Russia

• 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

• permafrost over much of Siberia is a major impediment to development;
• volcanic activity in the Kuril Islands;
• volcanoes and earthquakes on the Kamchatka Peninsula

• 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 sea coasts;
• deforestation;
• soil erosion;
• soil contamination from improper application of agricultural chemicals;
• scattered areas of sometimes intense radioactive contamination

• 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:

19% (male 14,224,033; female 13,666,440)

15-64 years:

68% (male 48,407,409; female 51,768,664)

65 years and over:

13% (male 5,698,356; female 12,628,667) (1999 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:

0.45 male(s)/female

total population:

0.88 male(s)/female (1999 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)

head of government:

• Premier Yevgeniy Maksimovich PRIMAKOV (since 11 September 1998), First Deputy Premiers Yuriy Dmitriyevich MASLYUKOV (since 11 September 1998) and Vadim Anatol'yevich GUSTOV (since 11 September 1998);
• Deputy Premiers Vladimir Broisovich BULGAK (since 11 September 1998), Gennadiy Vasil'yevich KULIK (since 11 September 1998), and Valentin Ivanovna MATVIYENKO (since 11 September 1998)

cabinet:

Ministries of the Government or "Government" composed of the premier and his deputies, ministers, and other agency heads; 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;
• election last held 16 June 1996 with runoff election on 3 July 1996 (next to be held NA June 2000);
• 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;
• premier and deputy premiers appointed by the president with the approval of the Duma

election results:

Boris Nikolayevich YEL'TSIN elected president; percent of vote in runoff--YEL'TSIN 54%, Gennadiy Andreyevich ZYUGANOV 40%

• Constitutional Court, judges are appointed for life by the Federation Council on the recommendation of the president;
• Supreme Court, judges are appointed for life by the Federation Council on the recommendation of the president;
• Superior Court of Arbitration, judges are appointed for life by the Federation Council on the recommendation of the president

chief of mission:

Ambassador Yuliy Mikhaylovich VORONTSOV

chancery:

2650 Wisconsin Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20007

consulate(s) general:

New York, San Francisco, and Seattle

chief of mission:

Ambassador James F. COLLINS

embassy:

Novinskiy Bul'var 19/23, Moscow

mailing address:

APO AE 09721

consulate(s) general:

St. Petersburg, Vladivostok, Yekaterinburg

lowest 10%:

3%

highest 10%:

22.2% (1993)

• 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

• the telephone system has undergone significant changes in the 1990's;
• 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

domestic:

• cross country digital trunk lines run from St. 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:

• Russia is connected internationally by three 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

total:

• 150,000 km;
• note--87,000 km in common carrier service;
• 63,000 km serve specific industries and are not available for common carrier use

broad gauge:

150,000 km 1.520-m gauge (January 1997 est.)

total:

948,000 km (including 416,000 km which serve specific industries or farms and are not maintained by governmental highway maintenance departments)

paved:

336,000 km

unpaved:

612,000 km (including 411,000 km of graveled or some other form of surfacing and 201,000 km of unstabilized earth) (1995 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 (January 1994 est.)

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

• dispute over at least two small sections of the boundary with China remain to be settled, despite 1997 boundary agreement;
• islands of Etorofu, Kunashiri, and Shikotan and the Habomai group occupied by the Soviet Union in 1945, now administered by Russia, claimed by Japan;
• Caspian Sea boundaries are not yet determined among Azerbaijan, Iran, Kazakhstan, Russia, and Turkmenistan;
• Estonian and Russian negotiators reached a technical border agreement in December 1996 which has not been ratified;
• draft treaty delimiting the boundary with Latvia has not been signed;
• 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;
• 1997 border agreement with Lithuania not yet ratified;
• Svalbard is the focus of a maritime boundary dispute in the Barents Sea between Norway and Russia

• limited cultivation of illicit cannabis and opium poppy and producer of amphetamines, mostly for domestic consumption;
• government has active eradication program;
• increasingly used as transshipment point for Southwest and Southeast Asian opiates and cannabis and Latin American cocaine to Western Europe, possibly to the US, and growing domestic market