Geography
Russia is the biggest country in the world in terms of size, which ocuppies the territory between Europe and the northern part of the Pacific Ocean. The area of the country is 17,075,200 sq. km. Russia is located in eleven time zones and two continents, ending less than 100 km from North America. The country possesses a wide array of natural resources including major deposits of oil, coal, natural gas, minerals, diamonds and timber. Forests cover some 40% of the entire Russian land. The largest forests can be found in the Siberian taiga, in the far east and in the northern European territories. Coniferous trees (fir trees, pine trees, cedars, larches, etc.) are the predominant tree species there. Mixed forests are typical of mid-Russian regions.

Russia has got 120,000 rivers with a length of 10 km or greater each. The majority of rivers (Ob, Irtysh, Yenisei and Lena) are located in the Arctic Ocean basin. The Amur, Anadyr, Penzhina and some other rivers flow into the Pacific Ocean. The Don, Kuban and Neva rivers flow into the seas bordering on the Atlantic Ocean. Russia's main river, the Volga, flows all the way to the Caspian Sea. The length of the Volga River is 3530 km, it is the longest river in the Europe. About 2 million fresh and salt water lakes are can be found in different parts of the country. They include Baikal Lake - the world biggest reservoir of fresh water, Lake Ladoga and Lake Onego - biggest lakes in Europe. The capital of the Russian Federation is Moscow. With its population over 10,3 million (2002 Census), it is the largest city in the country as well as Russia's principal economic and political center. The second largest city is St.Petersburg - 4,6 mln (2002 Census), third - Novosibirsk - 1,4 mln (2002 Census).

Demographics
The population of Russia is about 150 million people.Russia is a multiethnic society. The largest ethnic groups include Russians (81.5%), Tatars (3.8%), Ukrainians (3%), Chuvash (1.2%), Bashkir (0.9%), Byelorussians (0.8%), Moldavians (0.7%), etc. The Russian language is a native language for over 80% of the population. Other languages are used in the ethnic minority regions. Russia has religious diversity as well. The main religions are Russian Orthodox Christianity and Islam, however there is also a large Buddhist and Jewish population. Also there are a lot of people who are atheists and agnostics.

Economy
Since the turn of the century, high prices for oil and minerals, booming internal demand and political stability have bolstered economic growth. The prognosis of the GDP increase for 2007 is 7.5%

Russia's 2006 GDP was $1.723 trillion (est. PPP), the 8th highest in the world, with GDP growth of 6.8%. It is $12 200 per capita. Oil, natural gas, metals, and timber account for more than 80% of exports. Oil and gas contribute to 5.7% of GDP and the government predicts this will drop to 3.7% of Russia's GDP by 2011. Russia has the world's largest natural gas reserves, the second largest coal reserves and the eighth largest oil reserves. It is the world's leading natural gas exporter and the second leading oil exporter. Russia is well ahead of most other resource-rich countries in its economic development, with a long tradition of education, science, and industry.

Agriculture and food production. The economic crisis of 1998 had some positive results. Due to a dramatic fall of a ruble import goods became too expensive for the majority of the population. Local producers received a major competitive advantage as they could offer lower prices. In spite of the fact that import still plays an important role, Russian farms and food producers hold a significant part of the market.

Over the last five years, fixed capital investments have averaged real gains greater than 10% per year and personal incomes have achieved real gains more than 12% per year. During this time, poverty has declined steadily and the middle class has continued to expand. Russia has also improved its international financial position since the 1998 financial crisis. A principal factor in Russia's growth has been the combination of strong growth in productivity, real wages, and consumption.