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| Russia, independent republic in eastern Europe
and Asia, which was established on December 25, 1991, and includes 21 ethnically
based republics, 6 krays (territories), 10 okrugs (national areas), 49
oblasts (districts), 1 autonomous region, and 2 cities with federal status.
Officially named the Russian Federation (Russian Rossiyskaya Federatsiya),
Russia was once the largest and most prominent republic of the Union of
Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR). In 1991 the USSR collapsed, and Russia
became an independent country. It then coordinated the formation of a political
alliance with many of the former republics of the USSR called the Commonwealth
of Independent States (CIS). This article covers the history of Russia
through World War I (1914-1918) and the developments in independent Russia
since the breakup of the USSR. For information on the Russian Revolution
and USSR-era Russia, see those respective articles.
In geographic extent Russia is the largest country in the world, with an area of 17,075,200 sq km (about 6,592,800 sq mi), more than one-ninth of the world's land area and nearly twice that of the United States or China. From north to south the country extends more than 4000 km (more than 2400 mi) from the southern border along the Caucasus Mountains to Arctic islands in the Barents Sea. From east to west the maximum extent is almost 10,000 km (almost 6200 mi) from the eastern coast of the Baltic Sea to Ratmanov (also known as Big Diomede) Island in the Bering Strait. The country also spans parts of two continents, Europe and Asia, with the Ural Mountains marking the boundary between them. The capital and largest city of Russia is Moscow. Russia's borders measure more than 20,100 km (more than 12,500 mi). On the north it is bounded by a number of arms of the Arctic Ocean: the Barents, Kara, Laptev, East Siberian, and Chukchi seas. On the east it is bounded by several arms of the Pacific Ocean: the Bering Strait (which separates Russia from Alaska), the Bering Sea, and the seas of Okhotsk and Japan. In the extreme southeast Russia abuts on the northeastern tip of North Korea. On the south it is bounded by China, Mongolia, Kazakstan, Azerbaijan, Georgia, and the Black Sea. On the southwest it is bounded by Ukraine, and on the west by Belarus, Latvia, Estonia, the Gulf of Finland, Finland, and Norway. The exclave of Kaliningrad, on the Baltic Sea, is bounded by Lithuania and Poland. The principal island possessions of Russia lie in the Arctic and Pacific oceans. Farthest north, in the Arctic Ocean, is Franz Josef Land, an archipelago consisting of about 100 islands. The other Arctic islands, from west to east, include the two islands that constitute Novaya Zemlya, Vaygach Island, the group of islands called Severnaya Zemlya, the New Siberian Islands, and Wrangel Island. Between the islands mentioned above are numerous small islands and island chains. In the Pacific Ocean are the Kuril Islands, which extend in an arc southwest from the southern extremity of the Russian peninsula of Kamchatka to Japan, and are the subject of a long-running dispute with Japan over ownership and fishing rights. The Pacific also includes the large island of Sakhalin, which separates the seas of Okhotsk and Japan. Russia can be divided into three broad geographic regions: European Russia, consisting of the territory lying west of the Ural Mountains; Siberia, stretching east from the Urals almost to the Pacific Ocean; and far eastern Russia, including the extreme southeast and the Pacific coastal fringe. |
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| Land and Resources
Much of Russia lies north of the 50th parallel and thus has a climate more comparable to Canada than to the United States. Most of its land also is far from the moderating influences of ocean currents, producing a more continental climate than that enjoyed by most European countries. The agricultural resource base is limited by climate and, to a lesser degree, soils. The vastness of Russia's territory and its varied geologic formations, however, provide a rich mineral resource base unmatched by any other country in the world. Physiographic Regions Russia contains a great complexity of geologic structures and surface formations that have evolved separately during different geologic epochs. Very simply, the landmass of the republic consists of a vast plain in the western and northern parts of the country fringed by a discontinuous belt of mountains and plateaus on the south and on the east; this is the most extensive plain in the world. The upland and mountain regions include most of Siberia and extend to the margins of the Pacific. European Plain European Russia is primarily a rolling plain with an average elevation of about 180 m (about 600 ft). The terrain has been formed by millions of years of stream, wind, and glacial action on nearly horizontal strata of sedimentary rocks. In some places the softer sedimentary rocks have been eroded away, and the underlying basement complex of hard igneous and metamorphic rocks has been exposed at the surface; the most notable of these areas is the northwest near the border with Finland. The topography is generally rough in these areas of outcropping, particularly in the north, where a maximum elevation of 1191 m (3906 ft) is reached in the Khibiny Mountains of the central Kola Peninsula. Otherwise, the relief of the European Plain, with minor exceptions, is only modest. Other surface features owe their origins to glaciation. Among these are several broad marshy areas, such as the Meshchëra Lowland southeast of Moscow along the Oka River. This flat, poorly drained area was a lake when glacial ice blocked the streams that now partly drain it. The most recent glacial stage, which ended about 10,000 to 12,000 years ago, formed a terminal moraine that runs east from the border with Belarus, then north of Moscow to the Arctic coast west of the Pechora River. The region to the north of this boundary is poorly drained and has numerous lakes and swamps. Ural Mountains The European Plain terminates in the east at the Ural Mountains. An old, worn-down series of mountain ranges, the Urals are topographically unimpressive. The average elevation is only about 600 m (about 2000 ft), and the highest elevation is in the north at Gora Narodnaya (People's Mountain), at 1894 m (6214 ft) above sea level. They are, however, important for a wide variety of mineral deposits, ranging from mineral fuels to iron ore to nonferrous metals and nonmetallic minerals. West Siberian Lowland To the east of the Urals the plain region continues in the West Siberian Lowland. This expansive and extremely flat area is poorly drained and is generally marshy or swampy. Central Siberian Platform Just east of the Yenisey River begins the rolling upland of the Central Siberian Platform. Elevations here average about 500 to 700 m (about 1600 to 2300 ft) above sea level. In all areas rivers have dissected, or eroded, the surface and in some places have formed deep canyons. The geologic structure of the region is complex; a basement of igneous and metamorphic rocks is topped in many places by thick sedimentary rocks and volcanic lavas. The region is rich in a variety of minerals. East Siberian Uplands To the east of the Lena River the topography consists of a series of mountains and basins. The higher ranges in this region, such as the Verkhoyansk, Cherskogo, and Kolyma, generally reach maximum elevations of about 2300 to 3200 m (about 7500 to 10,500 ft). To the east, toward the Pacific Ocean, the mountains are higher and steeper, and volcanic activity becomes prevalent. On Kamchatka Peninsula are 120 volcanoes, 23 of which are currently active. The highest cone, Klyuchevskaya Sopka, reaches an elevation of 4750 m (15,584 ft). The volcanic mountain chain of Kamchatka continues southward in the Kuril Islands, which contain about 100 volcanoes, 30 of which are active. Southern Mountain Systems The southern border of European Russia includes the geologically young, seismically active Caucasus Mountains, which extend between the Black and Caspian seas. The Caucasus Mountains comprise two major folded mountain chains divided along their entire extent by a lowland, with the northern Greater Caucasus (Bol'shoy Kavkaz) forming part of Russia's southern border. Geologically complex, the mountain system is composed of limestone and crystalline rocks with some volcanic formations. The Greater Caucasus reach a maximum elevation of 5642 m (18,510 ft) on El'brus, an extinct volcano that is the highest peak in Europe. Other mountain ranges continue northeast along the southern border of central and eastern Siberia to the Pacific Ocean. Among them are the Altai, Sayan, Yablonovyy, and Stanovoy ranges (see Altai Mountains; Yablonovyy Range). Coastline, Rivers, Lakes, and Seas Russia has the longest continuous coastline of any country in the world. Its coastline stretches more than 37,650 km (more than 23,390 mi), mostly along the Arctic and Pacific oceans; other coasts lie along the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea in the south. Because the greater part of its coasts lie in waters frozen for many months of the year, Russia has few year-round oceanic outlets. Despite these limitations, Russian shipping and fishing encompass all the seas. The longest rivers of Russia are all located in Siberia and far eastern Russia. The largest single river system is the Ob'-Irtysh; these rivers together flow 5410 km (3362 mi) from western China north through western Siberia to the Arctic Ocean. The second longest system is the Amur-Shilka-Onon, which flows out of northern Mongolia eastward along the Chinese-Siberian border for 4416 km (2744 mi) to the Pacific coast. Among individual rivers, the Lena River is longest; it flows north through Siberia and far eastern Russia for about 4269 km (about 2653 mi) to the Arctic Ocean. The next longest individual rivers are the Irtysh and the Ob'. The fourth longest river is the Volga; with a length of 3690 km (2293 mi), it is, by far, the