |
|
Irrigated land: |
46,000 sq km (2003) |
|
Total renewable water resources: |
4,498 cu km (1997) |
|
Freshwater withdrawal
(domestic/industrial/agricultural): |
total: 76.68 cu km/yr
(19%/63%/18%)
per capita: 535 cu m/yr (2000) |
|
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 |
|
Environment - current issues: |
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; abandoned stocks of
obsolete pesticides |
|
Environment - international agreements: |
party to: Air Pollution,
Air Pollution-Nitrogen Oxides, Air Pollution-Sulfur 85,
Antarctic-Environmental Protocol, Antarctic-Marine Living Resources,
Antarctic Seals, Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate
Change-Kyoto Protocol, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification,
Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Ozone Layer Protection,
Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 83, Wetlands, Whaling
signed, but
not ratified: Air Pollution-Sulfur 94 |
|
Geography - 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; Mount El'brus is
Europe's tallest peak |
|
Population: |
141,377,752 (July 2007 est.)
|
|
Age structure: |
0-14 years: 14.6% (male
10,563,567/female 10,021,316)
15-64 years: 71.1% (male
48,412,612/female 52,061,604)
65 years and over: 14.4% (male
6,360,038/female 13,958,615) (2007 est.) |
|
Median age: |
total: 38.2 years
male: 35 years
female: 41.3 years (2007 est.) |
|
Population growth rate: |
-0.484% (2007 est.) |
|
Birth rate: |
10.92 births/1,000 population
(2007 est.) |
|
Death rate: |
16.04 deaths/1,000 population
(2007 est.) |
|
Net migration rate: |
0.28 migrant(s)/1,000
population (2007 est.) |
|
Sex ratio: |
at birth: 1.06
male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.054 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 0.93 male(s)/female
65 years and over:
0.456 male(s)/female
total population: 0.859 male(s)/female
(2007 est.) |
|
Infant mortality rate: |
total: 11.06
deaths/1,000 live births
male: 12.6 deaths/1,000 live births
female: 9.42 deaths/1,000 live births (2007 est.) |
|
Life expectancy at birth: |
total population: 65.87
years
male: 59.12 years
female: 73.03 years (2007
est.) |
|
Total fertility rate: |
1.39 children born/woman (2007
est.) |
|
HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate: |
1.1% (2001 est.) |
|
HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS: |
860,000 (2001 est.) |
|
HIV/AIDS - deaths: |
9,000 (2001 est.) |
|
Nationality: |
noun: Russian(s)
adjective: Russian |
|
Ethnic groups: |
Russian 79.8%, Tatar 3.8%,
Ukrainian 2%, Bashkir 1.2%, Chuvash 1.1%, other or unspecified 12.1% (2002
census) |
|
Religions: |
Russian Orthodox 15-20%, Muslim
10-15%, other Christian 2% (2006 est.)
