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Introduction | Russia

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 | Russia

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 coordinates: | 60 00 N, 100 00 E
Map references: | Asia
Area: | total: 17,075,200 sq km land: 16,995,800 sq km water: 79,400 sq km
Area - comparative: | approximately 1.8 times the size of the US
Land boundaries: | total: 20,096.5 km 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 claims: | territorial sea: 12 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 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, 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: | 46,000 sq km (2003)
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
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
Environment - 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, 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 - 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

People | Russia

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 growth rate: | -0.37% (2006 est.)
Birth rate: | 9.95 births/1,000 population (2006 est.)
Death rate: | 14.65 deaths/1,000 population (2006 est.)
Net migration rate: | 1.03 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2006 est.)
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 mortality rate: | total: 15.13 deaths/1,000 live births male: 17.43 deaths/1,000 live births female: 12.7 deaths/1,000 live births (2006 est.)
Life expectancy at birth: | total population: 67.08 years male: 60.45 years female: 74.1 years (2006 est.)
Total fertility rate: | 1.28 children born/woman (2006 est.)
HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate: | 1.1% (2001 est.)
HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS: | 860,000 (2001 est.)
HIV/AIDS - deaths: | 9,000 (2001 est.)
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 | Russia

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, begins last Sunday in March; ends last Sunday in October note: Russia is divided into eleven time zones
Administrative divisions: | 48 oblasts (oblastey, singular - oblast), 21 republics (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 holiday: | Russia Day, 12 June (1990)
Constitution: | adopted 12 December 1993
Legal system: | based on civil law system; judicial review of legislative acts
Suffrage: | 18 years of age; universal
Executive branch: | chief of state: President Vladimir Vladimirovich PUTIN (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 branch: | bicameral Federal Assembly or Federalnoye Sobraniye 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 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 or JR [Sergei MIRONOV] (formed from the merger of three small political parties: Motherland 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 pressure groups and leaders: | NA
International organization participation: | APEC, Arctic Council, ARF, ASEAN (dialogue partner), BIS, BSEC, CBSS, CE, CERN (observer), CIS, EAPC, EBRD, 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 representation in the US: | chief of mission: Ambassador Yuriy Viktorovich USHAKOV chancery: 2650 Wisconsin Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20007 telephone: [1] (202) 298-5700, 5701, 5704, 5708 FAX: [1] (202) 298-5735 consulate(s) general: Houston, New York, San Francisco, Seattle
Diplomatic representation from the US: | chief of mission: Ambassador William J. BURNS embassy: Bolshoy Deviatinskiy Pereulok No. 8, 121099 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 description: | three equal horizontal bands of white (top), blue, and red