longest river in Europe. Together with its two main tributaries, the Kama and Oka rivers, it drains a large portion of the eastern European Plain southeast to the Caspian Sea. The fifth longest river, the Yenisey River, flows north from Mongolia through eastern Siberia to the Arctic Ocean. Its main tributary, the Angara River, drains huge Lake Baikal, which imparts a large and steady flow to the lower river system; the Yenisey River delivers 603 cu km (145 cu mi) of water to the Arctic Ocean yearly, a larger flow than any other stream system in the country. In size of flow, the Yenisey is followed by three other Asian rivers-the Lena, the Ob', and the Amur-and by one European river, the Volga. All the other rivers have much smaller flows. Many other streams are also significant, either because they serve as transportation routes or power sources in densely populated areas or because they flow through arid regions where irrigation is essential for agriculture. Outstanding among these is the Don River, which is on the populous southern European Plain and drains south to the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov. On the northern European Plain, the Narva and Daugava (Western Dvina) rivers flow northwest to the Baltic Sea; the Pechora, Northern Dvina, Mezen', and Onega rivers flow to the Arctic Ocean and the White Sea. On the North Caucasian Plain the two most important streams for irrigation purposes are the Kuban' River, which flows west to the Sea of Azov, and the Terek River, which flows east to the Caspian Sea. The Soviet government took an active role in building large dams for electrical power, irrigation, flood control, and navigation purposes, and some river basins have been almost completely transformed by the formation of series of huge reservoirs. The most extensive construction has taken place on the Volga-Kama system and the Don River on the European Plain, and on the upper portions of the Yenisey-Angara system and Ob'-Irtysh system in Siberia. Many natural lakes occur in Russia, particularly in the glaciated northwestern portion of the country. The Caspian Sea in the south, however, is the largest by far in terms of surface area. Although called a sea, it is actually a saline lake that occupies a land depression; rivers drain into it, but because of the dry climate the deep basin does not fill up with water and overflow into the sea. Water escapes only through evaporation, and over a period of time salt accumulates. The Caspian Sea has the largest surface area of any lake in the world, about 371,020 sq km (about 143,550 sq mi). The second largest body of water in Russia is Lake Baikal, which has a surface area of 30,510 sq km (11,780 sq mi). Lake Baikal is the deepest freshwater lake in the world, with a maximum depth of 1637 m (5371 ft), and has a greater volume of water (about 23,000 cu km/5520 cu mi) than any other lake in the world; it is estimated that the lake contains about one-fifth of the earth's fresh surface water. The next two largest lakes, Ladoga and Onega, lie in the so-called Great Lakes Region of northwestern European Russia. Both are freshwater lakes of glacial origin, and both have outlets to the Gulf of Finland. Climate The harsh climate prevalent in Russia reflects its high latitude and the absence of moderating maritime influences. Winters are long and cold, and summers are short and relatively cool. High mountains along the southern boundary of Russia and Central Asia largely rule out penetration by maritime tropical air masses. During winter the Arctic Ocean is frozen right up to the coast and acts much as a snow-covered, frozen landmass rather than as a relatively warm ocean influence. Because the territory lies in a westerly wind belt, warm influences from the Pacific Ocean do not reach far inland. This is particularly true in winter, when a large, cold high-pressure cell, which is centered in Mongolia, spreads over much of Siberia and far eastern Russia. The primary marine influence comes from the Atlantic Ocean in the west, but by the time Atlantic air reaches Russia it has crossed the entire western part of Europe and undergone considerable modification. It penetrates the landmass most easily during summer, when a low-pressure system generally exists over the land. At that time warm, moist Atlantic air may push east well into central Siberia. This is the principal moisture-bearing air mass to reach Russia, and most of the territory consequently receives a fairly pronounced amount of summer precipitation. The summer precipitation is fortunate for agriculture, because in most of the better farming areas the moisture supply is limited. In many areas, however, the distribution of rainfall during the summer is not advantageous-early summer is often subject to drought, and middle and late summer may bring considerable rain and clouds that interfere with the harvest. This is particularly true in the far eastern region, where a monsoonal inflow of Pacific air occurs during middle and late summer. In northern regions, especially from Moscow northward, featureless, overcast skies are so frequent, particularly during winter, that the Russians have a special name for the phenomenon, pasmurno, which may be translated as "dull, dreary weather." During December, for instance, Moscow averages 23 days with overcast skies. Annual precipitation in most of the country is only light to modest, however. Because much of the time the air is cool, it has little capacity to hold water vapor. Across the European Plain, average annual precipitation decreases from more than 800 mm (more than 32 in) in western Russia to less than 400 mm (less than 16 in) along the Caspian Sea coast. Throughout Siberia and the far eastern region, annual precipitation amounts range generally between about 500 and 800 mm (about 20 and 32 in); in higher elevations annual totals may reach 1000 mm (40 in) or more, but in interior basins precipitation may total less than 300 mm (12 in). The climate of Russia is characterized by temperature extremes. The coldest winter temperatures occur in eastern Siberia; air from the Atlantic Ocean tempers conditions somewhat in the west. Verkhoyansk in the northern part of the far eastern region is often called the "cold pole of the world." During January, temperatures there average -51° C (-59° F) and have reached a minimum of -68° C (-90° F) in February. Although absolute temperatures during winter are somewhat higher along the Arctic and Pacific coasts, the winds are strong, and wind chill factors below -50° C (-58° F) have been recorded along portions of the Arctic coast. The same conditions that make for cold temperatures during winter in the northeastern part of the country-isolation from the sea and narrow valleys between mountains-produce air stagnation in summer, which allows for strong heating under nearly continuous daylight periods at these high latitudes. During July, temperatures in Verkhoyansk average 13° C (56° F) and have reached as high as 37° C (98° F). The city has an absolute temperature range of 105° C (188° F), by far the greatest temperature range on earth. Russian lands encompass a number of distinct climate zones, which generally extend across the country in eastern-western belts. Along the Arctic coast a tundra climate prevails and extends south in the far eastern region on upper mountain slopes. To the south of this zone is a broad belt of subarctic climate that extends south to the city of Saint Petersburg and broadens east of the Urals to envelop almost all of Siberia and far eastern Russia. Most of European Russia is occupied by the more temperate continental climate. This belt is widest in the west; it stretches from the Baltic Sea to the Black Sea, then tapers eastward to include a narrow strip of the southern West Siberian Lowland; it is also found in the extreme southeastern portion of eastern Russia. Temperatures in Moscow, which lies in the continental climate zone, range from -16° to -9° C (3° to 15° F) in January and from 13° to 23° C (55° to 73° F) in July. Temperatures in Vladivostok, in far southeastern Russia, in January range from -18° to -11° C (0° to 13° F) and in July from 16° to 22° C (60° to 71° F). A broad belt of drier steppe climate with cold winters begins along the Black Sea coast and extends northeast across the lower Volga Valley, the southern Urals, and the southern part of western Siberia. It continues eastward in isolated mountain basins along the extreme fringes of Siberia and far eastern Russia, and in the North Caucasian Plain. Natural Vegetation and Soils The broad zones of natural vegetation and soils of Russia correspond closely with the country's climate zones. In the far north a tundra vegetation of mosses, lichens, and low shrubs grow where the summers are too cool for trees. Permafrost, or permanently frozen subsoil, is found throughout this region. The ground is frozen to great depths, and only a shallow surface layer thaws in summer to provide a limited sustenance to plants. Forests cover more than two-fifths of the territory of Russia, the greater part lying in the Asian region. Taken altogether, the forests account for nearly one-fourth of the world's forest area. The country's forest zone is divisible into a large northern part, the boreal forest, or taiga, and a much smaller southern area, the mixed forest. The taiga is south of the tundra; it occupies the northern two-fifths of European Russia and extends to cover much of Siberia and far eastern Russia. Much of this region also has permafrost. The vast taiga zone is made up primarily of coniferous trees, but in some places small-leaved trees such as birch, poplar, aspen, and willow add to the diversity of the forest. The taiga contains the world's largest coniferous forest, representing about one-half of the earth's softwood timber. In the extreme northwestern part of the European region the taiga is dominated by a variety of pines, although significant numbers of fir, birch, and other trees are also present. Eastward to the western slopes of the Urals, pines are still common, but firs predominate, and in some regions