note: estimates are of
practicing worshipers; Russia has large populations of non-practicing
believers and non-believers, a legacy of over seven decades of Soviet rule
|
|
Languages: |
Russian, many minority
languages |
|
Literacy: |
definition: age 15 and
over can read and write
total population: 99.4%
male: 99.7%
female: 99.2% (2002 census)
|
|
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 |
|
Government type: |
federation |
|
Capital: |
name: Moscow
geographic coordinates: 55 45 N, 37 35 E
time
difference: UTC+3 (8 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard
Time)
daylight saving time: +1hr, begins last Sunday in March;
ends last Sunday in October
note: Russia is divided into 11
time zones |
|
Administrative divisions: |
47 oblasts (oblastey, singular
- oblast), 21 republics (respublik, singular - respublika), 5 autonomous
okrugs (avtonomnykh okrugov, singular - avtonomnyy okrug), 8 krays
(krayev, singular - kray), 2 federal cities (goroda, singular - gorod),
and 1 autonomous oblast (avtonomnaya oblast')
oblasts: Amur
(Blagoveshchensk), Arkhangel'sk, Astrakhan', Belgorod, Bryansk,
Chelyabinsk, Chita, Irkutsk, Ivanovo, Kaliningrad, Kaluga, Kemerovo,
Kirov, Kostroma, Kurgan, Kursk, Leningrad, Lipetsk, Magadan, Moscow,
Murmansk, Nizhniy Novgorod, Novgorod, Novosibirsk, Omsk, Orenburg, Orel,
Penza, Pskov, Rostov, Ryazan', Sakhalin (Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk), Samara,
Saratov, Smolensk, Sverdlovsk (Yekaterinburg), Tambov, Tomsk, Tula, Tver',
Tyumen', Ul'yanovsk, Vladimir, Volgograd, Vologda, Voronezh, Yaroslavl'
republics: Adygeya (Maykop), Altay (Gorno-Altaysk),
Bashkortostan (Ufa), Buryatiya (Ulan-Ude), Chechnya (Groznyy), Chuvashiya
(Cheboksary), Dagestan (Makhachkala), Ingushetiya (Magas),
Kabardino-Balkariya (Nal'chik), Kalmykiya (Elista), Karachayevo-Cherkesiya
(Cherkessk), Kareliya (Petrozavodsk), Khakasiya (Abakan), Komi
(Syktyvkar), Mariy-El (Yoshkar-Ola), Mordoviya (Saransk), North Ossetia
(Vladikavkaz), Sakha [Yakutiya] (Yakutsk), Tatarstan (Kazan'), Tyva
(Kyzyl), Udmurtiya (Izhevsk)
autonomous okrugs: Aga Buryat
(Aginskoye), Chukotka (Anadyr'), Khanty-Mansi, Nenets (Nar'yan-Mar),
Yamalo-Nenets (Salekhard)
krays: Altay (Barnaul), Kamchatka,
Khabarovsk, Krasnodar, Krasnoyarsk, Perm', Primorsk (Vladivostok),
Stavropol'
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: |
24 August 1991 (from Soviet
Union) |
|
National holiday: |
Russia Day, 12 June (1990)
|
|
Constitution: |
adopted 12 December 1993 |
|
Legal system: |
based on civil law system;
judicial review of legislative acts; has not accepted compulsory ICJ
jurisdiction |
|
Suffrage: |
18 years of age; universal
|
|
Executive branch: |
chief of state:
President Vladimir Vladimirovich PUTIN (acting president 31 December
1999-6 May 2000, president since 7 May 2000)
head of
government: Premier Viktor Alekseyevich ZUBKOV (since 14 September
2007); First Deputy Premiers Dmitriy Anatolyevich MEDVEDEV (since 14
November 2005) and Sergey Borisovich IVANOV (since 15 February 2007),
Deputy Premiers Aleksandr Dmitriyevich ZHUKOV (since 9 March 2004), Sergey
Yevgenyevich NARYSHKIN (since 15 February 2007), and Aleksey Leonidovich
KUDRIN (since 24 September 2007)
cabinet: Ministries of the
Government or "Government" composed of the premier and his deputies,
ministers, and selected other individuals; 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 (eligible for a second term); election last held 14 March 2004 (next
to be held in March 2008); note - no vice president; if the president dies
in office, cannot exercise his powers because of ill health, is impeached,
or resigns, 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 reelected president; percent of
vote - Vladimir Vladimirovich PUTIN 71.2%, Nikolay KHARITONOV 13.7%, other
(no candidate above 5%) 15.1% |
|
Legislative branch: |
bicameral Federal Assembly or
Federalnoye Sobraniye consists of the Federation Council or Sovet
