Nasty Stuff About Russia by Michael Erbschloe - HTML preview

Appendix A: Russia at a Glance

 

Geographic coordinates: 60 00 N, 100 00 E

Area:

total: 17,098,242 sq km

land: 16,377,742 sq km

water: 720,500 sq km

country comparison to the world: 1

Area - comparative: approximately 1.8 times the size of the US

Land boundaries: total: 22,408 km

Border countries (14): Azerbaijan 338 km, Belarus 1,312 km, China (southeast) 4,133 km, China (south) 46 km, Estonia 324 km, Finland 1,309 km, Georgia 894 km, Kazakhstan 7,644 km, North Korea 18 km, Latvia 332 km, Lithuania (Kaliningrad Oblast) 261 km, Mongolia 3,452 km, Norway 191 km, Poland (Kaliningrad Oblast) 210 km, Ukraine 1,944 km

Coastline: 37,653 km

Maritime claims: territorial sea: 12 nm, contiguous zone: 24 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: mean elevation: 600 mm elevation extremes: lowest point: Caspian Sea -28 m highest point: Gora El'brus 5,642 m (highest point in Europe)

Natural resources: wide natural resource base including major deposits of oil, natural gas, coal, and many strategic minerals, reserves of rare earth elements, timber, note: formidable obstacles of climate, terrain, and distance hinder exploitation of natural resources

Land use:

agricultural land 13.1%

arable land 7.3%; permanent crops 0.1%; permanent pasture 5.7%

forest: 49.4%

other: 37.5% (2011 est.)

Irrigated land: 43,000 sq km (2012)

Population - distribution: population is heavily concentrated in the westernmost fifth of the country extending from the Baltic Sea, south to the Caspian Sea, and eastward parallel to the Kazakh border; elsewhere, sizeable pockets are isolated and generally found in the south

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

volcanism: significant volcanic activity on the Kamchatka Peninsula and Kuril Islands; the peninsula alone is home to some 29 historically active volcanoes, with dozens more in the Kuril Islands; Kliuchevskoi (4,835 m), which erupted in 2007 and 2010, is Kamchatka's most active volcano; Avachinsky and Koryaksky volcanoes, which pose a threat to the city of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, have been deemed Decade Volcanoes by the International Association of Volcanology and Chemistry of the Earth's Interior, worthy of study due to their explosive history and close proximity to human populations; other notable historically active volcanoes include Bezymianny, Chikurachki, Ebeko, Gorely, Grozny, Karymsky, Ketoi, Kronotsky, Ksudach, Medvezhia, Mutnovsky, Sarychev Peak, Shiveluch, Tiatia, Tolbachik, and Zheltovsky

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, Desertification, 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; Lake Baikal, the deepest lake in the world, is estimated to hold one fifth of the world's fresh water

 

Population: 142,257,519 (July 2017 est.) country comparison to the world: 9

Nationality: noun: Russian(s) adjective: Russian

Ethnic groups: Russian 77.7%, Tatar 3.7%, Ukrainian 1.4%, Bashkir 1.1%, Chuvash 1%, Chechen 1%, other 10.2%, unspecified 3.9% (note: nearly 200 national and/or ethnic groups are represented in Russia's 2010 census (2010 est.)

Languages: Russian (official) 85.7%, Tatar 3.2%, Chechen 1%, other 10.1%

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; Russia officially recognizes Orthodox Christianity, Islam, Judaism, and Buddhism as traditional religions

Age structure:

0-14 years: 17.12% (male 12,509,563/female 11,843,254)

15-24 years: 9.46% (male 6,881,880/female 6,572,191)

25-54 years: 44.71% (male 31,220,990/female 32,375,489)

55-64 years: 14.44% (male 8,849,707/female 11,693,131)

65 years and over: 14.28% (male 6,352,557/female 13,958,757) (2017 est.)

Dependency ratios: total dependency ratio: 43.5, youth dependency ratio: 24.2, elderly dependency ratio: 19.4, potential support ratio: 5.2 (2015 est.)

Median age:

total: 39.6 years

male: 36.6 years

female: 42.5 years (2017 est.)

country comparison to the world: 53

Population growth rate: -0.08% (2017 est.) country comparison to the world: 205

Birth rate: 11 births/1,000 population (2017 est.) country comparison to the world: 178

Death rate: 13.5 deaths/1,000 population (2017 est.) country comparison to the world: 9

Net migration rate: 1.7 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2017 est.) country comparison to the world: 52

Population distribution: population is heavily concentrated in the westernmost fifth of the country extending from the Baltic Sea, south to the Caspian Sea, and eastward parallel to the Kazakh border; elsewhere, sizeable pockets are isolated and generally found in the south

Urbanization: urban population: 74.2% of total population (2017)

Major urban areas - population: MOSCOW (capital) 12.166 million; Saint Petersburg 4.993 million; Novosibirsk 1.497 million; Yekaterinburg 1.379 million; Nizhniy Novgorod 1.212 million; Samara 1.164 million (2015)

Sex ratio:

at birth: 1.06 male(s)/female

0-14 years: 1.06 male(s)/female

15-24 years: 1.05 male(s)/female

25-54 years: 0.96 male(s)/female

55-64 years: 0.75 male(s)/female

65 years and over: 0.45 male(s)/female

total population: 0.86 male(s)/female (2016 est.)

Life and Death

Mother's mean age at first birth: 24.6 years (2009 est.)

Maternal mortality ratio: 25 deaths/100,000 live births (2015 est.) country comparison to the world: 122

Infant mortality rate: total: 6.8 deaths/1,000 live births

male: 7.6 deaths/1,000 live births

female: 5.9 deaths/1,000 live births (2017 est.)

country comparison to the world: 163

Life expectancy at birth:

total population: 71 years

male: 65.3 years

female: 77.1 years (2017 est.)

country comparison to the world: 154

Total fertility rate:

1.61 children born/woman (2017 est.)

country comparison to the world: 179

Contraceptive prevalence rate:

68%

note: percent of women aged 15-44 (2011)

Health expenditures:

7.1% of GDP (2014)

country comparison to the world: 80

Physicians density:

3.31 physicians/1,000 population (2014)

Hospital bed density:

9.7 beds/1,000 population (2006)

Drinking water source:

improved:

urban: 98.9% of population

rural: 91.2% of population

total: 96.9% of population

unimproved:

urban: 1.1% of population

rural: 8.8% of population

total: 3.1% of population (2015 est.)

Sanitation facility access:

improved:

urban: 77% of population

rural: 58.7% of population

total: 72.2% of population

unimproved:

urban: 23% of population

rural: 41.3% of population

total: 27.8% of population (2015 est.)

Major infectious diseases:

degree of risk: intermediate

food or waterborne diseases: bacterial diarrhea

vectorborne disease: tickborne encephalitis (2016)

Obesity - adult prevalence rate: 23.1% (2016)

country comparison to the world: 70

Education expenditures: 3.9% of GDP (2012) country comparison to the world: 110

Literacy: definition: age 15 and over can read and write

total population: 99.7%

male: 99.7%

female: 99.6% (2015 est.)

School life expectancy (primary to tertiary education):

total: 15 years

male: 15 years

female: 15 years (2014)

Unemployment, youth ages 15-24:

total: 16%

male: 15.3%

female: 16.9% (2015 est.)

country comparison to the world: 78

Source: The World Factbook — Central Intelligence Agency