from
CIA World Factbook 2006
Russia
Introduction
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. 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 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. While some progress has been made on the
economic front, recent years have seen a
recentralization of power under Vladimir PUTIN and the
erosion of nascent democratic institutions. A
determined guerrilla conflict still plagues Russia in
Chechnya and threatens to destabilize the North
Caucasus region.
Geography
Location: Northern Asia (the area west of the Urals is considered
part of Europe), bordering the Arctic Ocean, between
Europe and the North Pacific Ocean
Geographic 60 00 N, 100 00 E
coordinates:
Map Asia
references:
Area: total: 17,075,200 sq km
land: 16,995,800 sq km
water: 79,400 sq km
Area - approximately 1.8 times the size of the US
comparative:
Land total: 20,096.5 km
boundaries: border countries: Azerbaijan 284 km, Belarus 959 km,
China (southeast) 3,605 km, China (south) 40 km,
Estonia 294 km, Finland 1,340 km, Georgia 723 km,
Kazakhstan 6,846 km, North Korea 19 km, Latvia 217 km,
Lithuania (Kaliningrad Oblast) 280.5 km, Mongolia 3,485
km, Norway 196 km, Poland (Kaliningrad Oblast) 232 km,
Ukraine 1,576 km
Coastline: 37,653 km
Maritime territorial sea: 12 nm
claims: 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 lowest point: Caspian Sea -28 m
extremes: highest point: Gora El'brus 5,633 m
Natural wide natural resource base including major deposits of
resources: oil, natural gas, coal, and many strategic minerals,
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 46,000 sq km (2003)
land:
Natural permafrost over much of Siberia is a major impediment
hazards: 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
Environment - air pollution from heavy industry, emissions of
current coal-fired electric plants, and transportation in major
issues: 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
Environment - party to: Air Pollution, Air Pollution-Nitrogen Oxides,
international Air Pollution-Sulfur 85, Antarctic-Environmental
agreements: Protocol, Antarctic-Marine Living Resources, Antarctic
Seals, Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change,
Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Endangered Species,
Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of
the Sea, Marine Dumping, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship
Pollution, Tropical Timber 83, Wetlands, Whaling
signed, but not ratified: Air Pollution-Sulfur 94
Geography - largest country in the world in terms of area but
note: 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
People
Population: 142,893,540 (July 2006 est.)
Age structure: 0-14 years: 14.2% (male 10,441,151/female 9,921,102)
15-64 years: 71.3% (male 49,271,698/female 52,679,463)
65 years and over: 14.4% (male 6,500,814/female
14,079,312) (2006 est.)
Median age: total: 38.4 years
male: 35.2 years
female: 41.3 years (2006 est.)
Population -0.37% (2006 est.)
growth rate:
Birth rate: 9.95 births/1,000 population (2006 est.)
Death rate: 14.65 deaths/1,000 population (2006 est.)
Net migration 1.03 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2006 est.)
rate:
Sex ratio: at birth: 1.06 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.05 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 0.94 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.46 male(s)/female
total population: 0.86 male(s)/female (2006 est.)
Infant total: 15.13 deaths/1,000 live births
mortality male: 17.43 deaths/1,000 live births
rate: female: 12.7 deaths/1,000 live births (2006 est.)
Life total population: 67.08 years
expectancy at male: 60.45 years
birth: female: 74.1 years (2006 est.)
Total 1.28 children born/woman (2006 est.)
fertility
rate:
HIV/AIDS - 1.1% (2001 est.)
adult
prevalence
rate:
HIV/AIDS - 860,000 (2001 est.)
people living
with HIV/AIDS:
HIV/AIDS - 9,000 (2001 est.)
deaths:
Nationality: noun: Russian(s)
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)
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
Languages: Russian, many minority languages
Literacy: definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 99.6%
male: 99.7%
female: 99.5% (2003 est.)