Federatsii (168 seats; as of July 2000, members appointed by the top
executive and legislative officials in each of the 84 federal
administrative units - oblasts, krays, republics, autonomous okrugs and
oblasts, and the federal cities of Moscow and Saint Petersburg; to serve
four-year terms) and the State Duma or Gosudarstvennaya Duma (450 seats;
as of 2007, all members elected by proportional representation from party
lists winning at least 7% of the vote; members elected by popular vote to
serve four-year terms)
elections: State Duma - last held 2
December 2007 (next to be held in December 2011)
election
results: State Duma - United Russia 64.3%, CPRF 11.5%, LDPR 8.1%, JR
7.7%, other 8.4%; total seats by party - United Russia 315, CPRF 57, LDPR
40, JR 38 |
|
Judicial branch: |
Constitutional Court; Supreme
Court; Supreme Arbitration Court; judges for all courts are appointed for
life by the Federation Council on the recommendation of the president
|
|
Political parties and leaders: |
Agrarian Party [Vladimir
PLOTNIKOV]; A Just Russia or JR [Sergey MIRONOV] (formed from the merger
of three small political parties: Rodina (Motherland), Pensioners Party,
and Party of Life); Civic Force [Mikhail BARSHCHEVSKIY]; Communist Party
of the Russian Federation or CPRF [Gennadiy Andreyevich ZYUGANOV];
Democratic Party [Andrey BOGDANOV]; Green Party [Anatoliy PANFILOV];
Liberal Democratic Party of Russia or LDPR [Vladimir Volfovich
ZHIRINOVSKIY]; Party of Russia's Rebirth [Gennadiy SELEZNEV]; Patriots of
Russia [Gennadiy SEMIGIN]; Peace and Unity Party [Sazhi UMALATOVA];
People's Union [Sergey BABURIN]; Social Justice Party [Arkadiy GAYDAMAK];
Union of Right Forces or SPS [Nikita BELYKH]; United Russia or UR [Boris
Vyacheslavovich GRYZLOV]; Yabloko Party [Grigoriy Alekseyevich YAVLINSKIY]
|
|
Political pressure groups and leaders: |
NA |
|
International organization participation: |
APEC, Arctic Council, ARF,
ASEAN (dialogue partner), BIS, BSEC, CBSS, CE, CERN (observer), CIS, CSTO,
EAEC, EAPC, EBRD, G- 8, GCTU, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICCt (signatory),
ICRM, IDA, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, IMSO, Interpol, IOC, IOM
(observer), IPU, ISO, ITSO, ITU, ITUC, LAIA (observer), MIGA, MINURSO, NAM
(guest), NSG, OAS (observer), OIC (observer), OPCW, OSCE, Paris Club, PCA,
PFP, SCO, UN, UN Security Council, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNITAR,
UNMEE, UNMIL, UNMIS, UNOCI, UNOMIG, UNTSO, UNWTO, UPU, WCO, WFTU, WHO,
WIPO, WMO, WTO (observer), ZC |
|
Diplomatic representation in the US: |
chief of mission:
Ambassador Yuriy Viktorovich USHAKOV
chancery: 2650 Wisconsin
Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20007
telephone: [1] (202) 298-5700,
5701, 5704, 5708
FAX: [1] (202) 298-5735
consulate(s)
general: Houston, New York, San Francisco, Seattle |
|
Diplomatic representation from the US: |
chief of mission:
Ambassador William J. BURNS
embassy: Bolshoy Deviatinskiy
Pereulok No. 8, 121099 Moscow
mailing address: PSC-77, APO AE
09721
telephone: [7] (495) 728-5000
FAX: [7] (495)
728-5090
consulate(s) general: Saint Petersburg, Vladivostok,
Yekaterinburg |
|
Flag description: |
three equal horizontal bands of
white (top), blue, and red |
|
Economy - overview: |
Russia ended 2007 with its
ninth straight year of growth, averaging 7% annually since the financial
crisis of 1998. Although high oil prices and a relatively cheap ruble
initially drove this growth, since 2003 consumer demand and, more
recently, investment have played a significant role. Over the last six
years, fixed capital investments have averaged real gains greater than 10%
per year and personal incomes have achieved real gains more than 12% per
year. During this time, poverty has declined steadily and the middle class
has continued to expand. Russia has also improved its international
financial position since the 1998 financial crisis. The federal budget has
run surpluses since 2001 and ended 2007 with a surplus of about 3% of GDP.
