COUNTRY PROFILE: RUSSIA
August 2005
COUNTRY
Formal Name: Russian Federation (Rossiyskaya Federatsiya).
Short Form: Russia.
Term for Citizen(s): Russian(s).
Capital: Moscow (Moskva).
Other Major Cities (in order of population): St. Petersburg, Novosibirsk, Nizhniy Novgorod, Yekaterinburg, Samara, Omsk, Kazan’, Chelyabinsk, Rostov, Ufa, Volgograd, and Perm.
Independence: Russia officially marks its independence on June 12, 1991, the date of the Russian Republic’s declaration of sovereignty from the Soviet Union.
Public Holidays: Official holidays are New Year’s (January 1–2), Orthodox Christmas (January 7), Women’s Day (March 8), Orthodox Easter Monday (variable date in April or early May), May Day (May 1–2), Victory Day (May 9), Independence Day (June 12), Peace and Harmony Day (November 7, formerly October Revolution Day), and Constitution Day (December 12).
Flag: Three equal-sized horizontal bands of white (top), red, and blue.