almost pure stands of birch exist. The taiga of the West Siberian Lowland is made up primarily of various species of pine, but along the southern fringes of the forest, birch becomes dominant. Throughout much of the Central Siberian Upland and the mountains of the far eastern region, larch, a deciduous coniferous tree, becomes dominant. Throughout the taiga zone, the trees are generally small and rather widely spaced. A considerable amount of land is also devoid of trees, primarily because of poor local drainage; in these areas marsh grasses and bushes form the vegetative cover. The soils of the taiga are podzolic in character and are infertile, having been leached of most of their plant minerals by the abundance of acidic groundwater. A mixed forest, containing both coniferous and broadleaf deciduous trees, occupies the central portion of the eastern European Plain from Saint Petersburg in the north to the border with Ukraine in the south. The mixed forest is dominated by coniferous evergreen trees in the north and broadleaf trees in the south. The principal broadleaf species here are oak, beech, maple, and hornbeam. A similar forest of somewhat different species prevails throughout much of far southeastern Russia along the middle Amur River valley and south along the Ussuri River valley. Gray-brown forest soils are found in the mixed forest zone. They are not as infertile as the soils in the taiga to the north, and with proper farming methods and heavy fertilization they can be kept quite productive. To the south, the mixed forest grades through a narrow zone of forest-steppe before passing into the zone of true steppes. Although now largely under cultivation, the forest-steppe has a natural vegetation of grasslands with scattered groves of trees. Averaging about 150 km (about 95 mi) wide, this zone stretches east across the middle Volga Valley and southern Ural Mountains into the southern portions of the West Siberian Lowland. Isolated areas of this zone can be found in the southern intermontane basins of eastern Siberia. True steppe, a mixture of grasses with only a few stunted trees in sheltered valleys, is the natural vegetation of a region that includes the western half of the North Caucasian Plain and a strip of land extending east across the southern Volga Valley, southern Urals, and parts of western Siberia. Like the forest-steppe zone, much of the steppe has been put under cultivation. Both the forest-steppe and the steppe have fertile soils and together form a region, known as the black-earth belt, that is the agricultural heartland of Russia. The forest-steppe has black chernozem soils that are high in humus content and have about the right balance of minerals for the cultivation of most crops. The forest-steppe has a better moisture supply than the steppe during the growing season, and consequently is the best agricultural area of Russia. The soils of the steppe, known as brown-steppe soils, are not quite as rich in humus as the chernozems to the north, but are very high in mineral content. Animal Life Animal life is abundant and varied throughout many parts of Russia. Wildlife in the tundra along the Arctic coast, northern Pacific coast, and offshore islands is surprisingly diverse, and includes polar bear, seal, walrus, polar fox, reindeer, and white hare. Birdlife includes white partridges, polar owls, gulls, and loons. Geese, swans, and ducks migrate into the region during summer, which is also then infested with mosquitoes, gnats, and other insects; fish abound in the streams. The taiga forest serves as a habitat for elk, brown bear, reindeer, lynx, sable, and a variety of forest birds, such as the owl and nightingale. Swamps in this zone have been stocked with muskrat from Canada; along with squirrel, muskrat is now the main source of pelts trapped in the wild. The broadleaf forests contain boar, deer, wolf, fox, mink, and a variety of birds, snakes, lizards, and tortoises. The forests of far southeastern Russia are known for their large Ussuri tigers, as well as leopard, bear, and deer. The steppe is inhabited primarily by rodents such as marmots and hamsters, but also contains a number of hooved animals such as the steppe antelope. The steppe polecat and the Tatar fox are the main beasts of prey. Birdlife includes the crane, eagle, and kestrel. The Caucasus region is particularly abundant in wildlife; mountain goats, chamois, Caucasian deer, wild boar, porcupine, leopard, hyena, jackal, squirrel, bear, and such game fowl as the black grouse, turkey hen, and stone partridge are found here. Reptiles and amphibians are also numerous. Mineral Resources Russia contains the greatest reserves of mineral resources of any country in the world. But while minerals are abundant, the can be expensive to extract because of their location, in remote areas with extreme conditions. Russia is especially rich in mineral fuels. Estimates suggest that the republic holds about one-half of the world's potential coal reserves and probably holds larger reserves of petroleum than any other nation. Coal deposits are scattered widely throughout the country; by far the largest fields lie in Siberia and far eastern Russia, but the most developed fields are in western Siberia, the northeastern European region, the area around Moscow, and the Urals. The major petroleum deposits are in western Siberia and the Volga-Ural region. Smaller deposits, however, are found in many other parts of the country. The principal natural-gas deposits, of which Russia holds about 40 percent of the world's reserves, are along the Arctic coast of Siberia, in the northern Caucasus region, and in the republic of Komi in northwestern Russia. The primary iron-ore deposits are found in the Kursk Magnetic Anomaly halfway between Moscow and Ukraine; smaller deposits are scattered throughout the country. Minor deposits of manganese are scattered through the Urals. Other important iron alloys, such as nickel, tungsten, cobalt, and molybdenum, occur in adequate or even abundant quantities. Russia is also well endowed with most of the nonferrous metals, except aluminum, which is one of the country's major mineral deficits. Aluminum ores are found primarily in the Urals, northwestern European Russia, and southeastern Siberia. Copper, on the other hand, is abundant; reserves are found in the Urals, the Noril'sk area of eastern Siberia, and the Kola Peninsula. A large deposit east of Lake Baikal became commercially exploitable when the Baikal-Amur Magistral (BAM) railroad was completed in 1989. Lead and zinc ores are abundant (often found with copper, gold, silver, and a variety of rare metals) in the northern Caucasus, far eastern Russia, and the western edge of the Kuznetsk Basin in Siberia. Russia has some of the world's largest gold reserves, primarily in far eastern Russia, Siberia, and the Urals. Mercury deposits have been found in the Chukotka okrug in the far northeastern part of Russia. Large asbestos deposits exist in the central and southern Urals and in eastern Siberia. Raw materials for chemical-manufacturing industries are also abundant in Russia. These include potassium and magnesium salt deposits in the Kama River district of the western Urals. Some of the world's largest deposits of apatite (a mineral from which phosphate is derived) are in the central Kola Peninsula; other types of phosphate ores are found in other parts of the country. Common rock salt is found in the southwestern Urals and southwest of Lake Baikal. Surface deposits of salt are derived from salt lakes along the lower Volga Valley. Sulfur is found in the Urals. High-grade limestone, used for the production of cement, is found in many parts of the country, but particularly near Belgorod in central European Russia and in the Zhiguli Hills area of the middle Volga River Valley. |
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| Population
With a total population (1996 estimate) of about 148,178,487, Russia ranks sixth in the world in population, after China, India, the United States, Indonesia, and Brazil. From 1990 to 1995 Russia's population grew at a rate of only about 0.2 percent per year. The country is inhabited by one of the widest varieties of nationalities and ethnic groups in the world, and many of the country's national groups have their own administrative territories. Population Characteristics The overall population density of Russia is about 9 persons per sq km (about 22 per sq mi). The population, however, is unevenly distributed across the country. The population density of a particular area generally reflects the land's agricultural potential, with localized population centers occurring at mining and industrial centers. Most of the country's people are concentrated in the so-called fertile triangle, which has its base along the western border between the Baltic and Black seas and tapers eastward across the southern Urals into southwestern Siberia. Although the majority of the population remains concentrated in European Russia, the country experienced substantial eastward migration after World War II (1939-1945), especially to southern Siberia and the far eastern region of Russia. Such migration was strongly encouraged by the Soviet government. Throughout much of rural European Russia the population density averages about 25 people per sq km (65 per sq mi). The country's heaviest population densities are in sprawling urbanized areas such as Moscow Oblast. On the other hand, more than one-third of the country's territory has fewer than 1 person per sq km (about 3 per sq mi). This includes part of northern European Russia and huge areas of Siberia. More than 100 nationalities inhabit Russia, making it one of the most multinational countries in the world. Russians are the predominant nationality. As of 1991 the non-Russian population constituted only 18 percent of the total, with the largest minority, the Tatars, comprising only 3.8 percent. Ukrainians (3 percent) and Chuvash (1.2 percent) are the only other minorities constituting more than 1 percent of the population. Other minorities include Belarusians, Germans, Bashkirs, and