Over the past several years, Russia has used its stabilization fund based
on oil taxes to prepay all Soviet-era sovereign debt to Paris Club
creditors and the IMF. Foreign debt is approximately one-third of GDP. The
state component of foreign debt has declined, but commercial debt to
foreigners has risen strongly. Oil export earnings have allowed Russia to
increase its foreign reserves from $12 billion in 1999 to some $470
billion at yearend 2007, the third largest reserves in the world. During
PUTIN's first administration, a number of important reforms were
implemented in the areas of tax, banking, labor, and land codes. These
achievements have raised business and investor confidence in Russia's
economic prospects, with foreign direct investment rising from $14.6
billion in 2005 to approximately $45 billion in 2007. In 2007, Russia's
GDP grew 7.6%, led by non-tradable services and goods for the domestic
market, as opposed to oil or mineral extraction and exports. Rising
inflation returned in the second half of 2007, driven largely by
unsterilized capital inflows and by rising food costs, and approached 12%
by year-end. In 2006, Russia signed a bilateral market access agreement
with the US as a prelude to possible WTO entry, and its companies are
involved in global merger and acquisition activity in the oil and gas,
metals, and telecom sectors. Despite Russia's recent success, serious
problems persist. Oil, natural gas, metals, and timber account for more
than 80% of exports and 30% of government revenues, leaving the country
vulnerable to swings in world commodity prices. Russia's manufacturing
base is dilapidated and must be replaced or modernized if the country is
to achieve broad-based economic growth. The banking system, while
increasing consumer lending and growing at a high rate, is still small
relative to the banking sectors of Russia's emerging market peers.
Political uncertainties associated with this year's power transition,
corruption, and lack of trust in institutions continue to dampen domestic
and foreign investor sentiment. President PUTIN has granted more influence
to forces within his government that desire to reassert state control over
the economy. Russia has made little progress in building the rule of law,
the bedrock of a modern market economy. The government has promised
additional legislative amendments to make its intellectual property
protection WTO-consistent, but enforcement remains problematic. |
|
GDP (purchasing power parity): |
$2.076 trillion (2007 est.)
|
|
GDP (official exchange rate): |
$1.251 trillion (2007 est.)
|
|
GDP - real growth rate: |
7.6% (2007 est.) |
|
GDP - per capita (PPP): |
$14,600 (2007 est.) |
|
GDP - composition by sector: |
agriculture: 4.6%
industry: 39.1%
services: 56.3% (2007 est.) |
|
Labor force: |
75.1 million (November 2007
est.) |
|
Labor force - by occupation: |
agriculture: 10.8%
industry: 28.8%
services: 60.5% (November 2007 est.)
|
|
Unemployment rate: |
5.9% (November 2007 est.)
|
|
Population below poverty line: |
15.8% (November 2007) |
|
Household income or consumption by percentage
share: |
lowest 10%: 1.9%
highest 10%: 30.4% (September 2007) |
|
Distribution of family income - Gini index: |
41.3 (September 2007) |
|
Inflation rate (consumer prices): |
11.9% annual average
note: 12% at year-end (2007 est.) |
|
Investment (gross fixed): |
19.4% of GDP (January -
September 2007 est.) |
|
Budget: |
revenues: $299 billion
expenditures: $262 billion (2007 est.) |
|
Public debt: |
7% of GDP (2007 est.) |
|
Agriculture - products: |
grain, sugar beets, sunflower
seed, vegetables, fruits; beef, milk |
|
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 |
|
Industrial production growth rate: |
6% (2007 est.) |
|
Electricity - production: |
1 trillion kWh (2007 est.)
|
|
Electricity - production by source: |
fossil fuel: 66.3%
hydro: 17.2%
nuclear: 16.4%
other: 0.1%
(2003) |
|
Electricity - consumption: |
985.2 billion kWh (2007 est.)