Government
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 federation
type:
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, begins last Sunday in
March; ends last Sunday in October
note: Russia is divided into eleven time zones
Administrative 48 oblasts (oblastey, singular - oblast), 21 republics
divisions: (respublik, singular - respublika), 9 autonomous okrugs
(avtonomnykh okrugov, singular - avtonomnyy okrug), 7
krays (krayev, singular - kray), 2 federal cities
(singular - gorod), and 1 autonomous oblast
(avtonomnaya oblast')
oblasts: Amur (Blagoveshchensk), Arkhangel'sk,
Astrakhan', Belgorod, Bryansk, Chelyabinsk, Chita,
Irkutsk, Ivanovo, Kaliningrad, Kaluga, Kamchatka
(Petropavlovsk-Kamchatskiy), 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: Aga Buryat (Aginskoye), Chukotka
(Anadyr'), Evenk (Tura), Khanty-Mansi, Koryak (Palana),
Nenets (Nar'yan-Mar), Taymyr [Dolgano-Nenets]
(Dudinka), Ust'-Orda Buryat (Ust'-Ordynskiy),
Yamalo-Nenets (Salekhard)
krays: Altay (Barnaul), Khabarovsk, Krasnodar,
Krasnoyarsk, Permskiy, Primorskiy (Vladivostok),
Stavropol'
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 Soviet Union)
National Russia Day, 12 June (1990)
holiday:
Constitution: adopted 12 December 1993
Legal system: based on civil law system; judicial review of
legislative acts
Suffrage: 18 years of age; universal
Executive chief of state: President Vladimir Vladimirovich PUTIN
branch: (acting president 31 December 1999-6 May 2000,
president since 7 May 2000)
head of government: Premier Mikhail Yefimovich FRADKOV
(since 5 March 2004); First Deputy Premier Dmitriy
Anatolyevich MEDVEDEV (since 14 November 2005), Deputy
Premiers Aleksandr Dmitriyevich ZHUKOV (since 9 March
2004) and Sergey Borisovich IVANOV (since 14 November
2005)
cabinet: Ministries of the Government or "Government"
composed of the premier and his deputies, ministers,
and selected other individuals; all are appointed by
the president
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 14 March 2004 (next to be held March 2008);
note - 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: Vladimir Vladimirovich PUTIN
reelected president; percent of vote - Vladimir
Vladimirovich PUTIN 71.2%, Nikolay KHARITONOV 13.7%,
other (no candidate above 5%) 15.1%
Legislative bicameral Federal Assembly or Federalnoye Sobraniye
branch: consists of the Federation Council or Sovet Federatsii
(178 seats; as of July 2000, members appointed by the
top executive and legislative officials in each of the
88 federal administrative units - oblasts, krays,
republics, autonomous okrugs and oblasts, and the
federal cities of Moscow and Saint Petersburg; members
serve four-year terms) and the State Duma or
Gosudarstvennaya Duma (450 seats; currently elected by
proportional representation from party lists winning at
least 7% of the vote; members are elected by direct,
popular vote to serve four-year terms)
elections: State Duma - last held 7 December 2003 (next
to be held in December 2007)
election results: State Duma - percent of vote received
by parties clearing the 5% threshold entitling them to
a proportional share of the 225 party list seats -
United Russia 37.1%, CPRF 12.7%, LDPR 11.6%, Motherland
9.1%; seats by party - United Russia 222, CPRF 53, LDPR
38, Motherland 37, People's Party 19, Yabloko 4, SPS 2,
other 7, independents 65, repeat election required 3;
composition as of 1 July 2006 - United Russia 309, CPRF
45, LDPR 35, Motherland 29, People's Party 12,
independents 18, vacant 2
Judicial Constitutional Court; Supreme Court; Supreme
branch: Arbitration Court; judges for all courts are appointed
for life by the Federation Council on the
recommendation of the president
Political A Just Russia or JR [Sergei MIRONOV] (formed from the
parties and merger of three small political parties: Motherland
leaders: Party (Rodina), Pensioner's Party, and Party of Life);
Communist Party of the Russian Federation or CPRF
[Gennadiy Andreyevich ZYUGANOV]; Liberal Democratic
Party of Russia or LDPR [Vladimir Volfovich
ZHIRINOVSKIY]; People's Party [Gennady RAIKOV]; Union
of Right Forces or SPS [Nikita BELYKH]; United Russia
or UR [Boris Vyacheslavovich GRYZLOV]; Yabloko Party
[Grigoriy Alekseyevich YAVLINSKIY]
Political NA
pressure
groups and
leaders:
International APEC, Arctic Council, ARF, ASEAN (dialogue partner),
organization BIS, BSEC, CBSS, CE, CERN (observer), CIS, EAPC, EBRD,
