Statistical information Russia 1992

Russia in the World
top of pageBackground: The defeat of the Russian Empire in World War I led to the seizure of power by the communists and the formation of the USSR. The brutal rule of Josef STALIN (1924-53) strengthened 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 broke up the USSR into 15 independent republics. Since then Russia has struggled in its efforts to build a democratic political system and market economy to replace the strict social political and economic controls of the communist period.
top of pageLocationGeographic coordinatesMap referenceAreaTotal: 17,075,200 km²
Land: 16,995,800 km²
Comparative: slightly more than 1.8 times the size of the US
Land boundaries:
20,139 km total; 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 19 km, Latvia 217 km, Lithuania (Kaliningrad Oblast) 227 km, Mongolia 3,441 km, Norway 167 km,
Poland (Kaliningrad Oblast) 432 km, Ukraine 1,576 km
Coastline: 37,653 km
Maritime claimsContiguous zone: NA nm
Continental shelf: 200-meter depth or to depth of exploitation
Exclusive economic zone: 200 nm
Exclusive fishing zone: NA nm
Territorial sea: 12 nm
Disputes:inherited disputes from former USSR including: sections of the boundary with China, a section of the boundary with Tajikistan; boundary with Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia; Etorofu, Kunashiri, and Shikotan
Islands and the Habomai island group occupied by the Soviet Union in 1945, claimed by Japan; maritime dispute with Norway over portion of the Barents
Sea; has made no territorial claim in Antarctica (but has reserved the right to do so) and does not recognize the claims of any other nation
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
Terrain: broad plain with low hills west of Urals; vast coniferous forest and tundra in Siberia; uplands and mountains along southern border regions
ElevationNatural 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: NA% arable land; NA% permanent crops; NA% meadows and pastures; NA% forest and woodland; NA% other; includes NA% irrigated
Irrigated landMajor riversMajor watersheds area km²Total water withdrawalTotal renewable water resourcesNatural hazardsGeographytop of pagePopulation: 149,527,479 (July 1992), growth rate 0.4% (1992)
Nationality: noun - Russian(s; adjective - Russian
Ethnic groups:
Estonian NA%, Latvian NA%, Lithuanian NA%, Russian
NA%, other NA%
Languages:
Estonian NA%, Latvian NA%, Lithuanian NA%, Russian NA%, other
NA%
Religions: Russian Orthodox NA%, unknown NA%, none NA%, other NA%
Demographic profileAge structureDependency ratiosMedian agePopulation growth rateBirth rate: 15 births/1000 population (1992)
Death rate: 11 deaths/1000 population (1992)
Net migration rate: 1 migrant/1000 population (1992)
Population distributionUrbanizationMajor urban areasEnvironmentCurrent issues: despite its size, only a small percentage of land is arable and much is too far north; permafrost over much of Siberia is a major impediment to development; catastrophic pollution of land, air, water, including both inland waterways and sea coasts
Current issues note: largest country in the world in terms of area but unfavorably located in relation to major sea lanes of the world
Air pollutantsSex ratioMothers mean age at first birthMaternal mortality ratioInfant mortality rate: 31 deaths/1000 live births (1992)
Life expectancy at birth: 63 years male, 74 years female (1992)
Total fertility rate: 2.1 children born/woman (1992)
Contraceptive prevalence rateDrinking water sourceCurrent health expenditurePhysicians densityHospital bed densitySanitation facility accessHiv/AidsMajor infectious diseasesObesity adult prevalence rateAlcohol consumptionTobacco useChildren under the age of 5 years underweightEducation expendituresLiteracy: NA% (male NA%, female NA%) age 15 and over can read and write
School life expectancy primary to tertiary educationYouth unemploymenttop of pageCountry nameConventional long form: Russian Federation
Government type: federation
Capital: Moscow
Administrative divisions:
20 autonomous republics (avtomnykh respublik, singular - automnaya respublika); Adygea (Maykop), Bashkortostan (Ufa),
Buryatia (Ulan-Ude), Checheno-Ingushetia (Groznyy), Chuvashia (Cheboksary),
Dagestan (Makhachkala), Gorno-Altay (Gorno-Altaysk), Kabardino-Balkaria (Nal`chik), Kalmykia (Elista), Karachay-Cherkessia (Cherkessk), Karelia (Petrozavodsk), Khakassia (Abakan), Komi (Syktyvkar), Mari El (Yoshkar-Ola),
