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 in which the leadership seeks to legitimize its rule through managed national elections populist appeals by former President PUTIN and continued economic growth. Russia has severely disabled a Chechen rebel movement although violence still occurs throughout the North Caucasus.

Geographic coordinates: 60 00 N 100 00 E

Map reference: Asia

Area
Total: 17,098,242 km²
Rank: 1
Land: 16,377,742 km²
Water: 720,500 km²
Comparative: approximately 1.8 times the size of the US

Land boundaries
Total: 20,242 km
Border countries: (14) Azerbaijan 284 km; Belarus 959 km; China (southeast) 3,605 km; China (south) 40 km; Estonia 290 km; Finland 1313 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 1576 km

Coastline: 37,653 km

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

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

Elevation
Extremes lowest point: Caspian Sea -28 m
Extremes highest point: Gora El'brus 5,633 m

Natural resources: wide natural resource base including major deposits of oil natural gas coal and many strategic minerals reserves of rare earth elements timber
Note: formidable obstacles of climate terrain and distance hinder exploitation of natural resources

Land use
Arable land: 7.17%
Permanent crops: 0.11%
Other: 92.72% (2005)

Irrigated land: 43,460 km² (2008)

Total renewable water resources: 4,498 km³ (1997)

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
Volcanism: Russia experiences significant volcanic activity on the Kamchatka Peninsula and Kuril Islands; the peninsula alone is home to some 29 historically active volcanoes with dozens more in the Kuril Islands; Kliuchevskoi (elev. 4,835 m) which erupted in 2007 and 2010 is Kamchatka's most active volcano; Avachinsky and Koryaksky volcanoes which pose a threat to the city of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatskiy have been deemed 'Decade Volcanoes' by the International Association of Volcanology and Chemistry of the Earth's Interior worthy of study due to their explosive history and close proximity to human populations; other notable historically active volcanoes include Bezymianny Chikurachki Ebeko Gorely Grozny Karymsky Ketoi Kronotsky Ksudach Medvezhia Mutnovsky Sarychev Peak Shiveluch Tiatia Tolbachik and Zheltovsky

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

Population: 138,739,892 (July 2011 est.)
Rank: 9
Growth rate: -0.47% (2011 est.)
Growth rate rank: 222
Below poverty line: 13.1% (2009)

Nationality
Noun: Russian
Adjective: Russian

Ethnic groups: Russian 79.8% Tatar 3.8% Ukrainian 2% Bashkir 1.2% Chuvash 1.1% other or unspecified 12.1% (2002 census)

Languages: Russian (official) many minority languages

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

Age structure
0-14 years: 15.2%
15-64 years: 71.8% (male 47,480,851/female 52,113,279)
65 years and over: 13% (male 5,456,639/female 12,614,309) (2011 est.)

Median age
Total: 38.7 years
Male: 35.5 years
Female: 41.9 years (2011 est.)

Population growth rate: -0.47% (2011 est.)
Rank: 222

Birth rate: 11.05 births/1000 population (2011 est.)
Rank: 173

Death rate: 16.04 deaths/1000 population (July 2011 est.)
Rank: 5

Net migration rate: 0.29 migrant(s)/1000 population (2011 est.)
Rank: 67

Urbanization
Urban population: 73% of total population
Rate of urbanization: -0.2% annual rate of change (2010-15 est.)

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
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 Desertification Endangered Species Environmental Modification Hazardous Wastes Law of the Sea Marine Dumping Ozone Layer Protection Ship Pollution Tropical Timber 83 Wetlands Whaling
International agreements signed but not ratified: Air Pollution-Sulfur 94

Sex ratio
At birth: 1.06 male/female
Under 15 years: 1.06 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 0.92 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.44 male(s)/female
Total population: 0.85 male(s)/female (2011 est.)

Infant mortality rate
Total: 10.08 deaths/1000 live births
Rank: 147
Male: 11.58 deaths/1000 live births
Female: 8.49 deaths/1000 live births (2011 est.)

Life expectancy at birth
Total population: 66.29 years
Rank: 161
Male: 59.8 years
Female: 73.17 years (2011 est.)

