Russia
Introduction Geography People Government Economy Communications Transportation Military Transnational Issues
Introduction	Back To Top
Background: Founded in the 12th century, the Principality of Muscovy, was able to emerge from over 200 years of Mongol domination (13th-15th centuries) and to gradually conquer and absorb surrounding principalities. In the early 17th century, a new Romanov Dynasty continued this policy of expansion across Siberia to the Pacific. Under PETER I (ruled 1682-1725), hegemony was extended to the Baltic Sea and the country was renamed the Russian Empire. During the 19th century, more territorial acquisitions were made in Europe and Asia. Defeat in the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-05 contributed to the Revolution of 1905, which resulted in the formation of a parliament and other reforms. Repeated devastating defeats of the Russian army in World War I led to widespread rioting in the major cities of the Russian Empire and to the overthrow in 1917 of the imperial household. The Communists under Vladimir LENIN seized power soon after and formed the USSR. The brutal rule of Iosif STALIN (1928-53) strengthened Communist rule and Russian dominance of the Soviet Union at a cost of tens of millions of lives. The Soviet economy and society stagnated in the following decades until General Secretary Mikhail GORBACHEV (1985-91) introduced glasnost (openness) and perestroika (restructuring) in an attempt to modernize Communism, but his initiatives inadvertently released forces that by December 1991 splintered the USSR into Russia and 14 other independent republics. Since then, Russia has shifted its post-Soviet democratic ambitions in favor of a centralized semi-authoritarian state whose legitimacy is buttressed, in part, by carefully managed national elections, former President PUTIN's genuine popularity, and the prudent management of Russia's windfall energy wealth. Russia has severely disabled a Chechen rebel movement, although violence still occurs throughout the North Caucasus.
Geography	Back To Top
Freshwater withdrawal (domestic/industrial/agricultural): total: 76.68 cu km/yr (19%/63%/18%) per capita: 535 cu m/yr (2000) Total renewable water resources: 4,498 cu km (1997) Land boundaries: total: 20,241.5 km border countries: Azerbaijan 284 km, Belarus 959 km, China (southeast) 3,605 km, China (south) 40 km, Estonia 290 km, Finland 1,313 km, Georgia 723 km, Kazakhstan 6,846 km, North Korea 17.5 km, Latvia 292 km, Lithuania (Kaliningrad Oblast) 227 km, Mongolia 3,441 km, Norway 196 km, Poland (Kaliningrad Oblast) 432 km, Ukraine 1,576 km Environment - international agreements: party to: Air Pollution, Air Pollution-Nitrogen Oxides, Air Pollution-Sulfur 85, Antarctic-Environmental Protocol, Antarctic-Marine Living Resources, Antarctic Seals, Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 83, Wetlands, Whaling signed, but not ratified: Air Pollution-Sulfur 94 Climate: 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 Map references: Asia Geographic coordinates: 60 00 N, 100 00 E 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 Elevation extremes: lowest point: Caspian Sea -28 m highest point: Gora El'brus 5,633 m Terrain: broad plain with low hills west of Urals; vast coniferous forest and tundra in Siberia; uplands and mountains along southern border regions 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 El'brus is Europe's tallest peak Area: total: 17,075,200 sq km land: 16,995,800 sq km water: 79,400 sq km Location: Northern Asia (the area west of the Urals is considered part of Europe), bordering the Arctic Ocean, between Europe and the North Pacific Ocean Coastline: 37,653 km Area - comparative: approximately 1.8 times the size of the US Irrigated land: 46,000 sq km (2003) 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 seacoasts; deforestation; soil erosion; soil contamination from improper application of agricultural chemicals; scattered areas of sometimes intense radioactive contamination; groundwater contamination from toxic waste; urban solid waste management; abandoned stocks of obsolete pesticides Maritime claims: territorial sea: 12 nm contiguous zone: 24 nm exclusive economic zone: 200 nm continental shelf: 200-m depth or to the depth of exploitation 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; spring floods and summer/autumn forest fires throughout Siberia and parts of European Russia Land use: arable land: 7.17% permanent crops: 0.11% other: 92.72% (2005)
