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Geography Russia
is the world’s biggest country by area; about twice as big as the US or
China, it spans 12 time zones. The
Ural mountains mark the conventional boundary between Europe and Asia, leaving the eastern two thirds of Russia (Siberia) in Asia. Nearly half of Russia is forest and woodlands; many consider Siberia’s forests to be the largest and least-explored wilderness on Earth. The climate is generally fierce; one Siberian town recorded the lowest temperature of any country, at 96°F below zero! HistoryThe first Russian state was founded in 911 as a trading empire by Vikings known as “Rus”. Genghis Khan and his Mongol descendents dominated the region from 1240-1380, further isolating Russia from European influences. Over time, the princes of Moscow gained in territory and strength; they defeated the Mongol remnants and called themselves “tsars”, from the Roman “Caesar”.
The last tsar was forced into early retirement in 1917; the Communist Party took power by force shortly thereafter, led by a rabble-rouser named Lenin. After 72 years of often brutal dictatorship, the people of Russia were at last liberated in 1989, when the Russian empire (or Soviet Union) disintegrated and sweeping political and economic reforms were initiated. The official name for the (smaller) country is now the "Russian Federation". PeoplePopulation of 150 million, 80% of whom are ethnic Russian; most of the minorities are found in the south (Caucasus region) and east (Siberia). Russian Orthodox Christianity is the predominant faith, with 75% of the religious adherents; it was imported from Byzantium (modern-day Istanbul in Turkey) nearly 1000 years ago, and survived intense persecution during the Communist era. The Russian language belongs to the Indo-European language family, like English, and there are many similar words; the alphabet, Cyrillic, was imported by Greek monks.The UN ranks Russia in the 65th percentile in terms of quality of life, based on life expectancy, education and income; this is above most of Asia but below most of Europe. Many Russians are having trouble adjusting to democracy and capitalism. This is partly because Russian democracy and capitalism are rife with corruption, and partly because for over 70 years they were discouraged from thinking or acting independently. The Russian people are famous consumers of alcohol; many consider Vodka just the thing for breakfast, and only consider a person respectable if they get falling-down drunk on a regular basis. EconomyWith a GNP per capita of $2,300, Russia is a rarity in the world: a highly industrialized poor country. This can be attributed to the forced modernizations of the Communist era, which created a military-industrial giant and human misery at the same time. Many reforms have been implemented over the past decade to refashion Russia as a capitalist economy in which people are free to make their own economic choices; much still remains to be done.Russia is blessed with copious natural resources, and bedeviled by a fearsome geography which makes them difficult to exploit. The most important export is energy (oil and gas), of which Russia is among the world’s largest producers; this helped the Communists cover for decades of economic mismanagement. Sources: World Bank (1998 data), Dorling Kindersley World Reference Atlas, UNDP Human Development Report, Lonely Planet
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