The Russian Federation

The Russian Federation is the largest country in the world. It occupies about one-seventh of the earth surface. It covers the eastern part of Europe and the northern part of Asia. Its total area is about 17 million square kilometres, the country is washed by 17 seas of 3 oceans: the Pacific, the Arctic and the Atlantic. In the south Russia borders on China, Mongolia, Korea, Kazakhstan, Georgia and Azerbaijan. In the west it bor­ders on Norway, Finland, the Baltic states, Belorussia and the Ukraine. It also has a sea border with the USA.

There is a great variety of vegetation and scеnеrу in our country: we have steppes in the south, plains and forests in the midland, tundra and taiga in the north, highlands and de­serts in the east.

There are several mountain chains on the territory of the country: the Urals, the Caucasus, the Altai and others. The largest mountain chain, the Urals, separates Europe from Asia.

There are over two million rivers in Russia. Russia is also rich in beautiful lakes. The world's deepest lake is Lake Baikal. It is much smaller than the Baltic Sea, but there is much more water in it than in the Baltic Sea. Russia has one-sixth of the world's forests. They are concentrated in the European north of the country, in Siberia and in the Far East.

Russia is very rich in oil, coal, iron ore, natural gas, copper, nickel and other mineral resources.

Russia is a parliamentary republic. The Head of State is the President, the legislative powers are exercised by the Duma.

The capital of Russia is Moscow. It is its largest political, scientific, cultural and industrial centre. It is one of the oldest Russian cities.

At present the political and economic situation in the coun­try is rather difficult (complicated). There are a lot of prob­lems in the national economy of the Russian Federation. The industrial production is decreasing. The prices are constantly rising, the rate of inflation is very high. People are losing their jobs because many factories and plants are going bankrupt.

But in spite of all the problems Russia is facing at pre­sent, there are a lot of opportunities for this country to be­come one of the leading countries in the world. We, the younger generation, can do very much to make Russia as strong and powerful as it used to be.

occupy ['Okjupai] – занимать

earth [q: T] – земля

surface ['sq: fis] – поверхность

cover ['kAvq] – покрывать, охватывать, занимать

Europe ['juqrqp] – Европа

Asia ['eISq] – Азия

wash [wOS] – омываться

the Pacific ocean [pq'sIfIk 'ouSn] – Тихий океан

the Arctic ocean ['a: ktIk 'ouSn] – Северный Ледовитый океан

border on ['bO: dq] – граничить с; граница

China ['CaInq] – Китай

Mongolia [mON'gquljq] – Монголия

Korea [kq'rIq] – Корея

Kazakhstan [ka: zqk'sta: n] – Казахстан

Georgia ['GO: Gjq] – Грузия

Azerbaijan [" xzqbaI'Ga: n] – Азербайджан

Norway ['nO: weI] – Норвегия

the Baltic states ['bO: ltIk steIts] – балтийские государства

Belorussia [" belq'rASq] – Белоруссия

the Ukraine [ju'kreIn] – Украина

variety [vq'raIqtI] – множество

vegetation [" veGI'teISn] – растительность

scenery ['sI: nqrI] – пейзаж, ландшафт

midland ['mIdlqnd] – внутренняя часть страны, центральные районы

tundra ['tAndrq] – тундра

highlands ['haIlqndz] – нагорье, горная местность

desert ['dezqt] – пустыня

the Urals ['juqrqlz] – Урал

the Caucasus ['kO: kqsqs] – Кавказ

the Altai [xl'taI] – Алтай

the Baltic Sea ['bO: ltIk si: ] – Балтийское море

Siberia [saI'bIqrIq] – Сибирь

the Far East ['fa: ri: st] – Дальний восток

iron ore ['aIqn O: ] – железная руда

parliamentary [" pa: lq'mentqrI] – парламентская

legislative power ['leGIslqtIv 'pauq] – законодательная власть

exercise ['eksqsaIz] – осуществлять

go bankrupt [gqu 'bxNkrApt] – обанкротиться, становиться банкротом

face [feIs] – сталкиваться

used to ['ju: zd tq] – раньше была