People	Back To Top
Total fertility rate: 1.4 children born/woman (2008 est.) Sex ratio: at birth: 1.06 male(s)/female under 15 years: 1.05 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 0.93 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.45 male(s)/female total population: 0.86 male(s)/female (2008 est.) HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate: 1.1% (2001 est.) HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS: 860,000 (2001 est.) Life expectancy at birth: total population: 65.94 years male: 59.19 years female: 73.1 years (2008 est.) Major infectious diseases: degree of risk: intermediate food or waterborne diseases: bacterial diarrhea and hepatitis A vectorborne disease: Crimean Congo hemorrhagic fever and tickborne encephalitis note: highly pathogenic H5N1 avian influenza has been identified in this country; it poses a negligible risk with extremely rare cases possible among US citizens who have close contact with birds (2008) Literacy: definition: age 15 and over can read and write total population: 99.4% male: 99.7% female: 99.2% (2002 census) Net migration rate: 0.28 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2008 est.) Ethnic groups: Russian 79.8%, Tatar 3.8%, Ukrainian 2%, Bashkir 1.2%, Chuvash 1.1%, other or unspecified 12.1% (2002 census) Median age: total: 38.3 years male: 35.1 years female: 41.4 years (2008 est.) Population: 140,702,096 (July 2008 est.) Education expenditures: 3.8% of GDP (2005) Population growth rate: -0.474% (2008 est.) Languages: Russian, many minority languages Death rate: 16.06 deaths/1,000 population (2008 est.) Infant mortality rate: total: 10.81 deaths/1,000 live births male: 12.34 deaths/1,000 live births female: 9.18 deaths/1,000 live births (2008 est.) HIV/AIDS - deaths: 9,000 (2001 est.) School life expectancy (primary to tertiary education): total: 14 years male: 13 years female: 14 years (2006) Age structure: 0-14 years: 14.6% (male 10,577,858/female 10,033,254) 15-64 years: 71.2% (male 48,187,807/female 52,045,102) 65 years and over: 14.1% (male 6,162,400/female 13,695,673) (2008 est.) Birth rate: 11.03 births/1,000 population (2008 est.) Religions: Russian Orthodox 15-20%, Muslim 10-15%, other Christian 2% (2006 est.) note: estimates are of practicing worshipers; Russia has large populations of non-practicing believers and non-believers, a legacy of over seven decades of Soviet rule Nationality: noun: Russian(s) adjective: Russian
Government	Back To Top
Diplomatic representation from the US: chief of mission: Ambassador John R. BEYRLE embassy: Bolshoy Deviatinskiy Pereulok No. 8, 121099 Moscow mailing address: PSC-77, APO AE 09721 telephone: [7] (495) 728-5000 FAX: [7] (495) 728-5090 consulate(s) general: Saint Petersburg, Vladivostok, Yekaterinburg National holiday: Russia Day, 12 June (1990) Suffrage: 18 years of age; universal Government type: federation Political pressure groups and leaders: All-Russian Confederation of Labor; Baikal Environmental Wave; Federation of Independent Labor Unions of Russia; Freedom of Choice Interregional Organization of Automobilists; Glasnost Defense Foundation; Golos Association in Defense of Voters' Rights; Greenpeace Russia; Human Rights Watch (Russian chapter); Institute for Collective Action; Memorial (human rights group); Movement Against Illegal Migration; Pamjat (preservation of historical monuments and recording of history); Russian Orthodox Church; Russian-Chechen Friendship Society; SOVA Analytical-Information Center; Union of the Committees of Soldiers' Mothers; World Wildlife Fund (Russian chapter) Diplomatic representation in the US: chief of mission: Ambassador Yuriy Viktorovich USHAKOV chancery: 2650 Wisconsin Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20007 telephone: [1] (202) 298-5700, 5701, 5704, 5708 FAX: [1] (202) 298-5735 consulate(s) general: Houston, New York, San Francisco, Seattle International organization participation: APEC, Arctic Council, ARF, ASEAN (dialogue partner), BIS, BSEC, CBSS, CE, CERN (observer), CIS, CSTO, EAEC, EAPC, EBRD, G-20, G-8, GCTU, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICCt (signatory), ICRM, IDA, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, IMSO, Interpol, IOC, IOM (observer), IPU, ISO, ITSO, ITU, ITUC, LAIA (observer), MIGA, MINURSO, MONUC, NAM (guest), NSG, OAS (observer), OIC (observer), OPCW, OSCE, Paris Club, PCA, PFP, SCO, UN, UN Security Council, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNITAR, UNMIL, UNMIS, UNOCI, UNOMIG, UNTSO, UNWTO, UPU, WCO, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO (observer), ZC Legislative branch: bicameral Federal Assembly or Federalnoye Sobraniye consists of an upper house, the Federation Council or Sovet Federatsii (168 seats; as of July 2000, members appointed by the top executive and legislative officials in each of the 84 federal administrative units - oblasts, krays, republics, autonomous okrugs and oblasts, and the federal cities of Moscow and Saint Petersburg; to serve four-year terms) and a lower house, the State Duma or Gosudarstvennaya Duma (450 seats; as of 2007, all members elected by proportional representation from party lists winning at least 7% of the vote; members elected by popular vote to serve four-year terms) elections: State Duma - last held 2 December 2007 (next to be held in December 2011) election results: State Duma - United Russia 64.3%, CPRF 11.5%, LDPR 8.1%, Just Russia 7.7%, other 8.4%; total seats by party - United Russia 315, CPRF 57, LDPR 40, Just Russia 38 Legal system: based on civil law system; judicial review of legislative acts; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction Flag description: three equal horizontal bands of white (top), blue, and red Independence: 24 August 1991 (from Soviet Union) Country name (Goverment): conventional long form: Russian Federation conventional short form: Russia local long form: Rossiyskaya Federatsiya local short form: Rossiya former: Russian Empire, Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic Political parties and leaders: Communist Party of the Russian Federation or CPRF [Gennadiy Andreyevich ZYUGANOV]; Just Russia [Sergey MIRONOV]; Liberal Democratic Party of Russia or LDPR [Vladimir Volfovich ZHIRINOVSKIY]; Patriots of Russia [Gennadiy SEMIGIN]; People's Union [Sergey BABURIN]; Right Cause [Leonid Yakovlevich GOZMAN, Boris Yuriyevich TITOV, and Georgiy Georgiyevich BOVT] (registration pending; formed from merger of Union of Right Forces, Democratic Party of Russia, and Civic Force); United Russia [Vladimir Vladimirovich PUTIN]; Yabloko Party [Sergey Sergeyevich MITROKHIN] Capital: name: Moscow geographic coordinates: 55 45 N, 37 35 E time difference: UTC+3 (8 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time) daylight saving time: +1hr, begins last Sunday in March; ends last Sunday in October note: Russia is divided into 11 time zones Constitution: adopted 12 December 1993 Executive branch: chief of state: President Dmitriy Anatolyevich MEDVEDEV (since 7 May 2008) head of government: Premier Vladimir Vladimirovich PUTIN (since 8 May 2008); First Deputy Premiers Igor Ivanovich SHUVALOV and Viktor Alekseyevich ZUBKOV (since 12 May 2008); Deputy Premiers Sergey Borisovich IVANOV (since 12 May 2008), Dmitriy Nikolayevich KOZAK (since 14 October 2008), Aleksey Leonidovich KUDRIN (since 24 September 2007), Igor Ivanovich SECHIN (since 12 May 2008), Sergey Semenovich SOBYANIN (since 12 May 2008), Aleksandr Dmitriyevich ZHUKOV (since 9 March 2004), and Dmitry Nikolayevich KOZAK (since 14 October 2008) cabinet: Ministries of the Government or "Government" composed of the premier and his deputies, ministers, and selected other individuals; 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 (eligible for a second term); election last held 2 March 2008 (next to be held in March 2012); note - no vice president; if the president dies in office, cannot exercise his powers because of ill health, is impeached, or resigns, the premier serves as acting president until a new presidential election is held, which must be within three months; premier appointed by the president with the approval of the Duma election results: Dmitriy MEDVEDEV elected president; percent of vote - Dmitry MEDVEDEV 70.2%, Gennady ZYUGANOV 17.7%, Vladimir ZHIRINOVSKY 9.4%, Andrey BOGDONOV 1.3% Administrative divisions: 46 oblasts (oblastey, singular - oblast), 21 republics (respublik, singular - respublika), 4 autonomous okrugs (avtonomnykh okrugov, singular - avtonomnyy okrug), 9 krays (krayev, singular - kray), 2 federal cities (goroda, singular - gorod), and 1 autonomous oblast (avtonomnaya oblast') oblasts: Amur (Blagoveshchensk), Arkhangel'sk, Astrakhan', Belgorod, Bryansk, Chelyabinsk, Irkutsk, Ivanovo, Kaliningrad, Kaluga, Kemerovo, Kirov, Kostroma, Kurgan, Kursk, Leningrad, Lipetsk, Magadan, Moscow, Murmansk, Nizhniy Novgorod, Novgorod, Novosibirsk, Omsk, Orenburg, Orel, Penza, Pskov, Rostov, Ryazan', Sakhalin (Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk), Samara, Saratov, Smolensk, Sverdlovsk (Yekaterinburg), Tambov, Tomsk, Tula, Tver', Tyumen', Ul'yanovsk, Vladimir, Volgograd, Vologda, Voronezh, Yaroslavl' republics: Adygeya (Maykop), Altay (Gorno-Altaysk), Bashkortostan (Ufa), Buryatiya (Ulan-Ude), Chechnya (Groznyy), Chuvashiya (Cheboksary), Dagestan (Makhachkala), Ingushetiya (Magas), Kabardino-Balkariya (Nal'chik), Kalmykiya (Elista), Karachayevo-Cherkesiya (Cherkessk), Kareliya (Petrozavodsk), Khakasiya (Abakan), Komi (Syktyvkar), Mariy-El (Yoshkar-Ola), Mordoviya (Saransk), North Ossetia (Vladikavkaz), Sakha [Yakutiya] (Yakutsk), Tatarstan (Kazan'), Tyva (Kyzyl), Udmurtiya (Izhevsk) autonomous okrugs: Chukotka (Anadyr'), Khanty-Mansi (Khanty-Mansiysk), Nenets (Nar'yan-Mar), Yamalo-Nenets (Salekhard) krays: Altay (Barnaul), Kamchatka (Petropavlovsk-Kamchatskiy), Khabarovsk, Krasnodar, Krasnoyarsk, Perm', Primorskiy [Maritime] (Vladivostok), Stavropol', Zabaykal'sk (Chita) federal cities: Moscow (Moskva), Saint Petersburg (Sankt-Peterburg) autonomous oblast: Yevrey [Jewish] (Birobidzhan) note: administrative divisions have the same names as their administrative centers (exceptions have the administrative center name following in parentheses) Judicial branch: Constitutional Court; Supreme Court; Supreme Arbitration Court; judges for all courts are appointed for life by the Federation Council on the recommendation of the president
Economy	Back To Top
Exports - partners: Netherlands 12.2%, Italy 7.8%, Germany 7.5%, Turkey 5.2%, Belarus 5%, Ukraine 4.7%, China 4.5% (2007) Electricity - consumption: 1.003 trillion kWh (2006 est.) Central bank discount rate: 13% (31 December 2008) Electricity - imports: 6 billion kWh (2007 est.) Current account balance: $97.6 billion (2008 est.) Debt - external: $527.1 billion (June 2008 est.) Unemployment rate: 6.2% (2008 est.) Oil - exports: 5.17 million bbl/day (2007) GDP - per capita (PPP): $15,800 (2008 est.) Investment (gross fixed): 24.7% of GDP (2007 est.) Stock of domestic credit: $503.7 billion (1 October 2008) GDP (purchasing power parity): $2.225 trillion (2008 est.) GDP (official exchange rate): $17.57 trillion (2008 est.) Distribution of family income - Gini index: 41.5 (September 2008) Exchange rates: Russian rubles (RUB) per US dollar - 24.3 (2008 est.), 25.659 (2007), 27.19 (2006), 28.284 (2005), 28.814 (2004) GDP - real growth rate: 6% (2008 est.) Stock of money: $166.4 billion (October 2008) Labor force: 75.7 million (2008 est.) Imports - partners: Germany 13.3%, China 12.2%, Ukraine 6.7%, Japan 6.4%, US 4.8%, Belarus 4.4%, South Korea 4.4%, Italy 4.3% (2007) Inflation rate (consumer prices): 13.9% (2008 est.) GDP - composition by sector: agriculture: 4.1% industry: 41.1% services: 54.8% (2007 est.) Oil - imports: 54,000 bbl/day (2005) Exports: $476 billion (2008 est.) Natural gas - consumption: 481 billion cu m (2007 est.) Currency (code): Russian ruble (RUB) Economy - overview: Russia ended 2008 with its tenth straight year of growth, averaging 7% annually since the financial crisis of 1998. Although the Russian Government has laid out plans to diversify the economy, energy and other raw materials still dominate Russian exports. Over the last six years, fixed capital investment growth and personal income growth have averaged above 10%, but both grew at slower rates in 2008. During the past decade, poverty has declined steadily and the middle class has continued to expand. Russia has also improved its international financial position, running surpluses since 2000. The government saved these surpluses in two sovereign wealth funds, together valued at over $200 billion: a reserve fund to support budgetary expenditures in case of a fall in the price of oil and a national welfare fund to help fund pensions and infrastructure development. Foreign debt is approximately one-third of GDP. The state component of foreign debt has declined, but commercial debt to foreigners has risen strongly. In 