Total fertility rate: 1.42 children born/woman (2011 est.)
Rank: 196

Drinking water source:

Physicians density: 4.3089 physicians/1000 population (2006)
Rank: 8

Hospital bed density: 9.66 beds/1000 population (2006)
Rank: 5

Sanitation facility access:

Hivaids
Adult prevalence rate: 1% (2009 est.)
Adult prevalence rate rank: 46
People living with hivaids: 980,000 (2009 est.)
People living with hivaids rank: 10
Deaths: NA

Major infectious diseases
Degree of risk: intermediate
Food or waterborne diseases: bacterial diarrhea
Vectorborne disease: tickborne encephalitis
Note: highly pathogenic H5N1 avian influenza has been identified in this country; it poses a negligible risk wit

Education expenditures: 3.9% of GDP (2006)
Rank: 107

Literacy
Definition: age 15 and over can read and write
Total population: 99.4%
Male: 99.7%
Female: 99.2% (2002 census)

School life expectancy primary to tertiary education
Total: 14 years
Male: 14 years
Female: 15 years (2008)

Country name
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

Government type: federation

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; note - Russia has announced that it will remain on daylight saving time permanently which began on 27 March 2011
Note: Russia is divided into 9 time zones

Administrative divisions: 46 provinces (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)

Independence: 24 August 1991 (from the Soviet Union); notable earlier dates: 1157 (Principality of Vladimir-Suzdal created); 16 January 1547 (Tsardom of Muscovy established); 22 October 1721 (Russian Empire proclaimed); 30 December 1922 (Soviet Union established)

National holiday: Russia Day 12 June (1990)

Constitution: adopted 12 December 1993

Legal system: civil law system; judicial review of legislative acts

International law organization participation: has not submitted an ICJ jurisdiction declaration; non-party state to the ICCt

Suffrage: 18 years of age; universal

Executive branch
Chief of state: President Dmitriy Anatolyevich MEDVEDEV
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) Aleksandr Gennadiyevich KHLOPONIN (since 19 January 2010) Dmitriy Nikolayevich KOZAK (since 14 October 2008) Igor Ivanovich SECHIN (since 12 May 2008) Vyacheslav Viktorovich VOLODIN (since 21 October 2010) Aleksandr Dmitriyevich ZHUKOV (since 9 March 2004)
Cabinet: the 'Government' is composed of the premier his deputies and ministers; all are appointed by the president and the premier is also confirmed by the Duma
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 - the term length was extended to six years in late 2008 to go into effect following the 2012 presidential election; there is 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 - Dmitriy MEDVEDEV 70.2% Gennady ZYUGANOV 17.7% Vladimir ZHIRINOVSKY 9.4% Andrey BOGDANOV 1.3% other 1.4%

Legislative branch: bicameral Federal Assembly or Federalnoye Sobraniye consists of an upper house the Federation Council or Sovet Federatsii (166 seats; members appointed by the top executive and legislative officials in each of the 83 federal administrative units - oblasts krays republics autonomous okrugs and oblasts and the federal cities of Moscow and Saint Petersburg; members 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 on 4 December 2011 (next to be held in December 2015)
Election results: State Duma - United Russia 49.6% CPRF 19.2% Just Russia 13.2% LDPR 11.7% other 6.3%; total seats by party - United Russia 238 CPRF 92 Just Russia 64 LDPR 56

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

Political parties and leaders: A Just Russia [Sergey MIRONOV]; Communist Party of the Russian Federation or CPRF [Gennadiy Andreyevich ZYUGANOV]; Liberal Democratic Party of Russia or LDPR [Vladimir Volfovich ZHIRINOVSKIY]; Patriots of Russia [Gennadiy SEMIGIN]; Right Cause [Andrey DUNAYEV acting]; United Russia [Vladimir Vladimirovich PUTIN]; Yabloko Party [Sergey Sergeyevich MITROKHIN]

