Country Facts - Russia

The People

Nationality Russian

Ethnic Composition

Russian	81.5%
Tatar	3.8%
Ukrainian	3.0%
Chuvash	1.2%
Bashkir	0.9%
Byelorussian	0.8%
Moldavian	0.7%
Other	8.1%

Religious Composition
Russian Orthodox, Muslim

Languages Spoken

Russian (official); more than 140 other languages and dialects

Education and Literacy

Russia has a literacy rate of 98 percent. Education is mostly state funded and compulsory for 10 years. State-funded stipends are available for higher education. The literacy rate for males stands at 100 percent, while the literacy rate for females is 97 percent.

Labor Force

Total: 71.3 million (2001)

By occupation:

Agriculture	10.8%
Industry	27.8%
Services	61.4%

(2001)

Geography

Land Mass Total

6,592,771 sq mi (17,075,200 sq km)

Land

6,562,115 sq mi (16,995,800 sq km)

Water

30,656 sq mi (79,400 sq km)

Land Boundaries

Total: 12,421 mi (19,990 km)
Border countries: Azerbaijan 176 mi (284 km), Belarus 595 mi (959 km), Southeast China 3,605 mi (3,605 km), South China 24 mi (40 km), Estonia 182 mi (294 km), Finland 815 mi (1,313 km), Georgia 449 mi (723 km), Kazakhstan 4,253 mi (6,846 km), North Korea 11 mi (19 km), Latvia 134 mi (217 km), Lithuania (Kaliningrad Oblast) 141 mi (227 km), Mongolia 2,165 mi (3,485 km), Norway 121 mi (196 km), Poland (Kaliningrad Oblast) 128 mi (206 km), Ukraine 979 mi (1,576 km)

Coastline

23,396 mi (37,653 km)

Maritime claim

Continental shelf: 656 ft (200 m) depth or to the depth of exploitation
Exclusive economic zone: 200 nm
Territorial sea: 12 nm

Climate/Weather

Ranges from steppes in the south through humid continental in much of European Russia; sub-arctic 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: Caspian Sea 91 ft (28 m)
Highest: Gora El'brus 18,480 ft (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	8%
Permanent crops	0%
Other	92%

(1998)

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.

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 sea coasts; deforestation; soil erosion; soil contamination from improper application of agricultural chemicals; scattered areas of sometimes intense radioactive contamination; groundwater contamination from toxic waste.

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 Elbrus is Europe's tallest peak.

Demographics

Population

146,001,176 (July 2000)

Age structure

0-14 years:	18%	Male: 13,493,610	Female: 12,971,546
15-64 years:	69%	Male: 48,983,755	Female: 52,140,022
65 years and over:	13%	Male: 5,802,129	Female: 12,610,114

Growth Rate

-0.33% (1999)

Life Expectancy

67.19 years

Male: 61.95 years
Female: 72.69 years

GDP Per Capita

US$4,000 (1998)

Infant Mortality

23 deaths/1,000 live births (1999)

Sex ratio

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:	0.46 male(s)/female
Total population:	0.88 male(s)/female

Net migration rate

1.02 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2000)

Economy & Trade

A decade after the implosion of the Soviet Union in December 1991, Russia is still struggling to establish a modern market economy and achieve strong economic growth. In contrast to its trading partners in Central Europe - which were able to overcome the initial production declines that accompanied the launch of market reforms within three to five years - Russia saw its economy contract for five years, as the executive and legislature dithered over the implementation of many of the basic foundations of a market economy. Russia achieved a slight recovery in 1997, but the government's stubborn budget deficits and the country's poor business climate made it vulnerable when the global financial crisis swept through in 1998. The crisis culminated in the August depreciation of the ruble, a debt default by the government, and a sharp deterioration in living standards for most of the population. The economy subsequently has rebounded, growing by an average of more than 6 percent annually in 1999-2001 on the back of higher oil prices and a weak ruble. This recovery, along with a renewed government effort in 2000 and 2001 to advance lagging structural reforms, has raised business and investor confidence over Russia's prospects in its second decade of transition. Yet serious problems persist.
Russia remains heavily dependent on exports of commodities, particularly oil, natural gas, metals, and timber, which account for over 80 percent of exports, leaving the country vulnerable to swings in world prices. Russia's industrial base is increasingly dilapidated and must be replaced or modernized if the country is to achieve sustainable economic growth. Other problems include widespread corruption, lack of a strong legal system, capital flight, and brain drain. Russian GDP grew at a respectable 4.1 percent in 2002, and the government is predicting growth of up to 4.4 percent in 2003. Russia is also planning on full-membership status in the WTO by the end of 2004.

Unemployment

8.7% (2001), plus considerable underemployment

Inflation Rate

21.9% (2001)

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; 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

Exports

US$103.3 billion (2001)

Imports

US$51.7 billion (2001)

Total Trade

Purchasing power parity
GDP US$1.2 trillion (2001)

Top Export Partners

Germany 9.0%, US 7.2%, Italy 7.0%, Belarus 5.4%, China 5.1%, Ukraine 4.9%, Netherlands (2000)

Top Import Partners

Germany 11.5%, Belarus 11.1%, Ukraine 10.8%, US 8.0%, Kazakhstan 6.5%, Italy 3.6% (2000)

Top Exports

Petroleum and petroleum products, natural gas, wood and wood products, metals, chemicals, and a wide variety of civilian and military manufactures

Top Imports

Machinery and equipment, consumer goods, medicines, meat, grain, sugar, semi-finished metal products

Debt - external

US$157 billion (2001)

Economic aid

US$8.523 billion (1995)

Fiscal Year:

Calendar year

Business Workweek

	Monday - Friday	Saturday - Sunday
Offices	9a.m. to 6p.m.	Closed
Retail	9a.m. to 5p.m. Smaller shops close for an hour during lunchtime.	Saturday 9a.m. to 5p.m. Many shops are now also open on Sundays and 24-hour shops are becoming more common.
Banks	9:30a.m. to 5:30p.m.	Closed
Government	9a.m. to 6p.m.	Closed

Holidays

Official Holidays

Holidays	2003	2004	2005
New Year's Day	January 1	January 1	January 1
Second Day of New Year	January 2	January 2	January 2
Christmas Day (Orthodox)¹	January 7	January 7	January 7
Defenders of the Motherland	February 23	February 23	February 23
Women's Day	March 8	March 8	March 8
Labor Day	May 1	May 1	May 1
Easter (Orthodox)²	April 27	April 11	May 1
Victory Day	May 9	May 9	May 9
Independence Day	June 12	June 12	June 12
Anniversary of Socialist Revolution	November 7	November 7	November 7

Christmas celebrates the birth of Jesus Christ. In A.D.320, Pope Julius I fixed the date at December 25 based on the Gregorian calendar. The Orthodox church calculates Christmas using the Julian calendar and celebrates 13 days later on January 7.

Easter, a Christian holiday celebrating the resurrection of Jesus Christ, is the first Sunday after the full moon and the vernal equinox (fixed in the Gregorian calendar at March 21), and often observed with Good Friday and Easter Monday. In the West, Easter is predicted using the Gregorian calendar, while Eastern Orthodox Christians use the much older Julian calendar, and celebrate 13 days later.

Unofficial Holidays

By custom, the Monday preceding a public holiday on a Tuesday is taken as an additional public holiday, in which case the preceding Saturday is the working day.

Country information used by permission of World Trade Press