Mordvinia (Saransk), North Ossetia (Vladikavkaz; formerly Ordzhonikidze),
Tatarstan (Kazan'), Tuva (Kyzyl), Udmurtia (Izhevsk), Yakutia (Yakutsk); 49 oblasts (oblastey, singular - oblast'); Amur (Blagoveshchensk),
Arkhangel'sk, Astrakhan', Belgorod, Bryansk, Chelyabinsk, Chita, Irkutsk,
Ivanovo, Kaliningrad, Kaluga, Kamchata (Petropavlovsk-Kamchatskiy),
Kemerovo, Kirov, Kostroma, Kurgan, Kursk, Leningrad (St. Petersburg),
Lipetsk, Magadan, Moscow, Murmansk, Nizhegorod (Nizhniy Novgorod; formerly
Gor'kiy), Novgorod, Novosibirsk, Omsk, Orel, Orenburg, Penza, Perm', Pskov,
Rostov, Ryazan', Sakhalin (Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk), Samara (formerly Kuybyshev),
Saratov, Smolensk, Sverdlovsk (Yekaterinburg), Tambov, Tomsk, Tula, Tver' (formerly Kalinin), Tyumen', Ul'yanovsk, Vladmir, Volgograd, Vologda,
Voronezh, Yaroslavl'; 6 krays (krayer, singular - kray); Altay (Barnaul),
Khabarovsk, Krasnodar, Krasnoyarsk, Primorskiy (Vladivostok), Stavropol; note - the cities of Moscow and St. Petersburg have oblast status; an administrative division has the same name as its administrative center (exceptions have the administrative center name following in parentheses); it is possible that 4 more administrative divisions will be added
Dependent areasIndependence:
24 August 1991, declared by Supreme Council (from Soviet
Union; formerly Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic); 1 December 1991 referendum on independence passed
National holiday: NA
Constitution: a new constitution is in the process of being drafted
Legal system: based on civil law system; judicial review of legislative acts; does not accept compulsory ICJ jurisdiction
International law organization participationCitizenshipSuffrage: universal at age 18
President: last held 12 June 1991 (next to be held 1996); results - percent of vote by party NA%
Congress of People's Deputies: last held March 1990 (next to be held 1995); results - percent of vote by party NA%; seats - (1,063 total) number of seats by party NA
Supreme Soviet:last held May 1990 (next to be held 1995); results - percent of vote by party NA%; seats - (252 total) number of seats by party
NA
Communists: NA
Executive branch:
president, vice president, Security Council,
President's Administration, Council of Ministers
Legislative branch: Congress of People's Deputies, Supreme Soviet
Judicial branch: Constitutional Court
Political parties and leadersInternational organization participation:
CIS, CSCE, ESCAP, ECE, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICFTU, IMF,
INTERPOL, IMO, INMARSAT, IOC, ISO, ITU, LORCS, NACC, NSG, PCA, UN, UNCTAD,
UNESCO, UNTSO, UPU, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO, ZG
Diplomatic representation:Ambassador LUKIN; Chancery at 1125 16th
Street NW, Washington, DC 20,036; telephone (202) 628-7,551
US:Ambassador Robert S. STRAUSS; Embassy at Ulitsa Chaykovskogo 19/21/23, Moscow (mailing address is APO AE 9,721); telephone 7 (095) 252-2,450 through 59; there is a consulate at St. Petersburg (formerly
Leningrad); future consulates will be in Yekaterinburg and Vladivostok
Diplomatic representationFlag description
: tricolor; three equal bands of white (top), blue, red (bottom)
National symbolsNational anthemNational heritagetop of pageEconomy overview:
Russia, one of the world's largest economies, possesses a wealth of natural resources and a diverse industrial base. Within the now-dismantled USSR, it had produced 60% of total output, with 55% of the total labor force and 60% of the total capital stock. Russia depends on its world-class deposits of oil and gas not only for its own needs but also for vital hard currency earnings. Self-sufficient in coal and iron ore, it has a crude steel production capacity of about 95 million tons, second only to
Japan. Russia's machine-building sector - 60% of the old USSR's - lags behind world standards of efficiency and quality of product. Other major industrial sectors - chemicals, construction materials, light industry, and food processing - also suffer from quality problems, obsolescent capital equipment, and pollution. Consumer goods have had lower priority, and the product mix has not mirrored household preferences. Furthermore, the transition to a more market-oriented economy has disrupted channels of supply to factories and distribution outlets; substantial imports of foods and medical supplies have helped maintain minimum standards of consumption.