2008, Russia's GDP grew an estimated 6.0%, led by non-tradable services and goods for the domestic market, as opposed to oil or mineral extraction and exports. The economy slowed significantly in the second half of the year due to the global financial crisis and a steep fall in the price of oil. Oil export earnings had allowed Russia to increase its foreign reserves, the world's third largest, from $12 billion in 1999 to almost $600 billion in August, but a 70% drop in the price of oil since mid-July and central bank intervention to defend the ruble during the last quarter of the year, reduced reserves to around $435 billion. Investor concerns over the Russia-Georgia conflict, corporate governance issues, and the global financial crisis caused the Russian stock market to fall by roughly 70%. The global crisis also affected Russia's banking system, which faced liquidity problems against short-term external repayment obligations. In response to these issues, Moscow initiated a larger than $200 billion rescue plan designed to increase liquidity in the financial sector, to help firms refinance foreign debt, and to support the stock market. The government also unveiled a $20 billion tax cut plan and other fiscal supports for society and industry. In the first year of his term, President MEDVEDEV outlined a number of economic priorities for Russia including improving infrastructure, innovation, investment, and institutions; reducing the state's role in the economy; reforming the tax system and banking sector; developing one of the biggest financial centers in the world, combating corruption, and improving the judiciary. Russia's infrastructure requires large investments and must be replaced or modernized if the country is to achieve broad-based economic growth. Corruption and lack of trust in institutions continues to dampen domestic and foreign investor sentiment. The banking system, while increasing consumer lending and growing at a high rate, is still small relative to the banking sectors of Russia's emerging market peers. Russia has made little progress in building the rule of law, the bedrock of a modern market economy. Moscow continues to seek accession to the WTO and has made some progress but its timeline for entry into the organization continued to slip. Natural gas - exports: 173 billion cu m (2007 est.) Imports - commodities: vehicles, machinery and equipment, plastics, medicines, iron and steel, consumer goods, meat, fruits and nuts, semifinished metal products 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; defense industries including radar, missile production, and advanced electronic components, 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 Electricity - exports: 18.6 billion kWh (2007 est.) Population below poverty line: 15.8% (November 2007) Commercial bank prime lending rate: 13% (31 December 2008) Stock of quasi money: $343 billion (October 2008) Electricity - production: 1.016 trillion kWh (2007 est.) Imports: $302 billion (2008 est.) Oil - proved reserves: 79 billion bbl (1 January 2008 est.) Labor force - by occupation: agriculture: 10.2% industry: 27.4% services: 62.4% (2007 est.) Natural gas - proved reserves: 44.65 trillion cu m (1 January 2008 est.) Reserves of foreign exchange and gold: $435.4 billion (12 December 2008) Oil - consumption: 2.699 million bbl/day (2007 est.) Stock of direct foreign investment - abroad: $370.2 billion (2007) Public debt: 6.8% of GDP (2008 est.) Stock of direct foreign investment - at home: $491.2 billion (2007) Market value of publicly traded shares: $450 billion (15 December 2008 est.) Currency code: RUR Household income or consumption by percentage share: lowest 10%: 1.9% highest 10%: 30.4% (September 2007) Exports - commodities: petroleum and petroleum products, natural gas, wood and wood products, metals, chemicals, and a wide variety of civilian and military manufactures Economic aid - recipient: $982.7 million in FY06 from US, including $847 million in non-proliferation subsidies Electricity - production by source: fossil fuel: 66.3% hydro: 17.2% nuclear: 16.4% other: 0.1% (2003) Natural gas - imports: 68.2 billion cu m (2007 est.) Natural gas - production: 654 billion cu m (2007 est.) Budget: revenues: $383.5 billion expenditures: $273.5 billion (2008 est.) Fiscal year: calendar year Oil - production: 9.98 million bbl/day (2007 est.)