International organization participation: APEC Arctic Council ARF ASEAN (dialogue partner) BIS BSEC CBSS CE CERN (observer) CICA CIS CSTO EAEC EAPC EAS EBRD FAO FATF G-20 G-8 GCTU IAEA IBRD ICAO ICC ICRM IDA IFC IFRCS IHO ILO IMF IMO IMSO Interpol IOC IOM (observer) IPU ISO ITSO ITU ITUC LAIA (observer) MIGA MINURSO MONUSCO NAM (observer) NSG OAS (observer) OECD OECD (accession state) OIC (observer) OPCW OSCE Paris Club PCA PFP SCO UN UN Security Council UNCTAD UNESCO UNHCR UNIDO UNISFA UNITAR UNMIL UNMISS UNOCI UNTSO UNWTO UPU WCO WFTU WHO WIPO WMO WTO (observer) ZC

Diplomatic representation
In the us chief of mission: Ambassador Sergey Ivanovich KISLYAK
In the us chancery: 2,650 Wisconsin Avenue NW Washington DC 20,007
In the us telephone: [1] (202) 298-5,700 5,701 5,704 5,708
In the us fax: [1] (202) 298-5,735
In the us consulate general: Houston New York San Francisco Seattle
From the us chief of mission: Ambassador John R. BEYRLE
From the us embassy: Bolshoy Deviatinskiy Pereulok No. 8 121,099 Moscow
From the us mailing address: PSC-77 APO AE 9,721
From the us telephone: [7] (495) 728-5,000
From the us fax: [7] (495) 728-5,090
From the us consulate general: Saint Petersburg Vladivostok Yekaterinburg

Flag description: three equal horizontal bands of white (top) blue and red
Note: the colors may have been based on those of the Dutch flag; despite many popular interpretations there is no official meaning assigned to the colors of the Russian flag; this flag inspired other Slav countries to adopt horizontal tricolors of the same colors but in different arrangements and so red blue and white became the Pan-Slav colors

National symbols: bear; double-headed eagle

National anthem
Name: 'Gimn Rossiyskoy Federatsii'
Lyricsmusic: Sergei Vladimirovich MIKHALKOV/Alexandr Vasilievich ALEXANDROV
Note: in 2000 Russia adopted the tune of the anthem of the former Soviet Union (composed in 1939); the lyrics also adopted in 2000 were written by the same person who authored the Soviet lyrics in 1943

Economy overview: Russia has undergone significant changes since the collapse of the Soviet Union moving from a globally-isolated centrally-planned economy to a more market-based and globally-integrated economy. Economic reforms in the 1990s privatized most industry with notable exceptions in the energy and defense-related sectors. The protection of property rights is still weak and the private sector remains subject to heavy state interference. Russian industry is primarily split between globally-competitive commodity producers - in 2009 Russia was the world's largest exporter of natural gas the second largest exporter of oil and the third largest exporter of steel and primary aluminum - and other less competitive heavy industries that remain dependent on the Russian domestic market. This reliance on commodity exports makes Russia vulnerable to boom and bust cycles that follow the highly volatile swings in global commodity prices. The government since 2007 has embarked on an ambitious program to reduce this dependency and build up the country's high technology sectors but with few results so far. The economy had averaged 7% growth since the 1998 Russian financial crisis resulting in a doubling of real disposable incomes and the emergence of a middle class. The Russian economy however was one of the hardest hit by the 2008-09 global economic crisis as oil prices plummeted and the foreign credits that Russian banks and firms relied on dried up. The Central Bank of Russia spent one-third of its $600 billion international reserves the world's third largest in late 2008 to slow the devaluation of the ruble. The government also devoted $200 billion in a rescue plan to increase liquidity in the banking sector and aid Russian firms unable to roll over large foreign debts coming due. The economic decline bottomed out in mid-2009 and the economy began to grow in the first quarter of 2010. However a severe drought and fires in central Russia reduced agricultural output prompting a ban on grain exports for part of the year and slowed growth in other sectors such as manufacturing and retail trade. High oil prices buoyed Russian growth in the first quarter of 2011 and could help Russia reduce the budget deficit inherited from the lean years of 2008-09 but inflation and increased government expenditures may limit the positive impact of these revenues. Russia's long-term challenges include a shrinking workforce a high level of corruption difficulty in accessing capital for smaller non-energy companies and poor infrastructure in need of large investments.

