Russia: Country and People

Russia is also officially known as the Russian Federation. At 17 million square kilometers, Russia is the largest country in the world, covering more that one-eight of the Earth’s inhabited land area. Russia is also the world’s ninth most populous nation with 143 million people as of 2012. It is a country in northern Eurasia. From northwest to southeast, Russia shares borders with 14 countries, such as Norway, Finland, Kazakhstan, China, etc. It also has maritime borders with Japan and the U.S. Extending across the whole of northern Asia, Russia spans nine time zones and incorporates a wide range of environments and landforms. Russia has the world’s largest reserves of mineral and energy resources and is the largest producer of oil and natural gas globally. Russia has the world’s largest forest reserves and its lakes contain approximately one-quarter of the world’s fresh water. Russia comprises 83 federal subjects. According to the Constitution of Russia, the country is a federal and semi-presidential republic, wherein the President is the head of state and the Prime Minister is head of government.

The Russian Federation is fundamentally structured as a multi-party representative democracy, with the federal government composed of three branches: legislative, executive, judiciary. The Russian Federation, or Russia is the largest country in the world. The geographical position and climate are believed to influence the country’s economy, lifestyles and the national character. Ethnic Russians comprise 81% of the country’s population. The Russian Federation is also home to several sizeable minorities. In all, 160 different other ethnic groups and indigenous peoples live within its borders. Russia’s 160 ethnic groups speak some 100 languages Though Russia’s population is comparatively large, its density is low because of the country’s enormous size. Population is densest inEuropean Russia, near the Ural Mountains, and in southwest Siberia. 73% of the population lives in urban areas while 27% in rural ones. The results of the 2010 Census show a total population of 142,856,53 Moscow 11.514.000

SPB 5.000.000
Novosibirsk 1.500.000
Ekaterinburg 1.350.000
Nijniy Novgorod 1.250.000

The current population of Russia is about 143 million people. The capital of the Russian Federation is Moscow, with a population of about 11 million people. According to the 2002 Census, 142.6 million people speak Russian, followed by Tatar with 5.3 million and Ukrainian with 1.8 million speakers. Russian is the only official state language, but the Constitution gives the individual republics the right to make their native language co-official next to Russian Orthodox Christianity, Islam, Judaism and Buddhism are Russia’s traditional religions, and are all legally a part of Russia’s “historical heritage”. The Russian Orthodox Church was the country’s state religion prior He was the first human to journey into outer space, when his Vostok spacecraft completed anorbit of the Earth on 12 April 1961. Gagarin became an international celebrity, and was awarded many medals and titles, including Hero of the Soviet Union, Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoyevsky, Mikhaíl Afanasyevich Bulgakov, Tolstoi.