participation: G- 8, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICCt (signatory), ICFTU,
ICRM, IDA, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol,
IOC, IOM (observer), IPU, ISO, ITU, LAIA (observer),
MIGA, MINURSO, MONUC, NAM (guest), NSG, OAS (observer),
OIC (observer), ONUB, OPCW, OSCE, Paris Club, PCA, PFP,
SCO, UN, UN Security Council, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR,
UNIDO, UNITAR, UNMEE, UNMIL, UNMIS, UNMOVIC, UNOCI,
UNOMIG, UNTSO, UPU, WCO, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO,
WTO (observer), ZC
Diplomatic chief of mission: Ambassador Yuriy Viktorovich USHAKOV
representation chancery: 2650 Wisconsin Avenue NW, Washington, DC
in the US: 20007
telephone: [1] (202) 298-5700, 5701, 5704, 5708
FAX: [1] (202) 298-5735
consulate(s) general: Houston, New York, San Francisco,
Seattle
Diplomatic chief of mission: Ambassador William J. BURNS
representation embassy: Bolshoy Deviatinskiy Pereulok No. 8, 121099
from the US: Moscow
mailing address: PSC-77, APO AE 09721
telephone: [7] (495) 728-5000
FAX: [7] (495) 728-5090
consulate(s) general: Saint Petersburg, Vladivostok,
Yekaterinburg
Flag three equal horizontal bands of white (top), blue, and
description: red
Economy
Economy - Russia ended 2005 with its seventh straight year of
overview: growth, averaging 6.4% annually since the financial
crisis of 1998. Although high oil prices and a
relatively cheap ruble are important drivers of this
economic rebound, since 2000 investment and
consumer-driven demand have played a noticeably
increasing role. Real fixed capital investments have
averaged gains greater than 10% over the last five
years, and real personal incomes have realized average
increases over 12%. During this time, poverty has
declined steadily and the middle class has continued to
expand. Russia has also improved its international
financial position since the 1998 financial crisis,
with its foreign debt declining from 90% of GDP to
around 31%. Strong oil export earnings have allowed
Russia to increase its foreign reserves from only $12
billion to some $180 billion at yearend 2005. These
achievements, along with a renewed government effort to
advance structural reforms, have raised business and
investor confidence in Russia's economic prospects.
Nevertheless, serious problems persist. Economic growth
slowed to 5.9% for 2005 while inflation remains high.
Oil, natural gas, metals, and timber account for more
than 80% of exports, leaving the country vulnerable to
swings in world prices. Russia's manufacturing base is
dilapidated and must be replaced or modernized if the
country is to achieve broad-based economic growth.
Other problems include a weak banking system, a poor
business climate that discourages both domestic and
foreign investors, corruption, and widespread lack of
trust in institutions. In addition, a string of
investigations launched against a major Russian oil
company, culminating with the arrest of its CEO in the
fall of 2003 and the acquisition of the company by a
state owned firm, have raised concerns by some
observers that President PUTIN is granting more
influence to forces within his government that desire
to reassert state control over the economy. State
control has increased in the past year with a number of
large acquisitions. Most fundamentally, Russia has made
little progress in building the rule of law, the
bedrock of a modern market economy.
GDP $1.584 trillion (2005 est.)
(purchasing
power parity):
GDP (official $740.7 billion (2005 est.)
exchange
rate):
GDP - real 6.4% (2005 est.)
growth rate:
GDP - per $11,000 (2005 est.)
capita (PPP):
GDP - agriculture: 5.4%
composition by industry: 37.1%
sector: services: 57.5% (2005 est.)
Labor force: 74.22 million (2005 est.)
Labor force - agriculture: 10.3%
by occupation: industry: 21.4%
services: 68.3% (2004 est.)
Unemployment 7.6% plus considerable underemployment (2005 est.)
rate:
Population 17.8% (2004 est.)
below poverty
line:
Household lowest 10%: 1.7%
income or highest 10%: 38.7% (1998)
consumption by
percentage
share:
Distribution 40 (2002)
of family
income - Gini
index:
Inflation rate 12.7% (2005 est.)
(consumer
prices):
Investment 18.1% of GDP (2005 est.)
(gross fixed):
Budget: revenues: $176.7 billion
expenditures: $125.6 billion; including capital
expenditures of $NA (2005 est.)
Public debt: 12.9% of GDP (2005 est.)
