BASIC FACTS

Russia, also the Russian Federation is a transcontinental country extending over a vast expanse of Asia and Europe. With an area of 17,075,400 km², Russia is the largest country in the world, covering almost twice the total (land and sea) area of the next-largest country, Canada, and has significant mineral and energy resources. Russia has the world's eighth-largest population.

Capital: Moscow, administrative centre and Russia's biggest city (follow the link for live webcam views of Moscow's Red Square)

Official languages: Russian throughout; thirty other co-official languages in various regions

Top officials

- President Vladimir Putin
- Prime Minister Viktor Zubkov

Formation

- Declared June 12, 1990
- Finalized December 25, 1991

Area

- Total 17,075,400 km² (6,592,800 sq mi)
- Water (%) 13

Population

- 2006 estimate 142,400,000 (8th)
- 2002 census 145,184,000
- Density 8.3 /km² (209th) (21.8 /sq mi)

GDP (PPP) 2006 estimate

- Total $1.723 trillion (9th1)
- Per capita $12,100 (62nd)

GDP (nominal) 2005 estimate

- Total $763 billion (14th)
- Per capita $5,349 (61st)

Currency

- Ruble (RUB)

Calling code +7

Russia shares land borders with the following countries (counter-clockwise from northwest to southeast): Norway, Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Belarus, Ukraine, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, China, Mongolia, and North Korea.

It is also close to the United States (Alaska state), Sweden, and Japan across relatively small stretches of water (the Bering Strait, the Baltic Sea, and La Pérouse Strait, respectively).

Formerly the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic (RSFSR), a republic of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR), Russia became the Russian Federation following the dissolution of the Soviet Union in December 1991.

After the Soviet era, the area, population, and industrial production of the Soviet Union (then one of the world's two Cold War superpowers) that were located in Russia passed on to the Russian Federation.

After the break-up of the Soviet Union, the newly-independent Russian Federation emerged as a great power (although it is also considered to be an energy superpower).

Russia is considered the Soviet Union's successor state in diplomatic matters and is a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council. It is also one of the five recognized nuclear weapons states.

Russia is the leading nation of the Commonwealth of Independent States, a member of the G8 as well as other international organisations.

(Source: Wikipedia )

Here you can find humourous observations and 'facts' about Russia.

State Insignia (Flag, Emblem, Anthem)

Flag of Russia

Coat of arms

Map of Russia

Constitution of Russia

FOR TRAVELLERS

Tips for travellers from Lonely Planet Thorn Tree

Embassies and Consulates

Railway Connections

Moscow airports

Sheremetyevo

Domodedovo

Vnukovo

Airlines

Aeroflot

S7

Transaero

Accommodation

Accommodation in Moscow

Accommodation in St. Petersburg

Accommodation in Novosibirsk

Accommodation in Irkutsk

Accommodation in Vladivostok

LITERATURE

Alexander Pushkin's verse in English translation

Fyodor Dostoevsky. The Brothers Karamazov

Fyodor Dostoevsky. Crime And Punishment

Anton Chekhov. Selected works

Leo Tolstoy. Selected works

Ivan Turgenev. Selected works

Mikhail Bulgakov. The Master and Margarita

CUISINE

Recipes of Russian dishes

STATE BODIES

Official Russia - website of the Russian Federation administrative bodies. Here you can find official information and documents from the Web-pages of the Russian President, Security Council as well as references to the webpages of other official websites (in Russian).

Council of Federation

State Duma – (in Russian)

Supreme Court

Government – (in Russian)

Interior Ministry

Foreign Ministry

Customs

Migration Service - (in Russian)

Federal Security Service - (in Russian)