|
|
Electricity - exports: |
18 billion kWh (2007) |
|
Electricity - imports: |
2.9 billion kWh (2007 est.)
|
|
Oil - production: |
9.87 million bbl/day (2007)
|
|
Oil - consumption: |
2.916 million bbl/day (2006)
|
|
Oil - exports: |
5.08 million bbl/day (2007)
|
|
Oil - imports: |
100,000 bbl/day (2005) |
|
Oil - proved reserves: |
60 billion bbl (1 January 2006
est.) |
|
Natural gas - production: |
656.2 billion cu m (2007 est.)
|
|
Natural gas - consumption: |
610 billion cu m (2007 est.)
|
|
Natural gas - exports: |
182 billion cu m (2007 est.)
|
|
Natural gas - imports: |
37.5 billion cu m (2005) |
|
Natural gas - proved reserves: |
47.57 trillion cu m (1 January
2006) |
|
Current account balance: |
$74 billion (2007 est.) |
|
Exports: |
$365 billion (2007 est.) |
|
Exports - commodities: |
petroleum and petroleum
products, natural gas, wood and wood products, metals, chemicals, and a
wide variety of civilian and military manufactures |
|
Exports - partners: |
Netherlands 12.3%, Italy 8.6%,
Germany 8.4%, China 5.4%, Ukraine 5.1%, Turkey 4.9%, Switzerland 4.1%
(2006) |
|
Imports: |
$260.4 billion (2007 est.)
|
|
Imports - commodities: |
machinery and equipment,
consumer goods, medicines, meat, sugar, semifinished metal products |
|
Imports - partners: |
Germany 13.9%, China 9.7%,
Ukraine 7%, Japan 5.9%, South Korea 5.1%, US 4.8%, France 4.4%, Italy 4.3%
(2006) |
|
Economic aid - recipient: |
$983 million in FY06 from US,
including $847 million in non-proliferation subsidies |
|
Reserves of foreign exchange and gold: |
$470 billion (31 December 2007
est.) |
|
Debt - external: |
$384.8 billion (30 June 2007)
|
|
Stock of direct foreign investment - at home: |
$271.6 billion (2006) |
|
Stock of direct foreign investment - abroad: |
$209.6 billion (2006) |
|
Market value of publicly traded shares: |
$1.322 trillion (2006) |
|
Currency (code): |
Russian ruble (RUR) |
|
Currency code: |
RUR |
|
Exchange rates: |
Russian rubles per US dollar -
25.659 (2007), 27.19 (2006), 28.284 (2005), 28.814 (2004), 30.692 (2003)
|
|
Fiscal year: |
calendar year |
|
Telephones - main lines in use: |
40.1 million (2005) |
|
Telephones - mobile cellular: |
150 million (2006) |
|
Telephone system: |
general assessment: the
telephone system is experiencing significant changes; 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; the
estimated number of mobile subscribers jumped from fewer than 1 million in
1998 to 150 million in 2006; a large demand for main line service remains
unsatisfied, but fixed-line operators continue to grow their services
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: country code - 7; Russia is
connected internationally by 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 |
|
Radio broadcast stations: |
AM 323, FM 1,500 est.,
shortwave 62 (2004) |
|
Radios: |
61.5 million (1997) |
|
Television broadcast stations: |
7,306 (1998) |
|
Televisions: |
60.5 million (1997) |
|
Internet country code: |
.ru; note - Russia also has
responsibility for a legacy domain ".su" that was allocated to the Soviet
Union, and whose legal status and ownership are contested by the Russian
Government, ICANN, and several Russian commercial entities |
|
Internet hosts: |
2.844 million (2007) |
|
Internet Service Providers (ISPs): |
300 (June 2000) |
|
Internet users: |
25.689 million (2006)
|
|
Airports: |
1,260 (2007) |
|
Airports - with paved runways: |
total: 601
over
3,047 m: 51
2,438 to 3,047 m: 197
1,524 to 2,437
m: 129
914 to 1,523 m: 102
under 914 m: 122
(2007) |
|
Airports - with unpaved runways: |
total: 659
over
3,047 m: 4
2,438 to 3,047 m: 13
1,524 to 2,437
m: 69
914 to 1,523 m: 89
under 914 m: 484 (2007)
|
|
Heliports: |
47 (2007) |
|
Pipelines: |
condensate 122 km; gas 158,699
km; oil 72,347 km; refined products 13,658 km (2007) |
|
Railways: |
total: 87,157 km