Communications	Back To Top
Internet users: 30 million (2007) Telephones - main lines in use: 43.9 million (2006) Televisions: 60.5 million (1997) Internet country code: .ru; note - Russia also has responsibility for a legacy domain ".su" that was allocated to the Soviet Union and is being phased out Radio broadcast stations: AM 323, FM 1,500 est., shortwave 62 (2004) Radios: 61.5 million (1997) Telephones - mobile cellular: 170 million (2007) Television broadcast stations: 7,306 (1998) Telephone system: general assessment: the telephone system is experiencing significant changes; 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; the estimated number of mobile subscribers jumped from fewer than 1 million in 1998 to 170 million in 2007; a large demand for main line service remains unsatisfied, but fixed-line operators continue to grow their services domestic: cross-country digital trunk lines run from Saint 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: country code - 7; Russia is connected internationally by 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 systems Internet Service Providers (ISPs): 300 (June 2000) Internet hosts: 4.822 million (2008)
Transportation	Back To Top
Waterways: 102,000 km (including 33,000 km with guaranteed depth) note: 72,000 km system in European Russia links Baltic Sea, White Sea, Caspian Sea, Sea of Azov, and Black Sea (2007) Pipelines: condensate 122 km; gas 158,699 km; oil 72,347 km; refined products 13,658 km (2007) Railways: total: 87,157 km broad gauge: 86,200 km 1.520-m gauge (40,300 km electrified) narrow gauge: 957 km 1.067-m gauge (on Sakhalin Island) note: an additional 30,000 km of non-common carrier lines serve industries (2006) Ports and terminals: Azov, Kaliningrad, Kavkaz, Nakhodka, Novorossiysk, Primorsk, Saint Petersburg, Vostochnyy Heliports: 47 (2007) Merchant marine: total: 1,074 by type: bulk carrier 25, cargo 663, carrier 2, chemical tanker 27, combination ore/oil 34, container 11, passenger 14, passenger/cargo 7, petroleum tanker 217, refrigerated cargo 59, roll on/roll off 10, specialized tanker 5 foreign-owned: 112 (Belgium 4, Cyprus 2, Germany 1, Greece 1, Italy 4, South Korea 1, Latvia 2, Norway 2, Switzerland 3, Turkey 80, Ukraine 11, US 1) registered in other countries: 486 (Antigua and Barbuda 4, Bahamas 4, Belize 31, Bulgaria 1, Cambodia 83, Comoros 12, Cyprus 50, Dominica 3, Georgia 12, Hong Kong 2, Jamaica 3, Liberia 94, Malaysia 2, Malta 58, Marshall Islands 9, Moldova 3, Mongolia 9, Panama 18, Saint Kitts and Nevis 19, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines 21, Sierra Leone 11, Slovakia 1, Tuvalu 2, Ukraine 1, Vanuatu 2, unknown 31) (2008) Airports - with paved runways: total: 601 over 3,047 m: 51 2,438 to 3,047 m: 197 1,524 to 2,437 m: 129 914 to 1,523 m: 102 under 914 m: 122 (2007) Roadways: total: 933,000 km paved: 754,984 km (includes 30,000 km of expressways) unpaved: 178,016 km note: includes public, local, and departmental roads (2006) Airports - with unpaved runways: total: 659 over 3,047 m: 4 2,438 to 3,047 m: 13 1,524 to 2,437 m: 69 914 to 1,523 m: 89 under 914 m: 484 (2007) Airports: 1,260 (2007)
Military	Back To Top
Military service age and obligation: 18-27 years of age for compulsory or voluntary military service; males are registered for the draft at 17 years of age; service obligation - 1 year; reserve obligation to age 50; as of July 2008, a draft military strategy called for the draft to continue up to the year 2030 (2008) Manpower available for military service: males age 16-49: 36,219,908 females age 16-49: 37,019,853 (2008 est.) Manpower fit for military service: males age 16-49: 21,488,878 females age 16-49: 28,760,976 (2008 est.) Military branches: Ground Forces (SV), Navy (VMF), Air Forces (Voyenno-Vozdushniye Sily, VVS); Airborne Troops (VDV), Strategic Rocket Troops (Raketnyye Voyska Strategicheskogo Naznacheniya, RVSN), and Space Troops (KV) are independent "combat arms," not subordinate to any of the three branches; Russian Ground Forces include the following combat arms: motorized-rifle troops, tank troops, missile and artillery troops, air defense of ground troops (2008) Manpower reaching militarily significant age annually: male: 821,103 female: 781,570 (2008 est.) Military expenditures: 3.9% of GDP (2005)
Transnational Issues	Back To Top