Real gdp purchasing power parity:
Rank: 7
Note: data are in 2010 US dollars

Real gdp growth rate:
Rank: 99

Real gdp per capita:
Rank: 71
Note: data are in 2010 US dollars

Gdp composition by sector of origin
Agriculture: 4%
Industry: 36.8%
Services: 59.1% (2010 est.)

Agriculture products: grain sugar beets sunflower seed vegetables fruits; beef milk

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

Industrial production growth rate: 8.2% (2010 est.)
Rank: 39

Labor force: 75.49 million (2010 est.)
Rank: 7
By occupation agriculture: 10%
By occupation industry: 31.9%
By occupation services: 58.1% (2008)

Unemployment rate: 8.4% (2009 est.)
Rank: 78

Population below poverty line: 13.1% (2009)

Household income or consumption by percentage share
Lowest 10: 2.6%
Highest 10: 33.5% (2008)

Distribution of family income gini index: 39.9 (2001)
Rank: 52

Budget
Revenues: $273.4 billion
Expenditures: $333 billion (2010 est.)
Surplus or deficit: -4.1% of GDP (2010 est.)
Surplus or deficit rank: 123

Taxes and other revenues: 18.7% of GDP (2010 est.)
Rank: 164

Public debt: 8.3% of GDP (2009 est.)
Rank: 123

Inflation rate consumer prices: 11.7% (2009 est.)
Rank: 174

Central bank discount rate: 8.75% (31 December 2009 est.)
Rank: 39

Commercial bank prime lending rate: 15.308% (31 December 2009 est.)
Rank: 47

Stock of narrow money: $213.8 billion (31 December 2009 est.)
Rank: 16

Stock of broad money: $631.5 billion (31 December 2009 est.)
Rank: 19

Stock of domestic credit: $437.8 billion (31 December 2009 est.)
Rank: 24

Market value of publicly traded shares:
Rank: 15

Current account balance: $49.37 billion (2009 est.)
Rank: 4

Exports: $303.4 billion (2009 est.)
Rank: 11
Commodities: petroleum and petroleum products natural gas metals wood and wood products chemicals and a wide variety of civilian and military manufactures
Partners: Germany 8.2% Netherlands 6% US 5.6% China 5.4% Turkey 4.6% (2010)

Imports: $191.8 billion (2009 est.)
Rank: 18
Commodities: machinery vehicles pharmaceutical products plastic semi-finished metal products meat fruits and nuts optical and medical instruments iron steel
Partners: Germany 14.7% China 13.5% Ukraine 5.5% Italy 4.7% Belarus 4.5% (2010)

Reserves of foreign exchange and gold: $439.4 billion (31 December 2009 est.)
Rank: 3

Debt external: $393.5 billion (31 December 2010 est.)
Rank: 22

Stock of direct foreign investment at home: $256.2 billion (31 December 2009 est.)
Rank: 18

Stock of direct foreign investment abroad: $222.9 billion (31 December 2009 est.)
Rank: 17

Exchange rates:

Electricity
Production: 925.9 billion kWh (2009 est.)
Production rank: 5
Consumption: 857.6 billion kWh (2008 est.)
Consumption rank: 5
Exports: 17.7 billion kWh (2009 est.)
Imports: 14.63 billion kWh (2009 est.)

Natural gas
Production: 610.1 billion m³ (2010 est.)
Production rank: 2
Consumption: 424.9 billion m³ (2010 est.)
Consumption rank: 3
Exports: 223.4 billion m³ (2010 est.)
Exports rank: 1
Imports: 38.2 billion m³ (2010 est.)
Imports rank: 8
Proven reserves: 47.57 trillion m³ (1 January 2011 est.)
Proven reserves rank: 1

Telephones
Main lines in use: 44.959 million (2010)
Main lines in use rank: 4
Mobile cellular: 238 million (2010)
Mobile cellular rank: 4

Telephone system
General assessment: the telephone system is experiencing significant changes; there are more than 1000 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 some 230 million in 2009; a large demand for fixed line service remains unsatisfied
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 (2008)

