Location: Russia occupies much of easternmost Europe and northern
Asia, stretching from Norway to the Pacific Ocean and from the Black
Sea to the Arctic Ocean.
Size: With an area of 17,075,200 square kilometers, Russia is the largest country in the world.
Land Boundaries: Russia’s land boundaries extend 21,139 kilometers, bordering the following nations: Azerbaijan (284 kilometers), Belarus (959 kilometers), China (3,645 kilometers), the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (North Korea) (19 kilometers), Estonia (290 kilometers), Finland (1,313 kilometers), Georgia (723 kilometers), Kazakhstan (6,846 kilometers), Latvia (217 kilometers), Lithuania (227 kilometers), Mongolia (3,441 kilometers), Norway (167 kilometers), Poland (432 kilometers), and Ukraine (1,576 kilometers).
Disputed Territory: Russia has unresolved territorial disputes with Japan over the southernmost four Kuril Islands; with Lithuania over access to Russia’s geographically separate Kaliningrad Province; with Ukraine over the maritime boundary in the Kerch Strait; and with other Caspian littoral states over control of offshore resources. In 2004 seabed treaties with Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan eliminated one issue in the Caspian region. Some border segments with Georgia, Estonia, and Latvia have not been accepted by both parties.
Length of Coastline: 37,653 kilometers, bordering the Arctic, Atlantic, and Pacific oceans.
Maritime Claims: Russia claims a 200-nautical-mile exclusive economic zone, a 12-nautical-mile territorial sea, and jurisdiction over the continental shelf to a 200-meter depth or to the depth of resource exploitation.
Topography: European Russia is dominated by a broad plain, with low hills west of the Urals. The Urals, considered the boundary between European and Asian Russia, stretch from the Arctic island of Novaya Zemlya to the border of Kazakhstan. East of the Urals is the vast West Siberian Plain, then the Central Siberian Plateau. East of the Central Plateau is the Lena Plateau. Russia’s southern border with Mongolia and its entire Pacific coast are marked by mountain ranges. The border with China is defined by the Amur River valley. Siberia contains vast coniferous forests, to the north of which is a broad tundra zone extending to the Arctic Ocean. The southwestern border is marked by the uplands of the northern slope of the Caucasus Mountains. Flat, fertile steppe extends between the borders of Ukraine on the west to Kazakhstan on the east. About 10 percent of the country is swampland; about 45 percent is forested.
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Principal Rivers: Russia’s principal rivers are the Amur, Irtysh, Lena, Ob’, and Volga. The Irtysh, Lena, and Ob’ flow northward across Asian Russia into the Arctic Ocean. The Volga is the longest river in Europe.
Climate: The climate of Russia’s vast territory ranges from temperate to Arctic continental. Winter weather varies from short-term and cold along the Black Sea to long-term and frigid in northern Siberia. Summer conditions range from warm on the steppes to cool along the Arctic coast. Much of Russia is covered by snow for six months of the year, and the weather often is harsh and unpredictable. In European Russia, the average annual temperature is 0° C; the average in Siberia is lower. The precipitation in most areas is low to moderate. The northwest, North Caucasus, and Pacific Coast receive the highest amounts of precipitation.
Natural Resources: Russia possesses a vast variety of natural resources, many of which are located far from industrial processing centers. The fuel resources that supported development of industrial centers in European Russia have been depleted, necessitating reliance on coal, natural gas, and petroleum from Siberian deposits. However, Russia still has an estimated 6 percent of the world’s oil deposits and one-third of the world’s natural gas deposits, making it a major exporter of both commodities. In 2004 oil extraction reached a new post-Soviet high, placing Russia close to Saudi Arabia as the world’s largest producer. Rich deposits of most industrially valuable metals, diamonds, and phosphates also are found in Russia.
Russia’s northerly location limits available agricultural land, which is concentrated in the area between the Black and Caspian seas, along the borders of Ukraine and Kazakhstan, and in southern and western Siberia. Poor soil and short seasons restrict agricultural production in the European north to livestock. Erosion has depleted soil quality in many farming areas. Siberia contains nearly 50 percent of the world’s coniferous forests, but Russia’s forest management has declined sharply in recent years, and commercial clear-cutting is reducing the forest stock at a rapid rate. Coastal and river waters have supported an extensive fishing industry, which also is threatened by pollution and poor regulation.
Land Use: Some 7.3 percent of Russia’s land is classified as arable, 48 percent is forested, and 0.1 percent is planted to permanent crops.
Environmental Factors: Largely because Soviet-era industrial, energy, and agricultural policies ignored environmental protection, many sectors of Russia are considered environmentally hazardous. Most major industrial centers have poor air and water quality, and air quality in all urban centers is substandard. The Caspian and Black seas, the Sea of Azov, the Volga River, and Lake Baikal are areas of severe water pollution. Industrial nodes in the Kola Peninsula, central Siberia, and the Urals emit especially large amounts of air pollutants. Rapidly increasing numbers of vehicles, using unleaded gas, exacerbate air pollution. Agricultural soil quality is reduced by erosion and overgrazing, and unrestricted harvesting reduces natural forests. Unsafe disposal of radioactive materials pollutes coastal water, rivers, and terrestrial areas. Russia’s 12 operational RBMK-type nuclear reactors are considered unsafe; some reactors (with design modifications) are not scheduled for shutdown until after 2010. Official environmental protection has declined since the early 1990s. In 2000 the Putin government abolished Russia’s Environmental Protection Committee (which earlier had lost its ministry status) and the Federal Forest Service. After substantial delay, in 2004 Russia ratified the Kyoto Protocol on greenhouse gases, making possible the enforcement of the protocol in signatory nations.
Time Zones: Russia’s territory includes 11 time zones. Moscow is three hours ahead of Greenwich Mean Time.