Jews (considered a nationality in Russia). The country contains 32 ethnic divisions that are scattered throughout its territory. (See the Government section of this article.) Principal Cities Approximately three-fourths of Russia's population lives in urban areas. Russia became a country of large cities despite government restrictions during the Soviet period designed to limit the populations of major urban centers. Thirteen cities have more than 1 million inhabitants, most of these in European Russia. The largest city by far is Moscow, the capital. Saint Petersburg served as the national capital from 1712 to 1918; it is a leading port and a primary industrial center situated on the Gulf of Finland. Other major cities include Novosibirsk, the largest city in Siberia; Nizhniy Novgorod, the largest city on the Volga River and a major automotive and shipbuilding center; Yekaterinburg, the largest city in the Urals; and Samara, a commercial center of the middle Volga region and the primary refining center for the Volga-Urals oil fields. Other large cities include Omsk, in western Siberia's chief petrochemical center; Chelyabinsk, in the Ural Mountains; Kazan', capital of the republic of Tatarstan, located along the middle course of the Volga River; Perm', a major industrial center in the Kama River region to the west of the Urals; Ufa, an important petrochemical center in the southern Urals; Rostov-na-Donu, a commercial, industrial, and transportation center in southern European Russia on the lower stretch of the Don River; and Volgograd, a center of machinery production and other industrial activity, on the lower course of the Volga River. Language More than 100 languages are spoken in Russia, and some of the ethnic republics have declared their own local state languages. The Russian language, however, is the most commonly spoken in business, government, and education. Russians speak their native tongue almost exclusively-in 1989 only 4.1 percent of Russians throughout the former USSR could speak another of the languages of the Soviet Union-while most of the other ethnic groups are bilingual. Millions of non-Russians have adopted Russian as their mother tongue. Among the most bilingual are the Ingush people, 80 percent of whom were also proficient in Russian in 1989. The government of the USSR helped many smaller ethnic groups develop their own alphabets and vocabularies; however, through educational policies, it ensured the widespread use of the Russian language. See Also Slavic Languages; Altaic Languages; Caucasian Languages; Finno-Ugric Languages; Uralic Languages. Religion Religious expression, which was controlled by the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU) and strictly discouraged for nearly seven decades, has unfolded in a myriad of different beliefs, sects, and religious denominations since the dissolution of the USSR. Missionaries from abroad and other proselytizers have introduced a wide variety of religious beliefs and new-age philosophies to Russia. Most of the religious revival has resulted in the resurgence of traditional religions, particularly Orthodox Christianity, but also other forms of Christianity, Islam, Buddhism, and Judaism. Muslims and Buddhists reside in specific areas. Muslims live principally in the ethnic republics of Chuvashia and Bashkortostan in the middle Volga region and the republics of Chechnya, Ingushetia, Alania (North Ossetia), Kabardino-Balkaria, and Dagestan in the north Caucasus. Buddhists live chiefly in the republics of Buryatia and Tyva (Tuva) on the northern border of Mongolia, and Kalmykia on the northwest shore of the Caspian Sea. By contrast, Jews and non-Orthodox Christians are dispersed throughout the country. Russian Orthodox Christianity (see Orthodox Church), adopted by the Eastern Slavs from the neighboring Byzantine Empire in the 10th century, is the primary religion in Russia. An estimated 35 million people (about one fourth of the population) are followers of Russian Orthodoxy. The church is widely respected by Russian nonbelievers, who see it as a symbol of Russian heritage and culture. Orthodox holidays are officially observed by the Russian government, and politicians attend major church festivals. The church is divided, however, on its role in a post-Soviet society. An anti-Semitic, highly nationalistic, intolerant faction within the church is opposed by another faction advocating a more tolerant, ecumenical approach to worldly affairs. Education and Cultural Activities Russian education and cultural institutions, highly constrained and monitored by the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU) for nearly seven decades, were granted much greater liberties under the policy of glasnost' (openness) of Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev (1985-1991). Liberalization accelerated with the collapse of the CPSU and the dissolution of the USSR. Ideological training disappeared; new teaching methodologies were developed and promoted in public schools; private schools were established; and religious and other previously banned themes of artistic expression flourished. With the dissolution of the USSR, however, education and cultural institutions were beset by financial problems, as governmental monetary support dwindled. Many museums and other cultural centers undertook commercial ventures in order to increase funds. Education Russia inherited a well-developed, comprehensive system of education from the Soviet period, and most adults in Russia are literate. Soviet authorities established an extensive network of preschool, elementary, secondary, and higher-education institutions. It also provided free continuing education for adults. At the age of six, children in the USSR entered primary school for an intensive course from grades one to four. Intermediate education began with grade five and continued through grade nine. After that, children entered upper-level schools or vocational-technical programs, which included on-the-job training. In the early 1990s enrollment in primary schools was 11.9 million students, and 9.4 million students attended secondary schools. The collapse of the Soviet system brought many changes to Russian education. By 1992 some 300 private schools had opened, including 40 institutions of higher education. Extensive changes were made to the curriculum, including the teaching of previously banned literary works, a reinterpretation of Soviet and Russian history, and an end to the study of politically inspired subjects. Nurseries, kindergartens, and other early education facilities are particularly well attended in Russia. In the early 1990s 64 percent of the children of preschool age attended a preschool facility-one of the highest proportions among the former Soviet republics. Russia's system of specialized secondary education is also well developed. In the early 1990s Russia had 2603 such institutions. Enrollment was about 2.3 million. Specialized secondary schools train skilled and semiprofessional workers such as technicians, nurses, elementary-school teachers, and other specialists who generally function as assistants to professional graduates of higher educational institutions. The specialized secondary school program lasts up to four years, and graduates receive the equivalent of a general secondary education as well as specialized technical training. Vocational-technical schools offer one- to three-year programs of training in semiskilled and skilled occupations. In these schools a student might complete a general secondary education while obtaining occupational training. In the early 1990s Russia had 519 institutions of higher education with 2,763,000 students, or approximately 11 percent of the total population over the age of 15. Universities comprise only a small proportion of the higher educational establishments; the vast majority are institutes that specialize in vocational training. A large percentage of students take correspondence courses or attend classes on a part-time basis. Traditionally, tuition was free, with students receiving a monthly stipend, but some universities began to charge students for tuition in the early 1990s. The country's most prominent universities include Moscow State University (founded in 1755), Saint Petersburg State University (1819), Kazan' State University (1804), and Novosibirsk State University (1959). Other important universities are located in Rostov-na-Donu, Nizhniy Novgorod, Tomsk, Vladivostok, and Voronezh. In addition to universities and institutes, the Russian Academy of Sciences (1725), one of the world's foremost organizations devoted to scholarly research, is in Russia. Undergraduate training in higher educational institutions generally involves a four- or five-year course of study, after which students might enroll for graduate training for a one- to three-year term. Graduate students who successfully complete their courses of study, comprehensive examinations, and the defense of their dissertations receive candidate of sciences degrees, which are roughly equivalent to doctoral degrees in the United States. A higher degree, the doctor of sciences, is awarded to established scholars who have made outstanding contributions to their disciplines. Culture The history of Russian literature, music, ballet, and drama includes some of the greatest artists and works ever produced. Much of this art flowered in Russia during the 19th century, and major cultural figures of the period include such writers as Aleksandr Pushkin, Leo Tolstoy, Fyodor Dostoyevsky, Nikolay Gogol, Ivan Turgenev, and Anton Chekhov, and such composers as Mikhail Glinka, Peter Tchaikovsky, Nikolay Rimsky-Korsakov, Modest Mussorgsky, and Aleksandr Borodin. Drama, ballet, and opera also have their traditions rooted in the 19th century; a prominent figure in theater at this time was Konstantin Stanislavski, who founded the Moscow Art Theater in 1898. Under the influence of the Soviet government, however, Russian cultural works of the 20th century were heavily censored, and many outstanding writers and artists were stifled or forced to publish their works