WELCOME TO RUSSIA

Russia (the Russian Federation) is the largest country in the world with more than 11,5% of the world's land surface. It could be compared to a 17,075,400 square kilometer blanket thrown over Europe and Asia. 6,400 Luxembourgs, 30 Frances or almost two USAs would fit under it. Russia is the country with the longest land borders. It neighbors 16 countries: Norway, Finland, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania to the north-west, Belarus and Poland to the west, Ukraine to the south-west, Georgia, Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan to the south, China, Mongolia and North Korea to the south-east (Russia also has sea borders wit Japan and the USA).

The Russian coast touches upon 13 seas: the Barents, the White, the Kara, the Laptev, the East-Siberianand the Chuckchee to the north, the baltic to the north-west, the Black, the Asov and the Caspianto the south-west, the Bering, the Okhotsk and the sea of Japan to the east.

Measuring Russia from north to south (from Rudolf Island in the Arctic Ocean to the border with Azerbaijan) the distance is more than 4.,600 kilometers; from west to east (from Baltijsk to Uelen) the distance is more than 9,000 kilometers.

The country includes seven natural zones – Arctic desert, tundra, wooded tundra, woods, wooded steppes, steppes and semi-deserts. The climatic changes are especially noticeable going north to south in European Russia, and in Westrn and Central Siberia, where the influence of oceans and mountains is hardly felt. In these regions, the Arctic and then into tundra.

Russia ranks second in the world in terms of fresh water resources (yielding only to Brazil), and most of these resources are in Siberia. It has around 120,000 rivers and 2 million fresh water and salt takes. The deepets lake in the world is Baikal (1,620 meters), containing 20% of the world's fresh water. The largestlakes in Europe are found in the Russian Karelia, such as Ladoga (17,700 square kilometers) and Onega (9,700 square kilometers). The biggest river in Europe is the Volga (3,530 kilometers long and a basin of 1,360 square kilometers).

Russia is exceptionally rich in forests, estimated at 1,180.9 million hectares. Here Russia occupies first place in the world, making up one fifth of the world's forests and, two thirds of the world's boreal forests.

Russia also leads in mineral resources. Its natural gas, crude oil, coal, gold, diamonds, platinum and various minerals are in high demand on the world market. Russia mines the most phosphates (55%), natural gas (28%), diamonds (26%), nickel (22%), potassium salts (16%), iron ore (14%), non-ferrous and precious metal ores (13%), oil (12%), and coal (12%).

Widely spread not only in space but also in time, Russia is the only country in the world covering 11 time zonessimultaneously. When midday comes in Chukotka, it is almost midnight in Kaliningrad.

It could be said that Russia is more suited for nature and wildlife than people – the vast expanses accommodate a small number of people. For instance, Siberia occupies three quarters of the total territory, but less than 25% of the Russian population lives there. The average density of population is quite low – 8.7 people (per km 2 ). A significant part of the country is virtually uninhabited, with tundra in the north, taiga in Siberia and in the Far East.

There are more than 100 nationalities among the 146 million inhabotants of Russia. The majority are Russians (around 81.5%), followed by Tatars (3.8%), Ukrainians (3%), Chuvashes (1.2%), Bashkirians (0.9%), Byelorussians (0.8%), Mordvians (0.7%), Germans and Chechens (0.6% each). The smallest minorities are the Ents and the Oroks, consisting of no more than 200 people each.

Traditions : Folk art is the basis of Russian national culture. Folk art masters were formerly peasants who knew how to turn purely utilitarian household articles into real works of art out of a desire to decorate a simple dwelling with bright and colorful creations and to vary the long winter month. Wood, clay, stone, bone, leather and fur were the main raw materials out of wich real masterpieces were born.

The art of decorating gold and silver articles has been well known from the time of Kieva Rus'. Today, these trditions are continued by the masters of Veliky Ustiug. The blackening of silver is actually a particular from of engraving on metal, and is used for decorating cutlery, rings and vases.

Matrioshkas are the funny wooden dolls that open up to reveal numerous smaller dolls inside. They are traditionally made of bus-wood, birch or aspen. The best time to cut the wood for matrioshkas is spring. Before becoming a colorful toy, the template undergoes up to 15 transformations. Having appeared at the and of the 19 th century, the doll became such a symbol of Russia that it is now the most popular Russian souvenir.

Rye has been Russia's major grain for centuries. It is used to make black bread, which is a must at any feast, even today. Russians have always liked doughy products: round cakes, kalatchi, stuffed rolls, thick and thin pancakes. Traditional Russian drinks are: sbiten' (hot water with honey and spices), kvas (a drink made of rye flour), medovukha (honey beer) and vodka with herbs.

Only in Russia it is possible to go to into any supermarket and find such a strange product on the shelves: small birch branches sealed in packets for the banya. The Russian bath or banya is considered with pride by many to be the country's most important tradirion. A Russian simply is not able to manage without it. People say that when Peter the Great came to Paris in 1717, he gave his grenadiers permission to arrange a banya on the banks of the Seine. Crowds of Frenchmen observed in astonishment how scalding Russian soldiers were dashing out of the streaming bath and jumping into the freezing river.

Central Russia : Central Russia not only has tranquil and idylic Russian landscapes with ancient towns and monasteries scaterred among the hills and fields, but also giant industrial cities with huge economic potential.

For centuries, this territory has been the center of the Russian state. It has witnessed more than a millenium of history from the ancient state of Rus' to present day Russia.

The area located between the Volga, Dnepr, Oka, and Western Dvina Rivers has proved beneficial in a number of ways. The rivers have been waterways to remote areas and foreign countries, while the valley between the Oka and Volga Rivers has been relatively safe from outside invasions. This ensured a rapid colonization of the region and the political advancement of Moscow , its main city.

Being at the heart of the country for so many centuries has benefited the region's economic development. Today, the region which occupies 4% of Russia's territory, account for 53% of the country's financial organizations, 64% of its defense industry facilities and 25% of the country's scientists.

Today, the north-eastern region is one of the most developed in Central Russia. Among the top industrial centers are Yaroslavl with its large refineries, tire factories and diesel engine producers; Vladimir with its famous tractor production plant, and Kostroma and Ivanovo with their textile industry.

Ryazan and Kaluga have long been known as mercantile and cultural centers. The Kaluga Region is famous for its wood-processing industry and production of mathes, and in the town of Obninsk, the world's first atomic power station was opened in 1954. The oil refinery in Ryazan is also one of the area's largest plants.

The lands to the south-east are Central Russia's main agricultural areas. The area's fertile, black soil produces harvests of grain, potatoes, sugar beets. The region's industrial growth began in the 20 th century with the development of the Kursk Magnetic Anomaly, one of the world's largest iron ore deposits.

United, and at the same time diverse, Central Russia with its 50 million inhabitants is the country's industrial and cultural heartland.

North-West : Russia's North-West is one of the most compact and at the same time one of the most attractive areas in the country. The famous mercantile waterway stretched from the Baltic to the Black Sea in olden days. From the 9 th to the 12 th centuries, Russian and North European countries traded with Bizantium along this waterway, “the road from the Varangians to the Greeks.” Later, Peter the Great chose this site to build Russia's new capital, St. Petersburg, wich became the country's “window to Europe.”