Russia

inherited disputes from former USSR including:

• sections of the boundary with China;
• islands of Etorofu, Kunashiri, and Shikotan and the Habomai group occupied by the Soviet Union in 1945, administered by Russia, claimed by Japan;
• maritime dispute with Norway over portion of the Barents Sea;
• Caspian Sea boundaries are not yet determined;
• potential dispute with Ukraine over Crimea;
• Estonia claims over 2,000 sq km of Russian territory in the Narva and Pechora regions;
• the Abrene section of the border ceded by the Latvian Soviet Socialist Republic to Russia in 1944;
• 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

• 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

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

current issues:

• air pollution from heavy industry, emissions of coal-fired electric plants, and transportation in major cities;
• industrial and agricultural pollution of inland waterways and sea coasts;
• deforestation;
• soil erosion;
• soil contamination from improper application of agricultural chemicals;
• scattered areas of sometimes intense radioactive contamination

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

international agreements:

• party to - Air Pollution, Air Pollution-Nitrogen Oxides, Air Pollution-Sulphur 85, Antarctic Treaty, Climate Change, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Marine Dumping, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 83, Wetlands, Whaling;
• signed, but not ratified - Air Pollution-Sulphur 94, Antarctic-Environmental Protocol, Biodiversity, Law of the Sea

• 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

0-14 years:

22% (female 16,208,640; male 16,784,017)

15-64 years:

66% (female 50,711,209; male 48,247,101)

65 years and over:

12% (female 12,557,447; male 5,400,675) (July 1995 est.)

noun:

Russian(s)

adjective:

Russian

conventional long form:

Russian Federation

conventional short form:

Russia

local long form:

Rossiyskaya Federatsiya

local short form:

Rossiya

former:

Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic

chief of state:

• President Boris Nikolayevich YEL'TSIN (since 12 June 1991);
• election last held 12 June 1991 (next to be held NA 1996);
• results - percent of vote by party NA;
• 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

head of government:

• Premier and Chairman of the Council of Ministers Viktor Stepanovich CHERNOMYRDIN (since 14 December 1992);
• First Deputy Chairmen of the Council of Ministers Oleg SOSKOVETS (since 30 April 1993) and Anatoliy CHUBAYS (since 5 November 1994)

• elections last held 12 December 1993 (next to be held NA);
• results - two members elected from each of Russia's 89 territorial units for a total of 176 deputies;
• 2 seats unfilled as of 15 May 1994 (Chechnya did not participate in the election);
• Speaker Vladimir SHUMEYKO (Russia's Democratic Choice)

• elections last held 12 December 1993 (next to be held NA December 1995);
• results - percent of vote by party NA;
• seats - (450 total) Russia's Democratic Choice 78, New Regional Policy 66, Liberal Democrats 63, Agrarian Party 55, Communist Party of the Russian Federation 45, Unity and Accord 30, Yavlinskiy-Boldyrev-Lukin Bloc (Yabloko) 27, Women of Russia 23, Democratic Party of Russia 15, Russia's Path 12, other parties 23, affiliation unknown 12, unfilled (as of 13 March 1994; Chechnya did not participate in the election) 1;
• Speaker Ivan RYBKIN (Agrarian Party);
• note - as of 11 April 1995,

seats were as follows:

Russia's Democratic Choice 54, New Regional Policy 32, Liberal Democrats 54, Agrarian Party 51, Communist Party of the Russian Federation 45, Unity and Accord 25, Yavlinskiy-Boldyrev-Lukin Bloc (Yabloko) 28, Liberal Democratic Union of 12 December 9, Women of Russia 22, Democratic Party of Russia 10, Russia's Path 12, Duma 96 23, Russia 35, Stability 36, affiliation unknown 14

pro-market democrats:

• Party of Russian Unity and Accord, Sergey SHAKHRAY;
• Russia's Democratic Choice Party, Yegor GAYDAR;
• Russian Movement for Democratic Reforms, Anatoliy SOBCHAK;
• Yavlinskiy-Boldyrev-Lukin Bloc (Yabloko), Grigoriy YAVLINSKIY;
• Liberal Democratic Union of 12 December, Boris FEDOROV

centrists/special interest parties:

