Russia – key data
Area: 17,098,242 km² (of which land: 16,377,742 km², water: 720,500 km²). Russia is the largest country in the world.
Population: 138.7 million residents (estimate July 2011, CIA,Russia has the ninth largest population in the world). Composition: Russians 79.8%, Tatars 3.8%, Ukrainians 2%, Bashkirs 1.2%, Chuvashes 1.1%, other or no information 12.1% (2002 census).
Population density: 8.1 people per km²
Population growth: -0.47% per year (2011, CIA) One of the highest population declines worldwide.
Capital: Moscow (10.5 million residents, 2009, agglomeration: 14.6 million residents, 2007), largest city and agglomeration inEurope.
Highest point: Gora El’brus, 5,633 m, highest point in Europe
Lowest point: Caspian Sea, -28 m
Form of government: Russia has been a presidential republic since 1991. The Russian constitution dates from 1993. The Russian parliament consists of two chambers: the Duma (lower house) with 450 members and the Federation Council (upper house) with 178 members.
Head of State: President Vladimir Putin, since May 7, 2012
Head of Government: Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, since May 8, 2012
Language: the official language in Russia is Russian. However, the ethnic minorities in Russia speak numerous languages of their own.
Religion: Russian Orthodox 15-20%, Muslims 10-15%, other Christians 2% (2006 estimate). the numbers indicate the practicing believer. There are also numerous non-practicing believers and non-believers.
Local time: in Russia there are 9 time zones, since March 2011 there has been no change between summer and winter time in Russia.
Kaliningrad time (abbreviation USZ1): CET + 2 h. The time difference to Central Europe is + 2 h in winter and + 1 h in summer.
Moscow time (MSK): most of the European Russia: CET + 3 h. The time difference to Central Europe is +3 h in winter and + 2 h in summer.
Ekaterinburg time (YEKT): CET + 5 h. The time difference to Central Europe is +5 h in winter and + 4 h in summer.
Omsk Time (OMST): CET + 6 h. The time difference to Central Europe is + 6 h in winter and + 5 h in summer.
Krasnoyarsk Time (KRAT): CET + 7 h. The time difference to Central Europe is + 7 h in winter and + 6 h in summer.
Irkutsk Period (IRKT): CET + 8 h. The time difference to Central Europe is + 8 h in winter and + 7 h in summer.
Yakutsk time (YAKT): CET + 9 h. The time difference to Central Europe is + 9 h in winter and + 8 h in summer.
Vladivostock time (VLAT): CET + 10 h. The time difference to Central Europe is + 10 h in winter and + 9 h in summer.
Magadan time (MAGT): CET + 11 h. The time difference to Central Europe is + 11 h in winter and + 10 h in summer.
International phone code: +7
Internet identification:.ru and.su
Mains voltage: 220 V, 50 Hz, adapters are required
Russia (officially: Russian Federation) is a state in Eastern Europe and North Asia. It borders in the northwest on Norway, Finland, Estonia and Latvia and with the enclave of the Kaliningrad region on Poland and Lithuania. In the north forms the Arctic Ocean with the Barents Sea, Kara Sea, Laptev Sea and East Siberian lake. In the northeast, Russia is bordered by the Bering Strait, in the east by the Pacific, in the southeast by the Sea of Japan, North Korea and China, in the south by China, the Republic of Mongolia and Kazakhstan, in the southwest by the Caspian Sea, Azerbaijan and Georgia, in the west the Black Sea, Ukraine and Belarus. Visit cellphoneexplorer for Emigration to Russia.
The largest country in the world in terms of area occupies more than a tenth of the earth’s surface with its total area of more than 17 million square kilometers. Of this, only about 4 million square kilometers are in Europe, the largest part of Russia is around 13 million square kilometers in North Asia. The size of the country, which stretches from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Caucasus in the south over a distance of 4,500 kilometers, is correspondingly enormous. The extension from east to west is more than 9,500 kilometers.
About three quarters of Russia are shaped exclusively by plains. The Urals, where Europe and Asia “grow together”, divides these areas into the Eastern European or Russian lowlands with the Main river Volga and into the West Siberian lowlands. The Eastern European Plain, interrupted by a few hilly landscapes such as the Schiguli Mountains on the Volga and the Waldai Heights, is bounded in the north by the so-called Baltic Shield with Karelia and the Kola Peninsula. The lowlands rise in the south towards the Caucasus and in the east the land falls to the Caspian Sea in the so-called Caspian Depression, which is sometimes even below sea level.
Due to the predominantly flat landscape, there is hardly any resistance to the bitterly cold polar winds to penetrate far into the Russian heartland. Only in southern Russia does the Greater Caucasus shield the Russian Black Sea coast from the harsh weather. The mountain range extends from the Abseron Peninsula on the Black Sea to the Taman Peninsula on the Caspian Sea. Almost exactly along its ridge line runs the border with Azerbaijan and Georgia, where the highest mountain in Russia and Europe rises: the western summit of the 5,633 meter high Elbrus. The Lesser Caucasus ranges about 100 kilometers south of the Greater Caucasus which runs through Georgia, Azerbaijan and Armenia.
Water is the dominant element in Russia. More than 120,000 rivers with a length of more than 10 kilometers run through the country. The most important and at the same time gigantic river in Russia is the Volga, which covers a distance of 3,531 kilometers from its source in Tverskaya oblast to its mouth in the Caspian Sea. The Terek, the most important river for the North Caucasus, also flows into the Caspian Sea. The Don and Kuban rivers flow into the Sea of Azov, while also important rivers such as Pechora, Onega, Northern Dvina and Mesen flow into the Arctic Ocean.
In addition to the huge rivers, the two or three million lakes also play an important role in Russia’s landscapes. There is no agreement here on the exact number, but it is undisputed that Lake Ladoga is the largest lake in the European part of Russia (and also the largest lake in Europe), in the Asian part of Russia the largest lake is the Caspian Sea.