Agriculture - grain, sugar beets, sunflower seed, vegetables, fruits;
products: 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 4% (2005 est.)
production
growth rate:
Electricity - 931 billion kWh (2004)
production:
Electricity - fossil fuel: 66.3%
production by hydro: 17.2%
source: nuclear: 16.4%
other: 0.1% (2003)
Electricity - 811.5 billion kWh (2004)
consumption:
Electricity - 24 billion kWh (2003)
exports:
Electricity - 14 billion kWh (2002)
imports:
Oil - 9.15 million bbl/day (2005 est.)
production:
Oil - 2.8 million bbl/day (2005 est.)
consumption:
Oil - exports: 5.15 million bbl/day (2004)
Oil - imports: 75,000 bbl/day
Oil - proved 69 billion bbl (2003 est.)
reserves:
Natural gas - 587 billion cu m (2005 est.)
production:
Natural gas - 402.1 billion cu m (2004 est.)
consumption:
Natural gas - 157.2 billion cu m (2004 est.)
exports:
Natural gas - 12 billion cu m (2004 est.)
imports:
Natural gas - 47.57 trillion cu m (2003)
proved
reserves:
Current $84.25 billion (2005 est.)
account
balance:
Exports: $245 billion (2005 est.)
Exports - petroleum and petroleum products, natural gas, wood and
commodities: wood products, metals, chemicals, and a wide variety of
civilian and military manufactures
Exports - Netherlands 10.3%, Germany 8.3%, Italy 7.9%, China
partners: 5.5%, Ukraine 5.2%, Turkey 4.5%, Switzerland 4.4%
(2005)
Imports: $125 billion (2005 est.)
Imports - machinery and equipment, consumer goods, medicines,
commodities: meat, sugar, semifinished metal products
Imports - Germany 13.6%, Ukraine 8%, China 7.4%, Japan 6%,
partners: Belarus 4.7%, US 4.7%, Italy 4.6%, South Korea 4.1%
(2005)
Reserves of $182.2 billion (2005 est.)
foreign
exchange and
gold:
Debt - $215.3 billion (2005 est.)
external:
Economic aid - in FY01 from US, $979 million (including $750 million
recipient: in non-proliferation subsidies); in 2001 from EU, $200
million (2000 est.)
Currency Russian ruble (RUR)
(code):
Currency code: RUR
Exchange Russian rubles per US dollar - 28.284 (2005), 28.814
rates: (2004), 30.692 (2003), 31.349 (2002), 29.169 (2001)
Fiscal year: calendar year
Communications
Telephones - 40.1 million (2005)
main lines in
use:
Telephones - 120 million (2005)
mobile
cellular:
Telephone general assessment: the telephone system underwent
system: significant changes in the 1990s; there are more than
1,000 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; however, a large demand
for main 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 three 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
Radio AM 323, FM 1,500 est., shortwave 62 (2004)
broadcast
stations:
Radios: 61.5 million (1997)
Television 7,306 (1998)
broadcast
stations:
Televisions: 60.5 million (1997)
Internet .ru; note - Russia also has responsibility for a legacy
country code: domain ".su" that was allocated to the Soviet Union,
and whose legal status and ownership are contested by
the Russian Government, ICANN, and several Russian
commercial entities
Internet 1,979,924 (2006)
hosts:
Internet 300 (June 2000)
Service
Providers
(ISPs):
Internet 23.7 million (2005)
users:
Transportation
Airports: 1,623 (2006)
Airports - total: 616
with paved over 3,047 m: 51
runways: 2,438 to 3,047 m: 198
1,524 to 2,437 m: 130
914 to 1,523 m: 100
under 914 m: 137 (2006)
Airports - total: 1,007
with unpaved over 3,047 m: 9
runways: 2,438 to 3,047 m: 16
1,524 to 2,437 m: 75
914 to 1,523 m: 127
under 914 m: 780 (2006)
Heliports: 52 (2006)
Pipelines: condensate 122 km; gas 156,285 km; oil 72,283 km;
refined products 13,658 km (2006)
Railways: total: 87,157 km
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 (2005)
Roadways: total: 871,000 km
paved: 738,000 km (including 29,000 km of expressways)
unpaved: 133,000 km
note: includes public and departmental roads (2004)
Waterways: 102,000 km (including 33,000 km with guaranteed depth)
note: 72,000 km system in European Russia links Baltic
Sea, White Sea, Caspian Sea, Sea of Azov, and Black Sea
(2005)
Merchant total: 1,178 ships (1000 GRT or over) 5,080,341 GRT/
marine: 6,287,784 DWT
by type: barge carrier 1, bulk carrier 46, cargo 743,
chemical tanker 25, combination ore/oil 38, container
13, passenger 12, passenger/cargo 7, petroleum tanker
219, refrigerated cargo 54, roll on/roll off 15,
specialized tanker 5
foreign-owned: 100 (Belgium 4, Canada 1, Cyprus 2,
Estonia 1, Germany 2, Greece 1, Latvia 2, Malta 4,
Norway 1, Switzerland 7, Turkey 63, Ukraine 11, US 1)
registered in other countries: 465 (Antigua and Barbuda
6, Bahamas 6, Belize 36, Bulgaria 1, Cambodia 105,
Comoros 4, Cyprus 53, Dominica 2, Finland 1, Georgia
28, North Korea 1, Liberia 77, Malta 70, Marshall
Islands 1, Mongolia 13, Panama 7, Saint Kitts and Nevis
5, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines 29, Sierra Leone 1,
Tuvalu 2, Ukraine 1, Vanuatu 1, Venezuela 1, unknown
14) (2006)
Ports and Anapa, Kaliningrad, Murmansk, Nakhodka, Novorossiysk,
terminals: Rostov-na-Donu, Saint Petersburg, Taganrog, Vanino,
Vostochnyy
Military
Military Ground Forces (SV), Navy (VMF), Air Forces (VVS);
branches: Airborne Troops (VDV), Strategic Rocket Troops (RVSN),
and Space Troops (KV) are independent "combat arms,"
not subordinate to any of the three branches
Military Russia has adopted a mixed conscript-contract force;
service age 18-27 years of age; males are registered for the draft
and at 17 years of age; length of compulsory military
obligation: service is two years; plans call for reduction in
mandatory service to 18 months in 2007 and to one year
by 2008; 30% of Russian army personnel were contract
servicemen at the end of 2005; planning calls for
volunteer servicemen to compose 70% of armed forces by
2010, with the remaining servicemen consisting of
conscripts; as of November 2006, the Armed Forces had
more than 60 units manned with contract personnel
totalling over 78,000 contract privates and sergeants;
88 Ministry of Defense units have been designated as
permanent readiness units and are expected to become
all-volunteer by end 2007; these include most air
force, naval, and nuclear arms units, as well as all
airborne and naval infantry units, most motorized rifle
brigades, and all special forces detachments (2006)
Manpower males age 18-49: 35,247,049
available for females age 18-49: 35,986,426 (2005 est.)
military
service:
Manpower fit males age 18-49: 21,049,651
for military females age 18-49: 29,056,021 (2005 est.)
service:
Manpower males age 18-49: 1,286,069
reaching females age 18-49: 1,244,264 (2005 est.)
military
service age
annually:
Military NA
expenditures -
dollar figure:
Military NA
expenditures -
percent of
GDP:
Transnational
Issues
Disputes - in 2005, China and Russia ratified the treaty to divide
international: up the islands in the Amur, Ussuri, and Argun Rivers,
representing the final portion of 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 and Georgia
agree on delimiting all but small, strategic segments
of the land boundary and the maritime boundary; OSCE
observers monitor volatile areas such as the Pankisi
Gorge in the Akhmeti region and the Kodori Gorge in
Abkhazia; Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, and Russia signed
equidistance boundaries in the Caspian seabed but the
littoral states have no consensus on dividing the water
column; Russia and Norway dispute their maritime limits
in the Barents Sea and Russia's fishing rights beyond
Svalbard's territorial limits within the Svalbard
Treaty zone; 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 a member state that forms part of the
EU's external border, to strict Schengen border rules;
delimitation of land boundary with Ukraine is complete,
but states have renewed discussions on demarcation; the
dispute over the maritime 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;
discussions toward economic and political union with
Belarus advance slowly; Kazakhstan and Russia boundary
delimitation ratified November 2005 and demarcation is
underway; Russian Duma has not yet ratified 1990
Maritime Boundary Agreement with the US in the Bering
Sea
Refugees and IDPs: 339,000 (displacement from Chechnya and North
internally Ossetia) (2005)
displaced
persons:
Trafficking in current situation: Russia is a source, transit, and
persons: destination country for men, women, and children
trafficked for various purposes; it remains a
significant source of women trafficked to over 50
countries for commercial sexual exploitation; Russia is
also a transit and destination country for men and
women trafficked from Central Asia, Eastern Europe, and
North Korea to Central and Western Europe and the
Middle East for purposes of forced labor and sexual
exploitation; internal trafficking remains a problem in
Russia with women trafficked from rural areas to urban
centers for commercial sexual exploitation, and men are
trafficked internally and from Central Asia for forced
labor in the construction and agricultural industries;
debt bondage is common among trafficking victims, and
child sex tourism remains a concern
tier rating: Tier 2 Watch List - Russia is placed on
the Tier 2 Watch List for a third consecutive year for
its continued failure to show evidence of increasing
efforts to combat trafficking, particularly in the area
of victim protection and assistance
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 crime are key concerns; heroin
increasingly popular in domestic market