Russia is a country about 1.8 times the size of the US occupying the vast area between Europe and the North Pacific Ocean. It has an area of 10, 672,000 sq. miles (17,075,200 sq.km) and a population of almost 150 million people.

Occupying a large territory in Europe and Asia Russia is spread over all climatic zones except tropical. It takes over 8 hours by plane to reach from Moscow to Vladivostok on the Pacific coast. West of the Ural mountains from the Black Sea in the South to the Arctic Ocean lies a broad plain with low hills where the historical core of the Russian nation is located. East of the Urals from the border with Kazakhstan, China and Mongolia to the Arctic coast lies Siberia - a scarcely populated area covered by coniferous forest, swamps and tundra in the north and mountainous terrain in the south.

The country possesses a wide array of natural resources including major deposits of oil, coal, natural gas, many strategic minerals, diamonds and timber. The economic zone along the 23,533 mile (37,653 km) long coastline (Arctic and Pacific Oceans, Baltic, Black and Caspian Seas) holds significant reserves of fish and oil and natural gas on the sea shelf. Most of the country has a so called harsh continental climate characterized by a big difference between summer and winter temperatures (it gets indeed very cold in Siberia during winter, but it is also very hot in the summer). Russia's geographical location presents a significant obstacle to development - dry or cold climate, terrain, distance and remote location from major sea lanes, all these factors contribute to the situation when large parts of the country have almost no population and development. Russia has only 8% of arable land.

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. Over 80% of the population name Russian - the official language of the country - as their native. Other languages are used in ethnic minority regions. Russia has equal religious diversity: with the main religions being Russian Orthodox Christianity and Muslim overall over 150 confessions could be found across the country.

Administratively, the Russian Federation is divided into 21 republic, 6 krays (federal territories), 2 federal cities, 49 regions, 1 autonomous region and 10 autonomous areas.

The capital of the Russian Federation is Moscow. With its 10 million population it is the largest city in the country, its principal economic and political center - the seat of the President, the government and the State Duma (Parliament).

The Russian Federation, which covers one-eighth of the earth's surface, spans eastern Europe and northern Asia, and ranks as the world's largest nation in terms of its territory. Russia is followed by Canada, China and the United States. Russia's northern regions are bordered by the Arctic Ocean, with the Baltic Sea bordering its western territories. The Russian Far East is bordered by the Pacific Ocean, with the Black Sea bordering southern Russia.

This country stretches 2,500-4,000 km from north to south and another 9,000 km from west to east. Russia's westernmost point is located on the Polish border; its easternmost point is situated on Ratmanov Island (Bering Straits). The southernmost point is located on the Russian-Azeri border, and the northernmost point is on Franz-Josef Land islands.

Russia's borders stretch for a total of 58,562 km (with 14,253 km bordering other states and 44,309 km bordering the sea).

Vast plains cover most of Russia's territory. The Eastern European (Russian) Plain, replete with low plateaus is found in western Russia. The Mid-Siberian plateau, which is gradually transformed into the Central Yakut plain, can be found between two rivers, the Yenisei and the Lena.

Mountain ranges are mostly located in Russia's eastern regions and in some of its southern areas, as well. The Ural mountain range, for one, constitutes a natural boundary separating European and Asian Russia. Various mountain ranges making up the northern slope of the Greater Caucasian mountain range are located in southern Russia. Another mountain chain, including the Altai range, is to be found in southern Siberia. The Kamchatka mountains (including some active volcanoes) stretch along the Pacific coast.

Russia abounds in mineral resources whose total potential value (in world prices) is estimated at an impressive $30 trillion. Russia produces 17 per cent of the world's crude oil, as well as 25-30 per cent of its natural gas, 6 per cent of all bituminous coal, 17 per cent of commercial iron ore and 10-20 per cent of all non-ferrous, rare and noble metals mined across the globe.

The largest oil-and-gas deposits are to be found in Western and Eastern Siberia and on Sakhalin Island.

The list of Russian mineral deposits includes gold, silver, platinum, cobalt, antimony, zinc, mercury, and many others. Russian mineral resources are distributed rather evenly along the nation's territory. For instance, copper-and-nickel ores are mined in the Northern Caucasus, the Urals, Siberia and the Kola Peninsula.

Most of Russia's territory is located in the temperate belt. The Arctic Ocean's islands, as well as this country's Arctic territories, are located in the Arctic and sub-Arctic belts. At the same time, a small section of the Caucasus' Black Sea coast is located in the sub-tropical belt. Russia boasts just about every conceivable natural climatic zone -- tundra, forest-tundra, forests, forest-steppes and semi-deserts. In addition, the permafrost zone covers big expanses in Siberia and the Far East.

The climate is mostly continental, with average January temperatures ranging from 0 to minus five degrees Centigrade in Western European Russia to minus 40-50 degrees Centigrade in east Yakutia (Sakha Republic). Average July temperatures range from plus one degree Centigrade on the northern Siberian coast to plus 24-25 degrees Centigrade in Russia's CisCaspian lowland. Some 150-2,000 mm of precipitation fall annually on Russian territory.

Russia boasts 120,000 rivers with a length of 10 km or greater each. The majority of all local rivers, major rivers included (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 the Atlantic Ocean. Russia's main river, the Volga, flows all the way to the Caspian Sea.

Generally, Russian rivers stretch for 3 million km, dumping nearly 4,000 cu. km. of water annually.

Around 2 million fresh- and salt-water lakes are scattered across Russia. The largest lakes are the Caspian, Baikal, Ladoga, Onega and Taimyr. Lake Baikal, which attracts scores of foreign environmentalists, is the largest fresh-water lake in the world, having an average depth of 730 m (and a maximum depth of 1,620 m).

Forests cover some 40 per cent of the entire Russian land mass, with total timber reserves of 79 billion cu. m. The largest forests can be found in the Siberian taiga, the Far East and the northern European territories. Coniferous trees (fir trees, pine trees, cedars, larches, firs, etc.) are the predominant tree varieties there. Mixed forests are typical of mid-Russian regions.

For the most part Russia has turf and podzol soils. Black-soil regions can also be found here, with the richest soils in this category located in the steppes of southeastern European Russia, and along the Western Siberian Plain. Chestnut-colored, greyish-brown soils, as well as saline lands, are also located here.

Russia has the world's fifth largest population (148.8 million people) after China, India, the United States and Indonesia. It is populated by approximately 130 nations and ethnic groups, including some 130 million Russians, over 5 million Tartars, nearly 4 million Ukrainians, 1.7 million Chuvashs, 1.7 million Jews, approximately 1.3 million Bashkirs, over 1 million Byelorussians and more than 1 million Mordovians.

All in all, 73 per cent of Russian citizens live in urban areas.

The Russian Federation has 1,067 major cities, with 13 of them inhabited by one million and more people each. The largest cities are Moscow, St. Petersburg, Nizhny Novgorod, Novosibirsk and Yekaterinburg.

Written by: Mikhail Arzhaev with support of Russian Embassy in the UK