Federal subjects

The Russian Federation comprises 83 equal federal subjects (46 oblasts (provinces), 21 republics, 9 krais (territories), 4 autonomous okrugs (autonomous districts), 1 autonomous oblast (the Jewish Autonomous Oblast), 2 federal cities (Moscow and St. Petersburg)).

Russian language

Russia's 160 ethnic groups speak some 100 languages. Russian is the only official state language, but the Constitution gives the individual republics the right to make their native language co-official next to Russian. Russian is the most geographically widespread language of Eurasia and the most widely spoken Slavic language. The language is one of the six official languages of the United Nations.

President of the Russian Federation

Dmitry Medvedev is the 3rd and current President of Russia, inaugurated on May 7, 2008. He won the presidential election held on March 2, 2008 with about 70% of the vote.

Russian Constitution

The current Constitution of the Russian Federation was adopted by national referendum on December 12, 1993. Of all registered voters, 58,187,755 people (or 54.8%) participated in the referendum. Of those, 32,937,630 people (54.5%) voted for adoption of the Constitution.

The Constitution came into force on 25 December, 1993 upon its promulgation.

Religion in Russia

Approximately 100 million citizens consider themselves Russian Orthodox Christians, amounting to 70-80% of population. The ancestors of many of today's Russians adopted Orthodox Christianity in the 10th century. Smaller Christian denominations such as Roman Catholics, Armenian Gregorian and various Protestants exist.

Islam is the Russia's second largest religion in Russia (10-14% of population). Most Muslims live in the Volga-Ural region, as well as in the North Caucasus, Moscow, St. Petersburg and western Siberia. According to the Russian census of 2002, at least 14 million Russians belong to traditional Islamic ethnic groups. Largest Muslim ethnic groups are: Tatar (5.5 mln, 4% of population), Bashkir (1.5 mln), Chechen (1.3 mln).

In 1996 the Mufti Council was established. It is a coordinating organ, including representatives of different Muslim denominations in Russia.

In 2005 Russia became the observer state in the Organization of the Islamic Conference.

National currency

The ruble is the currency of the Russian Federation. The ruble is subdivided into 100 kopecks. The current banknote's denominations include: 5000 rubles - 1000 rubles -500 rubles -100 rubles -50 rubles -10 rubles.

National flag and emblem

The National Flag of the Russian Federation is a rectangular cloth of three equal horizontal stripes: the uppermost is white, the middle is blue and the bottom is red. The proportion of the flag's width to its length is 2:3.

The State Seal of the Russian Federation is an official state symbol and the state's official emblem. The double-headed eagle has regained its status as the centerpiece of Russia's state seal, testifying to the continuity of Russian history. The State Seal of the Russian Federation is a rectangular red heraldic shield. At the bottom, it has rounded corners and a pointed middle. The shield is adorned with a golden double-headed eagle spreading its wings upward. The eagle is crowned with two small crowns and, above them, a large crown, all three joined together by a ribbon.

The National Anthem Of Russia (Music by Alexander Alexandrov, Poem by Sergey Mikhalkov) is one of the official state symbols of the Russian Federation. The National Anthem must be performed in strict accordance with the approved music and text. When the National Anthem is performed at official occasions, the audience is expected to stand and men must remove their hats. If the National Anthem is played while the State Flag is being raised, the audience faces the flag. The new National Anthem of the Russian Federation was first officially performed on December 30, 2000, at a state reception in the Great Kremlin Palace.

Largest cities of the Russian Federation

As of the 2002 Census, the two largest cities in Russia are Moscow (10,126,424 inhabitants) and Saint Petersburg (4,661,219). Eleven other cities have between one and two million inhabitants: Chelyabinsk, Kazan, Novosibirsk, Nizhny Novgorod, Omsk, Perm, Rostov-on-Don, Samara, Ufa, Volgograd, and Yekaterinburg.

Demographics and ethnic groups

According to statistics, the population of the Russian Federation is approximately 145 million people. 73% of the population lives in urban areas.

The largest ethnic groups are Russians (116 mln), Tatars (5.5 mln), Ukrainians (3 mln), Bashkir (1.6 mln), Chuvash (1.6 mln), Chechens (1.3 mln), Armenians (1.1 mln). Russians comprise 80% of Russia's population.

Geography and climate

Most of Russia consists of vast stretches of plains that are predominantly steppe to the south and heavily forested to the north, with tundra along the northern coast. Mountain ranges are found along the southern borders, such as the Caucasus (containing Mount Elbrus, Russia's and Europe's highest point at 5,642 m / 18,511 ft) and the Altai, and in the eastern parts, such as the Verkhoyansk Range or the volcanoes on Kamchatka. The Ural Mountains form a north-south range that divides Europe and Asia, rich in mineral resources. Russia possesses 10% of the world's arable land.

Russia has an extensive coastline of over 37,000 kilometers (23,000 mi) along the Arctic and Pacific Oceans, as well as the Baltic, Black and Caspian seas. The Barents Sea, White Sea, Kara Sea, Laptev Sea, East Siberian Sea, Bering Sea, Sea of Okhotsk and the Sea of Japan are linked to Russia.

The most prominent of Russia's bodies of fresh water is Lake Baikal, the world's deepest, purest and most capacious freshwater lake. Lake Baikal alone contains over one fifth of the world's fresh surface water. Of its 100,000 rivers, The Volga is the most famous-not only because it is the longest river in Europe but also because of its major role in Russian history. Russia has a wide natural resource base unmatched by any other country, including major deposits of petroleum, natural gas, coal, timber and mineral resources.

Throughout much of the territory there are only two distinct seasons - winter and summer; spring and autumn are usually brief periods of change between extremely low temperatures and extremely high. The coldest month is January (on the shores of the sea-February), the warmest usually is July. Great ranges of temperature are typical. In winter, temperatures get colder both from south to north and from west to east. Summers can be quite hot and humid, even in Siberia. A small part of Black Sea coast around Sochi is considered in Russia to have subtropical climate. The continental interiors are the driest areas.