The Russian Federation

The Russian Federation is the largest country in the world. It is situated in the eastern part of Europe and the northern part of Asia. Russia is washed by twelve seas and three oceans. The oceans are: the Arctic, the Atlantic, the Pacific. The seas are: the White Sea, the Black Sea, The Baltic Sea, the Barents Sea, the Okhotsk Sea and others. Russia borders on many countries, such as Norway and Finland in the north-west, Estonia, Latvia, Belarus and the Ukraine in the west, Georgia and Azerbaijan in the south-west, Kazakhstan, Mongolia, China in the south-east.

The land of Russia varies very much from forests to deserts, from high mountains to deep valleys. The main mountain chains are the Urals, the Caucasus and the Altai. There are a lot of great rivers and deep lakes in our country. The longest rivers are the Volga in European part of the country, and the Ob, The Yenisei, and the Lena in Asian part. The largest lakes are Ladoga and Baikal. Baikal is the deepest lake in the world.

Russia is a highly industrialized and agrarian republic. It is rich in natural and mineral resources. It has deposits of oil, gas, coal, iron, gold, zinc, nickel, aluminium and others. Three – quarters of the republic’s mineral wealth is concentrated in Siberia and the Far East.

Approximately 10 million people are engaged in agriculture. The largest granaries are located in the North Caucasus and the Volga and the Amur regions. The main agricultural products are grain, meat and milk.

The Russian Federation is a multinational state. Its population is more than 150 million people. The European part of the country is densely populated, and most population live in cities and towns.

The capital of the Russian Federation is Moscow, with the population of about 10 million people.

The Russian Federation was set up by the constitution of 1993. There are 21 republics in the federation.

Russia is a constitutional republic. Head of state is the President. He controls all branches of power. The legislative power is exercised by the Federal Assembly. It consists of two chambers: the Council of Federation and the State Duma. Each chamber is headed by the speaker. The executive power is exercised by the Government, or the Cabinet of Ministers. The government is headed by the Prime Minister. The judicial power belongs to the system of courts. It consists of the Constitutional Court, the Supreme Court and other courts.

The national symbols of Russia are white-blue-red banner and a double-headed eagle.