abroad. The great tradition of Russian literature was carried on by a few writers of the Soviet period, such as Maksim Gorkiy, Vladimir Mayakovsky, Boris Pasternak, Mikhail Sholokhov, and Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn. Solzhenitsyn was exiled in the 1970s because of his controversial work, which includes the famous novel One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich (1962; translated 1963); Solzhenitsyn returned to Russia in 1994. See Also Russian Literature. Music, dance (especially classical ballet), and film fared somewhat better during the Soviet period. Famous composers of the period included Dmitry Shostakovich and Sergey Prokofiev. Important filmmakers of the early Soviet period were Sergey Eisenstein, known for his mastery of montage; Lev Kuleshov; and Vsevold Pudovkin. Andrey Tarkovsky, who lived abroad from the late 1960s until his death in 1986, was one of the most notable directors of the late Soviet period. Russian achievements in literature, music, ballet, and drama are also well represented in a wide variety of cultural institutions. Russia maintains a huge number of museums of all kinds, including outdoor museums of architectural preservation. Most of the country's major cultural institutions are in Moscow and Saint Petersburg. Best known to tourists are the Hermitage Museum in Saint Petersburg, one of the world's great museums, and the Armory Museum in the Moscow Kremlin. Also in Moscow are the Tretyakov Gallery, with a collection devoted to Russian art, the Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts, the Folk-Art Museum, and the Museum of the Revolution, as well as many other smaller, more specialized collections. The Permanent Exhibition of National Economic Achievements in Moscow offers a large display of contemporary achievements in science, industry, and agriculture. To the northeast of Moscow there is a string of a half-dozen old kremlin (citadel) towns that served as seats of government for city-states during the Middle Ages. These have been restored as part of a tourist circuit known as the Golden Ring. Russia also has thousands of libraries of various kinds. Best known is the Russian State Library in Moscow, which houses more than 30 million volumes in some 250 languages-one of the largest library collections in the world. Other leading libraries include the M. E. Saltykov-Shchedrin Public Library in Saint Petersburg, with about 28.5 million volumes; the Library of the Russian Academy of Sciences, with about 19 million volumes; and Moscow State University Library, with about 6.6 million volumes. The best-known theaters in Moscow are the Bolshoi ("Big") Theater, the Maly ("Small") Theater, and the Moscow Art Theater. In addition, many of the larger productions of the Bolshoi ballet and opera troupes are presented in the Kremlin Palace of Congresses, which seats 6000 people. Other theaters of note in Moscow are the Central Children's Theater, the Obraztsov Puppet Theater, the Moscow Art Theater, the Stanislavsky and Nemirovich-Danchenko Musical Theater, the Operetta Theater, and the Theater Art Institute. Saint Petersburg has the Mariinskiy Theater of Opera and Ballet, the Maly Theater, and the Pushkin Dramatic Theater. Economy The economy of Russia, as in other former Soviet republics, was severely disjointed by the dissolution of the USSR in 1991. But by the mid-1990s there were signs that the economic decline had been arrested. An economy once overly dependent upon heavy industry, particularly military manufactures, had begun to recast itself with an increasing consumer orientation. Economic decline began in the last years of the Soviet period. After the breakup of the USSR, gross domestic product (GDP) continued to contract, by 1994 falling to nearly half the level held when free-market reforms began in late 1991, a greater drop than industrial nations experienced during the Great Depression of the 1930s. Despite this, the government moved forward with privatization and projected that the economy would begin to grow by 1997. Inflation, while still high, had been restrained to an estimated 250 percent annually in the mid-1990s. At the start of the reform period, the price of consumer goods had risen by about 2600 percent annually. Still, the Russian economy faced difficulties in the mid-1990s. Unemployment reached an estimated 7 percent, which although low by the standards of many industrialized nations, was far higher than Russia experienced during the worst of the economic transformation. The country's budget deficit remained high, and Russia's currency, the ruble, continued to fall against major world currencies. The emergence of a service sector was hindered by growing organized crime and an entrenched bureaucracy. Among the causes of the Russian economic crisis were the disruption of traditional trade patterns and shocks caused by economic reforms. Trade between Russia, other former Soviet republics, and Eastern European countries declined markedly starting in the late 1980s, when Eastern European countries achieved independence from Moscow and the Soviet-controlled system of trade and production began to disintegrate. Trade between Russia and other republics suffered from disputes over terms of trade, especially over the price of Russian oil exports. Overlapping property claims by different levels of government administration within Russia added to the confusion in conducting business with Russia. Market reforms, vigorously pursued by President Boris Yeltsin and his supporters beginning in early 1992, were met with widespread resistance by industrial managers and other conservatives. (See the Government section of this article.) Despite protests by government officials, the Central Bank of Russia extended large subsidies to inefficient enterprises in 1992, which contributed to inflationary pressures and increased the government deficit. Beginning in mid-1993, however, the bank began to adhere to governmental directives on subsidies. Privatization continued-about 14,000 of all state and municipal enterprises had been privatized by early 1995-but the process depended to a large degree on the support of local officials. Privatization proceeded much faster in certain cities, such as Nizhniy Novgorod, Saint Petersburg, and Yaroslavl', than in the country as a whole. In addition, the legal framework for privatization was incomplete. Privately owning, selling, and renting land was not legally permitted until October 1993, when President Yeltsin issued a decree that repealed a ten-year moratorium on reselling land that had been imposed by the legislature. Labor The total workforce in Russia numbered 75 million in the early 1990s. While many continued to work in state-owned enterprises, the number was decreasing as more of these industries privatized or closed. Industry and construction are the country's leading sectors of employment, with about 42 percent of the total workforce. Agriculture, fishing, and forestry account for about 14 percent of all employment. Trade and transport respectively employ about 9 percent and 8 percent of the total workforce, while other services employ about one-fourth of all workers. More than 5.3 million people (about 7 percent) are unemployed, and the number of jobless could be even higher; thousands work with no pay or with extremely limited hours. The unemployed include a high percentage of women and a rising number of young people. The organization of labor has changed little since the Soviet period. Labor unions are dominated by organizations that succeeded the official Communist labor unions of the USSR; these organizations survived the collapse of Communism with their leadership, property, and apparatus intact. Their parent organization, the Federation of Independent Trade Unions (Russian acronym, FNPR), claims 50 million members, or nearly 70 percent of the total workforce. By contrast, the membership of unions not affiliated with the FNPR is less than half a million. The FNPR unions initially retained several powers from the Soviet period, including control over social security funds, the ability to automatically deduct union fees from workers' paychecks, and the right to veto proposals by management to fire workers. In 1993 the administration of the social security system was transferred outside the trade unions. Several independent trade unions also have formed, including those representing dock, locomotive, metallurgical, and air-traffic control workers. Those unions joined the influential Independent Trade Union of Miners, which played an important role in the collapse of the USSR, in forming a coordinating council to counter the influence of FNPR. Government attempts to reduce the powers of the FNPR prompted most of the FNPR unions to express political support for the conservative opposition. In addition, the FNPR established a close relationship with industrial management that resembles the Soviet-era relationship between labor and management. Agriculture Agriculture, which accounted for 15.6 percent of total net material product in 1991, experienced a sharp decline in output in the early 1990s. Between 1990 and 1993, total agricultural output declined by more than 5 percent per year, and grain production dropped by 8 percent. Meat production and livestock herds diminished considerably. Between 1990 and 1992, the total number of pigs fell by 12 percent, sheep by 10 percent, and cattle by 7 percent. The decline in livestock herds can be attributed in part to a lack of animal feed, while the decline in crops resulted chiefly from a lack of reliable credit and a sharp rise in the price of mechanical, chemical, and fuel inputs. Privatization has occurred slowly in agriculture. Nearly all agricultural land (90 percent in 1994) remains under the control of former collective and state farms, most of which have been reorganized as producer cooperatives or joint-stock companies. Still, by 1994 some 270,000 mainly small-scale private farms had been created. Much of the agricultural output of the country is bought by the state, but this proportion declined steadily in the early 