• Civic Union for Stability, Justice, and Progress, Arkadiy VOL'SKIY;
• Democratic Party of Russia, Sergey GLAZ'YEV;
• Women of Russia, Alevtina FEDULOVA;
• Social Democratic Peoples' Party, Vasiliy LIPITSKIY;
• New Regional Policy (NRP), Vladimir MEDVEDEV

anti-market and/or ultranationalist parties:

• Agrarian Party, Mikhail LAPSHIN;
• Communist Party of the Russian Federation, Gennadiy ZYUGANOV;
• Liberal Democratic Party of Russia, Vladimir ZHIRINOVSKIY;
• Derzhava, Aleksandr RUTSKOY

note: more than 20 political parties and associations tried to gather enough signatures to run slates of candidates in the 12 December 1993 legislative elections, but only 13 succeeded

chief of mission:

Ambassador Sergey LAVROV

chancery:

2650 Wisconsin Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20007

telephone:

[1] (202) 298-5700 through 5704

chief of mission:

Ambassador Thomas R. PICKERING

embassy:

Novinskiy Bul'var 19/23, Moscow

mailing address:

APO AE 09721

telephone:

[7] (095) 252-24-51 through 59

revenues:

$NA

expenditures:

$NA, including capital expenditures of $NA

• 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;
• ship- building;
• 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

• grain, sugar beets, sunflower seeds, meat, milk, vegetables, fruits;
• because of its northern location does not grow citrus, cotton, tea, and other warm climate products

• illicit cultivator of cannabis and opium poppy;
• mostly for domestic consumption;
• government has active eradication program;
• used as transshipment point for Asian and Latin American illicit drugs to Western Europe and Latin America

total:

• 154,000 km;
• note - 87,000 km in common carrier service (49,000 km diesel; and 38,000 km electrified);
• 67,000 km serve specific industries and are not available for common carrier use

broad gauge:

154,000 km 1.520-m gauge (1 January 1994)

total:

934,000 km (445,000 km serve specific industries or farms and are not available for common carrier use)

paved and graveled:

725,000 km

unpaved:

209,000 km (1 January 1994)

• total navigable routes in general use 101,000 km;
• routes with navigation guides serving the Russian River Fleet 95,900 km;
• of which routes with night navigational aids 60,400 km;
• man-made navigable routes 16,900 km (1 January 1994)

• crude oil 48,000 km;
• petroleum products 15,000 km;
• natural gas 140,000 km (30 June 1993)

• 24,400,000 telephones;
• 20,900,000 telephones in urban areas and 3,500,000 telephones in rural areas;
• of these, total installed in homes 15,400,000;
• total pay phones for long distant calls 34,100;
• about 164 telephones/1,000 persons;
• Russia is enlisting foreign help, by means of joint ventures, to speed up the modernization of its telecommunications system;
• in 1992, only 661,000 new telephones were installed compared with 855,000 in 1991, and in 1992 the number of unsatisfied applications for telephones reached 11,000,000;
• expanded access to international E-mail service available via Sprint network;
• the inadequacy of Russian telecommunications is a severe handicap to the economy, especially with respect to international connections

local:

NMT-450 analog cellular telephone networks are operational and growing in Moscow and St. Petersburg

intercity:

intercity fiberoptic cable installation remains limited

international:

• international traffic is handled by an inadequate system of satellites, land lines, microwave radio relay and outdated submarine cables;
• this traffic passes through the international gateway switch in Moscow which carries most of the international traffic for the other countries of the Commonwealth of Independent States;
• a new Russian Raduga satellite will link Moscow and St. Petersburg with Rome from whence calls will be relayed to destinations in Europe and overseas;
• satellite earth stations - INTELSAT, Intersputnik, Eutelsat (Moscow), INMARSAT, Orbita

broadcast stations:

AM 1,050, FM 1,050, shortwave 1,050

radios:

48.8 million (radio receivers with multiple speaker systems for program diffusion 74,300,000)

broadcast stations:

7,183

televisions:

54.2 million

• males age 15-49 38,264,699;
• males fit for military service 29,951,977;
• males reach military age (18) annually 1,106,176 (1995 est.)