broad gauge: 86,200 km 1.520-m gauge (40,300 km electrified)
narrow gauge: 957 km 1.067-m gauge (on Sakhalin Island)
note: an additional 30,000 km of non-common carrier lines serve
industries (2006) |
|
Roadways: |
total: 871,000 km
paved: 738,000 km (includes 29,000 km of expressways)
unpaved: 133,000 km
note: includes public and
departmental roads (2004) |
|
Waterways: |
102,000 km (including 33,000 km
with guaranteed depth)
note: 72,000 km system in European
Russia links Baltic Sea, White Sea, Caspian Sea, Sea of Azov, and Black
Sea (2006) |
|
Merchant marine: |
total: 1,130 ships (1000
GRT or over) 4,712,349 GRT/5,747,083 DWT
by type: bulk carrier
28, cargo 718, carrier 2, chemical tanker 27, combination ore/oil 35,
container 10, passenger 15, passenger/cargo 8, petroleum tanker 215,
refrigerated cargo 51, roll on/roll off 14, specialized tanker 7
foreign-owned: 101 (Belgium 6, Cyprus 2, Germany 2, Greece 1,
South Korea 1, Latvia 2, Switzerland 6, Turkey 70, Ukraine 10, US 1)
registered in other countries: 469 (Antigua and Barbuda 5,
Bahamas 5, Belize 39, Bulgaria 1, Cambodia 112, Comoros 9, Cyprus 50,
Dominica 2, Georgia 17, North Korea 1, Liberia 87, Malta 66, Marshall
Islands 4, Mongolia 17, Panama 9, Sierra Leone 5, St Kitts and Nevis 14,
St Vincent and The Grenadines 19, Thailand 1, Tuvalu 4, Vanuatu 1,
Venezuela 1, unknown 21) (2007) |
|
Ports and terminals: |
Azov, Kaliningrad, Kavkaz,
Nakhodka, Novorossiysk, Primorsk, Saint Petersburg, Vostochnyy
|
|
Military branches: |
Ground Forces (SV), Navy (VMF),
Air Forces (Voyenno-Vozdushniye Sily, VVS); Airborne Troops (VDV),
Strategic Rocket Troops (RVSN), and Space Troops (KV) are independent
"combat arms," not subordinate to any of the three branches; Russian
Ground Forces include the following combat arms: motorized-rifle troops,
tank troops, missile and artillery troops, air defense of ground troops
(2007) |
|
Military service age and obligation: |
18-27 years of age for
compulsory or voluntary military service; males are registered for the
draft at 17 years of age; service obligation - 1 year; reserve obligation
to age 50; foreign citizens and dual-nationality Russians are precluded
from contract military service
note: Russia has adopted a mixed
conscript-contract force; 30% of Russian army personnel were contract
servicemen at the end of 2005; planning calls for volunteer servicemen to
compose 70% of armed forces by 2010 with the remaining servicemen
consisting of conscripts; as of November 2006, the Armed Forces had more
than 60 units manned with contract personnel totaling over 78,000 contract
privates and sergeants; 88 Ministry of Defense units have been designated
as permanent readiness units and are expected to become all-volunteer by
the end of 2007; these include most air force, naval, and nuclear arms
units, as well as all airborne and naval infantry units, most motorized
rifle brigades, and all special forces detachments; all personnel on ships
and submarines will be contract servicemen beginning in 2009; more than
92,000 females serve on active duty with the Russian Armed Forces (2007)
|
|
Manpower available for military service: |
males age 18-49:
35,247,049
females age 18-49: 35,986,426 (2005 est.) |
|
Manpower fit for military service: |
males age 18-49:
21,049,651
females age 18-49: 29,056,021 (2005 est.) |
|
Manpower reaching military service age annually: |
males age 18-49:
1,286,069
females age 18-49: 1,244,264 (2005 est.) |
|
Military expenditures - percent of GDP: |
3.9% (2005) |
|
Disputes - international: |
China and Russia have
demarcated the once disputed islands at the Amur and Ussuri confluence and
in the Argun River in accordance with the 2004 Agreement, ending their
centuries-long border disputes; the sovereignty dispute over the islands
of Etorofu, Kunashiri, Shikotan, and the Habomai group, known in Japan as