Disputes - international: China and Russia have demarcated the once disputed islands at the Amur and Ussuri confluence and in the Argun River in accordance with the 2004 Agreement, ending their centuries-long border disputes; the sovereignty dispute over the islands of Etorofu, Kunashiri, Shikotan, and the Habomai group, known in Japan as the "Northern Territories" and in Russia as the "Southern Kurils," occupied by the Soviet Union in 1945, now administered by Russia, and claimed by Japan, remains the primary sticking point to signing a peace treaty formally ending World War II hostilities; Russia and Georgia agree on delimiting all but small, strategic segments of the land boundary and the maritime boundary; OSCE observers monitor volatile areas such as the Pankisi Gorge in the Akhmeti region and the Kodori Gorge in Abkhazia; Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, and Russia signed equidistance boundaries in the Caspian seabed but the littoral states have no consensus on dividing the water column; Russia and Norway dispute their maritime limits in the Barents Sea and Russia's fishing rights beyond Svalbard's territorial limits within the Svalbard Treaty zone; various groups in Finland advocate restoration of Karelia (Kareliya) and other areas ceded to the Soviet Union following the Second World War but the Finnish Government asserts no territorial demands; in May 2005, Russia recalled its signatures to the 1996 border agreements with Estonia (1996) and Latvia (1997), when the two Baltic states announced issuance of unilateral declarations referencing Soviet occupation and ensuing territorial losses; Russia demands better treatment of ethnic Russians in Estonia and Latvia; Estonian citizen groups continue to press for realignment of the boundary based on the 1920 Tartu Peace Treaty that would bring the now divided ethnic Setu people and parts of the Narva region within Estonia; Lithuania and Russia committed to demarcating their boundary in 2006 in accordance with the land and maritime treaty ratified by Russia in May 2003 and by Lithuania in 1999; Lithuania operates a simplified transit regime for Russian nationals traveling from the Kaliningrad coastal exclave into Russia, while still conforming, as an EU member state with an EU external border, where strict Schengen border rules apply; preparations for the demarcation delimitation of land boundary with Ukraine have commenced; the dispute over the boundary between Russia and Ukraine through the Kerch Strait and Sea of Azov remains unresolved despite a December 2003 framework agreement and on-going expert-level discussions; Kazakhstan and Russia boundary delimitation was ratified on November 2005 and field demarcation should commence in 2007; Russian Duma has not yet ratified 1990 Bering Sea Maritime Boundary Agreement with the US Refugees and internally displaced persons: IDPs: 18,000-160,000 (displacement from Chechnya and North Ossetia) (2007) Trafficking in persons: current situation: Russia is a source, transit, and destination country for men, women, and children trafficked for various purposes; it remains a significant source of women trafficked to over 50 countries for commercial sexual exploitation; Russia is also a transit and destination country for men and women trafficked from Central Asia, Eastern Europe, and North Korea to Central and Western Europe and the Middle East for purposes of forced labor and sexual exploitation; internal trafficking remains a problem in Russia with women trafficked from rural areas to urban centers for commercial sexual exploitation, and men trafficked internally and from Central Asia for forced labor in the construction and agricultural industries; debt bondage is common among trafficking victims, and child sex tourism remains a concern tier rating: Tier 2 Watch List - Russia is on the Tier 2 Watch List for a fifth consecutive year for its failure to show evidence of increasing efforts to combat trafficking over the previous year, particularly in providing assistance to victims of trafficking; comprehensive trafficking victim assistance legislation, which would address key deficiencies, has been pending before the Duma since 2003 and was neither passed nor enacted in 2007 (2008) Illicit drugs: limited cultivation of illicit cannabis and opium poppy and producer of methamphetamine, mostly for domestic consumption; government has active illicit crop eradication program; used as transshipment point for Asian opiates, cannabis, and Latin American cocaine bound for growing domestic markets, to a lesser extent Western and Central Europe, and occasionally to the US; major source of heroin precursor chemicals; corruption and organized crime are key concerns; major consumer of opiates

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