The Russian Federation

I am a citizen of the Russian Federation or Russia. The Russian Federation is the largest country in the world. It occupies about 1/7 (one seventh) of the Earth surface. The country is situated in Eastern Europe, Northern and Central Asia. Its total area is over 17 million square km.

Our land is washed by 12 seas, most of which are the seas of three oceans: the Arctic, the Atlantic and the Pacific. In the south and in the west the country borders on fourteen countrees. It also has a sea-border with the USA.

There is hardly a country in the world where such a great variety of flora and fauna can be found as in our land. Our country has numerous forests, plains and steppes, taiga and tundra, highlands and deserts. The highest mountains in our land are the Altai, the Urals and the Caucasus. There are over two thousands rivers in the Russian Federation. The longest of them are the Volga, the Ob, the Yenisei, the Lena and the Amur. Our land is also rich in various lakes with the deepest lake in the world, the Baikal, included.

On the Russian territory there are 11 time zones. The climate conditions are rather different: from arctic and moderate to continental and subtropical. Our country is one of the richest in natural resources countries in the world: oil, natural gas, coal, different ores of ferrous and non-ferrous metals and other minerals.

The Russian Federation is a multinational state. It comprises many national districts, several autonomous republics and regions. The population of the country is over 140 million people.

Moscow is the capital of our Homeland. It is the largest political scientific, cultural and industrial center of the country and one of the most beautiful cities. Russian is the official language of the state. The national symbols of the Russian Federation are a double headed eagle and a white-blue-red banner.

The Russian Federation is a constitutional republic headed by the President, the country government consists of three branches: legislative, executive and judicial. The President controls only the executive branch — the government, but not the Supreme Court and Federal Assembly.

The legislative power belongs to the Federal Assembly comprising two chambers: the Council of Federation (upper Chamber) and the State Duma (lower Chamber). Each chamber is headed by the Speaker. The executive power belongs to the government (the Cabinet of Ministers) headed by the Prime Minister. The judicial power belongs to the system of Courts comprising the Constitutional Court, the Supreme Court and federal courts.

Our country has a multiparty system. The foreign policy of the Russian Federation is that of international cooperation, peace and friendship with all nations irrespective of their political and social systems.

I am proud of being a citizen of Russia.

Vocabulary:

citizen ['sitizn] гражданин

to occupy ['okjupai] зани­мать

surface поверхность

total ['toutl] area общая площадь

to border on... граничить с...

numerous многочисленный

steppes степи

taiga ['taiga: ] тайга

highlands возвышенности, горная местность

flora флора

fauna фауна

the Urals ['juaralz] Уральс­кие горы

the Caucasus Кавказ

climate [klaimit] conditions климатические условия

moderate уме­ренный

ore [о: ] руда

non-ferrous metals цвет­ные металлы

ferrous metals черные металлы

state государство

to comprise включать, охватывать

banner знамя, флаг

legislative законодательная

executive [ig'zekjutiv] исполнительная

judicial судебная

Federal Assembly Феде­ральное Собрание

the Council ['kaunsl] of Federation Совет Феде­рации

State Duma Государствен­ная дума, нижняя палата парламента Российской Федерации

Supreme [sju'pri: m] Court [ko: t] Верховный суд

influential влиятельный

foreign policy международная полити­ка

irrespective of независимо от

to be proud of ['praud] гордиться чем-либо

1.1. Ответьте на вопросы:

1. Is Russia the largest country in the world?

2. What oceans wash the borders of Russian Federation?

3. How many countries have borders with Russia?

4. Are Russian flora and fauna various?

5. What are the highest mountains in Russia?

6. What is lake Baikal famous for?

7. What is the climate in Russia like?

8. What are the national symbols of Russia?

9. What does the Federal Assembly consist of?

10. What do we call the head of each Chamber of the Federal Assembly?

1.2 Переведите на английский:

1. Общая площадь Российской федерации составляет более 17 миллионов километров.

2. В мире вряд ли есть еще одна страна с такой разно­образной флорой и фауной.

3. Озеро Байкал — самое глубокое озеро на земном шаре.

4. Н а территории Российской федерации существует 11 часовых поясов.

5. Россия является конституционной республикой с президентской формой правления.

6. Законодательная власть принадлежит Федерально­му Собранию, состоящему из двух палат.

7. Законодательная и судебная власти прямо не под­чиняются Президенту.

1.3. Знаете ли вы?

What is/are:

• the biggest Russian lake?

• the longest Russian river (in European and Asian parts of the Russian Federation)?

• a city with subtropical climate?

• cities with arctic climate?

• agricultural regions?

• old historical cities?

• places of recreation and tourism?