About Russia

Russian Flag

The Russian Federation is the largest of the 21 republics that make up the Commonwealth of Independent States. It occupies most of eastern Europe and north Asia, stretching from the Baltic Sea in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east, and from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Black Sea and the Caucasus in the south. It is bordered by Norway and Finland in the northwest; Estonia, Latvia, Belarus, Ukraine, Poland, and Lithuania in the west; Georgia and Azerbaijan in the southwest; and Kazakhstan, Mongolia, China, and North Korea along the southern border.

Russia has a population of 145.5 million people, 80% of whom reside in Western Russia and two-thirds of whom live in cities. Moscow alone claims eleven million citizens, standing as the largest city in Europe. St. Petersburg boasts less than half that, with a mere five million residents. 1 in 4 Russians is retired, with the average age being 30 years old and growing every year. The normal Russian family consists of three people.

Russia Federation Map

Given its vast supply of natural resources, Russia depends heavily on mining. It is the world’s leading producer of energy and military technologies. Some of the fastest growing sectors in the Russian economy include telecommunications, finance, construction, and energy production. The economy is still transitioning from a command to a market structure, and although most enterprises have been privatized, domestic prices on energy are not established by market forces. 

Because of its size, Russia presents a drastically different atmosphere depending on your location. Most of the country has a continental climate with distinct periods of warm and cold weather that increases as you travel east. Temperatures for Moscow and St. Petersburg range from highs of 32 C in the summer to lows of -25 C in the winter.

The official language in Russia is Russian. This language uses the Cyrillic alphabet instead of Latin and is one of the five most spoken languages in the world. Russia is home to more than 100 ethnic groups and indigenous people. Slavs account for about 75% of the total population. The densest areas of Russia are near the Ural Mountains and in southwestern Siberia.