1990s. The drop in state procurements was most notable in sugar beets, vegetables, sunflower seeds, and potatoes. However, as of 1992 the state still purchased more than half of all meat, milk, and eggs produced. Russia is a major producer of wheat, barley, oats, and rye. In the early 1990s Russia annually produced 46 million metric tons of wheat, 25.5 million metric tons of barley, 13.9 million metric tons of rye, and 11.5 million metric tons of oats. Russia also produced the following (in metric tons): sunflower seeds, 3.1 million; sugar beets, 25.5 million; potatoes, 37.8 million; and vegetables, 9.9 million. Other important crops in Russia include dry peas, corn, millet, buckwheat, rice, and soybeans. Various types of temperate-climate fruits, such as apples, pears, and cherries, are also grown extensively in Russia. In the far north, reindeer herding is a major occupation among the native peoples. Most of the country's farmland lies in the so-called fertile triangle that has its base along the western border stretching from the Baltic Sea to the Black Sea and which tapers eastward to the southern Urals, where it narrows to a strip about 400 km (about 250 mi) wide, extending across the southwestern fringes of Siberia. East of the Altai Mountains, agriculture is found only in isolated mountain basins along the southern fringes of Siberia and the far eastern region. Areas outside this fertile wedge are unsuitable for crops without human modification. To the north, the growing season is too short without the aid of hothouses. To the south, the climate is too dry without irrigation. During the Soviet period, extensive irrigation works were constructed along the Kuban' and other rivers in southern European Russia to support agriculture there. Forestry Russia, which contains about one-fifth of the world's forests and about one-half of the world's coniferous forests, is one of the leading producers of lumber and wood products. Most of Russia's timber production consists of softwood, mainly varieties of pine, fir, and larch. The principal commercial hardwood tree is birch. About one-fifth of all timber felled is used as firewood, and another fifth is used in raw form, for telephone poles, log cabins, and other uses. Primary areas of timber production are northwestern European Russia, the central Ural Mountains, southern Siberia in the vicinity of the Trans-Siberian Railroad, and far southeastern Russia. The most accessible and valuable stands of timber were heavily harvested during the Soviet period, and less valuable tree species have become dominant in many areas that were once prime forest land. Remaining forests are located in less accessible areas of Siberia and northern European Russia. These forests, especially in Siberia, contain a high proportion of larch, a difficult and expensive species to exploit because of its high density and resin content. Large-scale exploitation of these less-accessible larch forests has not proven to be cost-effective, due to difficulties in extracting, transporting, and processing larch logs. Technological improvements and changes in the world timber market, however, could make the logging of larch forests more economically attractive. Russia's forestry harvest was 269 million cu m (9.5 billion cu ft) in the early 1990s; timber production was particularly affected by the disruption of economic ties in the post-Soviet period. Timber output in the first quarter of 1993 was 27 percent lower than production levels at the same time in 1992, a higher percentage of decline than that of the industrial sector. Fishing Russia's fishing industry is one of the largest in the world. Fish has long been an important source of protein in the Russian diet. During the Soviet period, the per capita consumption of fish rose to about 23 kg (about 50 lb) a year. Historically, fishing was concentrated on bordering seas and inland lakes and rivers. In recent decades, however, a great effort was made to expand fishing activities; Soviet fleets began to operate in most areas of the world's oceans, and fish farming was developed in erosion-control ponds and rural irrigation reservoirs and ditches. In the early 1990s Russia's annual catch was about 5.6 million metric tons. Marine fisheries accounted for the largest share of the catch. The saltwater Azov, Black, and Caspian seas, in addition to freshwater lakes, rivers, reservoirs, and ponds, accounted for the inland catch. In the mid-1990s, Russia's fishing industry ranked fourth in the world, after Japan, the United States, and China. Outstanding among commercial species in inland waters is the sturgeon of the northern Caspian Sea. The main source of the world's caviar, these fish may live as long as 100 years and attain weights of up to 1.5 metric tons. A single female commonly produces about 25 kg (about 55 lb) of valuable roe (eggs). Another huge fish is the Kaluga sturgeon or Amur queen found in the Amur River; the world's largest freshwater fish, it may reach 6 m (20 ft) in length and 1 metric ton in weight. About 25 percent of the Russian fish catch comes from the North Atlantic and Arctic oceans. Much of the Atlantic fishing fleet is based at ports on the Baltic Sea. Kaliningrad is the largest Russian fishing port on the Baltic; another important Baltic port is Saint Petersburg on the Gulf of Finland. The principal commercial species taken in the Baltic Sea are herring and sprat. Murmansk and Arkhangel'sk are the most important fishing ports on the western Arctic coast. Many fishing ports are located on the coasts of the Black, Azov, and Caspian seas in the south; Astrakhan' is a notable fishing port near the Caspian Sea. About 60 percent of the Russian fish catch is taken from the Pacific Ocean and its marginal seas, including the Bering Sea. Vladivostok is by far the largest fishing port and fish-processing center of the Pacific region; many other fishing ports are scattered along the mainland coast as well as on Sakhalin Island. Because of its cold waters, the Sea of Okhotsk is one of the richest of Russian fishing grounds. It is especially known for salmon, but the Kamchatka crab is also world renowned. Other common species taken in the Pacific include herring, flounder, smelt, mackerel, and cod, as well as the marine mammals-walrus and seal. During the mid-1980s the USSR was the world leader in whaling. Although Soviet commercial whaling in the North Pacific ceased in 1979, whaling continued in the seas surrounding Antarctica. In Russia, whaling flotillas were based primarily in Vladivostok on the Pacific coast. The USSR formally ended all commercial whaling activities in 1988. Mining Mining is a major sector of the Russian economy and provides important items for national export. Mineral resources are diverse, abundant, and generally well developed. Russia has large reserves of energy-bearing minerals, including petroleum, coal, and natural gas. For many years it extracted enough of the minerals to meet domestic demands, provide for nations in its economic sphere, and export to industrial nations of the West in return for needed hard currency. Production of energy fuels declined in the early 1990s, however, in part because existing fields were being depleted and Russia lacked funds necessary to develop new deposits, many of which were located in inaccessible areas of Siberia. Oil production fell by 11 percent in 1991 and by about 15 percent in 1992; coal output declined by about 15 percent over the same years; natural gas production decreased only slightly. Annual production in the early 1990s included petroleum (2.87 billion barrels); coal (337 million metric tons); and natural gas (640 million cu m/22.6 billion cu ft), in which Russia ranked as the world's leading producer. As with other extractive industries in Russia-namely logging and mining-fossil-fuel production shifted eastward during the Soviet period. The primary oil fields lie in western Siberia, which accounted for about half of total Soviet production, and the Urals-Volga region, which accounted for one-third of total Soviet production. Other important oil fields are located in the North Caucasus and the northern part of Sakhalin Island. The main sources of natural gas are found in close proximity to the main sources of oil-in western Siberia, the Urals-Volga region, and the North Caucasus. The leading areas of hard-coal production are the Kuznetsk Basin in western Siberia and the Pechora Basin in northeastern European Russia. The Kansk-Achinsk Basin in Siberia and the Moscow Basin are the leading areas of lignite, or brown coal, extraction. Lesser coal mines are scattered throughout Siberia, where huge reserves of coal remain largely untapped, such as the Tunguska Basin, which covers much of central Siberia. Russia is a major exporter of iron ore (12 million metric tons in 1990), with most production occurring in the Kursk Magnetic Anomaly of south central Russia. Russia is also a notable exporter of copper (168,000 metric tons in 1990) and nickel (127,000 metric tons in 1990). Copper and nickel ores are mined primarily in the Urals, although sizable deposits of nickel are also located in the Kola Peninsula near Murmansk. The country is one of the world's leading producers of gold, which is mined in the Urals, western Siberia, and eastern Siberia in the valley of the Lena River. Russia is also a major diamond producer; much of the country's diamond extraction takes place in the republic of Sakha (Yokutia) in northeastern Siberia. Bauxite deposits are located primarily in the Urals and northwest European Russia near Saint Petersburg. Lesser deposits are found in western Siberia near Kemerovo and in the far eastern region near the mouth of the Amur River. Tin is mined in northeastern Siberia, and lead and zinc are mined in Siberia and the far eastern region. Manganese deposits are located in the Urals, western Siberia, and the far eastern region. Manufacturing The structure of Russian industry was greatly affected by theoretical assumptions of Soviet planners on the role of industry in economic growth. In accordance with Soviet theory, heavy industry was