the "Northern Territories" and in Russia as the "Southern Kurils,"
occupied by the Soviet Union in 1945, now administered by Russia, and
claimed by Japan, remains the primary sticking point to signing a peace
treaty formally ending World War II hostilities; Russia and Georgia agree
on delimiting all but small, strategic segments of the land boundary and
the maritime boundary; OSCE observers monitor volatile areas such as the
Pankisi Gorge in the Akhmeti region and the Kodori Gorge in Abkhazia;
Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, and Russia signed equidistance boundaries in the
Caspian seabed but the littoral states have no consensus on dividing the
water column; Russia and Norway dispute their maritime limits in the
Barents Sea and Russia's fishing rights beyond Svalbard's territorial
limits within the Svalbard Treaty zone; 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; 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; Russia demands better
treatment of ethnic Russians in Estonia and Latvia; 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; Lithuania and Russia committed
to demarcating their boundary in 2006 in accordance with the land and
maritime treaty ratified by Russia in May 2003 and by Lithuania in 1999;
Lithuania operates a simplified transit regime for Russian nationals
traveling from the Kaliningrad coastal exclave into Russia, while still
conforming, as an EU member state with an EU external border, where strict
Schengen border rules apply; preparations for the demarcation delimitation
of land boundary with Ukraine have commenced; the dispute over the
boundary between Russia and Ukraine through the Kerch Strait and Sea of
Azov remains unresolved despite a December 2003 framework agreement and
on-going expert-level discussions; Kazakhstan and Russia boundary
delimitation was ratified on November 2005 and field demarcation should
commence in 2007; Russian Duma has not yet ratified 1990 Bering Sea
Maritime Boundary Agreement with the US |
|
Refugees and internally displaced persons: |
IDPs: 25,000-180,000
(displacement from Chechnya and North Ossetia) (2006) |
|
Trafficking in persons: |
current situation:
Russia is a source, transit, and destination country for men, women, and
children trafficked for various purposes; it remains a significant source
of women trafficked to over 50 countries for commercial sexual
exploitation; Russia is also a transit and destination country for men and
women trafficked from Central Asia, Eastern Europe, and North Korea to
Central and Western Europe and the Middle East for purposes of forced
labor and sexual exploitation; internal trafficking remains a problem in
Russia with women trafficked from rural areas to urban centers for
commercial sexual exploitation, and men trafficked internally and from
Central Asia for forced labor in the construction and agricultural
industries; debt bondage is common among trafficking victims, and child
sex tourism remains a concern
tier rating: Tier 2 Watch List -
Russia is placed on the Tier 2 Watch List for a third consecutive year for
its continued failure to show evidence of increasing efforts to combat
trafficking, particularly in the area of victim protection and assistance
|
|
Illicit drugs: |
limited cultivation of illicit
cannabis and opium poppy and producer of methamphetamine, mostly for
domestic consumption; government has active illicit crop eradication
program; used as transshipment point for Asian opiates, cannabis, and
Latin American cocaine bound for growing domestic markets, to a lesser
extent Western and Central Europe, and occasionally to the US; major
source of heroin precursor chemicals; corruption and organized crime are
key concerns; major consumer of opiates |
This page was last updated on 12 February, 2008
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