Broadcast media: 6 national TV stations with the federal government owning 1 and holding a controlling interest in a second; state-owned Gazprom maintains a controlling interest in a third national channel; government-affiliated Bank Rossiya owns controlling interest in a fourth and fifth while the sixth national channel is owned by the Moscow city administration; roughly 3,300 national regional and local TV stations operating with over two-thirds completely or partially controlled by the federal or local governments; satellite TV services are available; 2 state-run national radio networks with a third majority-owned by Gazprom; roughly 2,400 public and commercial radio stations (2007)

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
Hosts: 10.382 million (2010)
Hosts rank: 12
Users: 40.853 million (2009)
Users rank: 10

Military expenditures: 3.9% of GDP (2005)
Rank: 25

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 (conscripts can only be sent to combat zones after 6 months training); reserve obligation to age 50
Note: over 60% of draft-age Russian males receive some type of deferment - generally health related - each draft cycle (2011)

Airports: 1213 (2010)
Rank: 5
With paved runways total: 593
With paved runways over 3047 m: 51
With paved runways 2438 to 3047 m: 201
With paved runways 15-24 to 2437 m: 126
With paved runways 914 to 1523 m: 98
With paved runways under 914 m: 117 (2010)
With unpaved runways total: 620
With unpaved runways over 3047 m: 3
With unpaved runways 2438 to 3047 m: 13
With unpaved runways 15-24 to 2437 m: 68
With unpaved runways 914 to 1523 m: 84
With unpaved runways under 914 m: 452 (2010)

Heliports: 50 (2010)

Pipelines: condensate 122 km; gas 160,952 km; liquid petroleum gas 127 km; oil 77,630 km; oil/gas/water 38 km; refined products 13,658 km (2010)

Railways
Total: 87,157 km
Rank: 2
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 (2010)

Roadways
Total: 982,000 km
Rank: 7
Paved: 776,000 km (includes 30,000 km of expressways)
Unpaved: 206,000 km
Note: includes public local and departmental roads (2009)

Waterways: 102,000 km (including 48,000 km with guaranteed depth; the 72,000 km system in European Russia links Baltic Sea White Sea Caspian Sea Sea of Azov and Black Sea) (2009)
Rank: 2

Merchant marine
Total: 1097
Rank: 11
By type: bulk carrier 22 cargo 634 carrier 2 chemical tanker 38 combination ore/oil 39 container 13 passenger 15 passenger/cargo 6 petroleum tanker 236 refrigerated cargo 77 roll on/roll off 11 specialized tanker 4
Foreign owned: 145 (Belgium 4 Cyprus 11 Italy 9 South Korea 1 Switzerland 4 Turkey 104 Ukraine 12)
Registered in other countries: 443 (Antigua and Barbuda 3 Belize 32 Bulgaria 2 Cambodia 60 Comoros 21 Cook Islands 1 Cyprus 47 Dominica 6 Georgia 7 Hong Kong 1 Liberia 108 Malaysia 2 Malta 47 Marshall Islands 6 Moldova 5 Mongolia 4 Panama 39 Saint Kitts and Nevis 11 Saint Vincent and the Grenadines 15 Sierra Leone 6 Vanuatu 1 unknown 19) (2010)

Ports and terminals: Kaliningrad Kavkaz Nakhodka Novorossiysk Primorsk Saint Petersburg Vostochnyy

Disputes international: Russia remains concerned about the smuggling of poppy derivatives from Afghanistan through Central Asian countries; 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's military support and subsequent recognition of Abkhazia and South Ossetia independence in 2008 continue to sour relations with Georgia; Azerbaijan Kazakhstan and Russia ratified Caspian seabed delimitation treaties based on equidistance while Iran continues to insist on a one-fifth slice of the lake; Norway and Russia signed a comprehensive maritime boundary agreement in 2010; 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; Denmark (Greenland) and Norway have made submissions to the Commission on the Limits of the Continental shelf (CLCS) and Russia is collecting additional data to augment its 2001 CLCS submission

Refugees and internally displaced persons
Idps: 18,000-160,000 (2007)

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 crim