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

lowest point:

Caspian Sea -28 m

highest point:

Mount El'brus 5,633 m

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, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Marine Dumping, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 83, Wetlands;
• signed, but not ratified - Air Pollution-Sulphur 94, Antarctic-Environmental Protocol, 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:

21% (male 15,792,573; female 15,213,854)

15-64 years:

67% (male 48,145,679; female 51,125,902)

65 years and over:

12% (male 5,403,066; female 12,497,413) (July 1996 est.)

at birth:

1.05 male(s)/female

under 15 years:

1.04 male(s)/female

15-64 years:

0.94 male(s)/female

65 years and over:

0.43 male(s)/female

all ages:

0.88 male(s)/female (1996 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) was elected for a five-year term by universal suffrage under the constitution of 12 December 1993, but subsequent presidents, beginning with the 16 June 1996 election, will serve a four-year term;
• election last held 12 June 1991 (next to be held 16 June 1996);
• results - percent of vote 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 Russian Federation Government Viktor Stepanovich CHERNOMYRDIN (since 14 December 1992), First Deputy Premiers and First Deputy Chairmen of the Government Oleg SOSKOVETS (since 30 April 1993) and Vladimir KADANNIKOV (since 25 January 1996) were appointed by the president on approval of the Dumas

• elections last held 17 December 1995 (next to be held NA December 1999);
• results - percent of vote received by parties clearing the 5% threshold entitling them to a proportional share of

the 225 party list seats:

Communist Party of the Russian Federation 22.3%, Liberal Democratic Party of Russia 11.2%, Our Home Is Russia 10.1%, Yabloko Bloc 6.9%; seats - (450 total - half elected in single-member districts and half elected from national party lists) Communist Party of the Russian Federation 157, Independents 78, Our Home Is Russia 55, Liberal Democratic Party of Russia 51, Yabloko Bloc 45, Agrarian Party of Russia 20, Russia's Democratic Choice 9, Power To the People 9, Congress of Russian Communities 5, Forward, Russia! 3, Women of Russia 3, other parties 15

• Constitutional Court, judges are appointed by the Federation Council on recommendation of the president;
• Supreme Court (highest court for criminal, civil, and administrative cases), judges are appointed by the Federation Council on recommendation of the president;
• Superior Court of Arbitration (highest court that resolves economic disputes), judges are appointed by the Federation Council on recommendation of the president

pro-market democrats:

• Our Home Is Russia, Viktor CHERNOMYRDIN;
• Yabloko Bloc, Grigoriy YAVLINSKIY;
• Russia's Democratic Choice Party, Yegor GAYDAR;
• Forward, Russia!, Boris FEDOROV

centrists/special interest parties:

Congress of Russian Communities, Yuriy SKOKOV; Women of Russia, Alevtina FEDULOVA and Yekaterina LAKHOVA

anti-market and/or ultranationalist parties:

• Communist Party of the Russian Federation, Gennadiy ZYUGANOV;
• Liberal Democratic Party of Russia, Vladimir ZHIRINOVSKIY;
• Agrarian Party, Mikhail LAPSHIN;
• Power To the People, Nikolay RYZHKOV and Sergey BABURIN;
• Russian Communist Workers' Party, Viktor ANPILOV and Viktor TYULKIN

note: some 269 political parties, blocs, and associations tried to gather enough signatures to run slates of candidates in the 17 December 1995 Duma elections; 43 succeeded

chief of mission:

Ambassador Yuliy Mikhaylovich VORONTSOV

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;
• 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

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

paved:

NA km

unpaved:

NA km (1994 est.)

• total navigable routes in general use 101,000 km;
• routes with navigation guides serving the Russian River Fleet 95,900 km;
• 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)

• total pay phones for long distant calls 34,100;
• 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 electronic mail service available via Sprint network;
• the inadequacy of Russian telecommunications is a severe handicap to the economy, especially with respect to international connections

domestic:

NMT-450 analog cellular telephone networks are operational and growing in Moscow and St. Petersburg; intercity fiber-optic cable installation remains limited

international:

• international traffic is inadequately handled by a system of satellites, landlines, microwave radio relay, and outdated submarine cables;
• much of 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 Intersputnik satellite will link Moscow and St. Petersburg with Rome from whence calls will be relayed to destinations in Europe and overseas;
• satellite earth stations - NA Intelsat, 4 Intersputnik (2 Atlantic Ocean Region and 2 Indian Ocean Region), NA Eutelsat, 1 Inmarsat (Pacific Ocean Region), and NA Orbita

males age 15-49:

38,673,991

males fit for military service:

30,224,738

males reach military age (18) annually:

1,105,004 (1996 est.)