promoted above all other sectors, with the greatest emphasis on the machine-building and metalworking industries because they provide the means for more production. The products of these industries are diversified, ranging from fine tools, instruments, and computers to industrial machines of all sorts, transportation and communication equipment, agricultural machinery, mining equipment, and space vehicles. Industrial output for national defense also received high priority in Soviet plans. Russian industries are very technologically advanced in the production of certain items, such as aerospace technology, but the overall level of technology is far below the levels of other highly industrialized countries. The machine-building industries are mainly located in the largest cities because these industries are labor intensive. In the late 1920s the Soviet government began planning the industrialization of the USSR, devoting particular attention to the geographical location of the vast industrial complexes. Initially, Soviet manufacturing enterprises in Russia were concentrated in the Moscow and Saint Petersburg areas. Simultaneously, work was begun on the electrification of areas in the Urals known to have large coal and mineral reserves, and planning began for the electrification of various Siberian regions. As economic planning progressed, and as the electric-power areas increased, huge new manufacturing complexes were installed to take maximum advantage of these natural resources. As a result, production increased in the eastern regions. This significant expansion was accomplished by developing the new eastern industrial regions, rather than by reducing the production of the older centers; indeed, the older industrial regions continued to increase their output. Today the manufacture of transportation equipment is concentrated in central European Russia. Railroad locomotives are produced at Kolomna, Murom, and Lyudinovo, all of which are located near Moscow. Railroad cars are built in plants at Tver', northwest of Moscow, and at Bryansk, southwest of Moscow. A large railroad-car plant in the Minusinsk Basin in eastern Siberia services the Trans-Siberian and Baikal-Amur Magistral (BAM) railroads. Subway cars are manufactured in Mytishchi, a northern suburb of Moscow; Engel's, in the Volga Valley, is the main center for manufacturing trolley buses. The largest shipbuilding center is in Saint Petersburg on the Baltic Sea. Smaller shipyards are located in Kaliningrad on the Baltic Sea, in Arkhangel'sk on the White Sea, and at certain ports on the Pacific coast. Most of the country's river-craft are built in the Volga-Kama River Basin. The oldest, and still the largest, river craft shipyard is located in the city of Nizhniy Novgorod; other riverboat manufacturing plants are in Moscow, Rybinsk, and Kostroma on the upper Volga River. The motor-vehicle manufacturing industry is limited in Russia because the Soviet government gave low priority to vehicular traffic as compared with railroads and other forms of transportation; however, Russia has several large-scale automobile and truck factories. These factories produced about 85 percent of all trucks and cars manufactured in the USSR in 1990. The largest construction project in the USSR during the eighth Soviet Five-Year Plan (1966-1970) was the establishment of the Volga Motor Vehicle Plant at Tol'yatti, in eastern European Russia. This plant's capacity is about 660,000 automobiles a year; the plant, however, has been running well below capacity in recent years. Other important automobile assembly plants are in Moscow, Izhevsk, and Nizhniy Novgorod. The largest construction project during the ninth Five-Year Plan (1971-1975) was the Kama River Truck Plant in Naberezhnye Chelny. Trucks are also produced in Nizhniy Novgorod, Moscow, Simbirsk on the Volga, and Miass in the Urals. The manufacture of agricultural machinery is a large industry in Russia. In 1990 Russia accounted for 60 percent of the total production of agricultural machinery in the USSR, which was formerly the largest producer of tractors in the world and a sizable exporter. Most of the principal producing plants are in European Russia, in Volgograd, Vladimir, Bryansk, and Lipetsk. Chelyabinsk in the Urals and Rubtsovsk in Siberia are also major production centers. Self-propelled combines and other farm machinery are produced in Rostov-na-Donu. Russia is also a major producer of textiles. The USSR led the world in the production of virtually all kinds of textiles, with the majority of its productive capacity located in the Russian cities of Moscow, Ivanovo, Kostroma, Tver', and Vladimir, where textile production has been based for more than a century. In the late 1980s the annual production of cotton yarn in the USSR stood at 1.7 million metric tons, which ranked well above the second-place competitor, the United States. The country was by far the world's largest producer of linen fabrics (1.2 billion sq m/about 1.4 billion sq yd) and woolen yarn (465,000 metric tons). It was second only to Japan in the production of natural silk woven fabric. The USSR also led in the production of rayon and acetate fibers but lagged in synthetic fibers derived from noncellulose materials. In general, the country was somewhat behind the rest of the developed world in the technology of synthetic fibers and plastics. Since the breakup of the USSR, textile production in Russia has suffered greatly, as the other Soviet republics were a major source of textile raw materials. Nearly all of the country's raw cotton came from the Soviet republics in Central Asia and the republic of Azerbaijan, but with a shortage of supplies from these countries, many Russian textile mills were forced to close. Total textile production in Russia fell by more than 50 percent in 1992. Russia has traditionally been a major producer of leather goods, and the Soviet government greatly expanded and dispersed the industry. The USSR ranked as world leader in the production of leather footwear, manufacturing approximately 820 million pairs of shoes and boots each year, compared with 217.6 million in the United States. The food industries form another major manufacturing sector in Russia. Initially, flour mills were built in the major grain-producing areas, but newer flour mills are generally located in areas with larger population concentration. A considerable portion of the country's fresh fruits and vegetables are canned or preserved in the growing areas, because transportation and refrigeration facilities are not adequate to market fresh produce at great distances. In general, industrial output in Russia has declined substantially in recent years, which continues a general slowdown in industrial growth that took place during the last years of the USSR. Overall industrial production declined by about 18 percent in 1992 and about 16 percent in 1993, although the drop in production of specific items was much greater. In comparison to first-quarter output in 1992, the 1993 first-quarter output of paints and lacquers was 50 percent lower, synthetic dyes 48 percent lower, cement 38 percent lower, and synthetic rubber 32 percent lower. Production of consumer durables declined overall in 1992, although the output of some products, such as television sets, actually increased. The production of food items also declined in general, with the exception of sugar production, which recently increased. Tourism Tourism was a major source of foreign exchange for the USSR, and despite political differences with many Western countries, the Soviet government developed procedures to cater to this activity. A huge state organization, Intourist, handled all touring arrangements, and many beryozka, or hard-currency, stores were established to sell a wide variety of souvenirs to foreign tourists. Student travel was handled by Sputnik, the international youth excursion bureau. Each year about 7 million people visited the USSR; slightly more than half of these visitors were from the countries of Eastern Europe. The Soviet government encouraged domestic travel, and each year millions of Soviet citizens visited parts of the country remote from their own homes. The capital city of Moscow, in particular, was the destination of many Soviet vacationers. In post-USSR Russia, tourism continues to be an important source of business, and the country contains a wide variety of tourist attractions. Primary cultural attractions include czarist retreats near Saint Petersburg, the Old Town of Novgorod, the Golden Ring of medieval towns surrounding Moscow, and numerous museums, galleries, theaters, and architectural points of interest in the cities of Moscow and Saint Petersburg. Resorts on the Black Sea are popular with foreign and domestic tourists alike. Cruises along the Volga River are also popular. The Caucasus Mountains offer a variety of outdoor activites, such as hiking, camping, mountain climbing, and fishing. Lake Baikal, the deepest freshwater lake in the world and home of numerous unique animal and plant species, attracts thousands of visitors annually. Vacation rides on the Trans-Siberian Railroad are also in great demand. Foreign Trade From the end of World War II in 1945 through the mid-1980s, political considerations dictated that the former USSR's principal trading partners be socialist countries, notably those of Eastern Europe. Even before the political upheavals at the close of the 1980s, however, both the USSR and its socialist allies had found it necessary to import more advanced technology from the developed Western countries. By 1987 members of the Council for Mutual Economic Assistance (COMECON or CMEA) accounted for 60 percent of Soviet exports and 64 percent of imports, while Western countries supplied 23 percent of Soviet imports and purchased 21 percent of exports. Among the socialist countries, East Germany was the USSR's leading trade partner, followed by Czechoslovakia, Poland, Hungary, and Bulgaria. The USSR's main trading partners outside the socialist bloc were West Germany, Italy, and Japan. In recent years the pattern of Russia's external