The Russian Federation

Profile
	Official name		Rossiyskaya Federatsiya (Russian Federation)
	Form of government		federal multiparty republic with a bicameral legislative body (Federal Assembly comprising the Federation Council [178] and the State Duma [450])
	Head of state		President
	Head of government		Prime Minister
	Capital		Moscow
	Official language		Russian
	Official religion		none
	Monetary unit		ruble (Rub)
	Population estimate		(2006) 142,394,000
	Total area (sq mi)		6,592,800
	Total area (sq km)		17,075,400

RUSSIA

The Russian Federation, Russia, is the largest country in the world. Russia is situated on two continents: Europe and Asia. The size of Russia is hard to imagine. It occupies about one-seventh of the earth’s surface. A flight from Moscow to Magadan takes eight hours. The total area is 17, 075, 400 square kilometres.

Russia is washed by 12 seas of 3 oceans: in the north by the Arctic Ocean and its seas: the Barents, Chukchee, East Siberian, Kara, Laptev and White Seas; in the south by the Black and Caspian Seas of the Atlantic; in the east by the Bering Sea, the Sea of Japan and Okhotsk Sea of the Pacific; in the west by the Baltic Sea.

Our country borders on fourteen countries. In the south Russia borders on China, Mongolia, North Korea, Kazakhstan, Georgia and Azerbaijan. In the west it borders on Norway, Finland, the Baltic States (Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania), Belorussia, the Ukraine and Poland. It also has a sea-border with the USA.

There is hardly a country in the world where such a great variety of flora and fauna can be found as in our land. Our country has numerous forests, plains and steppes, taiga and tundra, highlands and deserts. Russia has one-sixth of the world’s forests. They are concentrated in the European north of the country, in Siberia and in the Far East.

The greater part of the territory of Russia is vast plains with low mountain ranges and long rivers. There are over two million rivers in Russia. The Volga is the longest river in the European part of the country. The longest rivers in the Asian part are the Ob, the Lena and the Yenisei which flow into the Arctic Ocean. The Amur in the Far East flows into the Pacific Ocean. Russia is a land of large beautiful lakes. The three largest lakes in Russia are Baikal in South-Eastern Siberia and Ladoga and Onega in Northern Russia. The world's deepest lake (1,600 metres) is Lake Baikal.

The relief of Russia is mostly flat. It's located on two plains: the Great Russian Plain and the Western Siberian Plain. There are several mountain chains on the territory of Russia: the Caucasus, the Altai, the Urals and others. The Caucasus stretches from the Black Sea to the Caspian Sea. The highest mountain is Mount Elbrus. The Urals extend from the Arctic Ocean to the steppes. They divide the European and Asian parts of Russia.

There are different types of climate in different regions of the country: from arctic in the north and temperate to continental in the middle of the country and subtropical in the south.

Our country is one of the richest in natural resources countries in the world: oil, natural gas, coal, different ores of ferrous and non-ferrous metals and other minerals.

From an agricultural country before the 1917 Revolution Russia has become a highly developed industrial and agricultural state. After the Revolution heavy industry has been created; there have appeared such new branches of industry as aviation, machine-building, chemical, automobile and many others.

The Russian Federation is a multinational state. It comprises many national districts, several autonomous republics and regions. The population of Russia is about 150 million people. The capital of Russia is Moscow. Moscow was founded in 1147 by Yuri Dolgoruki. Moscow is the largest political, scientific, cultural and industrial centre. It is one of the oldest Russian cities.

Russian is the official language of the state. The national symbols of the Russian Federation are a two-headed eagle and a three coloured (white-blue-red) banner. The white stripe symbolizes the earth, the blue one stands for the sky, and the red one symbolizes liberty. The hymn of Russia is "The Patriotic Song" by M. Glinka.

The Russian Federation is a constitutional republic headed by the President. The President is elected directly by the people. The President is commander-in-chief of the armed forces; he makes treaties, enforces laws, and appoints ministers.

The country government consists of three branches: legislative, executive and judicial. The legislative power belongs to the Federal Assembly comprising two chambers: the Council of Federation (upper Chamber) and the State Duma (lower Chamber). Each chamber is headed by the Speaker. Legislature may be initiated in either of the two Chambers. But to become a law a bill must be approved by both Chambers and signed by the President. The members of the Federal Assembly are elected by popular vote for a four-year period.

The executive power belongs to the government (the Cabinet of Ministers) headed by the Prime Minister. The judicial power belongs to the system of Courts comprising the Constitutional Court, the Supreme Court and federal courts. The Constitutional Court has the right to declare actions of the President, the Federal Assembly and the Federal Government unconstitutional.

The new political system has brought great changes in all spheres of life in Russia. There exist a great many political parties and organizations (political as well as social) in our country today.