Russia inherited 70% of the former USSR's defense production facilities and is experiencing major social problems during conversion of many of these plants to civilian production. Russia produces almost half of the old USSR's farm products, but most warm-climate crops must be imported. Under the old
USSR, production of industrial and agricultural goods often was concentrated in a single firm or a single republic. Today, producing units often have lost their major customers and their major sources of supply, and the market institutions and incentives for adjusting to the new political and economic situations are only slowly emerging. Rank-and-file Russians will continue to suffer major deprivations in 1992 and beyond before the country begins to realize its great economic potential. The comprehensive economic reform program enacted in January 1992 faces many economic and political hurdles before it will lead to sustained economic growth.
GDP: purchasing power equivalent - $NA, per capita $NA; real growth rate - 9% (1991)
Real gdp purchasing power parityReal gdp growth rateReal gdp per capitaGross national savingGdp composition by sector of origin
Gdp composition by end useGdp composition by sector of originAgriculture products: grain, meat, milk, vegetables, fruits; because of its northern location Russia does not grow citrus, cotton, tea, and other warm climate 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; ship- building; 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
Industrial production growth rate: -8% after adjustment for inflation due to shift to more expensive products, -2% before this adjustment (1991)
Labor force: 78,682,000 (1989); industry and construction 43.0%, agriculture and forestry 13.0%, transport and communication 7.9%, trade and distribution 7.9%, other 28.2%
Organized labor: NA
Unemployment rate: NA%
Youth unemploymentPopulation below poverty lineGini indexHousehold income or consumption by percentage shareDistribution of family income gini indexBudget: NA
Taxes and other revenuesPublic debtRevenueFiscal year: calendar year
Inflation rate consumer pricesCentral bank discount rateCommercial bank prime lending rateStock of narrow moneyStock of broad moneyStock of domestic creditMarket value of publicly traded sharesCurrent account balanceExports: $58.7 billion (f.o.b., 1991)
Commodoties: petroleum and petroleum products, natural gas, wood and wood products, coal, nonferrous metals, chemicals, and a wide variety of civilian and military manufactures
Partners: Western Europe, Japan, Eastern Europe
Imports: $43.5 billion (c.i.f., 1991)
Commodoties: machinery and equipment, chemicals, consumer goods, grain, meat, semifinished metal products
Partners: Western and Eastern Europe, Japan, Third World countries, Cuba
Reserves of foreign exchange and goldDebt externalStock of direct foreign investment at homeStock of direct foreign investment abroadExchange rates: 150 rubles per US$1 (20 July 1992) but subject to wide fluctuations
top of pageElectricityProduction: 42,500 MW capacity; 1,100 billion kWh produced, 7,430 kWh per capita (1991)
CoalPetroleumCrude oilRefined petroleumNatural gasCarbon dioxide emissionsEnergy consumption per capitatop of pageTelephonesTelephone systemBroadcast mediaInternetBroadband fixed subscriptionstop of pageMilitary expendituresPercent of gdp: $NA, NA% of GDP
Military and security forcesMilitary service age and obligationSpace programTerrorist groupstop of pageNational air transport systemCivil aircraft registration country code prefixAirports:
NA total, NA usable; NA with permanent-surface runways; NA
with runways over 3,659 m; NA
with runways 2,440-3,659 m; NA
with runways 1,220-2,439 m
HeliportsPipelines: crude oil and petroleum products 68,400 km, natural gas NA km
RailwaysRoadwaysWaterways: NA km perennially navigable
Merchant marine:
842 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 8,151,393
GRT/11,308,812 DWT; includes 494 cargo, 39 container, 2 barge carrier, 3 roll-on/float-off, 69 roll-on/roll-off, 131 petroleum tanker, 53 bulk cargo, 9 chemical tanker, 2 specialized liquid carriers, 17 combination ore/oil, 23 passenger
Civil air: NA major transport aircraft
Ports and terminalsRussia - Transnational issues 1992
top of pageDisputes internationalRefugees and internally displaced personsIllicit drugs: illicit producers of cannabis and opium; mostly for domestic consumption; government has active eradication program; used as transshipment point for illicit drugs to Western Europe