trade has changed considerably. Developed Western countries now account for more than half of Russia's trade activities outside of the former Soviet republics (60 percent in 1992). Germany is Russia's leading trading partner (excluding trade with the former Soviet republics), with 17 percent of total trade in the first quarter of 1993. In contrast, former COMECON countries received only 20 percent of Russia's total exports (excluding trade with the former Soviet republics), and contributed less than 16 percent of total imports to Russia. Developing countries accounted for roughly 10 percent of Russia's total trade outside the former USSR. Another notable change in Russia's external trade has been a sharp decline in trade volume. In 1992 exports to areas outside of the former USSR were less than two-thirds of the 1988 export level, while imports were less than half of the 1988 level. Foreign trade fell even further in the first quarter of 1993, which was caused in part by new import tariffs and additional controls on strategically sensitive exports. Russia does maintain a positive balance of trade, with annual exports in the early 1990s estimated at $43 billion and imports of $27 billion. Attempts to determine Russia's true trade balance, however, are complicated by the existence of barter trade and the illegal transfer of Russian assets abroad. Barter trade constituted an estimated 40 percent of total annual exports and 26 percent of total annual imports in the early 1990s. Goods are bartered primarily with the former Soviet republics, most of whom still receive Russian fuel at subsidized prices. As to the illegal transfer of Russian assets, some estimates place the total amount of illegal capital outflow to date at $10 billion or more. Energy Russia is the only large developed country in the world with adequate energy supplies. It is not only self-sufficient in the production of mineral fuels, but also able to export considerable quantities of them. Coal accounted for most of Russia's energy production until 1955, after which a gradual shift to oil and natural gas took place. By the 1970s oil and natural gas had become the country's primary energy sources, and the USSR became the world's largest producer of fossil fuels. In 1990 Russia, which contains 7 to 10 percent of the world's proven reserves of oil, produced most of the USSR's energy output-90 percent of all oil, 79 percent of all natural gas, and 56 percent of all coal. Other important sources of energy in Russia are hydroelectric and nuclear power. Russia has vast waterpower resources, and waterpower accounts for about 15 percent of the total yearly electrical production. Important hydroelectric stations are located on the major rivers of European Russia, notably on the Volga and Don rivers. The largest hydroelectric installations, however, are on the great rivers of Siberia, particularly on the Yenisey and Angara. Nuclear power accounts for about 13 percent of total energy production in Russia, with most of the country's 29 nuclear energy reactors located in European Russia. The country's two largest cities, Moscow and Saint Petersburg, depend on nuclear energy for about one-fifth to one-third of their electrical needs. The Chernobyl' accident in Ukraine in 1986 prompted Soviet officials to abandon plans to greatly expand nuclear capacity, but in 1992 the Russian government reversed the decision and announced plans to expand nuclear energy production in the country. Currency and Banking The basic monetary unit of Russia is the ruble, consisting of 100 kopeks. For decades the USSR did not allow the ruble to circulate in world markets, instead setting an arbitrary value relative to foreign currencies; the official conversion rate in 1991 was 0.57 ruble per U.S.$1. Beginning in late 1991 the Russian government took decisive steps to liberalize ruble convertibility, after which the value of the ruble plummeted. In 1992 the ruble's value fell to less than one-hundredth of the U.S. dollar, and in 1993 it dropped to less than one-thousandth of a dollar. The Russian government issued a new ruble devoid of Soviet insignia that year, and issued a recall of all pre-1993 ruble banknotes. The currency continued to plummet in value in late 1994 and into 1995, reflecting overall economic and political instability in Russia. In 1997 the exchange rate was 5750 rubles per U.S. $1. The structure of banking in Russia has changed significantly since the mid-1980s. In the last years of the USSR, the subsidiary banks of Gosbank the federal bank of the USSR, were converted into commercial banks and relicensed under the new Central Bank of Russia. The five large Soviet sectoral banks (a general savings bank, the foreign trade bank, and banks for the social sector, agriculture, and construction and industry) were either converted to commercial banks or closed. The remaining sectoral banks were no longer assigned specialized functions or clientele by the government, although they retained much of their former clientele through inertia. The converted sectoral banks were much larger than the newly established commercial banks. Assets of the largest former sectoral bank exceeded 110 billion rubles in mid-1991, versus 1.5 billion rubles on average for the leading new commercial banks. The two types of banks also differed in the clientele they served; former sectoral banks primarily served state enterprises, while the new commercial banks generally served private businesses. By 1993 about 2000 commercial banks had opened; as of early 1995 the number had grown to about 2500. In 1993 the Russian government issued regulations restricting the activities of foreign-owned banks operating in Russia. Led by its chairperson, who opposed radical reform, the Central Bank of Russia became politically involved in the early 1990s in the struggle between the government and the legislature over economic reform. The bank, which was nominally subordinate to the legislature, issued credits far in excess of government requests (up to 50 percent over government guidelines according to some estimates), which hindered reform efforts by supporting inefficient enterprises and fueling inflation. Under the 1993 constitution, the Central Bank of Russia is independent of direct government or legislative control, although its chairperson will be appointed by the lower house of the legislature acting under the president's recommendations. Transportation The Russian transportation network is state-owned and nationally integrated. The overall network is much less dense, however, than those of most other developed nations. The Soviet government considered transportation expenditures an unproductive but necessary part of the economy. Emphasis was therefore placed on the types of facilities that move the greatest amount of goods and people at the least cost, often sacrificing convenience to the consumer in order to maximize efficiency. The network is dominated by railroads; motor traffic plays a minor role. A great network of oil and gas pipelines facilitated the rapid expansion of the petroleum and natural-gas industries, and maritime shipping has facilitated the growth of foreign trade. Passenger transportation is also dominated by railroads, although in recent years buses have taken over much of the commuter traffic, and airlines account for a great deal of long-distance travel. The density of the railroad network generally corresponds to the regional population density. The network is relatively dense in most of European Russia south of Saint Petersburg, but is sparse in Siberia and the far eastern region. Overall length of the rail system is 86,800 km (about 53,900 mi). Russian railroad lines carry the heaviest freight traffic in the world. The densest traffic on a single line occurs on the western Siberian section of the Trans-Siberian Railroad, where trains occasionally run as frequently as once every three minutes. To relieve some of the traffic, parallel lines were built in western Siberia and northern Kazakstan. A new line, the Baikal-Amur Magistral (BAM), was built through Siberia and the far eastern region to the north of the present Trans-Siberian Railroad. The Soviet government neglected automobile transportation because of the high costs of constructing and maintaining roads as well as the higher overall shipping costs. About half of the roads are surfaced with concrete or asphalt; the rest are gravel. Few of the country's roads are more than two lanes wide. Like the railroad network, the road network is most dense in the European part of the country. The merchant fleet of Russia ranked among the largest in the world, with 867 vessels of over 1000 gross tons in the early 1990s. The principal civilian seaports in Russia include Novorossiysk on the Black Sea; Saint Petersburg and Kaliningrad on the Baltic Sea; Nakhodka, Vostochnyy, Vladivostok, and Vanino on the Pacific coast; and Murmansk and Arkhangel'sk on the Arctic coast. The Volga River is the most important inland waterway in Russia. It carries more than half the river traffic of the country. Navigation on this system was enhanced by the construction of seven major dams as well as the Volga-Don Canal in the south and the Volga-Baltic Waterway in the north; the Volga-Don Canal provides a sea outlet through the Black Sea, the Volga-Baltic Waterway, through the Baltic Sea. Major ports along the Volga River are Rybinsk, Nizhniy Novgorod, Samara, Volgograd, and Astrakhan'. Another major port, Rostov-na-Donu, is on the Sea of Azov near the mouth of the Don River. The ports of Moscow are provided with connections to the Volga system through the Moscow Canal that runs north from Moscow to the Volga River. In Siberia and the far eastern region, rivers are the only transportation system in areas remote from the railroad. Most Siberian rivers, including the Lena, Yenisey, and Ob', flow north to the Arctic Ocean, thus limiting their importance in a region where eastern-western links are vital. The eastward-flowing Amur River is the chief navigable stream of the far eastern region. |
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