Economy | Russia

Economy - overview: | Russia ended 2005 with its seventh straight year of 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 (purchasing power parity): | $1.584 trillion (2005 est.)
GDP (official exchange rate): | $740.7 billion (2005 est.)
GDP - real growth rate: | 6.4% (2005 est.)
GDP - per capita (PPP): | $11,000 (2005 est.)
GDP - composition by sector: | agriculture: 5.4% industry: 37.1% services: 57.5% (2005 est.)
Labor force: | 74.22 million (2005 est.)
Labor force - by occupation: | agriculture: 10.3% industry: 21.4% services: 68.3% (2004 est.)
Unemployment rate: | 7.6% plus considerable underemployment (2005 est.)
Population below poverty line: | 17.8% (2004 est.)
Household income or consumption by percentage share: | lowest 10%: 1.7% highest 10%: 38.7% (1998)
Distribution of family income - Gini index: | 40 (2002)
Inflation rate (consumer prices): | 12.7% (2005 est.)
Investment (gross fixed): | 18.1% of GDP (2005 est.)
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 - 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: | 4% (2005 est.)
Electricity - production: | 931 billion kWh (2004)
Electricity - production by source: | fossil fuel: 66.3% hydro: 17.2% nuclear: 16.4% other: 0.1% (2003)
Electricity - consumption: | 811.5 billion kWh (2004)
Electricity - exports: | 24 billion kWh (2003)
Electricity - imports: | 14 billion kWh (2002)
Oil - production: | 9.15 million bbl/day (2005 est.)
Oil - consumption: | 2.8 million bbl/day (2005 est.)
Oil - exports: | 5.15 million bbl/day (2004)
Oil - imports: | 75,000 bbl/day
Oil - proved reserves: | 69 billion bbl (2003 est.)
Natural gas - production: | 587 billion cu m (2005 est.)
Natural gas - consumption: | 402.1 billion cu m (2004 est.)
Natural gas - exports: | 157.2 billion cu m (2004 est.)
Natural gas - imports: | 12 billion cu m (2004 est.)
Natural gas - proved reserves: | 47.57 trillion cu m (2003)
Current account balance: | $84.25 billion (2005 est.)
Exports: | $245 billion (2005 est.)
Exports - commodities: | petroleum and petroleum products, natural gas, wood and wood products, metals, chemicals, and a wide variety of civilian and military manufactures
Exports - partners: | Netherlands 10.3%, Germany 8.3%, Italy 7.9%, China 5.5%, Ukraine 5.2%, Turkey 4.5%, Switzerland 4.4% (2005)
Imports: | $125 billion (2005 est.)
Imports - commodities: | machinery and equipment, consumer goods, medicines, meat, sugar, semifinished metal products
Imports - partners: | Germany 13.6%, Ukraine 8%, China 7.4%, Japan 6%, Belarus 4.7%, US 4.7%, Italy 4.6%, South Korea 4.1% (2005)
Reserves of foreign exchange and gold: | $182.2 billion (2005 est.)
Debt - external: | $215.3 billion (2005 est.)
Economic aid - recipient: | in FY01 from US, $979 million (including $750 million in non-proliferation subsidies); in 2001 from EU, $200 million (2000 est.)
Currency (code): | Russian ruble (RUR)
Currency code: | RUR
Exchange rates: | Russian rubles per US dollar - 28.284 (2005), 28.814 (2004), 30.692 (2003), 31.349 (2002), 29.169 (2001)
Fiscal year: | calendar year

Communications | Russia

Telephones - main lines in use: | 40.1 million (2005)
Telephones - mobile cellular: | 120 million (2005)
Telephone system: | general assessment: the telephone system underwent 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 broadcast stations: | AM 323, FM 1,500 est., shortwave 62 (2004)
Radios: | 61.5 million (1997)
Television broadcast stations: | 7,306 (1998)
Televisions: | 60.5 million (1997)
Internet country code: | .ru; note - Russia also has responsibility for a legacy 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 hosts: | 1,979,924 (2006)
Internet Service Providers (ISPs): | 300 (June 2000)
Internet users: | 23.7 million (2005)

Transportation | Russia

Airports: | 1,623 (2006)
Airports - with paved runways: | total: 616 over 3,047 m: 51 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 - with unpaved runways: | total: 1,007 over 3,047 m: 9 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 marine: | total: 1,178 ships (1000 GRT or over) 5,080,341 GRT/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 terminals: | Anapa, Kaliningrad, Murmansk, Nakhodka, Novorossiysk, Rostov-na-Donu, Saint Petersburg, Taganrog, Vanino, Vostochnyy

Military | Russia

Military branches: | Ground Forces (SV), Navy (VMF), Air Forces (VVS); Airborne Troops (VDV), Strategic Rocket Troops (RVSN), and Space Troops (KV) are independent "combat arms," not subordinate to any of the three branches
Military service age and obligation: | Russia has adopted a mixed conscript-contract force; 18-27 years of age; males are registered for the draft at 17 years of age; length of compulsory military 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 available for military service: | males age 18-49: 35,247,049 females age 18-49: 35,986,426 (2005 est.)
Manpower fit for military service: | males age 18-49: 21,049,651 females age 18-49: 29,056,021 (2005 est.)
Manpower reaching military service age annually: | males age 18-49: 1,286,069 females age 18-49: 1,244,264 (2005 est.)
Military expenditures - dollar figure: | NA
Military expenditures - percent of GDP: | NA

Transnational Issues | Russia

Disputes - international: | in 2005, China and Russia ratified the treaty to divide 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 internally displaced persons: | IDPs: 339,000 (displacement from Chechnya and North Ossetia) (2005)
Trafficking in persons: | current situation: Russia is a source, transit, and 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

This page was last updated on 19 December, 2006